Mustang Maniac

Route 66 – part 15

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

We have left the bright lights of Las Vegas and heading for the last part of our journey to Los Angeles in California. The journey was a long painfully slow drive due to the Easter holiday traffic so we have been told. During the trip, we decided to stop of for something to eat at the legendary Peggy Sue’s. Peggy Sue’s is an original roadside Diner, built in 1954 with 9 counter stools and 3 booths. It is set in the shadow of the Calico Mountains and was built from railroad ties and mortar from the nearby Union Pacific Rail yard. Peggy has used her grandmothers recipes for the authentic 50’s food. The have even built their own Diner-saur park with sculptures of dinosaurs, water falls, fountains grass and trees to have a wonder through. The inside is dedicated to all sorts of movie and music memorabilia and is an essential stop of point, if only for the atmosphere.

The rail yard with some important looking freight.

We needed some fuel after our lunch, maybe this was going to be our last stop and we were filling up on average about $30 a time. Not bad at all considering how we get robbed by the UK government at up to 60% tax per litre. Sorry had to get that little dig in their considering the UK pays the highest tax amounts on fuel in the World.

We eventually arrived at Anaheim and caught a very nice sunset on the way in.

Posted in Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged Anaheim, California, Diner-saur, fuel tax, Las Vegas, Peggy Sue's Diner, Route '66, sunset, Union Pacific Rail yard | Leave a comment

Take A Seat

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

A double post today on the blog, one from Adam and his journey along the famous Route 66 together with a bonus dose of Mustang Maniac cars too. 🙂

The week has been all about trying to finish of the smaller jobs on some cars we have had around for a little while. Not because we can’t do them of course but because there is no rush to complete them at the moment. We are expecting another couple of cars in next week after the Easter Break where we can get back to normal after loosing a couple of days. The break has been very welcome after all the hard work the guys have been putting in recently. Poor Yogette has been swamped out with WebShop orders and has been trying to answer the phone and get the orders ready. Again thanks to everybody who have called in and been patient with us. Looks Like the Easter Bunny has come early for some lucky customers out there.

Rust In Piece

The car is coming along very well now and the engine with all the wiring is in the process of being added back into the car. A couple of small problems we sometimes encounter at this point, but nothing we haven’t seen before and was quickly sorted out without a fuss. The dynamo now in place and the loom pig-tail wired up.

Alfa Red Convertible

Its been a little while since we have posted about this car, but we are now starting on the interior. We have ordered some parts for it to come into us so they should be here very soon. The interior has changed colour a little since it was discussed and now the owner has opted for a custom-made set of black leather with a subtle red stitching. The effect is just amazing and a good choice to go with the colour of the car.

We have here a picture of both the front seats sitting on the floor waiting for the carpet to be fitted.

The seat base and the backs look different colours in the pics next to the car depending on lighting and reflections obviously. These seats are a real luxury item and the soft leather feels, looks and smells amazing. An awesome upgrade.

Just to prove they are the same colour we have a close up of the seat base and the back together with no paint reflection.

The seat base

seat base

The seat back

seat back

Happy Easter to you all from Mustang Maniac.

Posted in Blog, News, Travel, Webshop | Tagged Alfa Romeo red, carpet, Easter, interior, Mustang, Mustang Maniac, Route '66, WebShop | Leave a comment

Route 66 – part 14

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

Today is a lazy day with some shopping around Las Vegas and not much to do with cars or Mustangs. During the evening we had taken some pictures of the classic Las Vegas at dusk instead of the usual darkness shots you see on post cards. We thought it would be nice to sample some more local culture rather than the bright lights for a little change. So only a short post today as California is next on our location list and I am sure we will have some photos for you from there.

We got close to the huge High Roller Wheel which is the largest observation wheel in the world at over 550ft tall!

But just for the sake of it we had a little play with some special effects for the wheel. Any particular favourite?

Packing soon ready for the last leg of this amazing journey so far.

Posted in Travel | Tagged culture, dusk, High Roller, Las Vegas, Mustang, Route '66 | 2 Comments

Scott Drake Visit

Posted on April 4, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

During our tour of the USA via Route 66 we stopped just outside Las Vegas at a place called Henderson, the home town of Scott Drake. People who order parts from us obviously know that we stock their parts, but this time we went to meet them. Their corporate facility spans more than two-acres that includes engineering, manufacturing, sales and warehouse space that ships over 10,000 products each day to their suppliers around the world, including us. The company has been trading now for over three decades and started with only a single product for the classic Ford Mustang.

The entrance has a showroom to showcase just some of their parts.

We had a look around the facility and Scott Drake himself posed for a couple of pictures with me in front of their very own Research & Development 2015 5.0 GT Mustang.

We had a spot of lunch and discussed business plans and where the importance of Scott Drake products fits into those plans. Later on Scott gave me the keys to their car so I could take it out for a spin where I thoroughly enjoyed myself, it’s difficult to give a car back that you enjoy so much. A superb experience.

Under the hood there is a fantastic little touch of the Ford Mustang Logo which unfortunately is covered up by insulation. How many people knew that was there?

I meet my Sales Manager Stephan who looks after our account back in the UK.

To end our visit in style, Mustang Maniac were presented with another Scott Drake Silver Award for 2014 to add to our growing collection. This award will be proudly displayed on our wall with the other awards presented to us by Scott Drake.

We would like to offer our special thanks to Scott, Stephan and all his staff for their valuable time and exceptional hospitality. A great day we are sure not to forget.

Thank You Scott Drake

Posted in Articles, Sales, Service, Travel | Tagged 5.0, Henderson, Las Vegas, logo, Mustang, Mustang Maniac, Research & Development, Scott Drake | 4 Comments

Route 66 – part 13

Posted on April 4, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

Today is a gorgeous day and we are in Las Vegas, what more can a man ask for? We started the day of with a proper man’s breakfast, a T-Bone steak and eggs. I think I may skip lunch today though.

We had a look around the Vegas during the day and obviously found a Ford showroom or two to have a look at the 2015 Mustangs. I also had a business meeting today, which I will post separately a little later today if all goes well. Yes it was Mustang related before you ask.

We visited a few other places but picked ourselves up a couple of tickets to see a show during the evening.

After the show we went for a drink where I was offered some “Knob”, now where I come from being offered some Knob (according to Urban Dictionary), would end up in some sort of punch up. On this occasion I decided not to comment, although the barmaid couldn’t understand why I was laughing though.

I just don’t think I could live it down when I got home if I said “I had some Knob on holiday and liked it!” I’m sure it was a great drink though, but I settled for a cold beer instead. 🙂

Posted in Travel | Tagged beer, breakfast, Diana Ross, Ford, Knob, Las Vegas, Mustang, show, T-Bone steak | 1 Comment

Route 66 – part 12

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

Our travels have taken us through the Arizona deserts where the views are brilliant if not a little intimidating to get stuck out here.

2015 Mustang

We arrived at an old gold mining town called Oatman. Some interesting facts about Oatman:

In 1863, mountain man and prospector Johnny Moss discovered gold in the Black Mountains and staked several claims, one named the Moss, after himself, and another after Olive Oatman. For the next half century mining waxed and waned in the district until new technology, reduced transportation costs, and new gold discoveries brought prosperity to Oatman early in the twentieth century. The opening of the Tom Reed mine followed by the discovery of an incredibly rich ore body in the nearby United Eastern Mining Company’s property in 1915 brought one of the desert country’s last gold rushes. The boom of 1915-17 gave Oatman all the characters and characteristics of any gold rush boom town. For about a decade, the mines of Oatman were among the large gold producers in the West.

In 1921, a fire burned down many of Oatman’s smaller buildings, but spared the Oatman Hotel. Built in 1902, the now-Oatman Hotel is the oldest two-story adobe structure in Mohave County, a Mohave County historical landmark and is especially famous as the honeymoon stop of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard after their wedding in Kingman on March 18, 1939. Gable fell in love with the area and returned often to play poker with the miners. The Gable/Lombard honeymoon suite is one of the hotel’s major attractions. The other is “Oatie the Ghost.” “Oatie,” actively promoted by the hotel’s current owners, is a friendly poltergeist whose identity is believed to be that of William Ray Flour, an Irish miner who died behind the hotel, presumably from excessive alcohol consumption. Flour’s body wasn’t discovered until two days after his death and it was hastily buried in a shallow grave near where he was found.

There were talks about the gold mining process, a guy who had to kiss every woman who walked past him, a mule called “Mark” who was knackered after working all day just one of thirty-five or more mules wandering around the town.

We stopped of in this fantastic little bar for something to eat and drink where the custom is to pin a $1 bill to anywhere you can. The music entertainment was as good as the beer and food, we spent a lot longer here than we intended to, but who cares as we are on holiday in this wonderful country.

Mustang Maniac $1

We couldn’t leave without keeping the tradition going now could we?

We got back on the road, sort of sad to leave the old place where time has almost stood still, but at the same time looking forward to the next stop. We had to cross over the Colorado River from Arizona to Nevada states to get there.

We arrived in Las Vegas for a chillaxing evening and a very well deserved beer.

Cheers everybody, and thanks again for the kind emails and comments.

Posted in Photos, Travel | Tagged Arizona, beer, Carole Lombard, Clark Gable, ghosts, Gold Rush, Las Vegas, mines, Mustang, Mustang Maniac, Oatie the ghost, Oatman, Route '66 | Leave a comment

Route 66 – part 11

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

Our second day in Flagstaff Arizona means I got to grips with some real horse power. When it was suggested I could have a day of doing nothing but getting to grips with my pony rides, I thought it was going to be a great day. The day was slightly different to what I had in mind though. A short trip took us to a ranch where we would be spending the day.

I was going to be a Cowboy for the day, what a great way to back to nature is this glorious country side. First I was in Jesse James’ hide out now I am following in his mode of transport.

I was shown to my horse for the day and we got acquainted, not quite the Mustang I had in mind though! Me and my ride had the preliminary discussion along the lines of “I am in charge and it would be good if you did what I say.” Setting of for the trek my trusty stead had other ideas to start with and completely ignored our discussion. But things quickly settled down and we had a great day out in peaceful countryside looking at the fabulous surroundings. We even stopped to enjoy a Cowboy lunch too. There aren’t to many pics as I was trying to keep me and the horse on the right track, however I did try a selfie but it didn’t come out to well. 🙂

The horses were fantastic as was the country side and all the other fellow cowboys/cowgirls we joined for the day. Great fun. I am not sure what is more scary – a single horse power or 500bhp snarling under your right foot. I do know that I have had great days with both. Tomorrow we are back on the road again of to our next adventure.

Posted in Travel | Tagged Cowboy, Flagstaff, horse power, Mustang, Route '66, selfie | 2 Comments

Route 66 – parts 9 & 10

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

Another double post as we are having a two night stop over shortly. But first we have a little funny story where the my sense of humour is totally lost on a very nice unsuspecting young waitress. Now there is the old Tomato or Tomato(e) differences as the song goes, but this was UK slang term I made into an innuendo. We popped into a wonderful restaurant where they make their own delicious wine, which we bought a few bottles of and we also wanted a bite to eat.

The poor waitress came up to me and asked if I wanted a “nosh”, to which I replied “Of course, but the wife is sitting here next to me”. Needless to say that the waitress looked at me very blank and wondered what the heck I was on about. Lynn just shook her head and apologised on my behalf. The term “nosh” in the UK has two meanings, the first is a term for a bite to eat obviously the same as the USA, the second definition is a slang term for… well, I will let you look it up if you really want to know. I am still getting it in the neck from my lovely wife, sometimes I should engage brain before I speak. The excuse was that I was relaxed enjoying the atmosphere and I sort of forgot where I was for a while. We did make sure the waitress got a proper tip and she was absolutely lovely, she did think that I was a complete head case, but she put up with me. Moving swiftly along…..(Route 66).

We got back onto the road heading through New Mexico to Albuquerque where the desert and road merge into one on the horizon. The ford Explorer air conditioning was now getting a good hiding in the deserts to keep us comfortable.

Where stopped to stretch our legs to visit a free museum with a diner attached to it that was just crammed full of interesting stuff and cars.

Next Day:

We were now travelling towards Flagstaff and found an unusual place called the Wigwam Motel. Not real wigwams mind you, but they do look pretty good though.

The main goal for today was to travel the worlds biggest meteor crater which is just an incredible sight with spectacular views. You are basically in a desert and looking at the mountains in the distance which have snow on them, below you there is a 550ft deep hole.

The Meteor Crater is the world’s best preserved meteorite impact site on Earth. Located just minutes from Interstate 40 in Northern Arizona near Winslow, Meteor Crater is the breath-taking result of a collision between an asteroid traveling 26,000 miles per hour and planet Earth approximately 50,000 years ago. The Meteor Crater is nearly one mile across, 2.4 miles in circumference and more than 550 feet deep. It is an international tourist venue with outdoor observation trails, air-conditioned indoor viewing, wide-screen movie theater, Interactive Discovery Center, unique gift and rock shop, and Astronaut Memorial Park at the Visitor Center all located on the crater rim.

After we spent many hours here just taking in the sights we got back on the road and looked towards our next stop where we plan to stay for a couple of nights.

We do have to comment on one thing though, such a beautiful place for incredible scenery and we see this sign slapped in the middle of views.

We forgot to upload these couple of pics from the previous post, Caddy Ranch, not sure you want to see more pics of me, but here you are anyway.

Posted in Travel | Tagged aircon, Cadillac Ranch, desert, Flagstaff, Meteor Crater, New Mexico, Route '66, slang, wigwam | Leave a comment

Route 66 – parts 7 & 8

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

We left the lovely Oklahoma on our way to Amarillo, now I have said that I bet you are singing the song? We never asked anybody if this is the way to Amarillo either. On our way out of Oklahoma we stopped of here for a little look around to see some history of the famous Route 66 and a shop with a difference.

We got back on the road and found a great name for a road.

While we are on the Subject of Mustangs a little know fact about one of our cars. Our 1964 1/2 Indianapolis 500 260cid pace car which was one of only 190 made in hard top came to us from Oklahoma. We have an article all about the Pace Cars click here or it can be found under the “Our Cars” menu heading at the top. This Indy 500 Pace Car is the only known genuine item in Europe and was a complete nut and bolt restoration from the ground up completed by us.

’64 Indy 500 Pace Car

Across the hood

Inside

Under the hood of the Pace Car

We have seen some sights on the road and when people say they are moving house in the UK this isn’t quite what they mean.

As we had been traveling for a while at this point we decided that we would stop of for a snack. Well, more like half a cow served up on plate the size of a dustbin (trash can) lid!

Yep thats me

I think i just ate this!

Inside was amazing and everything just seemed to be as big as their steaks. I just had to try the 72oz steak that was just out of this world.

After I had finished feeding my face, stomach arms legs or just about anywhere I could put food it was time to move on. I am sure the suspension is a bit faulty as it seems to be sagging now on the driver’s side. 😀

Next day:

We have seen another famous sight on the road – Tumbleweeds, these things just appear out of nowhere to catch you out. The black blobs on the road are the weeds that just about show up on the pics.

We think this should be the next LAR Traffic Services tow truck back home in the UK! It would frighten the living daylights out of anybody when they see this coming down both sides of the road.

The next scheduled port of call was just outside Amarillo.

The Cadillac Ranch is a public art installation and sculpture in Amarillo, Texas. It was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels, who were a part of the art group Ant Farm. It consists of what were (when originally installed during 1974) either older running used or junk Cadillac automobiles, representing a number of evolutions of the car line (most notably the birth and death of the defining feature of mid twentieth century Cadillacs; the tailfins) from 1949 to 1963, half-buried nose-first in the ground, at an angle corresponding to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

After all the walking around for a while it was getting near to another meal, this time we had a light(er) meal in this lovely place at the half way point of the Mother Road and our adventure so far.

Only another 270 miles to go before we get to our next stop over in New Mexico!

Emails:

We have had a few fantastic emails from people following our travels with recommendations and places to visit. We try to look at some of them and see if they are doable in our time frame as it were. Some we have managed to visit such as the Cadillac Ranch, and some we haven’t been able to get to.

Thank you to everybody who has taken time out to mail us.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 72oz steak, Amarillo, Cadillac Ranch, indy 500 pace car, LAR Traffic Services, monster truck, Mustang Road, New Mexico, Route '66, Tumbleweeds | Leave a comment

Route 66 – part 6

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Mustang Maniac

We left Springfield and took to the road heading towards Oklahoma and we can notice a definite shift in the warmer weather as we edge closer to Texas. The roads here are just so straight and perfect for a little bit of cruise control for a relaxing drive with not much traffic.

We travelled for what seemed like ages on the long until we got to our next stop at the National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame, shown on the map below here.

This place is full of unique works of art and are just amazing to look at. The amount of man hours that has gone into these cars I would like to even begin to count, what a fabulous place.

We had a bite to eat and then hit the road again on our way to Oklahoma, for a rest over. Once we had found our hotel and got ready to go we ventured into the city to look for some home grown American way of life. We found a nice bar where we had a few drinks with some very nice local people who welcomed us in to their evening and conversations.