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Our car weekend continued with something radically different than the others, but still very cool.

Chicago’s west side neighborhood of Pilsen has since the 1980s been primarily a Mexican neighborhood. The Slow and Low Festival celebrates the culture and art of the lowrider  culture and community of Pilsen.

 

 

They emphasize it is not just a car show, but a celebration of the culture.

 

 

As a car fan I was really looking forward to the show, knowing it would feature great restorations and modifications, yet be different than the other shows, and it did not disappoint.

 

 

I was expecting all low rider cars with hydraulics and hoping cars, but was pleasantly surprised by the number of sedans from the 1930s and 1940s.

 

 

All had high quality restorations with some added characteristics.

 

 

They lined the (closed) street for about 1/2 mile.

 

 

Most of the people belonged to car clubs, many of which were located in the suburbs.

 

And yes, there were a number of rides with the tiny wheels and crazy hydraulics.

 

 

The paint jobs were stunning.

 

 

Why use a jack when you have  hydraulics to lift the front tire off the ground.

 

 

Check out the wheels on this Chevy.

 

 

The thermador car coolers use the cooling qualities of vaporization to transfer heat out of the car.

Popular in the southwestern states and Mexico, it was featured on a number of the cars and trucks at the Slow and Low.

 

 

A conga line of cars.

 

 

Notice the great ironwork on the grill. There were a number of bicycles on display using this same technique.

 

 

Eyebrows? We had a great time checking out the cars and the Slow and Low Lowrider festival.

 

 

 

Our car weekend continued on Saturday morning. As previously noted the small city of Auburn, Indiana was home to three of the most iconic car companies of all time, Auburn, Cord and Dusenberg.

The Auburn Automobile Company started out, like many, making carriages before moving over to cars around 1900. Along the way they purchased other car manufacturers including Cord and Dusenberg.

 

 

 

The factory and offices are still in existence in Auburn, serving as museums.

 

 

Each Labor Day weekend they have a festival where a few hundred of the cars make their way back to Auburn.

 

 

You see them parked at the museum.

 

 

Their sleek 1930s style are unrivaled.

 

 

 

Nearly all of the cars present have been restored.

 

 

Most of the cars today pale in comparison when it comes to styling.

 

 

An old faded Coca Cola sign painted on a building provides the prefect backdrop as we transport back to 1935.

 

 

On Saturday morning the local park featured all of them getting ready for a parade.

 

 

Coupes, sedans and ragtops were all represented.

 

 

While a number of them were from out of state, most were from Indiana.

 

 

A roadster with the rumble seat.

 

 

A lot of bling on the front for lights.

 

 

A few of the owners had period dress for the day (at least the hat was).

 

 

This was the year of the Speedster.

 

 

The cars were separated in judging from fully original (or restored) and modified – as this one has been.

 

 

The park was filled with them.

 

 

Another Speedster

 

 

Dress to match the car.

 

 

The park was a great setting for the display, much better than the streets – better backgrounds.

 

 

The Cords are known to have some of the first retractable headlights ever.

 

 

An earlier Auburn model.

 

 

 

A Supercharged Auburn (as most Speedsters were).

 

 

What a beautiful morning in the park with so many amazing cars.

 

 

For this guy, he could just hang out on the running board of his Dusey!

 

 

 

Baltimore has two historic towers, made for vastly different purposes.

First up is the Phoenix Shot Tower. When completed in 1828 it was the tallest structure in America, rising to a height of 234′.

A shot tower was used to make bullets by carrying the molten lead to the top of the tower and dropping chunks of it down the height. The falling motion formed them into round balls, where at the bottom they landed in vats of water.

 

 

 

 

The interior was a massive staircase with the open space for the projectiles to fall.

 

 

 

The manual elevator had a unique emergency brake, essentially used to slow it enough for someone to get it stopped.

 

 

 

While there are taller buildings in Baltimore, the Phoenix Shot Tower still stands out.

 

 

 

Nearby is the Bromo Seltzer Clock Tower. Rising 289′ above the streets the clock tower was used as offices for the Bromo Seltzer Company, as well as offering all of Baltimore the Time of Day since 1911.

 

 

 

There are 4 large clock hands.

 

 

 

The original hands are on display inside the clock tower.

 

 

 

Which is still letting the people of Baltimore know what time it is.

The World’s Fair has been held in New York City twice, once in 1939 and a second time in 1964-65. Both times it occurred in the Queens at the Flushing Meadows Park.

There are only a few reminders of what once was, but they are very cool.

First up – The Unispehere. Viewable from the entire area it makes an impressive entrance sight.

 

 

 

As you arrive from the subway station  you are greeting with some mosaics in the sidewalk. The one pictures shows the building that was the New York City Pavilion in 1939, now the Queens Museum.

 

 

Nearby is the United States Tennis Association’s complex including the 30,000 seat Arthur Ashe Stadium.

 

 

 

Within the Queens Museum is a 10,000 square foot model of New York City with over 900,000 individual buildings.

 

 

 

Still remaining from the fair are the towers from the New York State Pavilion. Little used (except in the movie Men in Black), they are rusting away.

 

 

 

As we walked back to the 7 Train to Manhattan we passed the Corona Rail Depot and a stunning number of subway cars.