By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Last Friday night, after losing my fair share of cash in the casinos, I headed over to the The Orleans Hotel to see if anything was going on at ground zero for Viva Las Vegas. The main show wouldn’t be going on until Saturday, but I figured I might be able to catch some cars cruising around under the lights. See the whole gallery of night shots at Speedhunters.

By Mike Garrett

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

As promised last week when we posted this gallery of 66 retro custom cars, BangShift.com spent Saturday in Las Vegas for the 12th Annual Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender. The event is now held at the Orleans casino and is mostly a music fest, but the Shifters of So-Cal host a retro car show in conjunction with it. We were disappointed that so many of the retro rods and customs seen there were powered by small-block Chevys as we were hoping to get photos of a bunch of Cads, Olds Rockets, Hemis, and Nailheads, but there was still some great junk to see. Check out 159 photos from Viva Las Vegas!

There were some truly amazing and unique rides at Viva Las Vegas this year, but at the end of the day, this clean-and-understated 1953 Studebaker daily driver was still my favorite car at the show. But hey, it’s not like you have to take my word for it—go get your own favorite! CarDomain’s got over 500 photos of rods, kustoms, classics, and hardcore jalopies from this year’s show—that oughtta keep occupied for awhile. Also, don’t forget to check out our collected Viva footage at CarDomain Video. Enjoy!

Just like high-dollar winos like to carry on about specific vintages, a lot of gearheads are partial to the cars of particular years. While I love cars from all over the map chronologically, I find there are certain years that just produced a disproportionate number of awesome rides, and for me one of those years is 1958. ’58 was the peak year for that gaudy, quad-headlighted, over-chromed late-50′s excess that so many people find god-awful. But I love it, and was stoked to see a number of these massive ’58 hulks at the Shifters show. Check out my walkaround video of this Buick, and get a load of the crazy custom-built removable vinyl fastback on this Chevy. And you sure wouldn’t want to run into this colossal Olds if you were driving a modern car. How about you—do you have a specific favorite year for cars?

Help me out here: I realize the whole Iron Cross thing is kind of trendy right now, thanks in part to the various chopper shows, but to be so committed to WWI-era German military imagery as to build a whole car replete with proto-fascist trappings—is that sketchy at all? And doesn’t a giant silver helmet tend to ruin the look of some cars? Sure, it’s got a great straight-8 with a row of six Stromberg carbs, and—hell, yeah—any excuse to mount a machine gun on your ride is generally commendable. The cops sure seemed to be into it, and I guess it’s cool in a grotesque sort of way, and obviously meant to be tongue-in-cheek as well as a full-sized replica of the "Red Baron" dragster model kit that Tom Daniel created for Monogram in 1968 (thanks, Adam). But the spectacle kind of reminded me of that kid who built the 1/2-scale Panzer tank—all I remember thinking is, thank God he did that instead of shooting up a school. See the full freakshow after the jump!

Here’s a very quick video of the car that belongs to those tube-steel speaker covers that you guys were digging on Sunday. It’s an air-bagged ’54 Chevy running a 350 small-block with a tri-power intake. For the color on the roof, the owner took the stock, almost navy blue that you can see on the dash, then layered metal flake and translucent candy over it to get the irridescent blue you see in the video. More pics after the jump.

By the way, some of you were wondering if those speaker covers were hand-fabbed or catalog-bought—well, I spotted identical ones on this gorgeous Cadillac by Lonely Knights Kustoms in Colorado Springs. So unless these two owners had them made by the same fabricator, you can probably score a pair of your own somewhere.

Ernest McIntyre of Gasser Magazine was one of the celeb appearances slated for this year’s Viva, and the supercharged Willys he brought with him was a thoroughly badass example of the solid-axle, jacked-in-front gasser style that was the hot set-up for drag racing in the early 60′s. Ernest also shoots and produces the annual Viva Las Vegas DVD—last year’s can be had here. Watch for my CarDomain shout-out in the upcoming VLV 11 DVD, and get a better look at the Willys’ incredible powerplant after the jump!

The owner cut pieces of square tube-steel on an angle to make a toothy rictus for his GMC pickup. The result is something you sure wouldn’t want jumping out at you from a dark alley at night. Don’t get too close, you might lose an arm!

Continue reading "Viva Las Vegas: Up In Your Grille!" »

It’s the tri-five Chevies (1955-1957) that always get all the attention, but I have to admit I love the massive look of the ’58. This nice example belongs to Mark Kindig, who’s updated it with disc brakes and drop spindles. It’s got a 283 with the tri-power setup: three 2-barrel Rochesters. Mark hopes someday to swap in a 348, Chevy’s first production big-block, which made its debut the same year this car rolled off the line. But it’s going to have to be "run what you brung" until he can locate an affordable candidate. What he brung ain’t bad—see close-ups after the jump!

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a car at a show with bullet holes that aren’t the silly stick-on kind. This battle-scarred Ford farm truck is the real thing: owner Rich rescued it from a ranch near Carson City, NV. Though it started life as a four-banger, it’s now running this droolworthy flathead. Enjoy!

Continue reading "Viva Las Vegas: Number One With A Bullet" »