I May Be On To Something

I've always loved buildings, I've always loved wheels. I've never thought about it in this way exactly, but I have also had a special fascination with homes that go. Building and designing compact, movable living quarters such as campers and mobile homes require clever packaging and often times modular, multi-purpose fixtures, all of which are things that I strangely take pleasure in figuring out. More often in the case of RVs, people can hire designers and builders to specially construct a vehicle to their needs on top of an existing chassis. This process is called coach building, a practice more common decades ago for personal cars but mostly reserved today for larger vehicles. More on this at the end of the post.

My earlier attempts at "not-quite coach built custom bodies" from nearly eight years ago might not have turned out to be very elegant but alas, I have made some improvements to my craft:

New cover photo for the blog? I think so. 

Car Spotting in Ann Arbor

With all of the bike stuff that has been going on lately, it may no longer be apparent that I am first and foremost a car guy.  Well, I have had some of these photos rolling around in the "New folder" folder on my desktop and it's about time I share some of the cars that have caught my eye over the past few months.  All of these were taken with my cell phone so please excuse the poor quality. 

I also managed to stumble across a car show so be prepared for a long post!

1980-86 Ford F150 short bed, 4-speed manual

The Most Perfect Vehicle I Have Ever Driven

The title says it all.  Earlier this week, I rented a U-haul to go pick up my new Raleigh and some other bikes to flip.  My weapon of choice was a 2014 Ford F-150 with a single cab, 8-foot box, and a 5-liter V8.

Despite my love for them, I had never driven a pickup truck before and was extra cautious about letting the rear end swing out since it had snowed the previous night.  Soon, my confidence increased.  It was so much easier to control than the Chevy Volt I'd driven at work a couple times.  I have no better way to say why than to make a list.  Keep in mind that these are my opinions and nobody is paying me to write these things.

Cool Classics and Other Luxurious Rides

During the past spring break, which was the first week of March, I had a short, very informational internship with an architecture firm.  After work every day, I'd stop by the store just to look at which cool Hot wheels cars they had for sale.  I ended up letting go of some cash in exchange for some exceptionally interesting cars.

Cars For Fun

I'd been thinking about this combination for a while before I actually drew it, but here is the "Shits & Giggles" pair: a '27 Model T hot rod with a '53 Mercury Flathead V8 and a Meyers Manx with a '60s Ford 289 c.i. V8 dropped in place of the VW motor.  

Monsters In The Garage

I always keep a list of cars to draw when I have time since my mind is usually thinking about this kind of stuff.  It's weird, although drawing is sort of fun, the main reason why I draw cars is because I have an image in my head that I would like to see in real life.  My habit is that if something I want doesn't exist or isn't obtainable by me, I make it myself.  Therefore, when it comes to images of cars, I attempt to make most of my drawings very realistic so that I can capture the image from my mind and put it on paper.  I also don't usually do art to express any feelings.

Mustang Alley and the Woodward Dream Cruise: Boss 429 Spotted

Yesterday, my friend Kevin and I volunteered to be photographers for Mustang Alley at the 20th annual Woodward Dream Cruise.  Each year since 1994, Woodward Avenue starting from the Detroit city limits to about sixteen miles to the north fills up with classic and modified cars on specific dates.  The Woodward Dream Cruise started out as a fundraiser but has since expanded into a multiple-day event in which large corporations are involved, namely Detroit's Big Three automakers.  Mustang Alley at 9 mile and Woodward, itself in its 16th year, is run by Ford and saw an especially large turnout in cars this year because of the Mustang's 50th Anniversary.

I picked up Kevin and essentially drove more than twenty miles east on the very road that we live on.  After several scenery changes and a few turns, we found ourselves in the volunteer parking garage and walked out into the "Snake Pit", a purely-Shelby and SVT vehicle display area in Mustang Alley.

Old News: Low-Budget Repairs for the Wagon

In February of 2012, months after my father handed the Sable wagon to me, he drove it to work one day and was softly T-boned by a drunk driver on the way home.  Luckily it happened at a very low speed and pretty much nothing happened, except for this:

After thirteen years of taking such good care of the car, it was scarred by a drunk guy in a Ford Ranger.  

1949 Mercury Coupe and 1956 Ford F-100: The Quintessential Customs

It is common knowledge in the car community that the 1949-1951 Mercuries, along with their Ford and sometimes Lincoln counterparts, are some of the most popular, if not most sought-after custom cars.  Starting at the time when these cars were new, people started shaving, slamming, and repainting the curvaceous bodies to be sleeker, lower, and more beautiful.  Most of these customs were more focused on appearance than on speed, although raising performance was not uncommon.  Today, a quick Google image search of "49 Mercury" will yield many more customs than stock, restored vehicles. With the popularity of the cars among hot rodders, it's no wonder that the '49-'51 is the most replicated Mercury in small scale models.

The Day I Lost My Marbles: 1965 Ford F-100

For a long time now, one of my dream cars has been a '65 Ford pickup.  I tend to appreciate low-cost, easy-to-work-on, old American cars more than exotics and imports.  I figured that if I was to work on cars and build stuff for myself when I grew up, I'd need a good tow vehicle.  Having been a Ford fan all my life, I naturally had an eye for the F-series trucks, one of the best-selling vehicles in the world.  After many years of gathering knowledge, I realized in middle school that my favorite was the curvy '56 model but that quickly changed to the more capable, more powerful '65.

I sometimes look for cars for sale just for fun.  I can spend entire nights just clicking links and drooling over things I won't be able to get.  One night, I came across an all original '65 Ford F-100 that was red-orange with a white roof, had a 352 c.i. V8 engine, and was slightly weathered.  It really struck a chord in me and even though that particular truck was sold years ago, that image was cemented into my mind as my dream truck.

LEGO 1965 Ford Pickup

In the summer of 2013, I combined two of my favorite LEGO vehicles: the 4404 Land Busters pickup truck and the Technics 8285 Tow Truck.  I took what I felt were my favorite features of both sets to build a roughly-1:12 scale model of a 1965 Ford F-250, one of my dream cars.

The boom was the most complex part of the truck.  I did not disassemble that part.  

The Land Busters pickup shown before suspension was taken.  

"V4" engine was swapped for a carbureted V8.  More on this one later; it has suspension once again.  

Independence Day Parade

The Fourth of July parade in Northville is usually not very long or flamboyant because our town is not very big.  That's not to say it's too boring to watch, though.  I like to go to see the classic cars pass by and sniff the un-catalyzed exhaust even though they're the same every year.  As a car guy, I've been deprived of car shows.  Also, I participated in the parade throughout high school in the marching band and currently, my younger sister is still in the band so that's the main reason why my family still goes.  The following photos contain some of the highlights, at least in my eyes.

'04 Mustang GT 40th anniversary.  I rarely see '94-04 GTs now - it's likely they've all either been trashed or kept in garages and seldom driven.  A few appeared today. The V6 cars are everywhere, though.  Next, the '87-91 Ford F-350 Pierce conversion fire truck, my favorite one in the Northville stable.  7.3 Powerstroke diesel, 5-speed manual transmission.  .  

Uh Oh! (First of Many)

For a larger part of the last few months, my car had been having some slight starting issues.  If let to sit for more than two hours, it took a time to crank and the starter motor sounded weak.  The electronics would also reset themselves.  If parked for less than two hours, everything would be fine.  The battery is still strong so that was not the problem.  I'm not too familiar with the electronics on cars so I was dumbfounded.  Starter, fuel pump, bad connections, or what? These problems continued until last Thursday.


This guy helped me so much.  Thank you, "Bushougoma."

The Green Dragon

Pictured in 2012

Here it is, my first car.  The 1999 Mercury Sable LS Wagon.  You will notice from now on that my love for this thing is pretty absurd (no, not to the extent of the man with the orange Monte Carlo).  I grew up with this car.