“My tortured brain flowed with adrenaline, anticipating the adventure ahead while battling the effects of jetlag after the 13 hour flight across the Pacific as I made my way through the hustle and bustle of LA life. I finally reached my destination, the home of my recently purchased black 1950 Mercury coupe! As I swung open the driver’s side door, I thanked my American friend for all his help with the purchase of my new dream machine and sunk into the freshly upholstered white vinyl bench seat and fired her up. She sounded good! Read More →
It’s a rockabilly Christmas party!
It’s that time of year again as the jolly man with his led sled full of custom gifts for all the good rockabilly boys and girls rolls into the final Rats, Tatts n Pinups event for the year at the Chelsea Heights Hotel! He’s here to bring Christmas cheer to all the hard working Kingpin Kuztum team and their loyal band of fans! Little does he know they’ve been celebrating the good times on a regular basis, at least once a month if not more!! No wonder his sled is so light on with pressies!! They’ve all been bad but they are good at it! Sorry guys, doesn’t count!!
The Green Phaeton!
Growing up in the home of Australian hot rodding, Castlemaine in central Victoria, Kelvin Waddington’s direction in life was inevitably skewed towards the modified car scene, in particular, the hot rodding scene. “I joined the local hot rod club when I was 12 here in Castlemaine and I’ve been messing around with cars since I was 10 years old. I did my spray painting apprenticeship at a local smash repair shop and then I started my own paint and panel business that I’ve now been involve in for 36 years! My two boys, Marc and Heath run the company now and have expanded into the full workshop and aftermarket parts business you see here” he explains.
A new twist to an old s’cool theme!
As 2016 rocks and rolls its way into the twilight of its conclusion, we find ourselves in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Doncaster, overlooking the hazy hue of the city in the distance. Stepping away from the traditional wide open carparks we’ve become accustomed to, we find ourselves confronted with a multi-level complex giving a new dimension and twist to the traditional style parking. Rob being the kind of guy to not shy away from a challenge, took it in his stride and produced a unique layout of cool rides, trade stands and food venues giving the rockabilly scene more of a street festival than the tried and tested ground level parties we’ve become accustomed to.
The love of a fine classic!
“I always had this passion to bring back a classic car from the United States and initially, as I love surfing, I was considering a woody of some kind. I was thinking of a Chrysler Town and Country which was a two door vehicle with wooden panelling. I was out in Livonia, Michigan, about an hour out of Detroit and I saw one up there but it was in so many pieces and would be so much work, I just couldn’t have done it. The next day I went to the Henry Ford museum (Greenfield Village) and onto the Ford Rouche plant where they make the F150 and they have a display of finished Ford classics in their foyer and the last car on display was a 1955 T bird which I fell in love with! On my last day in Detroit before flying back home, I decided to look at the classifieds in Detroit and there was a T bird for sale just down the road in a warehouse. Read More →
Waltzing Matilda on the wild side!
Waltzing Matilda Hotel in Springvale was the latest ALH venue to host Rats, Tatts n Pinups and their five band line up. Located in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, the venue’s large parking area filled up very quickly with the usual array of old school eclectic rods n rides as well as a good gathering of custom and classic bikes!
A/FX Fairlane: Birth child of the Thunderbolt!
A/FX Fairlane tribute
Drag racing in the early sixties became so popular in America it caught the attention of the major automotive manufacturers as a way of “racing on Sunday and selling on Monday.” For this reason, NHRA was forced to restructure the rules by introducing a new class in order to differentiate between the mass produced race cars known as Super Stocks and “special equipped” cars where by basically bigger cubic inch engines were shoehorn into the smaller lighter weight bodies of their respective makes in order to go faster and win.
The introduction of the A, B and C/FX classes allowed the automotive manufacturers to experiment with various engine/ body combinations on the drag strip before committing to mass production of the successful combinations for youth orientated factory built muscle cars. FX refers to “factory experimental” while the initial letter classes the cars according to the vehicle’s weight per cubic inch of the engine inserted into its engine bay.
Fathers Day in the park!
W
hat better place could a dad be on Fathers Day than down in St. Kilda at The Greatest Show On Wheels! One didn’t have to be interested in the automotive world to appreciate the fantastic scene that beheld them as they approached O’Donnell park located next to the iconic Luna Park!
Warming up and blowing out in Melbourne town!
Cool cars at The Sandown Park Hotel!
As I sat in my hotel room on Sunday morning at my makeshift work station, lap top open editing the previous night’s photography from the warm up party at The Monash Hotel, my mind wandered over the events of the evening. While there was a hive of activity in the venue itself thanks to the two great rockabilly bands scheduled to entertain the patrons throughout the evening, local heroes Itchy Fingers and the highly anticipated Queensland five piece, A Band Called Twang, the car park itself remained fairly quiet with a handful of dedicated cruisers braving the chilly night air to come on down for a look and a listen. Don’t get me wrong, the variety of rides spread amongst the tree-lined parking lot were pretty cool in their own rite, from a tough 67 Chevelle, a matt black custom 49 Merc through to a ground scraping Beetle and a traditional style flathead roadster contrasting against the big American classics glistening under the street lights just to paint a picture for you! Shining a like a beacon in the night was the distinctive red and white coffee van of Betty & Ruby, on hand for anyone looking to warm up their hands and hearts around a hot brew! Read More →
Geelong opens its gates to The Big Bad Wolf!
The Gateway Hotel opened its doors to the traveling Kingpin Kuztum rockabilly festival aptly titled Rats, Tatts n Pinups last Saturday with much acclaim!
Although a stiff southerly wind rustled a few feathers and threatened to put a dampener on proceedings, history will show you that nothing slows down the pace of a red hot, high rolling, rockabilly rumble with all the trimmings when Rob and the gang are in full swing!
Caprice Photography Automotive Art 