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roddingandracing

Although I post images on my website of all the car shows we go to, sometimes I send extended coverage to HOT ROD HOT LINE. To visit their website, click on their logo above or to go directly to our images, go to hotrodhotline.com/leal-brothers.

What better way to start 2021 than with an outdoor car show, especially only one mile from my driveway? CAR CULTURE HOUSTON started where they left off by holding their canceled (rain) final event of 2020 (mid-December) this past weekend. Beautiful weather; although a little cold (35 degrees), greeted the cars that included a 2021 Rolls Royce Ghost, a McLaren 620R and a Ferrari 812 GTS (all directly below). 

PEARLAND, TEXAS / JANUARY 2021

MONSTER JAM has already released their 2021 schedule (w/restrictions) and beginning the last weekend in January, they're in Houston (NRG Stadium) four straight weekends!    

Wanna start 2021 with a bang? Put yourself behind the wheel of one of these wild Pro Street Bowties. Currently available on Ebay, the '57 is "Buy It Now" for $159,000 and the current high bid on the Nova is $55,500; below the reserve of course!

Before the Pandemic, we would have not only covered the Car Culture Houston event on Saturday (which we did, above), we would have also made the short trip (100 miles) to Bryan/College Station on Sunday to cover the Luckey's Rod Run to the Chicken        Oil       Ranch. 

Although its always been pretty cold when we've gone before, and its a "Rain or Shine" event, I think this year was a little past that (College Station, Sunday, 4.5" snow, above left) unless the vehicle above, right decided to show up! 

A few weeks ago, I posted several vehicles that were going on the auction block at the Mecum Auction in Florida (Kissimmee) from January 7 - 16. I  wanted  to  follow  up to 

see what the cars sold for. Well the auction is still in progress and only two of my posted vehicles have crossed the block. The black Chevy sold for $27,500 and the red Hot Rod sold for $31,900. Congrats to the new owners.     

Check out a couple of my John Force autographed items above. I had the transporter signed at an NHRA event here in Houston (Baytown) and the helmet at the Houston Autorama. I put the display case together.  

I've got quite a few diecast vehicles and several I had autographed. I was fortunate enough to have gotten the autograph of Steve Kinser, the "King of the Outlaws" (above). Actually my wife got it for me and I enjoy telling the story. It was over 30 years ago and we were visiting her brother and family in Memphis. The World of Outlaws were in town and the winged sprints are the only type of motorsports my wife likes. I bought a few diecasts on sight hoping to get them signed. Since Kinser was so well known, he spent most of his time in his motorhome. We were walking by his motorhome and noticed a very good looking blonde with hot pants trying to get his autograph. My wife turned to me and asked me for his diecast. I asked why and she said "If she's getting his autograph, I'm getting his autograph". And there you go! (On the right is artwork commemorating his induction into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame)

Above I posted a Steve Kinser transporter I had autographed while attending a World of Outlaws (WoO) event in Memphis over 30 years ago. Left and above are 1/24 scale diecast I also had autographed while at Memphis. They include 1995 WoO Champion Dave Blaney, Jac Haudenschild and Andy "the Wild Child" Hillenburg. Together they won 208 A Mains (94, 72, 42 respectively).    

ERTL makes diecast of every type of farm machinery you can think of. I guess with their FULL THROTTLE release (above), they decided to take it to the extreme. I liked them so much, I bought four of the eight models that were released. A quick check of Ebay shows them readily available for less than $10 each. 

If you were involved with plastic model car kits growing up like I was, you probably recognize most of the 1/43 scale diecast above. Model car company MONOGRAM released several TOM DANIEL designs in 1/24 scale models including all of the above. Most recognized is the RED BARON which was eventually built as a full size show car.  

Okay VW lovers; this one's for you. Its been awhile since I've seen an automotive post on Facebook but here's a good one. The post had 3.5K comments already and a handful pointed out that the vehicles in the two images were not the same which is obvious if you look at them both but its the same concept and personally I like it. Would love to see the tandem in person. 

Not 100% sure if this is a real vehicle or computer generated but they posted it on Facebook, it looked good so here it is! Enjoy.

There are "modified" Jeeps and then there are "MODIFIED" Jeeps like the one posted on Facebook (above).  

Here's one you really can't go wrong with. This Illinois based '33 Willys Gasser pickup is ready for the track but could easily be converted for street use. The Willys has working lights, turn signals, brake lights, wipers and mufflers. Its listed on a "Gasser" Facebook group site for $44,500. Street or strip, its a real head turner!    

On my "Facebook" posts above, I carried over the VW Tandem from my last update and I'm glad I did. My brother saw the post and showed me this similar VW Tandem (above) that Hot Wheels released back in 2015.  

RONNIE SOX

1938 - 2006

Further above I posted images of my ERTL Full Throttle diecast vehicles and here are a few more releases (above) I found online just in case you decide to  pick some up. I also 

mentioned MONOGRAM Tom Daniel's plastic models and above I've also posted a couple of Tom Daniel's releases in plastic, 1/43 caricature form which I also have, although not built yet. Both (Lil Red Baron, Lil Tarantula) are currently available at Amazon for just over $20.  

* DON'T LET AGE CHANGE YOU; CHANGE THE WAY YOU AGE. *