the essence

It's that time of year again... The time to think about the things that really matter. The things that matter in life, of course, but as a carnut, I can't help thinking about the things that matter in carlife, too. Things like simplicity, purity, the essence of mechanics. There are few cars that capture this as good as a traditional fenderless 1932 ford roadster. Photo taken in early december 2009 at Custom Parts & Wear in Mellingen, Switzerland.

happy holidays

The LOWTECH staff wishes you all a merry x-mas and a happy new year. May all of your wishes come true...

winfield's sled

Just found this cool period picture on my computer... A mild chevy hardtop coupe, a beautiful custom merc and a hot rodded truck waiting alongside a country road. No idea about the whereabouts of those rides until I realized that the filename included the words winfieldmerc... Well, no more questions. And after a little research I ended up on Rik Hoving's Custom Car Photo Archive where I was confirmed that the Merc used to be one of Winfield's personal rides.

belly tank lakester

By pure coincidence, I dug up this old ebay auction from last month. It's one of the most beautiful belly tank lakesters and a great piece of history with impressive craftmanship. Fortunately, there are still lots of amazing shots from literally every angle and even a video. According to bringatrailer.com the price went up to at least $75k.

more mooneyes x-mas 2009

Don't know why I overlooked it, but here's some more excellent mooneyes x-mas show coverage by Speedhunters.com.
*Update: Tons of pics by ScooterMcRad found on the HAMB.
*Update II: Another batch of brilliant pics was published on Speedhunters.com.

hot rod henry's

++ X-mas special at Hot Rod Henry's ++ Lowering blocks $2.99, moon hub caps $11.95! Don't waste your money and time looking elsewhere – Hot Rod Henry's got it all! Authorized Fenton dealer. ++ End of Commercial Break ++

mooneyes x-mas 2009

I miss So-Cal... even if it looks like it's actually been raining at Mooneyes X-mas. But what the hell, head over to Speedhunters.com and soak up the atmosphere.

girls and cars

For decades, that's a combination known to work well. And how cool is it, if the girls are actually driving the car? Notice the old Barris building in the background of this awesome picture I found on the web. Have a nice week!

indian summer

Yesterday, Nicolas Wolleb aka Nico59 took a couple of pics of my '49 coupe. He's so talented and there are a lot of more shots on his harddrive waiting to be published.

open house & x-mas party

Some of the best cakes around, lots of nice people, great artists and a cool location? That's the annual open house & x-mas party at Custom Parts & Wear in Mellingen. See you there. By the way, the Go Getters are gonna be on stage.

dragmasters bbq

While checking out Roger Starkey's pics of the Dragmasters BBQ from a couple of years ago, I stumbled across this cool unrestored roadster. The BBQ was hosted by Dode Martin, drag race legend and co-founder of the Dragmaster company. But what also intrigued me was that maroon 1949 chevy coupe in the background...

a picture with attitude

What a cool shot. And she's got so much more attitude than many of those cloned wannabe pin-ups. Photography by Etienne Musslin.

a picture with a story

The pic above always used to be one of my favourite car culture related shots. I found it as a postcard in a gift shop I don't remember where and attached it to my refrigerator door, where it still is. My whole relation to this photograph changed in january when I visited fellow ACES member Bob Hill, son of the ACES founder Bob Hill Sr. who had started the car club in 1952. During my visit, we went to check out his garage where I spotted the very same photograph I got in my kitchen but in bigger size. I told Bob that I know that picture. But Bob told me, he knows the guys on that picture. Especially the third from the right: his dad.