Visiting shops, garages, collections, museums of the famous and the neighbor. Behind the scenes look at collections such as Bruce Meyer, Price Automobilia, Petersen Automotive Museum, Automobile Driving Museum, NHRA Museum and more.
With a History of the Tail Fin Design On this Sunday Drive with the Mercifuls we land at a private collection of American Classics. If hooded headlights and finned tail lights are your thing, then this gallery is for you! In a request for anonymity I will respect the owners right to remain private. This […]
Today we take a drive over to the Petersen Automobile Museum. Here are several of the exhibits ending with a really creative installation. We start off with “Best in Low” an exhibit of legendary lowrider icons of the street and show. From laid-out Impala’s to radically styled Schwinn’s the display is a spectacle of metalflake, […]
A Blacktop Archive from Issue #27 of Blacktop Magazine In Memoriam: Sadly Randy passed away a few months after our visit to his Museum and the Hot Rod Shop. Mark Soltan asked me to ride out to Randy Haapala’s place with Cool Running Camaro’s. They were meeting in San Juan Capistrano to ride over Ortega […]
A Father/Son Garage As I reflect on the “Good-Ol’-Daysâ€, I get to thinking that we actually live in a wonderful time. A time where you can make friends with someone from a great distance. Such is the case here, I first met Albert Traille on a phone call interviewing him about his deuce roadster for […]
Ventura Highway led me to discover a hidden gem. I had the great pleasure to meet Maureen Magnuson today. I went up to Ventura to see my buddy Johnnie Martinez and he said, “Hey, while you are here, let’s go see Maureen.” I was game and he said they have a museum at the shop […]
Some of you may remember this beauty of a ride below from our last issue. Derby’s 1939 Coachcraft Lincoln. After hearing his story and the cool old stuff he gets around, we had to make a trek on the Ventura Highway and roll over to his hide-away. His dad was a car guy through and […]
We are honored to be included in the recent season of Garage Dreams on MotorTrend+. See the story behind Blacktop Magazine as father/son duo Tony and Billy talk about working together in the garage on their 1956 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan “Riff-Raff”. We were featured on Season 2 episode 4. Garage Dreams is a half […]
Installing the Differential and Gears at J & S Gear Company. This has been an interesting project. The closest I have ever done of something like this is when we replaced the rear end on my nephew Marcus’ #KidWrencher ’66 Mustang. Good thing I have some friends to call on. Gordon McIlonie, President of my […]
If you grew up in Southern California from the mid ’50’s to the early 70’s, there is no doubt you had heard of Lions Drag Strip. Opening in 1955, the same year as Disneyland and in the middle of a population boom. The core purpose of Lions Drag Strip was to cut down on criminal […]
SHOP TOUR There’s some bangin’ around town! The city of Orange, California has been recognized as a Hot Rod Hot Spot for decades, and now there’s a new kid on the block. As you walk around the bustling “circle†or as the locals call it, “The Plazaâ€, your senses are overwhelmed with vintage stores, and […]
It’s been two-weeks. Two weeks of car shows, Father’s day events, work, Speedway, and the Born Free Motorcycle Show. Two weeks since I threw a leg over the new Indian Motorcycle Company’s Scout Bobber and rode it around the block and a mile down the freeway. Two weeks and I keep thinking about what a […]
We had the opportunity to hang with the crew at Cambra Speed Shop for their Holiday Road Trip to the Bruce Meyer Collection in Beverly Hills, CA. We broke it down to three videos. Take a look.
