Event Coverage GNRS 2009 - Another View w/ Shop and Museum Photos!

Another great trip that went by way too fast!
(This trip was the first time I had ever been in California)

A couple months ago, my friends TJ (Junkboys) and Lisa called and mentioned that they were thinking about going the Grand National Roadster Show. They asked if I was interested in going and it really didn't take any thought -- of course I'd like to go!! That same day I made a call to the Sheraton and was lucky enough to get a room there. It was a great place to stay, especially being right on the Fairplex, where the show is held. The NHRA Museum is also right next door. We ended up at the hotel bar for a little while each night, met alot of new people there, and had a good time.

Less than two weeks before the show, Megan and Denise decided to join us and we started putting together an itinerary (well, Megan did, mostly ). We certainly kept busy and had a great time!
Megan, thanks for taking the time to put a bunch of this together - I know we all really appreciated it!
I had a great time with the four of you and look forward to more fun trips together!!


Throughout our time there, I met a ton of people, including many HAMB members. I don't even know where to start --- Crazy Backyard Builder spent some time with us on some of the tours. We also had a good time meeting/hanging out with T McG, Brian W, James66g, Bad Bob, Big Daddy, Scooter, met Abe Lugo and Mel (see you two in Austin!), .... I could go on and on! I enjoyed meeting everyone and look forward to seeing you all again - thanks for welcoming us. It was also great to see so many old friends. There are many of you that I wish I would have had more time to chat with -- hope to catch up with you again soon!!


I'll post photos of some of our tours on this thread and I have the feeling more will be posted later this week ....


We started off, on Thursday afternoon, at the Petersen Automotive Museum, including a trip to the Vault.




























Malcolm

 

Petersen

 

Petersen

 

A peek into the Vault

 

On Friday we made a stop at Groucho's place. It was great to meet you - Thanks for having us over and showing us around! Nice shop and nice cars.

Photos similar to these have been posted before, but I'll add them anyways....





The '32

 

We also made a stop at the Tom McIntyre collection. Thanks to Rich Venza for inviting us! ...and to Tom for showing us around - great guy.

What a cool collection - every car there! Here are just a few of my favorites--

 

A stop at the Old Crow shop -- Thanks to Bobby and Lucky for having the 'open house'! I think the spilled/broken bottle of Old Crow was a blessing in disguise

 

We also made a quick stop at Hollywood Hot Rods, right next door to Old Crow.
They were very friendly and welcomed us in.... Thanks, guys!

 

This stop was one of the highlights of the trip!

I called Dean Jeffries about a week before our trip and asked him if we could stop by his shop. He was more than happy to have us come by and we had a great time chatting with him and seeing his shop. What a cool guy with a great personality and a ton of stories! Meeting him is certainly one of those moments I will never forget.

We hung out in his office for a while and chatted, then went out to the shop to check things out. While we were in the office, we brought up the recent Jalopy Journal entries about him and Denise brought them up on his computer to show him. He mentioned a few times that he had no idea there was so much information out on the internet about him and that people were that interested in what he had done through the years.

I had searched around a little for a book about him, to have him sign it, but there really hasn't been one written (or so I thought). So, I brought my Andy Southard 'Customs of the '50s' book to have him sign.
Well, when we arrived, Dean happened to be looking through an advance copy of a book that has been written about him!

Mr. Jeffries has definitely left his mark on the automotive world -- there are so many things that he has built and done - I had no idea!

I'll let the photos say the rest:

 

Man, I could kill myself for not tagging along with you guys. I wouldn't have a reason to go back to California if I did everything you guys did. Well, that is until next GNRS!

 

You ain't kiddin about a fast trip,sorry didn't chat much. Thanks for postin these pics,we didn't get a chance to see all that. What a great show, I was blown away! Later Rob

 

A few NHRA Museum photos

 

I have about 200 more photos of the cars in the actual Grand National Roadster Show. I'll post a few now and try to get more of them on here later....

 

.....

 

great pictures! looks like you had a hell of a time. thanx for sharing

 

Great pic's Malcolm.... Wish I could have gone to the show with you guys...

 

Malcolm good to see ya.... I think we made alot of the same stops but you might have gotten to go into some better places.

 

Wow great pics Malcolm. I enjoyed hangin with you guys, it was a pleasure to meet you.
My version will be coming soon!

 

......

 

Nick ... Awesome coverage! ... thanks for taking the time to resize and post all these pics!

 

Nick ,aces man great job and what a tripe . Dean is a cool guy and man do I have some story's about him he told me.Im glad you got to meet him because it was touch and go with his health for a while.............Endsville Franco...................

 

Man, great shots, thanks for going to the trouble to share!
Looks like you had a trip you won't forget in your lifetime...

 

Cool pics Malcolm. Looks like you guys had an X-Large Time !! Thanks for sharing >>>>.

 

It looks like you had the vacation of a lifetime!! Thanks for covering all of this us to see!!

 

Nick. Great job for a CA rookie, you nailed it with your pics. *****in time was had by all!

 

Thanks for pictures. Not only did you see great cars and great people you got to hang out with two pretty ladies all week. You are one lucky dude.
Don

 

Great pictures........that flathead at HHR's is something else!

 

Malcolm- Great job. Maybe some day I'll get to experience it. Thanks a bunch for sharing. I can't imagine a trip like that and then you throw in the fact that you had the two sweeties with you. Cool beans!
Later,
****

 

Thanks for Sharing

 

Cool, man I drive by Deans shop on Cahuenga, every day but I never stopped in. Great coverage.