For a long time, I considered owning a "historical" car akin to owning nothing. Meaning, historical cars don't actually belong to their owners. Best case, the owners are more caretakers for the general public who, for all intents and purposes, are th... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
So awesome. The Khougaz car changed me too. I jumped in it and Bob was like "We gotta put it away" and I was like "Okay" as I backed away. It wasn't a long drive. But it was a drive. We had a moment, and I'll always remember. Then I took a pic next to Walter to prove it
The Khougaz roadster changed me too. I took a trip to Simard's shop with my dad to check on the progress of his 3w, and the Khougaz roadster was there, they were working on the belly pan that day. I couldn't get it out of my head for weeks. Harm's Way's roadster is thoroughly attainable for someone. And if they take a path that avoids OVER restoration, it could be a really neat, very driveable hot rod with a really neat story.
i kick myself for never weaseling in on a visit to the dentist in crown point when he owned the khougaz roadster. i laughed when he used it in his advertising, a pic of it on a billboard with the line, "high performance dentistry" dennis has sold some cool cars over the years on the hamb. i wish he offered the 35 5 window he had when i wasn't laid off.
Sure such cars can be great investments, but..... They're still cars And they should be drivin! I dont care how historical a car is or rare and valuble a car is they all should be drivin. Especially vintage hot rods and race cars. Sure alot of rare cars are beautiful Forms of art in their own right but when they permanently sit in a museum/collection "tomb" and never get drivin its a fuckin waste. I can hear those cars like a puppy at a gate begging to be let out...
I read "Harms way's" thread about selling it and looked at his ad. I think he needs to keep it for all the reasons you listed, Ryan. But I'm on the outside looking in. He's got to do what's right for him. If it were mine, I'd try to get it back the way it looked and perhaps make it street legal. Although, if I had that much money, there are a few stretches of highway and feeder road near me that would deserve a full race blast of speed at 3 in the morning.
Some where on the board is a thread about Jim "Jake" Jacobs and his little gold "A" truck. In that thread we all kinda gravitated to how much we admire the man and it as most threads do around here veered mightily off-topic. The reason I bring this thread up is that in it, I quoted a passage written by Jim in the Winter '71 Street Rod Quarterly about driving the Niekamp car late at night. Search it, read it, remember it, live it so I don't have to quote it again in it's entirety. It, long before these cars were "historic" speaks volumes of what Ryan speaks of today.
Would this be the friend with the Ferrari you're referring to? <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AVuSf6tkfpQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
"In fact, the only time he drives the car is when the streets are empty in the early morning hours between 3am and 5am." If I tried that, I'd probably run into a deer or something!
It is astounding how well the stance/proportions work on the Khougas. it's perfect. Best looking 32 roadster ever built, Duane spencer roadster is a close second.
Damn it.....just when I was daydreaming about Khougaz someone had to mention Lusso. I've said it before but I would trade all my cars to have just one with some history. WOuldn't have to be worth much, it just would have to have enough that I could prove it's existence and reflect on what I have and where it's been.
We just bought a not well know 'historical' vehicle. In the Land Speed circles is is know. We have George Campbells Salt Circus. http://http://s1056.photobucket.com/user/Typo41/media/IMG_0058_zps25525b07.jpg.html?sort=3&o=42 I came to us because PO knew what he wanted in LSV he would have rebuilt and taken the 'soul' from the car. We need to make changes, but none that can't be put back later.
Many years ago, my brother and I would get a wild hair and go for a late night/early morning drive. His '68 Impala wasn't really fixed up, we just liked to go out late sometimes. One early Saturday morning, we're cruising Westheimer and got to the intersection of Westheimer and River oaks Blvd. River Oaks Blvd. is one of a couple street entrances to a VERY exclusive neighborhood. A cheap home there is around $1.5 mil. As we rolled up to stop, we heard muffled growls of exhaust. Then, A Lamborghini, a new Porsche 911 and a Ferrari of unknown make rolled onto Westheimer and sped away. As young car guys, we just looked and stared as they sped off. It was actually romantic.
I thought the same thing. Night critters, coon, possum, fox, coyote, etc. Everything is fixable, right? Assuming fender bender type stuff, not totaled. Fix a minor crash on the Khougaz, and it's still the Khougaz, isn't it? Must feel special to drive one (or caress one).
You will. Some friends of mine who own some very high dollar cars take them out very early on Sunday Mornings. Few things will get me up at 4am on a Sunday, a 300SL Roadster following a 250GTL and a Miura SV will.
Not a high dollar car but I used to have a pretty nice looking 61 Lincoln convertible and I used to set the alarm to a very early in the AM time and take rides with the top down. Its a very nice time to drive, even in the city.
Yes, the Khougaz roadster is one of the absolute icons of hot rodding. I first saw it at the Peterson in LA, out there for the Deuce Week festiivities in '07. Saturday morning, the big gathering, the owner had it up on the roof with a bunch of other '32s, "Just another '32?" I don't think so -- one of "The 75" and all it had for recognition was a windshield tag. Then two or three years ago I heard it was going to be at A.S.S. for the Roundup and I had to come from a long way off, just to see it. (Well, okay, San Antonio's not that far, but the Khougaz caar was the only reason I came up that year.) Feaarless
The thing you have to ask is, how did it get so rough. I have a friend who had an original 71 pro street duster and although he quit using it and sat it outside in the field behind his place, aside from rust on the acid dipped body it was not beat up. How did this car come to look like it barely survived a demolition derby? I would have to say I would have to make a driver / racer out of it too.
As the owner of two historically significant Deuce race-cars I can testify that there is a certain satisfaction of ownership. There is a problem with the fact that in reality they are pretty much static relics, that for all intents and purposes they are not practical for running. I get much more pleasure out of the cars that I have built or brought back from the dead. A car that I have invested my vision, time, blood, sweat, and tears into means more to me than the cars that will always be associated with owners from the past. Nothing wrong with making your own history.
I used to have an Auburn 810 supercharged.It was inherited from my grandmother and after 20 years of watching over that car,I gladly sold it to a man who wanted the job of taking care of it. I drove it down to the Plaza here in KC late one night and on the way back up Ward Parkway,some SOB in a 911 challenged me to a race.Much to my amazement,I blew his doors off coming out of the blocks.As I passed the Meyer Fountain,a KCMO cop flashed me the peace sign and proceeded to pull over James Dean instead.The memories are worth it,but I don't want the car back.