Wow

This is one of the most amazing things I've seen in a long time.
I know to most non car folk this won't be all that exciting but the 3d printer really got me thinking about the fact that we are not that far away from being able to "print" human parts too. Think how amazing it would be to "print" off an exact copy of your own kidney, heart, skin, or a whole limb. It used to be the stuff of science fiction but this new 3d plastic printer really brings the idea closer to reality.

Wagons

I have to admit that I love wagons. A wagon is on my top 5 cars list that I will own/build in the near future. You just cant beat their pure practicality. Lots of room to take your family and friends and all your gear. I will admit that most of them in their stock form are a little frumpy but that's easily enough solved. Here's a 1954 Chevy wagon that's currently for sale on eBay and my ultimate wagon version.

Obviously every car should be lowered, in this case air bags would be my choice so that you can lay it out and look ultra cool at the car show but raise it back up to comfortable level for everyday driving. I've also chopped the top 3 just to give it some attitude but not lose too much head room for all those passengers. I'd drop a small block 400 and a turbo 400 trans so it can comfortably and reliably cruise around town and to the grocery store. Not too many modifications but would certainly be a practical fun ride.

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Head over to Street Machinery to check out some the cool wagons these guys have built.

Hot Rodding is Dead!

This is a great short film by Eric Darby, found on the HAMB. It's well worth the 4 min investment of your time.

Utah's Son of Speed

Utah's Son of Speed or Ab Jenkins & The Mormon Meteor III



This Spanish Fork country boy played a huge part in putting the Bonneville Salt Flats on the world map. He set most of the world's automobile endurance records while promoting automobile safety. His land speed records stood for nearly 50 years before finally being broken in 1989. He also became the Mayor of Salt Lake in 1939 without making a single campaign speech or spending a single nickle of his own money. He died in August of 1956 while attending a baseball game. In honor of Ab, General Motors named the 1957 Pontiac Bonneville in his honor.

Currently a documentary is in the works on Ab and the Meteor III. I highly recommend watching the video trailer.

http://pricemuseumofspeed.org/video.html

You can read the full article from the Utah History site here.

Petty Ford

This is the Petty Ford dealership which used to be on 2100 South and 9th East in Sugarhouse. Of course it no longer exists and now sadly a Walgreen's stands in its place. My grandpa got a job working for Petty Ford after returning from his Merchant Marine service during WWII. He worked for the Petty's for nearly 18 years before purchasing his first service station which would later become the Glover Oil Co.

After several years of working at the Ford dealership he was asked by old man Petty to manage their newest lot down on 6th South and Main St. This was the Salt Lake Sports Car Center and was a dealership for MG, Austin Healy and Morris Minor. This is also where my Dad got a lot of his automobile education against the wishes of my Grandpa. My dad says that all the mechanics at the shop were threatened with their jobs if he found any of them showing my dad how to work on anything. My Grandpa had higher hopes for my dad than to be a mechanic.

The best story is the day my dad turned 16 and got his drivers lisence and was so excited he showed up to the shop to let everyone know. When the manager heard this his jaw dropped to the floor as my dad had been driving and delivering cars for the dealership for over a year, all without a lisence.

So far I haven't been able to find any other pictures of these places but I'm still on the hunt. It's pretty sad that much of this great Salt Lake history is all but gone now.

'32 Ford Pickup Chop

Here's a quick and dirty chop of a '32 Ford pickup that I thought could use a little chop and section.

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Bright Colors For a Dull Day

Just found this Ironlak paint from Austrialia. Comes in 64 bold high pigment colors. Ever since Krylon changed to a new valve system which is totally useless, it's been a difficult search for any decent paint.