Labor Day

Talk about being a part of 2 different worlds in one day... I started Sunday morning by going to the Vintage Fall Festival at Lime Rock Park. I ended my day at a demo derby at a state fair.

The Vintage Fall Festival is still a great event, but things have changed over the years. The car show used to be a much more inclusive event. An event where Ferraris, Maseratis, Lamborghinis and classic Jags shared the space with "mundane" classics. It's becoming more of a "high class" event. There's nothing wrong with that, it's great to see cars that are worth 50K and up, but I miss the Lancias, MGBs, Opel GTs, Triumph Spitfires, Corvairs, etc, etc., that used to share the space with the expensive classics.

All-in-all I had a great time and I'll be back next year, but I hope Lime Rock encourages some of the "lesser classics" to come back, too.

What can I say about a demo derby? They smash cars. My 9 year old son wanted to go. I've never been to one before.

So, after spending the first half of the day at Lime Rock Park looking at beautiful cars and hearing live jazz perfectly mixed over an impressive sound system, I ended the day at a state fair watching old cars smash into each other and hearing Lynyrd Skynyrd and Charlie Daniels being blasted over two blown speakers mounted on a telephone pole.

For very different reasons I had fun at both.

Anyway, just a couple of quick "customized" cars today...

1957 Hillman Minx - I almost scrolled right past this car. I figured it was an old Hillman with a V6 in its nose and a nice paint job. Cool, but done many times before.

Wrong.

Take a look at the listing. Yes, this is an old Hillman with a V6 in its nose, but there's a whole lot more to the car, including, impressively, an entirely new, modern interior.

Click here to see the listing.

1959 Fiat 1100 4dr With A Toyota Engine and 5 Speed Transmission - I've read bout this type conversion before, although I think it was with a Nissan drivetrain. If done right, what you end up with is a very unique looking car that's reliable and fairly easy to get drivetrain parts for.

This car needs a lot of work but, if you have the guts to take it on, the price ($500.00) is right.

Located in San Antonio, TX, click here to see the Craigslist listing.

A big thanks to Just A Car Geek reader, Matthew, for pointing out this car!