An automotive-themed restaurant's parking lot filled with classics, customs, and hot rods is a perfect place to spend a summer evening. Here's some of what I saw at the local Quaker Steak & Lube on a Wednesday evening not too long ago.
For starters, the Batmobile!
The Frazer Manhattan ended up sharing "Battleship Row" with this very understated and tastefully-executed 22nd series "bathtub" Packard hot rod.
If it weren't for the body-color bumpers, it would look dead stock from thirty feet away.
The Frazer and the Packard weren't the only "independents" in attendance. Not far away was a '55 Aero-Willys two-door, one of the last ones off the line before Kaiser (which had acquired Willys just a few years before) shut down its North American passenger car operation and sent the Aero's tooling to Brazil.
The dash in these things is ergonomically absurd, but very cool to look at.
But that wasn't even the only Willys in attendance! This 1940 "sharknose" coupe was fitted out in traditional dragstrip style.....
...complete with "wheelie wheels" on the stern.
There was also a decent variety of more conventional Detroit iron.
This Panamax station wagon brought back a lot of memories for folks my age. It had the optional rear-facing third row seat us kids used to really enjoy.
This little GTO was equipped like the one in the song: "Three dueces and a four-speed/And a three eighty-nine."
One does not normally think of the Suzuki Samurai as the starting point for a restomod or custom build, but this one was really neat.
A couple more noteworthy attendees: an old-school Mercedes...
...and everybody's favorite rear-engined, air-cooled road toy, the Corvair.
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