Photos

On Saturday, the Town of Fairfax next to my home in San Anselmo closed a main street and the parking lot serving the downtown to host a car show featuring cars of yesteryear. A friend alerted me to the event and I stopped by for a visit, camera in hand, of course.

As I observed in an earlier photo entitled Showroom Americans have a fascination with the automobile which makes events such as this car show a grand occasion for those of us who simply love to look at cars.

The owners of the beautifully restored/maintained cars take great pride in their efforts. I spoke with one owner who sat behind a 1955 Chevrolet Bel-Air two door coupe similar to the one that became my first automobile in 1959. Of course, his car had more chrome on it than any car I've ever owned! He told me that he drives his car every day the sun shines and takes it to similar shows all over the western United States. Clearly, polishing and showing off his beautiful car is his main form of recreation. It is likely the car, which cost $2,000 new is worth ten times that much today...

This is a photo taken under the hood of another car. I loved the chrome but also the fact this owner had mounted two four-barrel carburetors on the top of the engine, not unlike the way I did with my first car. These are clearly not the kind of cars one would own if concerned about gas mileage. Of course, when I owned my fast cars gasoline cost 29 cents a gallon...

So enjoy the view, as the man in the photo appears to be doing, fingers slipped into the pockets of his jeans as he surveys the fine craftsmanship.