Where were you on Friday night, July 9th? If you were at Chuy's in Simi Valley then you were in the right place!. Like a finely tuned engine, the Coachmen Car Club put on great event to celebrate the newly U.S. Senate declared National Collector Car Appreciation Day! With Skeeter Radar at the helm and the help of Chuy's Mesquite Broiler in Simi Valley California, local car clubs, and some help from WestCoastGearHeads.com well over 340 cars and GearHeads attended this special event.
National Collector Car Day Resolution #513 was suggested by the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) to promote the automotive restoration business. Here's what Chris Kersting of SEMA had to say about this Day -
“We’re pleased that our elected officials in Washington recognize the positive impact that the automotive industry has made,” said Chris Kersting, SEMA president and CEO. “The resolution and special day give car collectors an opportunity to celebrate their passion for cars and trucks of every era. It also reaffirms the important role that automobiles have played in our cultural heritage.”
(http://www.sema.org/sema-enews/2010/...preciation-day)
You can expect a special event like this one on July 9th of each year in your area as the news gets out!
As we walked about the parking lot learning some great stories about the people and their cars, the live band was playing 70's era music from big bands such as Journey, Tom Petty, and more. It was a concert in itself!
Keep reading... we took tons of pictures!
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Here is a nice article that was printed in the Ventura County Star in the Communities pull-out section on June 2, 2010!
Article by: Margaret Nesbitt - Columnist for the Ventura County Star
I have never taken a particular interest in automobiles. They were simply something that got me from one place to another. I admired some of the colors and the lines of the car, but that is where it remained.
If a car was to be purchased, it was bought by my husband or family member for me. I could not see myself haggling over the price or being concerned about the mileage. I simply left it to someone else.
I did not imagine that this interest in cars would change dramatically in the latter part of my life, but it has. A week or so back, I was invited by my friend Lee Horn to accompany him in a parade of Mustang cars to Santa Barbara for the Wheels and Waves Car Show. He has been a longtime collector of classic cars, and this time he would be driving a 1968 Mustang in the parade. I love new experiences so I met him at the appointed place where the Tri-County Mustang Club was congregating for the parade. Different colors, different styles — it was a candy jar for the car enthusiast.
We drove together up Pacific Coast Highway toward Santa Barbara, each car conforming to the speed limit and trying to avoid the copious potholes along the way. I truly thought Lee’s car was the prettiest. It was presidential blue. The leather interior shone, and the chrome features competed for attention. It was, quite obviously, a car that had received loving attention through the years. I was proud to be sitting in the passenger seat of this beauty.
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Article by 'Julie GT07CS':
West Coast GearHeads has been talking about planning a cruise after a Johnny Rockets Camarillo meet sometime this summer to the Murphy Auto Museum in Oxnard. Take a look at this article and you'll see there are some pretty significant old cars on display!
From the Murphy Auto Museum website:
http://www.murphyautomuseum.org/
The Murphy Auto Museum is a non-profit museum that boasts a collection of over 50 cars displayed by many collectors from the tri-county area surrounding Oxnard, California. It houses a wide variety of classic and special interest vehicles.
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Ventura County's own Swift Racing!
http://swiftrace.com/SwiftSite/Press...wift_PR_13.htm
h-anticipated 2010 NORRA Mexican 1000. Competing in separate classes, the team’s three vintage race vehicles were each driven by different generations of the Swift family. Assisted by the team’s outstanding group of friends and crew, the captains of the Swift armada included Ray Swift in his 1958 Edsel, John Swift behind the helm of the team’s recently acquired 1972 Oldsmobile “Banshee” and the youngest Swift, Jonathan in the team’s vintage 1973 VW Gator buggy.
(Picture: 1972 Oldsmobile “Banshee”)
The three-day, rally-style event was a throwback to the historic 1967 Mexican 1000 and featured many off-road racing legends. Names like Parnelli Jones, Walker Evans, Bruce Meyers and...
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Just received my Westways magazine from AAA and it has an interesting article in it about obsolete vehicle features. What do you think? Can you think of more features that will eventually be phased out of vehicles? Here are the specific features with my own personal view on the subjects.
1. Ashtrays and lighters. We car lovers need more outlets for our electrical gadgets! Plus, this is California, who smokes anymore?
2. Bench seats. Ahh yes, bench seats. As a woman, I miss a bench seat in a car so I can sit close to my hunny. 
Cars have gotten so sporty now, we all want race car seats instead!
3. Mechanical door locks. Just another reason for a man to be able to hold something in his hand and have full control . They are handy when my arms are full of shopping bags, though.
4. Manually adjustable outside mirrors. I will NOT miss this feature! Who the heck wants to open the window doing mach 2 and mess your hair up?
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Bangastang.com offers unique affordable accessories and valuable knowledge about the Ford Mustang world. They strive to bring you innovative quality products that are installation friendly, visually appealing, functional and affordable.
Check out their website at http://www.BANGASTANG.com
They write some interesting blogs as well - take a look here...
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On Saturday May 1st, Ray McClelland, owner of Full Throttle Kustomz pulled together a few GearHeads and organized a cruise that started in Simi Valley, did all the cool twisties through Mulholland Drive and Decker Canyon down to Neptune's Net on PCH for lunch then led us back up the twisites right by the Rock Store and finished at the Sagebrush Cantina in Calabasas for dinner and live music.
Joining us was John Temple with Legend Mustangs (http://www.legendmustangs.com). Temple Performance Cars are known for their unique style and extreme power. It was a treat to spend time with John!
Julie posted up some pictures from the cruise (see below).
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Our morning started off very overcast on Sunday! Weather report called for upwards of 75* so I was keeping my fingers crossed for the sun to break through. I actually like some fog better than blazing sun so I was good with it. Some hard core car guys tend to not want to leave their garage until the sun is out and shining! So we had a lot of late-comers to the meet.
There was an interesting mix of cars that showed up this time! Everything from a turbo-charged Smart Car (talk about a sleeper!) to a Dodge Viper ACR. I am amazed every month to watch what is driving in. That is a big part of the fun, you never know what is going to show up!
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It's always a treat to see the results of a project born in someone's personal garage. It's even better to watch the progress from start to finish. No this isn't a magazine article advertising sponsored products that some lucky GearHead has installed for free at a shop. Ron carefully researched the specifics and put his own hard earned cash on the line. Let's read along as Ron drops the IRS from his 2003 Mustang Cobra and starts his upgrade.
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Wow, thanks to all of you who showed up at the car meet hosted by Johnny Rockets Camarillo on Sunday March 28th! The weather was GREAT (I have the sunburn to prove it!). Although there were a couple of other local events / shows on the same day, we had a great turnout and the cars in attendance were incredible! Lots of new faces we were certainly pleased to meet! Please keep spreading the word and make this YOUR Ventura County Monthly Meet at Johnny Rockets Camarillo! - Julie
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This event has become quite popular in Ventura County. CRUIZIN' with Johnny Rockets Camarillo Car Meet / Show is the next happenin' thing and you are a part of it! We want you to talk it up and protect it as your own; this meet is for all of us.
We encourage clubs with cars that fit the below theme to bring and show their cool cars. If you have an eye-catching car, you know what spectators like to see so, we need your help to discourage common looking cars from coming to the event unless they plan to park in the spectator parking area.
Be sure to drop in Johnny Rockets for some great food! While there, thank them for sponsoring this event!
I think you would agree that event guidelines are important. Please review the below so you know and understand how to help promote the theme of "CRUIZIN' with Johnny Rockets Camarillo."
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I have the pleasure of knowing Charlie and his family. Charlie was a member of our local 4H club for years while our kids were in. His mother is a very good friend of mine. I thought you guys would like to read a bit about Charlie and maybe keep tabs on his career! (Picture: F3 Euroseries Round 1- Hockenheim)
Source: The Camarillo Acorn
Website: http://www.thecamarilloacorn.com/news/2 ... s/030.html
"Race car driver Charlie Kimball doesn't panic easily.
Whether driving 185 miles per hour on the narrowest of race tracks or forgoing admittance to Stanford University to pursue his dream of becoming an Indy Car racer, Kimball knows what it means to focus on the finish line and stay calm under pressure.
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Some of us bolt-on power under the hood, others go for an exhaust mod and new springs to lower the ride. But, that's not good enough for Kevin (aka Blind). Kevin rips up the the Auto-X track as frequently as he can with his 1997 Mustang GT. He already has suspension mods and a Cobra motor swap along with a few other goodies. It was time to look for a different performance edge.
Recently, a deal came along that Kevin just couldn't pass up. Let's check-in with him to see what he is doing this time -
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After several months of planning, design, and testing, WestCoastGearHeads.com has a new home. We've moved to a new server and completely reconfigured the website with new Content Management and Forum software. We are excited to be among the first to install and use vbulletin v4.0, which was just released in December 2009. Checkout the site and let us know what you think.
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This GearHead installed some serious ponies in his '89 Mustang Coupe. Blind (aka Kevin) opted to go the turbo route with a fresh motor. Kevin is a true GearHead; all of his work is done in his own garage with his own tools (when I'm done borrowing them. lol)
I'll let Kevin tell the story.
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As a kid, I was one of those that focused on going fast but, didn't spend too much time worrying about how to stop quick. My first car was a '66 Mustang 6cyl to V8 drive line conversion that put the car into the 12's at the drag strip. I was very lucky that I didn't need the brakes to perform! With today's cars, upgrading brake performance is pretty much standard practice for most GearHeads. Check this article by SVTRonDogg, who did a 4-corner upgrade and caliper paint. Nice job Ron!
Ron tells us what he did.
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On Da Map! We had planned for 30+ cars, hoped for 50+ but, after going through the pictures taken and counting cars we couldn't find a pic of, we had approximately 100 cars and 1 motorcycle in attendance, not including the fire trucks!! Everyone Julie and I talked to said they enjoyed the friendly and sociable environment and said that they plan to bring more cars with them on February 28th, our next car meet at Johnny Rockets. We had a great time and couldn't have pulled it off without all of you!
Check this website for updates on the next Johnny Rockets Camarillo car meet on February 28th and other events. Here are some pics with more to come by this weekend
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