We'd like to introduce you to our friend, Craig Augustin, artist & hot rodder. This is the latest piece of his art to grace our shop's walls.
A few of years ago, we were introduced to Craig's work by our own UNKLEVERN, who has always sent e-mails with images of Craig's art when ever he got one. Thankfully, Craig is a pretty prolific artist, so we got to enjoy those e-mails fairly frequently.
Both Vern & Craig are members of the Denver Roadster Club. Those guys in the club have been lucky enough to have Craig's art grace their annual picnic T-shirts & their newsletters for a quite while now. His many images of roadsters & rag tops, surely makes the Roadsters Journal one of the coolest club letters in the world!
Take a peek at a bunch more of Craig's coolest pieces that are posted in our General Chat Forum: http://www.norfolkn.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=76
Hang onto your helmet, this promises to be the Obama adminstrations 1st "goat rodeo"!!! .
All major U.S. automakers and the three largest Japanese car companies had sued to block the California emissions regs, saying it would create a patchwork of state laws, drive up costs and limit sales. They received support from ex-Prez Bush in the matter & he denied the waiver . The New York Times is reporting that the Obama administration intends to allow California and other states to set their own emissions and fuel economy standards, overturning the prior administration's denial of a waiver to California that allows the state to set its own standards. California's rules would boost fuel-economy standards on new vehicles to roughly 35 m.p.g. by 2016 and to more than 40 m.p.g. by 2020, depending on the mix of vehicles sold. . Entanglements in some states, could even prevent new car sales in some cases.
This move, promises to be a very expensive proposition for the OEMs in trying to keep up with the legislative regulations from here forward. These expenses will eat up large amounts of the much needed cash that taxpayers LOANed them last month.
These were glory days of Detroit & NASCAR, when we enjoyed watching those big HP cars bangin' around the track, a league of rough & tumble drivers, and their eccentric team owners. Are those days gone forever?
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Now that the Detroit automakers have gotten the 2nd installment of the LOAN from the US Gov't, some are asking if that money should be used for continued support of NASCAR. Blogs out there raise questions about the health of the sport, as the annual river of cash from the Detroit automakers dries up. NASCAR will suffer along with Detroit's automakers, as the OEMs slash ad budgets, cut the number of races & teams they plan to sponsor this year.
Frankly, I think those bloggers that want to kill NASCAR, like Robert Weintraub ( http://www.slate.com/id/2206711/ ), are all a bunch of anti-American, import-driving, tofu-eating, Commie Pinkos!
But, I do have to admit that I don't watch much TV anymore & our gang's annual pilgrimage to one of the big ovals hasn't happened in a few years. I still miss the old time, celebrity focus on the Manufacturer's Cup Race, because today's crop of drivers don't hold my attention. I see the "Car of Today" as a boon to driver safety, but it's as boring as tofu & decals won't fool fans into believing that Mom's front-drive, 4-door taxi-cab is really a race car.
The future looks pretty rugged, but like the OEMs, NASCAR has to change with the times, so stay tuned....
Rear slicks churning, front tires grabbing air, and an acrobatic flagman. This is how I always pictured the early days of drag racing all across the country.
Singlefinger Speed Shop's own UNKLEVERN has supplied us with a LOAD of really groovy pics from those glory days of the sport. He got the photos from some buddies on the "left coast" & was good enough to post them in our Forum for everybody to enjoy.
Go to www.SinglefingerSpeedShop.com to see the rest.
These photographs capture some of the ways that the technology progressed over those early years. They show some of the ideas that worked & some that didn't. Through all those trials & tribulations, we're glad that the passion for the sport has never diminished
In 2008, there were so many things that were done wrong, went crooked, or just plain got screwed up sideways, that the list would jam up our server. However, we do have high hopes for this bright, shiny, new year, because at the tail end of '08, we were glad to see that Washington finally sent the LOANs to the US auto companies which will bolster the entire US manufacturing sector. It was also good to see that the banks, despite how timid they have become, are starting to make some loans to consumers again. It seems that after months of doom & gloom, there's a wisp of hope in the air again.
In 2008, The Singlefinger Speed Shop cars & crew showed up at events, like the Detroit Autorama, Bonneville Speed Week, Frankenmuth Auto Fest, SEMA, etc. In '09, we want to hit many more events & meet more fellow gearheads everywhere we can.
We hope that you have as much optimism about 2009 as we do, because we see opportunities everywhere we look!
