AACA 25th Annual Antique Show, October 17th

AACA shows are always an eye-opener. Most car shows these days are packed with lime-green imports festooned with wings and nitrous bottles, or Fox-body Mustangs running 9's sitting next to 12 different LS1 Trans Am's.  So it's a breath of fresh air to walk around a bunch of utterly immaculate classic cars every now and then.  Not to say that I'm not a fan of the whole rat-rod movement (When's someone going to put a Nissan VH45DE into a T-bucket with lake pipes, already?) but seeing 40+ year old cars that look like they just rolled out of the show room is definitely worth the trip.  In this case, it was only about an hour - the show took place in Spencer, NC, which is somewhere inbetween Charlotte and Greensboro on I-85.

It's not every day you see a perfect first-generation Camaro RS, for instance.  Back before the Camaro was synonymous with mullet, it had one of the most dynamic shapes on the road.  The coke-bottle profile still looks gorgeous more than 40 years later.  This one was sporting a 327ci small-block and a 4-speed.

This Plymouth Fury III 2-door is for Paul.  (Of course.)

A beautiful Chevelle SS396.  That seems like it'd be enough motor, I think.

Absolutely beautiful 1968 Ford Mustang.  I would have to say this is my favorite Mustang body, even though the '64 is arguably a cleaner design.  These cars just look so menacing.

Of course, the show wasn't all 60's era American Muscle cars.  The Prince of Darkness (that's Joe Lucas) was represented in the form of this rusty Triumph Spitfire.

Don't you just love ancient British cars?  Yikes...  I hope the owner is current on their tetanus shots.

Moving away from the Triumph/nightmare, let's take a look at one of my favorites from this show:  this absolutely mint '55 Buick Special.  How great shape is this in?

I love this body style; it's a four door, but it really has the profile of a 2-door.  The hidden shutlines on the back doors are a neat trick.  I honestly wish that Buick still had the kind of styling abilities today that they had back then, but that clearly isn't the case.  I'm looking at you, Lucerne.

There are so many little quaint things about cars of this era.  Such as the use of a Mason jar for the windshield-washer reservoir tank, or the stylized air cleaner cover.  This was way before it was considered necessary to cover up an engine, with a picture of an engine.  Speaking of engines...

How's this for a motor?  Now, this vehicle has about in much in common with AACA standards as my genetic DNA has to do with sushi, but it was still a smile-maker.  That would be a 454ci big-block Chevrolet motor with a fairly massive supercharger mounted atop it.  What's it in...?

Of course!  A '48 Chevy pickup!  That's totally where it belongs.  And check out the rear end... do you think he's got enough rubber under this thing?

I've always been a fan of Chrysler's "letter cars" from the 50's onward (exception: that awful 300M from a few years back), and this 300B was no exception.

And what do you find under the hood of the '50's rich-banker's-express?  Why, a 354ci Hemi V8, of course.  Lovely.

Without a doubt, the most interesting car there (at least to me) was this 1940 Graham.  This was the last year of production for the entire Graham brand, and it's interesting to see just how modern the car is for a pre-war model.  Check out those aerodynamic front fenders with faired-in headlights - very sinister, I think.

Perhaps more interesting than the styling and the odd story of the manufacturer, is what's to be found under the hood.  That's right, a supercharger. In 1940.

They didn't even outsource for the blower (McCulloch, etc) but designed it in-house.  The way it's operated is absolutely bizarre:  the crank pulley drives an idler in front of the blower, which spins a shaft, which meats another gear on the bottom of the housing of the supercharger.  You'd think they would have just mounted it vertically...  Still, VERY cool.

I can never pass up a Pontiac GTO with a 389 Tri-Power under the hood.  Especially a convertible.  Pontiac, we hardly knew ye.

This was another favorite of mine.  Being a 1971, this Camaro was made before the world exploded (ok, before the oil crisis and smog regulations strangled the power out of everything) and before crash regulations required HUGE bumpers that ruined the looks.  When you get down to the basic elements of design, the second-generation Camaro was an absolute home-run, that was then butchered and left to rot by later "improvements."  This one was a sight to see under the hood, too.

And that's about it.  I hope you've enjoyed this small tour through AACA land, again.  I'll leave you with this gorgeous VW Squareback, which for some reason was out in the parking lot.  See you next time!

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