'32 Ford HOTROD-Roadtrip to 'Antwerp Vintage Reunion'

[herr_rudolf]

Last week I ran into my old friend Erwin at a Paladinsconcert. We talked about his '32 roadster and he asked me to join him on a roadtrip to visit Antwerp Vintage Reunion in Belgium with his buddies from his carclub 'The Trashers'. Eventhough I'm drowning in work at the moment, I just couldn't say no. The chance to ride around in an open-top hotrod for me is almost zero. So...I said yes immediately. The Ford is a ground-up build that started around 2000. Homemade frame from repro 32 rails. 1950 Merc Flathead, 16" steelies wrapped in Firestone whitewalls, I-beam front, 1940 Ford brakes, tuck'n'roll upholstery in pearl-white with orangecopperflake inserts,1934 plymouth gauge-cluster, fiberglass-top uphollstered with WOII mail- and laundrybags, to resist typical dutchweather. Holland is not a roadsterfriendly country, as we experienced immediatly as we took off...

But... What a blast we had!

^ Me and Erwin. Can you tell we had lot's of fun..?

Antwerp Vintage Reunion is a nice little show with a military fort built somewhere in the 1700's/1800's as a beautifull backdrop in the small village Wommelgem (Antwerp Belgium). The familyfriendly show is open to every car/bike built before 1975, and is not traditional persee. Four rock'n'roll bands, en the usual retro/vintage market for entertainment. The trip started out with some rain in Holland, but when we crossed the border with Belgium it suddenly became summer all-over again.

^ One of the first Excaliburs (a real one) - Hotrodded!!

^ There were some really beautifull aircooled (and former aircooled...) vehicles.

^ ..and a nice line-up of traditional hotrods.

^ I fall in love with this corvair everytime I see it... Maybe just because it's not too common.

^ insane V8 Volksrod. It had some real nice touches like the chop, airintakes, rearlights, I-beam frontaxle, etc. What I didn't like were the modern low profile tires, and the sides painted lightgrey...

^ insane pearl and metalflake VeeDub interrior.

^ Lots of cool VeeDubs...

^ maybe the nicest hotrod on the grounds..

Yup, we had fun...

 

[B607]

Thanks for all the great pics! Looks like it was a super nice day. Gary

 

[Ace]

Hard to resist an invitation like that ! Very cool, thanks 8)

 

[SimpleMan]

WOW....what a car! That looks like fantastic fun :mrgreen:

 

[user 135]

Nice pics and cool to see the car addiction alive across the Atlantic.

 

[sensor]

as always amazing pics,cars,and bikes!
thanks for posting those :mrgreen:

 

[Rat Rod]

Always love your photos Jeffrey.

That last shot is reeeally cool. :wink:

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

WOW! That looked like a lot of fun :wink: Nice pics.

 

[badmuller]

Yeah, cool pix H.R.

We had a blast, I heard there are plans for a 2 day event next year.

 

[herr_rudolf]

Thanks guys.
Yeah, Amongst many others, this day was also a highlight for me. For a shy guy I really loved the attention we were getting on the road. People of all ages didn't know what to make of us. Even the pretty girls started waving as we drove by or overtook em. It was hard not making any rude (naughty) remarks towards them. And we almost didn't... Besides, they couldn't have heard us anyway ;-)

...cool to see the car addiction alive across the Atlantic.

It really IS cool... Some 20 years ago quite a bunch of guys in my hometown were daydreaming about this, and now they are really living it. (I must be doing something wrong beacuse I ended-up not being one of them...) With an active rod'n'custom-club and some other guys importing and tinkering on modified vehicles there are more than a few cool cars driving around in my hometown. Eventhough it's VERY hard to get (and keeping) these cars on the road, legally. And it'll be getting harder and harder... So we have to enjoy these Dutch/Belgian/Euopean 'Golden Years of Hotrodding' while we can.

We had a blast, I heard there are plans for a 2 day event next year.

Hmm, don't you think that would be too much of a good thing? I think the grounds are too small to get eny bigger than this year. I wouldn't mind seeing more of a market and a lot more Kustom Kulture though. I'm afraid that 'more cars' equals 'a different showground'... Besides, there were two 'major' shows not too far apart going on at the same time. Two-days festival Rockabilly Round Up in Gemert Holland was held on the same weekend. A lot of people with cool cars chose to go there, instead of Antwerp.

 

[hewey]

Fantastic pics, thanks for sharing

 

[HotRodJen]

awesome photos ! thanks for the coverage i hear about that show from my friends over seas .. all the karmagias(sp) i would love to get my hands on one . the paint work with the guy in the hotrod looks like some of my friend kesha's paint work

 

[herr_rudolf]

Thanks Hewey and HotRodJen!

I'm with you on the KarmanGhia's.... They have sooo much potential. Once upon a time I got the opportunity to buy a decent running early 70's model for cheap money. It had the bigger lights but still was one of the more desirable models. Still regret it to this day. How often do you find one for under $3000,-...

By the way...
I often get surprised reactions from Americans about the cars and the hotrodscene overhere in Europe. There are several shows one has to visit, and I think Brittain's HotRod Hayride is one not to miss. Check this thread on the HAMB:

click here for HOTROD HAYRIDE pics

Cool pics, cool cars, cool show, cool action...