From Abilene to Dallas, Car Lovers in the News !

From Todays Abilene Reporter News

Car owners strive for perfection at World of Wheels auto show

By LLuvia Mares / Reporter-News Staff Writer
January 28, 2006
With all the bright and shiny colors, visitors to the 27th annual World of Wheels custom car show at the Abilene Civic Center may need sunglasses.
Local contestants with fancy vehicles are going head-to-head with national and world circuit champions for money, prizes and awards. The show has 80 entries.
A.J. Evans, World of Wheels assistant, said contestants compete in three categories: contemporary (vehicles built in last 10 years); custom (a highly modified vehicle); and restoration (a classic car restored with original parts).
Evans said entries include high-tech hot rods, futuristic custom vehicles, lowriders and pickups and motorcycles.
He said even a fingerprint or smudge can make a difference in winning or losing.
Although the displayed vehicles will never touch the street, Evans said International Show Car Association (ISCA) judges require all entries to be in good running order. Large mirrors are placed underneath the vehicles to show judges that all the nuts and bolts are in the right place.
Sixteen-year-old Abilene High School student Telissa Vita will be among the competitors at the show.
Her newly restored black 1982 Camaro Z28 - which was a gift from her parents to keep racing in the family - will be on display.

Details
What: World of Wheels
Where: Abilene Civic Center, 1100 N. 6th St.
When: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. today, noon-7 p.m. Sunday
How much: $9.95 adults, $3.95 children
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/nw_local/article/0,1874,ABIL_7959_4422950,00.html
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From todays Dallas Morning News:

Alternate route
09:05 AM CST on Saturday, January 28, 2006
By TERRY BOX / The Dallas Morning News
When was the last time you saw a grease-smudged gay guy tending to a finicky four-barrel carb on a vintage Cadillac convertible?
That long, huh? Well, it's not an unusual sight at the Classic Chassis Car Club of Dallas.
"Our being mostly a gay club is not something we want to throw in anyone's face," said John McCall Jr., president of the club. "Vintage cars are vintage cars. But for most people, this is eye-opening because they don't think gay people work on cars."
At least 25 members – about a fourth of the club – do their own restoration work. Many others handle repairs and maintenance on their cars, said Mr. McCall, a 44-year-old attorney and Dallas native who grew up around cars.
And since the most popular cars in Classic Chassis tend to be good old American '60s land yachts – chrome-and-fin Caddys, Lincolns, Buicks, Chryslers and Imperials – the members get regular opportunities to test their wrenching skills.
Formed 14 years ago, the club initially met monthly at Prince Burgers on Lemmon Avenue. Many of the original members belonged to traditional Cadillac or Lincoln or Packard clubs – organizations formed around one brand of car.
"With some of those clubs, the members were 20 years older" than the founders of Classic Chassis, Mr. McCall said. "They got a little tired of trips to Branson."
The fact that most of the members are gay is essentially an aside. Early club members were gay, and that attracted more gay members, he said, but there is no "gay car agenda," he said. The club includes a few lesbian couples and some straight married couples, too.
"Vintage cars are vintage cars no matter who you are," Mr. McCall said.
Mostly, it's a club for enthusiasts with unusual, even quirky cars. Besides the heavy representation of big '60s boulevard kings, club vehicles range from a 1958 Buick Special to a '62 Maserati Spyder, '72 AMC Matador and Mr. McCall's very rare 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood station wagon.
The group is big on presentation when it goes to shows.
"We display our cars with luggage and photos and facts about the cars," he said. "We do more than just park them."
The club's next big event – beside its monthly meetings – is a parade for the Swiss Avenue Home Tour in May.
Classic Chassis recently published its first calendar – featuring cars in local settings – and has a Web site, www.classicchassis.com.
Even better, the club stages a demolition derby every two or three years.
"We get 10 old cars that nobody would want and have some fun," he said.
"I don't know that we're considered unusual in the gay community," Mr. McCall said. "There's a gay everything at this point. There are just a lot of people like myself who enjoy getting grease under our fingernails."
E-mail tbox@dallasnews.com
source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/classifieds/news/automotive/classics/stories/DN-BCGayclub_28bus.State.Edition2.23eae3.html
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