Germany Aug 2012, pt. I - Eurobike

Some pix taken during my late August trip to southern Germany. Part I, the Eurobike trade show:

Sweet Ford Modeo Estate diesel rental car. Solid, roomy, torquey and great brakes and tires...

 ...I had it maxed out at 221 km/h (≈137MPH) on an open, downhill, unrestricted stretch of the Autobahn.

Since the Eurobike trade show is in the relatively small city of Friedrichshafen, lodging accommodations can tend to be "creative" at times. This year a group of us stayed at a Catholic academy:

 Dorm style:

 My thoughts exactly:

Weingarten in the morning:

 Weingarten street art:

 ???:

 Covered roadway between Weingarten and Friedrichshafen:

 Snack #1

 Part of Electra's 80 meter long Eurobike stand:

Anodized 3D violet makes a nostalgic appearance. I bought one of these headsets for my friend who owns the wonderful Velo Hangar shop in Solana Beach:

BOO!

Show-going pooch:

Don P and Thor "The God Of Thunder" Hushovd:

Snack #2:

 Interesting wine-carrying rack on a Schwinn:

 German-style marketing, paint-on jerseys:

Sweet lighting:

Snack three, salty-sweet licorice fish from northern Germany (Hamburg): 

 One of many, repeated texts that kept coming through over multiple nights as I tried to sleep:

Sorry, no Don Jose here. Now beat it.

Down On The Street

Spotted in my neighborhood last weekend while returning from a ride was this clean early Ford Bronco.

Early Broncos have always appealed to me. And I like most of the details on this one, period correct fog lights up front...

...and, if the badge on the leading edge of the quarter panel is to believed, a V8 under the hood. If it was mine, I'd swap out the wide alloys for some skinny steel wheels.

Looks like it's owned by a visiting "Zonie"

Update: One week later and it's on a trailer:

Down On The Street

Another cool import found in San Diego County - this time an English Ford.
A sharp little Cortina Mark I. Definitely one of my favorite Fords of the sixties, and quite uncommon on this side of the pond, especially the Lotus Cortina models. I've seen a ratty Mark II Lotus Cortina buzzing around Carlsbad a couple of times, but haven't been able to grab any photos yet.
The cool and distinctive round taillights predate the similar BMW 2002s by a few years.
And, assuming the plate is correct, this one is from the last year of the Mark I version of the model.
Needs a nice, thin Momo Prototipo wheel and, likely, some fresh vinyl on the seats.
Incidentally, the Cortina was found in the same lot as this white 60s Jaguar sedan. I'd happily add both to the fleet.

Down On The Street

I spotted this gem of a chopped-and-channeled five-window coupe on San Diego's Kettner Blvd. today.

Lean and mean, I dare you to show me a better car to pick up a date in.

Or, better yet, to use drive your mother-in-law on a Kohl's/the grocery store/Walgreens run.

Why yes, officer, the vehicle did have straight pipes from the factory back in the 1930s. Does one really *need* larger tail lamps? Me thinks no.

Safety equipment? The (likely non-laminated) windshield counts, right? Sweet bias-ply treads too.

To my eyes, it has just about the perfect stance.

Although I'm not so sure that I'd want to take it on a long journey with such limited suspension travel.

Give it a year-of-manufacture plate and consider it done.

Down On The Street

Downtown Encinitas was overrun with classic woodies today. Since most were in motion, and since I was out for a road ride, I didn't go out of my way to hunt any down. However, this gem was parked on Coast Hwy:
A classic 1949 (I think) Ford. Probably one of my all-time favorite American cars.
This one looked just about perfect, basking in the late-afternoon sun in a quintessential Southern California beach town. Note the widened rear steelies. Subtle but a nice mod. Let's check out that wood in detail:
Seems to me that every classic woody owner has a collection of surf decals on the back windows. And why not?
Inside we see some mild customization work in the form of modern speakers and door hardware bolted to the door panels. I'll take mine with a hidden stereo and crank widows please.
Front novelty plate references Huntington Beach - aka "Surf City USA".
I would venture to guess that the communities of northern San Diego County have the highest concentration of classic woodies (and VW vans) of anywhere in North America.
Unintended palm reflection shows up in the "Custom" badge photo above. And my replacement Easton EC90 front wheel. I'll happily trade my wheels for these.

Down on the Street

Celeste and I ran down to El Nopalito in Encinitas Sunday morning to pick up some of their fantastic homemade tortilla chips and salsa.
This Ford Thunderbird Fordor was parked just outside the strip mall, so out came the crappy cameraphone.
I'm pretty sure this one dates to 1967. Like many cars of the era with the feature, the flip-up headlight covers appear to be inoperable. At least they're stuck open.

1967 was the first time the T-bird was available as a sedan. Ford even outfitted the ride with proper suicide doors.

It's pretty cool to see a 43 year-old car still being relied upon for daily driver use. Too bad the window's off the track.
But check out the suicide spinner knob (matching the suicide rear doors). Look closer for Celeste's reflection.

Down On The Street - 1947-48 Ford Woodie!

Ahh, I've seen so many great classic woodies since moving out here in September, but haven't always been able to catch them with the camera.

Ran to a grocery store today and came out to find this a couple of spots down from Allie's Subie.
It's a Ford woodie, either a 1947 or 48. Either way it doesn't get much better for me. A little rough around the edges but a solid car doing routine chores like running out for milk. But swing around the back and it gets even better.
No rear windows, missing some paneling AND a Mexican blanket to cover the rear seat. One perfect beach buggy.