Ghost Rider

I like this car for its clean lines and sense of forward motion. Parking it mostly under a tree highlights the aggressive nose. 

Road trip to Kansas City today for a family event tomorrow. It's supposed to be outdoors. 104 F / 40 C here today, 105 F / 40.5 C tomorrow. Only slightly better in KC. We can bake here or bake there. I wonder if the venue will have to be moved.   

Eat This To Get That

The cuisine required to own and drive XtremeMuscleCarz. Just don't tell your personal trainer or your cardiologist.          

Street Rods

I don't know if you could actually drive these on, say, nearby I 55. The license plate in the top photo does not look like it has been valid in the State of Illinois since 1923 and using a Jack Daniels box as a trunk might attract the attention of the police. The Shelby Cobra, below, might be okay if the muffler meets government regulations.

It's not Phoenix, of course, but most people here are hiding out this week. The forecast is for high temperatures of 100 - 102 F / 38 - 39 C for the next four days. We've seen hotter in STL (the highest I remember is 106 F / 41 C) but, as they say, better get used to it.       

Fossil

The car. The fuel, and lots of it.

It's been a few years since I last shot the Catsup Festival. I remember more variety of attractions. Now it's mostly a big hot rod, custom and classic car show. I'm not sure of the year of this old Cadillac (help appreciated) but it has the look of a dreadnought. I can imagine sitting behind the wheel, windows open on a warm summer day, no seat belts, radio blaring Elvis Presley, cruising across St. Louis on Route 66....

Well, no, I can't. But it is impressive in a glitzy, heavy way.

Ms. Tomato Head

There is an odd event each summer in suburban Collinsville, Illinois. A factory there produces a local brand of catsup, Brooks. (Language debate: Heinz, the big national brand, spells it ketchup.) Just outside of town there is a tower with what is claimed to be America's biggest catsup bottle, more about which later. Anyway, it is a celebration of all things red and viscous, along with quite a large hot rod and custom car show.

Hence the hair-dos.  I think the second one is turning into a replica of the bottle. And that's not the big one in the bottom picture, just a portable model. Only in America.       

Fossil Fuels

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I went over to Collinsville, Illinois, yesterday afternoon for the annual Catsup Festival. This suburban town is home to Brooks Catsup, a local brand considered a delicacy by some back yard grillmasters. The company created the world's largest catsup bottle, disguising the plant's water tower.

I ran into Erika, the proprietress of The World's Largest Collection Of The World's Smallest Versions Of The World's Largest Things. The has a traveling exhibit of what I just said, collecting photos and miniatures along her way. She's from Lucas, Kansas, which is way out there. We've met at the festival before. Her vehicle (Kansas license plate ART CAR) is a celebration of gas-guzzling American life. She's a genuine original.