Cars On Fifth - Naples, FL

[John Thawley]

I took today to head into Naples for the Annual Cars On Fifth. Pretty impressive car count and a great turn out of people. Of course.... hard to shoot with the crowds and the cars were parked on the street. But, I think I managed to squeak out a few. All shot with a Leica Digilux 2.

Just a side note:

Image #3 was by far the coolest car there.. in my opinion. Just the ultimate rat-rod.

Image #7 was the Hot Rod Magazine car of the year. It was absolutely stunning and cutting edge styling for a contemporary rod.

The show was quite an eclectic mix of everything from street rods to Bentleys and Ferraris. A lot of cars and a little bit of everything. Quite nice.

[Daniel Buck]

I'd have to agree with ya, I love rat rods :-)

[Kevin DiOssi]

Very cool! I wasn't aware of this car show at all. What kind of Ferrari's were there other than the obvious 360's and possible 430's?

[Matt Romanowski]

John - Did that rat rod have connecting rods for the inside of the steering wheel? Did the roof hing up at the front (you climbed in the back)? My neighbor built a car tha looked exactly like that.

[Chris Clark]

Nice stuff JT.

I'll jump on board and say the rat rod is my fav as well. Any more info on #2? Looks like an old Ferrari roadster of some sort?

[John Thawley]

Nice stuff JT.

I'll jump on board and say the rat rod is my fav as well. Any more info on #2? Looks like an old Ferrari roadster of some sort?

Chris: It's actually a Maserati. The guy was prattling on about it being one of 23 hand built race cars.... maybe 185mph + It was really nice... but the guy was barking away drawing a crowd and I couldn't get any really clean shots of it.

JT

[David Adolphus]

Chris: It's actually a Maserati. The guy was prattling on about it being one of 23 hand built race cars.... maybe 185mph + It was really nice... but the guy was barking away drawing a crowd and I couldn't get any really clean shots of it.

JT

185, eh? Remember that 200 MPH wasn't seen on a race track until 1969. Top speeds at Le Mans for a Ford GT 40 was around 145.-that's a 240 KPH speedo, which equals 149 MPH.

[John Thawley]

185, eh? Remember that 200 MPH wasn't seen on a race track until 1969. Top speeds at Le Mans for a Ford GT 40 was around 145.-that's a 240 KPH speedo, which equals 149 MPH.

Like I said, David... the guy was "prattling on." So, I could have heard wrong. I was more focused on giving people dirty looks. The "old" people down here are fairly rude in the best of situations. Put a camera in your hand and they shift into "recreational rudeness mode." My God, I've never seen anything like it. I'm shooting with a 28mm lens... and I had people look me in the eye and then stand in front of me. Amazing.

Anyway... here's a full frame shot, complete with shorts, legs and knees.

[David Adolphus]

No, you probably heard right. He was just full of crap. I once made a car owner pretty unhappy disabusing him of that notion--in print.

Welcome to my world, John. Fun, innit? You should try shooting on a tour, when every single driver waves. You don't see that so much at Petit LeMans.

[Steve Stein]

A wave is better than a thumbs-up, isn't it?

Nice shots! I'll go against the grain and say the rat rods are getting overdone. Two car shows I've been to the last few months had lots of half-baked rat rods. Give me a clean, well-executed restoration or modded car any day.

At least the rat rods don't reflect much light.

[John Thawley]

A wave is better than a thumbs-up, isn't it?

Nice shots! I'll go against the grain and say the rat rods are getting overdone. Two car shows I've been to the last few months had lots of half-baked rat rods. Give me a clean, well-executed restoration or modded car any day.

At least the rat rods don't reflect much light.

Actually, I've always been a fan of the rat rod. Though... I agree that some of them are looking "forced." I always opted for flat black or black primer... red steel wheels with dog dish center caps and fat white walls. No bonnet with exposed headers.... and of course dropped with no fenders. Needs to be "clean" though... I'd like a basic 29-32 Ford, looks as if it had been well cared for since it became a hot rod in 1955. LOL

Though on the clean custom side... a nice China Red 32 Hi-Boy with tan leather interior, sloped windscreen with a crate LS6 would be ok, too. :)

JT

[Daniel Buck]

any style car can be 'forced', but if it's gonna be a ratrod, I think it should have a flathead v8 :-) They just look so sweet.