2012 Pacific Coast Dream Machines - continued
April 28-29, 2012
The breadth of brands and models were impressive: Corvette, Mercury, Porsche, Impala, Mustang, Bentley, Camaro, Buick, Ford, Cadillac, Duesenberg, Packard… there was even a Ford F-100, a 1940s Chevy panel van, and an retro Ford van.
And then we turned to the flying machines. A helicopter, a 1920s biplane, and two World War II planes buzzed overhead (and landed). There on the tarmac were parked a myriad of flying machines: an olive green World War II bomber contrast with the shiny unpainted one. The world’s smallest plane (~7 feet long) sat next to one of the largest helicopters I’ve ever seen. Originally used for logging in remote areas, the downturn in the logging industry led the helicopter owner to explore other markets, namely fire fighting. The gigantic orange helicopter has fought fires in Greece, Malaysia, and all over Central and South America. It looked like it was strong enough to rip a house off of its foundation.
And there all in a row sat a series of World War II fighters, all brightly painted, with propellers angled up toward the sun. One of the more impressive planes was a French one from 1910s. The pilot steered the vintage plane by pulling on long cords attached to the wings – no flaps. YIKES. The pilot – dressed in period- correct flying uniform – explained that back in the day, they were shipped on railroad flatcar to their destination and then flown locally by their courageous pilots.
All of a sudden it was noon, and we hadn’t seen that many cars – more than half the show remained. We finished up hanging out with the flying machines and made our way back. In the middle of all the cars were two sets of interesting machines: military vehicles including Jeeps, a half track, and a deuce-and-a-half, and a bunch of crazy machines including a motorcycle with a semi-truck driveline and a 1930s speedster made on the chassis of a semi-truck. Call that the Mad Max section.
We made our way down to the West Coast Willys section, where more than a dozen Willys Wagons, Trucks, and Jeepsters sat parked all in a row. Equally important, one of the members was hosting a BBQ. We tossed our steaks on the grill and sat down on the tailgate to talk cars. After lunch we wandered back among all of the other cars: Buicks, Fiats, Camaros, Corvettes, Porsches, Mercedes, Nomads, F-100s, El Caminos, Power Wagons, VW Bugs, and yes – even a Model A. Suddenly it was time for the Demolition Derby! The entire day was simply spectacular.
