Last Friday morning
Troubadour and I headed out for a 3 day/2 night road trip in the Fiat. A few months ago we heard that the
EuroMoto Show was taking place in Seattle at the Seattle Center (home of the Space Needle) instead of further north where it is usually held. The original plan was to drive to Seattle Saturday morning, have lunch, go to the show, stay the night, then head home Sunday. We booked a hotel room just a block or two from the Space Needle. Same hotel we usually stay in when attending shows.
Then a few weeks ago we read online that the
LeMay America's Car Museum in Tacoma currently had a display of vintage Vespas and other scooters. Hmmm, we thought, why not drive to Tacoma Friday and go to the LeMay then on to Seattle Saturday as planned. Alrighty. Another hotel room booked. The LeMay is located right beside the Tacoma Dome venue and there is a Best Western Hotel right there as well so it is very convenient. We actually stayed there one other time in 2012 when we attended The Ace Cafe sponsored
Meet at the Ace Summer Shakedown with
Roland and
Sonja.
We had a good weekend. We ate entirely
too much food, but at least traffic wasn't too bad. Worst part was going through Portland each way. While we really enjoyed the LeMay, we were disappointed in the EuroMoto show.
Here are some random pictures from the trip. I'll do a few follow up posts with more LeMay and Seattle pictures when I have more time.
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| (1953 Ford F-100 Panel Truck) |
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( 1923 Lincoln Touring Car, Model 124A - owned by one family since delivery in 1923 and never been licensed.
Also the first car to drive over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940) |
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| (1951 Studebaker Champion Starlight 2-door Coupe) |
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| (1930 Packard Standard Eight - 4 dr Sedan) |
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| (Motorcycle trio - 1951 Moto Guzzi, 1965 Ducati & 1959 Ducati) |
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| (1937 Fiat Topolino 500 Convertible) |
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| (A gas station display in the Route 66, station wagon area) |
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| (1949 Buick Super Estate Wagon) |
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| (1961 Matchless G3C - single cylinder, 350 cc) |
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| (1940 Indian 440B with original sidecar, more pics to come) |
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| (The view of Tacoma from our hotel room Saturday morning) |
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| (A view above the EuroMoto Show) |
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| (Space Needle through the budding trees) |
As I mentioned earlier in this post I'll post up a follow-up post with the motorcycles from the LeMay and also some of the other cool car pictures. I'll throw in a few of Seattle pics for good measure. I know everyone will be so disappointed (yeah right) but no selfies were taken the whole trip.
- Au Revoir
" Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures." - Lovelle Drachman
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" I'll do a few follow up posts ... when I have more time"
ReplyDeleteLetting work get in the way of blogging! What's the world coming to... BTW, pretty cool pictures. Looking forward to more.
Glad you liked the pictures.
DeleteDamn job getting in the way. We've been super swamped this week. Crime is high in Benton County, go figure.
Bummer, that the Euro Moto Show didn't work out. I found that over the years the motorcycle fairs got worse and worse. Looking forward to your pics from LeMay. Ah, good times, good memories.
ReplyDeleteWe've found most of the shows have been declining over the years. Our favorite so far was the one in Abbotsford.
DeleteWhile in Tacoma we went to Quickie Too for dinner - the same place we went with you and Roland. It was tasty. I agree, good memories.
that Indian sidecar rig looked cool.....I've always been amused by the car's name: Topolino....I think it means little mouse.
ReplyDeleteThe Indian was really neat and just inside the front door. Quite back lit against the windows but I took a few more shots of it from all the angles I could.
DeleteI do believe you are right with Topolino they though the headlights made the front look mouse-like.
Ah yes, the Tacoma Narrows bridge-a classic of bridge collapse viewed by all first year Engineering under grads (I digress)
ReplyDeleteYes, the bridge is famous. Wouldn't want to be on it in a storm either.
DeleteFor those that don't know what we are talking about. Check out this video. https://youtu.be/xox9BVSu7Ok
Great photos, thanks for posting! Love that Buick!
ReplyDeleteHey Norman, thanks for stopping by and the nice compliment too. More pics to come.
DeleteOh, snap, I think my heart just stopped for that '40 Indian. What a gorgeous kit, and it couldn't be in a finer color: Sage? Sea Foam? Wow? (Wow is now a color, right?)
ReplyDeleteI think wow can be a color. I checked on the placard (I took a pic of it) and it doesn't say what the color is. The side car is original but I am not sure if the color is. It was kind of a sea foam color in person. It is on loan to the museum from a private collection.
DeleteNice bike pictures. I'd love to know why a show of euro bikes was a let down. They talk it up of course on their page. Road trips are the best.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't crowded, which we appreciated, but the vendors couldn't get off their smart phones long enough to speak to any one. Two vendors - our northwest KTM rep and a Washington off-road training course guy were the only two to talk. With everyone else you just felt like you were interrupting while they were texting their besties.
DeleteIt was $15 each to get in the show, you think they'd at least try and engage with the patrons. I was really interested in the Rev'it booth as I could use a new jacket and they are the only ones with sleeves long enough. They had one women's jacket and no one to help us.
While we expected it to be smaller than the Progressive International Show we were disappointed at just how sparse it was. Ducati didn't even have a Scrambler there. Instead of brands present it was more or less local dealers with bikes for sale.
They apparently had demo bikes available for guided rides if you wanted to ride the busy roads of Seattle by the Space Needle on a Saturday afternoon. Um, no.
Just an odd feeling.
Far too many cars in this post! More bikes thanks!
ReplyDeleteSome very cool pics though. When I was a lad we used to go watch drag racing occasionally and Fiat Topolinos with massive blown V8's were quite popular - they moved out off the line with the front wheels waving about all over the place...
I couldn't put all the bikes in the first post now could I? Hopefully I'll get up another post this weekend while hubby is teaching,
DeleteWhat andrew said. :)
ReplyDeletePatience young grasshopper!
DeleteNice, Two shows for the long drive. I love the panel truck in the first pic. Don't know why but I have a fondness for panel trucks. Also like that Indian with the sidecar. Fun weekend!
ReplyDeleteYeah, we figured if we were driving up anyway we might as well add an extra day and the LeMay to it.
DeleteSome nice photos! I really enjoyed seeing the little Fiat Topolino! The Buick Estate wagon, too. Reminds me of my childhood and the early '50's Ford Country Squire that hauled us all over California on Navy relocations and vacations.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it great how seeing these old rigs brings back the memories.
DeleteSuperb photos and layout Brandy! Particularly liked the photo which has the 1959 Ducati in it. I have a photo of an identical one with a 500cc Triumph twin in it - the proverbial Tricati!
ReplyDeleteThank you Geoff. A Tricati would be interesting indeed.
DeleteThe level of restoration is amazing! The owners of those cars must have deep pockets.
ReplyDeleteOn the "decline" of motorcycle shows, I think it is all exciting when you first get into motorcycles and you visit a show but the "decline" comes because you sort of realise over time that there is nothing new to see. The industry just keeps dishing up the same stuff. Anyway, that's just my opinion.
These weren't even some of the oldest rigs. They had a 1912 Standard electric car in there that was something and looked in beautiful condition.
DeleteAnd I would be inclined to agree, the motorcycle industry is just serving up the same thing over and over. Nothing out there right now as a current release holds much interest.
Sounds like you guys had a fun trip. I love road tripping! more pics of bikes and tasty vegan food please. Less of the cars ;)
ReplyDeleteI liked the trio pic and the indian sidecar. nice.
It was fun. The only vegan meal we took pictures of was at the Wayward Cafe in Seattle Saturday night. Was also the best meal. I think we went to 4 vegan places in all. (not including the Wayward cafe twice)
DeleteLooks like you guys had a great weekend. The weather sure cooperated. The super estate wagon is my favorite here.
ReplyDelete