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It Was a Very Good Summer

The 2009 Inland Northwest car show season is coming to a close. We'll remember it as being a pretty nice summer for cruising around in our cars, taking in the sights and sounds of small town America, visiting with folks, sitting in the shade of the old walnut tree. Sweet memories of summer will have to hold us through till spring.

Pictured above are cars of RBI customer's, Tim Pomerinke and Chuck McVey. Congratulations gentlemen on your win at the Palouse Days Show and Shine last weekend.

Small Town Parade

Chuck McVey and The Skirt took his '41 Ford to Slippery Gulch Days in Tekoa, WA. on June 20th. Here's an abbreviated version of the parade starting with the kids. Watch closely, at the beginning of the video a little "baker" eludes being tripped up by her group's wagon. Chuck's '41 shows up near the end of the video.

Gotta love a small town parade!

We had lots of time to explore town.

Went to the big breakfast at the high school,

had the grilled brots for lunch, snooped around Doresy Chevrolet. Townsfolk told us several years ago a car enthusiast from Seattle bought the building and land.

He collects and restores cars there, I guess. Scrapbooks in the museum showed Slippery Gulch parades

going back nearly 100 years. Here's Slippery Gulch Days 1948.

2009 car show.

What do you think? Good time in small town America.

Driving the '41 to Slippery Gulch Parade

On June 20th The Skirt road along with Chuck McVey in his '41 Ford to Slippery Gulch Days parade and car show in Tekoa, (Tee-co) Wa. Here's a snippet of the scenic 39 mile drive along Washington State Hwy 27.The two lane highway rolls through a variety of topography in a very short distance. Notice the pea fields. Riding in the '41 was a treat. The car performed beautifully. Chuck even passed a gal in her Camery. He had to be going around 65-70 m.p.h. I was gripping the side of the car seat, so there's no video.

Lined up for the parade.

I'll post video of the parade later this week.

Great Day In Sandpoint - Lost in the 50's

The Skirt tagged along with Chuck McVey who took his '41 Business Coupe up to Sandpoint, Idaho for their 24Th annual "Lost in the 50's" car show this past Saturday. Beautiful weather, over 400 cars, a big appreciative crowd, friendly shopkeepers and restaurateurs and good company made for an all around superb outing.

Here's a recap of our day.

You would have to be at the show pretty early to catch Paul Wingfield and Jack White waxing Paul's new Mercury - it's one low and sexy car.

Congratulations to Don and Nancy Wilbur.

Their '32 sedan took the top award in the Street Rod class.

It was nice visiting with the Ed & Mel, last years top winner in the Sports Car class with their home-built Cobra. Not sure what happened this year. They were unfortunately placed in the wrong class. Winning isn't everything to Ed and Mel, though the skirt thinks this is the first time they have lost. Now for Chuck McVey ......

He hasn't gone home empty-handed yet. Chuck McVey won 1st runner-up in Custom Rods.

Dozens of '41 devotees came up to Chuck's car for a closer look. Chuck was more than happy to answer all their questions.

Lots of great cars and people. Here are a few more things that caught our eye.

Chopped Merc - OO-LA-LA!
Sharp looking sedan. Pretty sure it took home a trophy. '27 Ford '33 Ford

"Lizzie"

a Model A with a great story and a black lab in the back seat.

'Course there was so much more, but you can't show it all.

Until next time.

Being Persnickety Pays Off

No one we know enjoys winning more than Chuck McVey. His beautiful '41 Ford Deluxe Business Coupe won its class at the Spokane Auto Boat Speed Show. Spokane Metal Finishing also picked the '41 for its Best Fit & Finish Award. We are all pleased Kim and company at Spokane Metal Finishing acknowledged Chuck's hard work. He's been like a mother hen fussing over every detail. Congratulations, Chuck!

"Von Dago"

North Idaho's "Von Dago" A.K.A. Jeff Scozzaro was in the shop this morning pinstriping the boot lid on Chuck McVey's Business Coupe.

Sorry the video is so short, the skirt was called away to the office.

Spokane Speed Show This Weekend

The Skirt caught customer Chuck McVey and Dustin in the shop Sunday givin' a spit-shine to Chuck's '41 in preparation for entry in the Spokane Auto Boat Speed Show this weekend. We're rootin' for ya, Chuck!

Starting the '41 Ford

This is the first time we started Chuck's car since he had the flathead re-built. Sorry the video is not of the highest quality. We just couldn't get the original to download which is disappointing because you can't hear the perfect clickety clack of this flathead. It clips along like a sewing machine. The video is still amusing. Click on the label and go to the Gallery section of our web site to see the full story on this beautiful, award winning car we assembled for Chuck in 2007 - 2008. We are excited to learn he plans to trailer the car to some bigger shows this summer. He should do well as nearly everyone who sees it loves it.

Our Favorites From the Goodguys - Great Northwest Nationals

Tonja DiCenzo's '64 Falcon SprintDennis Akers' '34 Ford Les Boudwyn's '67 Chevelle Dan Rennick's '55 Pontiac (Took this picture at a party Friday Night)

Don & Nancy Wilbur's '32 Sedan (Took this picture at the same party. I think Bob is pointing at the tiny bit of fabrication RBI did.)
Dennis Kelly's '64 Cobra Daytona Coupe Repro Chuck McVey's '41 Deluxe Business CoupeLarry Olson's '33 Plymouth (For a look under the hood click here.

Dennis Hunter's Glass '34

Don't know who owns this, but it's cool.
and so is this. There were half a dozen more, but couldn't get a decent photo. Of course a few of the cars pictured above spent some time in our shop and if its wrong to love a car you've worked on, then our heart just won't let us be right.

A Red-Letter Day

Saturday we went to the Airway Heights Ford Show. We followed Chuck McVey in his '41 Ford. Chuck wanted to avoid I-90, so we drove the scenic route through downtown Spokane. Snapped this just as he came up on the Bing Crosby Theater, A.K.A. The Met. The car looked and sounded great. Chuck settled his car in the designated spot then we walked around a bit, visited with folks, and took some pictures. This Ford Galaxie made The Skirt weak in the knees. Also just lovin' the funky Chevy Corvair Greenbriar right now. This one is a '62. There were a lot of very nice cars at this show, but we had appointments to keep and we were hungry. Chuck suggested The Buckhorn, which has been a going concern on Sunset Highway in Airway Heights since 1949. They served us a good old American-style breakfast. Earlier, on our way to the show Bob spied this 1992 Crown Victoria parked outside a used car lot on East Sprague. It's a part of town we seldom get to so the whole thing was serendipitist. After breakfast we were eager to get back to car. We were a little concerned it may have been sold. As you can see from the pictures we bought it. It was a very pleasant day, the kind of day when all seems right with the world and everything unfolds smoothly - for us, a red-letter day. These cars are amazing. They come with a 4.6 Modular motor with an AODE overdrive transmission. These cars routinely see 400K miles before they give up the ghost. This one had 140K and was in phenomenal shape.

Check out this interior, I think it'll look nice in ..................

Our '62 Merc Colony Park wagon. As a matter of fact, the entire chassis with running gear might well find a home here.

Flathead Love

The Inland Empire Early Ford V-8 Club picked Chuck McVey's '41 Super Deluxe Business Coupe as one of the four "Best Flatheads" at their Show & Shine this past weekend. What an honor, Chuck 'cause these guys know their stuff!

Moses Lake Spring Festival Car Show

Chuck McVey sent us this photo of his trip to the Moses Lake, Washington Spring Festival last weekend. Congratulations Chuck for winning Best Stock Car or Truck 1948 & Older with his '41 Ford Super Deluxe Business Coupe.

Chuck McVey is Lost in the '50's with his '41 Ford

Sandpoint, Idaho hosted their annual "Lost in the 50's Cruise and Car Show" this past weekend, May 16 & 17th. Despite the heat wave Chuck said he had a great time. "I met some of the nicest people." We told Chuck that having a collector car is more fun than a fishing boat.
Spokane Car Builder

Spokane Auto Boat Speed Show 2008

Pictured above are the RBI built cars which premiered at the 2008 Spokane Auto Boat Speed Show this past weekend: Chuck McVey's '41 Super Deluxe Business Coupe, Dennis Kelly's Factory Five '64 Cobra Daytona Coupe, and Martin Deeg's '55 Mercury Montclair. At RBI, we know full well the commitment of time and money it takes to build or restore a collector car. We want to thank these three men for choosing Rod Builders Inc to do the tricky stuff. It was gratifying to see each completed car at the show and know the public and show judges appreciated the craftmenship that went into each project. Chuck and his '41 are now mapping out a show schedule, Dennis and his Cobra are off to the racetrack, and the Deeg's are headed out May 1st with their Merc on a cross-country road trip. All three promise to stay in touch and send pictures. We'll pass them along. Scroll down this blog for an inside look on each build. For more on the Cobra kit car click here and read addgarage.blog.