Over here...

Several people have asked me over the last few weeks when I'm coming home. Right now, I'm planning on coming home in a week's time. But I've been saying that for the last 4 weeks... And I'd quite like to come home! Not least to see my girlfriend Laura.

On the other hand, I am writing this from beside a pool under a brilliant blue sky and sun in the California Bay Area. So it's not all bad.

Anyhow, today I visited the biggest classic car show on the West Coast, the Good Guys Car Show. Not an event that Greenpeace are likely to attend - I've never seen so many V8's in one place before. I can still here the burbling of supercharged hot rods from here - no, really! The cars ranged from the cool to the ridiculous. The Good Guys is generally a club for anything pre 1957 - hot rods and customs that whilst cool, unfortunately don't mean an awful lot to me (all those pre-war Fords and Studebakers look the same to me). Thank God they snuck some muscle cars in.

There were also a few examples of British Automotive history. There what looked liked a lovely old Austin Healy, until the owner proudly informed me he'd butchered it by shoe-horning a big blog Chevy motor under the bonnet. Sorry, hood. Also present was a genuine Filton bult, Bristol Motor Vehicles double decker bus. No idea how that got there - the organisers appeared to be using it as some kind of control vehicle.

Anyway, nobody wants to hear about obscure buses - on with the hot rods...

Start off with some of the newer ones:

The 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T.

A 1932 Ford Coupe. Apparently this vehicle has been modifed from the original.

I think this is (was) a Studebaker.

This is an awesome 1937 Cord Supercharged 812 - compulsory driving for a 1930s villain. Although James Bond drives one in the book version of 'Live and Let Die'.

A little out of place here, a Freightliner conversion with Dodge flatbed and cabin. This is basically a Big Rig Tractor with a cabin mounted where the trailer would normally mount. You know a vehicle is too big when Americans exclaim, "Wow, that thing's big!" As you can see, this thing is so ridiculous that a small boy is fleeing in terror from it...

Tomorrow I'm off to exchange my Mitsubishi Spyder for a much more manly Ford Mustang Convertable. Review to follow.