You would think that hot rod activities would slow down in December but the left coast is a little different. Last Wednesday the Wally Parks NHRA Museum opened a new exhibit honoring Gale Banks' 50th year in business. The omnipitant one was there and gave a nice speach before leading us mear mortals to the other side of the museun to show us the disply of his works. It was quite impressive. Besides a couple of his hot rods from years past there must of been 20 engines showing the evolution of his turbo systems. Wow. The display cases were full of pix and parts even includeing some old fashion patterns. It's a must visit. Now for the surprise. Out front was his new toy. It looks like a top fuel dragster but no. Packed into the engine compartment was maybe the next big advancement for the sport, a twin turboed Diesel. The first pix is of the the stump puller. Happy 50th Gale.

Wednesday also happens to be cruise night at the facility and the parking lot regularly fills up with hundreds of great rides. Dave McClelland, the voice of the NHRA MC's the events so there is never a dull moment. There are all kinds of cars there from rods to customs. A clean '56 Ford wagen grabbed my attention because I used to own one. It was a stocker but what got me was the rear sidewindows. They were loaded with surf decals just like in the old days. All we need now is Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys and some girls in bikinis. Enjoy the pix.

Saturday night it was back to the museum for a different event. The S.C.T.A. Land Speed Racers had their 30th Anniversary Banquet and fun was had by all. Personal stories were the hit of the show and complimented the food and drink. A few of the original members were even on hand to liven things up.

If that wasn't enough car stuff for the week one John Force had his yearly car show on Sunday. The party was supposed to start at 10AM and knowing thousands of folks show up I went early and got there at 8:30. The place was already packed and show cars were pouring in. If I had to guess maybe over a thousand rides were in every nook and cranny. The first shot sets the mix for the event. Every size, shape and kind that you could think of was there. The next shot shows the driver of the Gurney Eagle waveing as he buzzed by an uncorked blown Stang that sounded pretty mean. Behind it was a box stock Buick about 60 years old. Talking about odd cars I couldn't resist shooting one of the wildest looking production cars from the late '30's called a Graham. Get a load of its snoz. Not to leave out the customs, a shot of a Leno ride should fill the bill.

There were quite a few whackey cars at the show to. The Bronze colored Model attached is a through back to early '60's style. An odd angle chop starts it off. What looks like '60 buick headlight nacells were bookmatched to make for an interesting front end treatment. The back had '58 Chevy Bel-Air lights that matched the front end treatment. The fenders are a mix of Barris Ala Kart and Roth fantisy. The most interesting thing about the car was it was built in Japan. Truly an interesting ride. Next up is a vehicle even farther out. The rails are Deuce repops with a big kickup to support some air shocks that let the thing go low to mow weeds. The front cantilevers and looks like an engineering nightmare.

Our host Mr. Force has some nice toys too and the last shot shows some of them. Elvis and Superman were center stage and the shelves on the left were filled with old bodies to die for. Cool stuff like this was everywhere, isn't being a car nut is the best.