Today was SWAP MEET DAY. I was originally slated to go with my brother-in-law and one or two of his sons but that didn’t work out. I went by myself and that was definitely a pleasure :-). I haven’t walked the swap meet by myself ever and being alone let me set my own pace, backtrack, people-watch, and absorb the historic and junky splendor of it all. I wouldn’t say that this would be an American Picker’s dream – everyone here is a picker and a plucker and they have a good idea of what they have, but just about anything that you want or think you need could be found here if you look close enough.
I had two missions today – to get insight into what I would want to do with my Uncle’s Mustang and to see if I could find a cutting torch, some good air tools and an air compressor cheap. I saw what I thought was a good Snap-On torque wrench but it was broke but still the guy wanted $60 for it.
No good air compressors, some other good tools but none to spend good money on, and no cutting torch for less than $200!!! I mean – really?
So on to the car show. The minute I walked on to the racetrack I saw the Mustangs. I was remiss in getting the names of the owners of these cars – but if you are the owner, writer me. I will give you credit, for sure – these care are awesome.
The first one I saw was a ’66 restoration that appeared to be the same color as my Uncle’s. Check it out:
It’s got the Magnum Wheels, too. I am thinking about using those in the restoration I am doing, although it was equipped with steel wheels and hubcaps from the facory. Here is another with the wire hubcaps along with a pic of the engine – maybe what my Uncle’s should look like?
An then there was my ongoing search for my Dad’s ’48 Plymouth Coupe or ’65 Pontiac Catalina. No ’48 Coupe – but here was an interesting car for sale –
1938 Desoto – But back to the Mustangs – oh, wait, here, look at this one!
It had a NYC Taxi Medallion from 1977! Cool shit, really, from back when smog was a commodity on Wall Street like pork-bellies was. Made me think of my Dad and how many times he climbed into one of these. I remember the first time I did – and every ride after that I INSISTED that I ride in the flop down seat. New Yorkers know what I am talking about.
PUNCH BUGGY RED!
PUNCH BUGGY GREEN!!!!!
So back to the MUSTANG – after the RAMBLER MARLIN DRAGSTER!!!!
This car drew a lot of interest and it’s not the first time I’ve seen it at the Swap Meet. All of these cars and all of the old crap I was looking at throughout the day kept me thinking about how much my Dad would have liked the show. Maybe we’ll figure out a way to get him back here in September!
OK – BACK TO THE MUSTANGS FOR SHIT’s SAKE –
This one was the prize winner in my opinion. My Uncle’s Mustangs’ cousin from the West Coast – a ’66 Luxury Convertible with Factory Air – and this car was gorgeous. I thought I had taken a pic of the whole car, but I’m sorry to say that I just took pics of the components that interested me the most – the engine:
I’m thinking this is how I would like the engine in my Uncle’s Mustang to look when I am done with it. Check out the factory air conditioning compressor! The luxury interior with wood trim:
Uncle Pete’s interior is accented with Aqua Blue trim and white framing – along with wood trim throughout. This interior was pristine.
All in all I had a great time. I learned a lot looking around at the restored vehicles and I stopped at CJPONY PARTS for a bit and got some good info and a catalog (gonna be spending some coin there for sure). I was completely aghast when I saw “QQ” classic car license plates on a ’76 Chevy Monte Carlo – I mean really? Am I getting that old?
So now I am planning my trip to Florida….
