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Rubber@Road: August 2010
http://www.rubberattheroad.com/2010_08_01_archive.html
Monday, August 23, 2010. On Any Sunday - Badger Kart Club - Dousman WI. Most Sunday mornings from spring through summer the grounds of the Badger Kart Club are covered with family SUVs and campers pulling boxy trailers. Inside these trailers are miniature garages and in the garages sit some serious, if very lightweight, racing machines. Karting is not only an affordable motorsport, it is also seen as the best way to learn the techniques required for a career in auto racing, with most contenders for the W...
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Rubber@Road: June 2010
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Thursday, June 24, 2010. Land Shark; flat black 2000 Ford Taurus. I was meeting my friends Clay and Paul in a hip café near campus on the east side of Milwaukee. How hip? Deep fried balls of shredded turkey meat with mashed potatoes and beer gravy? Comet Café. Farwell Avenue. As I approached, I sensed the presence of this menacing car. Go ahead and snicker. I don't blame you. There is probably no more domesticated a car than a 2000 Ford Taurus. I was telling Clay and Paul about it as I slid into the booth.
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Rubber@Road: December 2010
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Wednesday, December 8, 2010. 8220;Unsafe at Any Speed” – 1962 Chevrolet Corvair. Look at this adorable little car. It's kind of hard to imagine this cute little Chevy played a pivotal role, not just in automotive history, but American history. In the early ‘60s some Americans were developing a taste for small European cars, particularly Volkswagens. GM, to its credit, saw an opportunity. Although the Corvair was arguably better looking, it was essentially a Volkswagen Beetle. Nader’s book convinced...
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Rubber@Road: March 2010
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Saturday, March 20, 2010. Curtis and Dixie - 1996 Chrysler Sebring. If you gotta ghost, you know. Who ya gonna call. But how do you know if you gotta ghost? You call Curtis, who drives this intense red-on-black 1996 Chrysler Sebring. You're not haunted until I say you're haunted,” Curtis told me. I first saw Curtis tooling down a country road with his dog, Dixie. I swear the dog was smiling at me. That’s the boiler. And when someone pulls out of that one driveway down the road, it’s that ...He showed me ...
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Rubber@Road: September 2010
http://www.rubberattheroad.com/2010_09_01_archive.html
Saturday, September 4, 2010. Dan the Packer Man - 1989 "Pacura". NOTE: With football season upon us once again, I am re-posting one of my favorite interviews here. This piece was originally posted on November 10, 2009. I met Dan (“The Packer Man”) from Oconomowoc in a parking lot yesterday. It made my day. It’s not terribly unusual to see cars (or even houses) that have gotten the Packer treatment, but Dan’s car carries Packer décor to an exceptional level of detail. Dan told me that he only recently rep...
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Rubber@Road: October 2010
http://www.rubberattheroad.com/2010_10_01_archive.html
Saturday, October 9, 2010. Bringing the Light - 1990 Ford C8000 Utility Truck. This truck has been working on a major intersection near my home all summer. I’ve noticed it dozens of times, and admired its, well… utility - as well as its softly rounded features and, of course, great patina. Steve, the driver of this truck, and the man in the photos, has been working with it for several years, and uses the boom like it was his own arm. He wanted me to come around to look at the lugs on the tread of the rea...
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Rubber@Road: Big Rig Graveyard
http://www.rubberattheroad.com/2011/04/big-rig-graveyard.html
Friday, April 8, 2011. As I coasted down a hill upon this scene, I was reminded of an image from an old Tarzan movie: The Elephant Graveyard. When their teeth were too worn to eat anymore, the sagging elephants would pull themselves off into the jungle to the dying place. Their mammoth carcasses and skeletons stretched across the horizon. Their cave-like cabs, long inhabited, sit vacant high above the ground, the radio chatter and cigarette smoke long since drifted away. Posted by Jeffery Blackwell.
rubberattheroad.com
Rubber@Road: April 2011
http://www.rubberattheroad.com/2011_04_01_archive.html
Friday, April 8, 2011. As I coasted down a hill upon this scene, I was reminded of an image from an old Tarzan movie: The Elephant Graveyard. When their teeth were too worn to eat anymore, the sagging elephants would pull themselves off into the jungle to the dying place. Their mammoth carcasses and skeletons stretched across the horizon. Their cave-like cabs, long inhabited, sit vacant high above the ground, the radio chatter and cigarette smoke long since drifted away. Posted by Jeffery Blackwell.
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Rubber@Road: July 2010
http://www.rubberattheroad.com/2010_07_01_archive.html
Wednesday, July 28, 2010. Gearhead, wrench, artist. As a matter of course, I write about people I don’t know here. I see a unique vehicle; I chase it down, photograph it, and interview the owner. Today, I’m writing about a good friend. Ralph Nader would have been horrified. In fact, Mark’s license plate said it all; “UNSAFE”. And he’s still fixing up Corvairs. And Camaros, and ‘Vettes. And Chevy pickup trucks. Mark has the skills to take a car completely apart, and the vision to then re-assemble that pil...
