Maura O'Connell "Western Highway" & that Nevada Road

Years ago I spent some time at a cattle ranch in the Surprise Valley, which is a narrow slice of irrigated, alfalfa-growing flatland tucked up there on the northeast edge of California. Most of the ranch's grazing sprawled out into BLM land in the adjacent Nevada desert. Just received these photos from our Nevada correspondent of that wonderful wide open road, Hwy 447 that runs up to the Surprise Valley from I-80 just west of Reno. Remind me and sometime I 'll tell you the story of my only gunfight, which happened in the parking lot of a Denny's in Reno in 1976. I wasn't the gun. Meanwhile, try the Irish singer Maura O'Connell's wonderful "Western Highway"

"This being 447 heading north to Cedarville, which probably hadn't been paved back when you were around here...in this iteration a major inspiration for my '45 Chevy, though lacking storage I still haven't brought it up [the woodrats are a major disincentive].  We do this most every week we're on the desert, going for groceries in Alturas..." --MSM

Or Gallery, Vancouver. Mitsubishi and VW vans.

Walking to work in Vancouver this morning: this wall belongs to the Or Gallery, on Hamilton Street in the West End.

People here say it's the first blue sky day in weeks. Everything is pretty green---the West Coast rainforest--so I believe them. One thing you see a lot of in Vancouver and on the Island are these gnarly little 4WD vans, usually Mitsubishis, imported from Japan, righthand steering  and all.

And British Columbia has always been a protected environment for VW vans of all vintages. It ought to be a UNESCO World Heritage zone for ageing veedubs.

49 Mercury & 57 Chevrolet

I guess  the 1949 Merc and 1957 Chevy are the classic duo of hotrod-dom. Certainly the most done cars: you could make it a trio with a '32 Ford coupe. It's difficult to come up with a fresh take on these vehicles but Dan Picasso in Texas--and a guy in Alberta whom we don't know--certainly have.


from our West Texas correspondent, Dan Picasso:
"I put this together for Rod and Kustom magazine-  remember magazines?-- in '06.  Based on a 4 door sedan, 4-inch chop, Plymouth business coupe C pillars, Kelvinator- style tailgate swinging aside, Cadillac sombreros, flathead, 97s, so on and and so forth. Wish someone would build it!"--DP

Check out another Mercury truck that Autoliterate came across last summer in Nova Scotia. Speaking of the True North, Alex Emond found the downsized 1957 Chevrolet in Banff, Alberta.

"I know that these 57 Chevys make you snore but this one is worth a double-take. Some guy with a lot of skill and time managed to shorten this car by a quarter and make it look seamless._--AE 

Launching a Cape Dory 25 in Maine

Scout went into the Benjamin River last Monday, at the Sedgwick Town Landing. Bill Grant set the mast, we rigged her pretty fast, then splash. Having a boat in the water is like keeping a hand in the poker game: no one wants to sit around and just watch. I spent a few afternoons this week getting the engine on (6 hp Nissan outboard) and various etceteras, like sails. Tuned the rigging a bit, with help from Teke Wiggin, Today sailed from Benjamin R. up Eggemoggin Reach to her mooring in Center Harbor. Beautiful blue sky day, SE wind 10-12 knots.

1951 Pontiac Rat

Our Alberta/Saskatchewan correspondent Alex Emond met this monster'd Pontiac at a show n' shine in Banff last weekend. I like the basic paintwork and the restrained style of the car. It may seem strange to be talking about "restrained" style when you're on 4 tires that large but the rattish Pontiac pulls it off, somehow. Canadian understatement, eh? It works.

At the same show: not sure what this rig is, or was. A late 30s Chevrolet 1/2 ton?

A

1964 Willys 4x4

from our Nevada correspondent:
"October 1978; my 1964 Willys 4x4 panel truck outside Gerlach, NV.  Last year of the old body stye, it had the Buick six that was to go into the super-ugly Wagoneer that debuted the next year, which made it quite quick.  Warn hubs, overdrive... it woulda/shoulda been a keeper but I rolled it on the Bay Bridge in 1979....thirty four years later I'm 20 miles the other side of that mountain behind Gerlach and the kid in the window is about 20 miles SW of Kandahar, Afghanistan until September." --MSM

Jeep Station Wagon at Blue Hill Garage

                                                                                         photo Isla Miller©2012

Went on a fishing trip with my father in Quebec in 1966. The guide had one of these. Forget the fish, all I wanted to do was drive the Jeep.