Ameri car na

Following on from Cai's Yankee friendly blog yesterday I thought these pictures of American custom cars I took at the Surf Coast Cruisers 4th July show would be right up his boulevard.

Owning an American automobile is something I have dreamed of since I was a small child and most of these dreams stem from watching imported 80's TV shows which had a strong tradition of featuring cars as stars.

When I finally convinced my wife to let me get one using the guise "it's a van, great for an expanding family" I thought I would realise all my visions of cruising long highways, massive jumps over barns, long car chases, shooting guns out the windows... you know the score...
In reality ownership is expensive, slightly awkward come service time, even more expensive come "fill her up" time and you have to sit on the wrong side. Then when you get to these shows it's funny how "un-American" people look when trying to look American. A cool, 'Marlboro-Man' style gait quickly becomes a cornfed clodhopper waddle.


But I still love it and wouldn't change it, plus the A-team theme tune pretty much plays on constant loop in my head every time I "GET IN THE VAN"...

...the downside is, I'm constantly fighting the urge to embroider a Confederate flag on my ill-fitting denim waist coat and call any policeman who crosses my path 'Smokey'.

Tom