Vintage Drags

I missed the Irwindale vintage motorcycle drags a couple of weeks ago. This is exactly why I wanted to go! You dont see this intake set up on a vincent everyday, you dont see a vincent everyday. Pics from Toru's blog.

One of the guys

Du Mans

I  took this picture of Steve Mc Queens 70 911S at the first friends of Steve Mc Queen show. At that time the car was owned by Jesse Rodriguez. It just auctioned this past august in Monterey for over a million dollars. This is the same car that Mc Queen is driving  in the opening scene of Le Mans.

Road to Rennsport

Home stretch.

El Torero

Manolete, facing the Miura with a straight back.

906

Road to Rennsport

My turn to get my 70T ready for rennsport reunion. I have had this 911 for about 5-6yrs and used to daily drive it ,and work on it little by little. I took car over to Sportline Motors so owner Ruben Garcia could put new A arm bushings, heavy front sway bar , heavy rear torsion bars and new rubber bushings, new Koni's front and rear, and lower car just a bit. Car's suspension was all original and worn out, car now handles amazing. Ruben works for a private GT3 team as a traveling mechanic as well, and has a lot of Baja 1000 experiance he is very reasonable and honest. Thanks Ruben!

Chariot Races

Roman chariot racing, the place to see it Circus Maximus. Time 80AD. Our racing heritage and Man's need for speed will not be denied.

Road to Rennsport

Powder coated tin,polished manifolds,heat treated merged header. Almost ready for installation.

Moss Man

To the Victor!

Esthetic of Style

Study in proportion and line. These are some of my favorite recent builds. Especially the Astengo Ironhead simply perfect.

Sleepers CC / MC E.L.A.

This was my old mans car  club back in about 1955 when he was 16 yrs.old . He sketched the artwork and made up the name . This artwork would have been lost to time if it wasnt for my uncle Louie Mendez Sr. catching up with someone from the old neighborhood who had the old club plate hanging in his garage. My uncle has been searching for that plate for the last 45 years. My uncle has been building Hot Rods and Customs since he was about 16yrs. Only stopped because of 2 tours in Vietnam as a U.S. Marine. He buys and sells rare and hard to find speed parts from all over the west coast shows and swaps. Getting back to the plate the reason my dad used the name sleepers was  because all the guys lived in what was then called Sleepy Valley which was in East Los Angeles east of Dog Town housing projects, south of El Sereno Hills and north of City Terrace hills along the hwy 10 corridor. My dad cruised a 39 Chevy business coupe.

Mondial

Full Fairing.

Knife at Gunfight

Someone brought a knife to a gunfight. Just kidding I like vettes up to about 69, but that Porsche will do everything a car should in spades yesterday and today.

The Duchess

Me chasing the sun. This amazing photo was taken by Maurice van den Tillaard aka The Flying Dutchman. We scheduled a photo shoot last February , after meeting at my buddy Rene Astengo's home. Photo session produced content for three different magazine articles. Currently in Airmighty spring 2011 issue. More to come on my buddy Rene Astengo's history and projects as well . The story behind the name Dutchess is that a English Duke owned the car here in L.A.

Road to Rennsport

Got back to Ben's for top end assembly. We glued solder to piston dome, assembled cylinders and head rotated motor to crush solder then measure crushed solder acheive deck height. CC'd the heads, measure 62cc did math compression ratio 9.2 to1. Flywheel endplay checked and perfect. Timing cover on, ready for valve lifters and pushrod geometry check.

God Bless U.S.

Do your thing Jimmy Dean

What do these three gentlemen have in common beyond the obvious .  Being true to themself  and their  love of motorsports brought a truth and integritity to their craft that transcended the art.

Red Head

Found this pic somewhere on the interweb , I cant remember ever seeing a Testa Rosa with a roof on. This does look very cool though. If any body has a period pic of this car with a roof let me know. I have had the pleasure of standing next to one at start up and the sound of that 12 cylinder is nothing short of amazing.

Auto Vernacular

We can find many of todays automotive terminology  in the pages of history. A Phaeton #539 and a Brougham #540 are still a Phaeton and Brougham. Coachwork is coachwork.

Happy B-Day Luv Bug

Happy Birthday Luv Bug, daddy loves you.

Road to Rennsport

Spent the weekend helping my good friend Ben Salazar of Der Kliener Panzers fame. He has a 12.5 sec. 105mph Qtr. mile 67 beetle street car more on that car down the road. So I helped him find this low production 69 Long wheelbase sunroof 912 a few years back. He drove the car awhile and decided to rebuild the motor. He got a hold of old big bore kit 86mm pistons and a hotter cam with straight cut gears. With a lightened flywheel and balanced & blueprinted parts this car should move well. With a deadline for Rennsport we need to get it done.