Those of us auto enthusiasts lucky enough to live in California usually don’t have to go far to attend a car show.

Most weekends there is some type of cars show only a fairly short drive from many cities and towns all over the state. There are also a surprising number of “cruise-in” events taking place on weekday evenings.

Yesterday a friend reminded me about the weekly event in Santa Clara, Ca. It’s a bit of a drive from my house, but because I was going the in the opposite direction of the commuters and it really wasn’t a bad drive.

Unlike the event I’ve talked about in Capitola, Ca. this event does not have to share parking spaces with shopping center patrons. As an unfortunate result of the recent economic debacle, at least one of the anchor stores in the shopping center has closed. That may account for the huge amount of parking spaces for participants and spectators alike.

The questionable state of the economy not withstanding, there was at last count, 240 assorted vehicles at this mid-week auto-geek gathering. I especially enjoy the variety of people and cars that have been at the cruise-in events I’ve been luck enough to visit. Here are a couple of links to more Photos.

Thanks to Dave Molloy

A couple of days ago in this blog I asked if your car had a history. The story that goes along with your ride is often only something you tell your friends or the occasional bystander. I believe these stories are a key component to the richness of the car hobby.

This is a small part of an Auto Appraisal Network customer, Willie Taitano's story about "Mary-Jane".

This 1961 Cadillac series Sixty-Two Coupe has been named "Mary-Jane". She was purchased just over five years ago by Willie Taitano of Willie's Place, a well know hot-rod shop in San Jose, Ca. The car has become a San Jose Ca.
area icon; this is part of her story.

Willie purchased this 1961 Cadillac Sixty-Two Coupe in October of 2003 from her previous owner in Las Vegas NV. The previous owner acquired her as payment for a gambling debt many years ago. "Mary-Jane" then spent nearly twenty years stored in a garage.
During "Mary-Jane's" maiden voyage from Las Vegas to Campbell, Ca. her original engine expired less than 200 miles from Las Vegas, making towing necessary to complete the trip.

Over the next five years "Mary-Jane" has been re-painted three times, her suspension and powertrain have been extensively upgraded and been she's been re-upholstered once. "Mary-Jane" continues to be upgraded and Willie drives her regularly.

Willie has added features such as a 1971 Cadillac 472 cu.in. engine, Cadillac Turbo 400 automatic transmission, custom 3" lowered front coil springs, a traditional custom tuck and roll upholstered interior by Premier Auto Tops & Interiors Santa Clara, Ca. and a modern state of the art CD stereo system.

"Mary-Jane" is a multi-time award winning '61 Cadillac Custom that Willie fabricated using a mix of genuine vintage and many of the finest modern components available. "Mary-Jane" has been built to achieve the "Old School Custom" look.

I lamented to a co-worker one day about, oh; twenty-five years ago! His answer surprised me. “Have you ever thought about a Go-Kart?” I hadn’t given Go-Karting much thought; until then.

Less than week later I had a chassis, an engine, and I was well on the way to creating some of my best personal motorsports memories. It was a cold January day when I picked up my collection of parts and pieces. I’ll tell you that story some other time.

This story is about the Karting event I went to yesterday. A friend mentioned that he and his boys would be racing their Karts in Marina, Ca. on Sunday. I planned to stop by and snap a few photos. I ended up staying the rest of the afternoon. The race director asked if I would mind flagging on turn 1 so a racer who had volunteered for that duty could get his Kart ready for the next heat. I got some photos too see them here: Kart Racing

If you “wanna race” but don’t want to spend a big bundle check out Go-Karting! Keep in mind that many or today’s major league racing super-stars started in a Go-Kart.

I am becoming addicted to Saturday mornings! Between 7:30 and about 10:00 some of the most interesting cars, people and stories in the area around Santa Cruz, Ca. stop by a shopping center in Capitola, Ca.

The fellow that brought the red Packard shown here just bought the car last Thursday. The car was originally white but the previous owner had it painted red and had the interior redone 10 or 15 years ago. I had a chance to speak with the new owner for a while. From our talk I learned there had been boxes of old papers with a variety of documents, receipts and other papers that detailed some of the history of the life of the Packard. Sadly when the family was cleaning up the previous owner's estate they discarded all of that material. The car survived and the new owner has part of the story but it sure would have been great to rummage through Big Red's past!

The blue 5 window coupe is sort of a Saturday regular. While chatting with another enthusiast he mentioned that this car was originally built as a hot-rod about 1957. It has survived quite un-molested since that time. It certainly has some of the trick modifications from that era. The chopped radiator shell, the custom front "nerf" bar and the cycle fenders on the front were "gotta have" features in those days.

I've heard some great car stories from some interesting folks on my Saturday trips!

While at a regular weekly Saturday morning event a friend gave me a heads-up about a car show I could stop at on the way home. I was going to do some of my neglected yard-work but decided to stop in Aptos, Ca. to pay a visit to Hot Rods on the Green. In the parking lot on the way to the main lawn where the cars were gathered this car stopped me in my tracks!

It’s a fuel injected Twin Engine dragster! This well known car from Flathead Jack’s shop in Walnut Creek, Ca. features two 1949 Ford flathead engines with a custom made single crankshaft. When racing and they DO race it, the fuel is a blend containing 90% Nitromethane.

I’ve put a link here with details about this “Top-Fuel”

As I was walking up for a closer look it seemed as the crew was preparing to do a demonstration fire-up. What an unexpected surprise! If you’ve never heard a race prepared engine from the top fuel ranks you just cannot imagine the crack and rumble these engines produce. This set up carries it’s own built in starter but does require a separate battery for power. There is a special sequence the crew performs when starting this race car. They go through this procedure whether they are racing or doing and exhibition like this. It’s fascinating to watch these professionals attend to the needs of this beautiful and unusual machine. As an un-abashed motor-head I’ll add that when they did fire it up; the whole crowd and I just grinned from ear to ear!

A bit later I mentioned the car show and the appearance of this special dragster to a fellow motor-head. He dropped what he was doing and said “I’ll meet you there, I love that car!” It turns out he knows the car quite well and is friends with the driver. I made plans to do the yard-work another time.

A few months ago I began attending an interesting local event early that takes place early Saturday mornings in Capitola, Ca.
After two or three Saturday events I trained myself to bring my camera. I always spot a car I have never seen before. Sometimes the surprise is another example of a model I am familiar with. Often though it is a rare model sometimes a marque I’ve never seen.
This past week a local enthusiast brought the 1938 Chrysler Royal convertible shown above. The drivetrain and brakes on this car have been modernized but this ‘38 Chrysler really has a period presence.

What is Diminished Value?


Imagine two identical cars for sale on a dealers lot. Both cars have similar mileage, similar options and are in similar condition, and both have the same asking price. Now imagine finding out that one of those two vehicles had previously been involved in serious accident. Which one would you buy?

Would you expect to pay the same price for the vehicle that had been previously wrecked as you would for one that had NEVER been in an accident? Certainly not!

The difference between the amount of money that you could now expect the previously wrecked car to sell for, compared to what it would have sold for if it had NOT been involved in an accident is called the “DIMINISHED VALUE”