26 (edited by m610 2015-07-04 11:48 PM)

Re: Streets of Alameda 4th of July Parade

Fantastic day.

Tinyvette's FB Page wrote:

It's 9:45 now and the fireworks have just begun, but the Tinyvette's day started at around 6 AM with a drive to Alameda, then a parade, then a feast, then the drive back home. As I sit here now, and the rockets red glare, I'm looking through the photos and uploading them, and telling you about my day.

About that parade, it was pretty darned big. The route was 4 miles long and there were at least 101 participants. I know because our group was #101. Judging from the distance to the rear of the staging area, I'd guess there were 140 entries, and rough numbers, rough calculations, I estimate 15,000-20,000 people came out to watch. I figure more people saw an Opel here, today, than have been seen in North American this year.

We were the Lemons entry, and the Tinyvette was the designated pretty car, and from the photos you'll see why. Jesse's boom-box truck was pretty, too, on one side. A tire wall at Sonoma Raceway took care of the other side. The Cannonball Bandit's mangled Supra was there. Its story of mangling is it got rear-ended hard at a race a few years ago. They beat it back into shape and returned to the race, and the car continues racing, and has since topped 160 mph when it went to Daytona. That car has so much story, and has come up with some of the most memorable themes in Lemons: Tiger Woods, the NASCAR Mayer Wiener-mobile, the Space Shuttle, and more.

The Model T GT made it. Part Model A, part Model T, part Mustang II with some trailer fenders and a modern Ford V8 added, it is a real contender in these races, and with good drivers will usually podium. The "T" was accompanied by a Pinto wagon, which was built and is campaigned by the "T" people, Dave and Fish, although it is not a contender in the sense that it might ever win a race.

Then there is the "chicken car", the car no one in the crowd will forget any time soon. It's a Belvedere, found on the street, wrecked, all but abandoned, and about to go to the crusher. It has been racing since 2008 and it shows. It has rolled, hit the tire walls, has seemingly been hit by nearly everyone else it has raced against, all of which makes it just that much more fantastic, in a "Someone call security!" kind of way. It gets driven to the races, raced for 14 hours, then driven home, and has been doing this for 6, maybe 7 years. It's a tough car. It is street legal, although at home it isn't driven much. It tends to get followed, for miles, by police and CHP. If the guys have even one beer while out with the car they leave it and come get it the next day. Can you imagine the trouble they'd have if they got stopped and the cop detected the faintest smell of alcohol? See the photos. You'll see what I mean.

The parade itself was fantastic. So many people! Lots of pointing, thumbs upping, gang signing, calling out "Opel GT" with fervor, and at times calling out "Opel GT?" in confusion. The Corvette flag probably didn't help. The kids really loved the race cars and those not still in shock after seeing the Faster Farms car showed their appreciation of the Opel. I think I gave out about 100 Tinyvette photo/business cards to kids today. I had forgotten how if you gave one kid something you had to give them all something. Man, the looks some of those kids gave me when they thought I wasn't going to give them a card, too! Danger was sensed.

Well, this was a parade, but it was also Lemons, and it wasn't long before the Bandits broke rank and passed the field. Then the Pinto made it's move, on the Belvedere. Contact is contact, even at 2 mph, and it looked to me like Fish was going to drive the Pinto up the fender of the Belvedere. The damage was undetectable on the battered Plymouth except for the tire rub, and Fish jumped out and yanked the fender clear again, then somehow, sometime later, managed to hook the rear bumper and fold it back. Well, game was on so now the chicken car caught up with the Supra and gave it a love tap. The crowd loved it, but the Supra did not respond. Doug K was riding on top and wasn't exactly strapped in. Meanwhile the nasty brown Pinto had now caught up with Jesse's truck and collected a little blue paint, and from the clean side of the truck, too. Then Fish pulled up along side of me and said "Your car is too nice for Lemons", which meant he really wanted to add a little yellow paint to his blue trophy. The "T" was also spared today but repeated contact was made between the other cars throughout the rest of the "race".

For other fun, the chicken car had a few fun moments spinning it's wheels in horse doo, the Bandit's Supra did a few circles in the "corners", Fish would get the Pinto bucking, and when we couldn't come up with a tow strap to help out a small, stranded military vehicle of some sort, the Pinto again got to hit something, this time, pushing it to the end of the course. And from what I hear, when Fish was a hell of a lot gentler than the tow/push vehicles at Sonoma are.

So, a drive, a parade, 15-20,000 people exposed to incurable Opelitis, more contact than you see at a typical Lemons race, horse doo wheel spinning, bucking Pintos, lots of engine rev'ing and thumbing of ups. We had enough cars and enough variety to make an impression, possibly lasting, and I'm pretty sure we were the crowd's favorite entry. Pretty sure. Not a bad day, and not a bad first showing.

So, next year...

So many thanks to Jesse for setting this up, going to the meetings, just plain making it happen. And on top of that, he fed us. Great food, stories told, people getting a chance to get in the Tinyvette and flip the headlights. What a great way to finish a day where our contribution to the national celebration was to offer the reminder that you can not be truly free unless you can laugh at yourself. And go tracing.

Some photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set … amp;type=1

Re: Streets of Alameda 4th of July Parade

I grew up in Alameda (East End, over by Lincoln Park), went to Edison, Lincoln, AHS, and in 2000 I bought a house on Park Street near Clinton (i.e., right on the parade route). The Faster Farms Belvedere guys grew up in my neighborhood (Adrian about 4 blocks away, Jim maybe 6), a few years older than me, and Adrian was a local legend and bad influence (he had a purple Maverick with a couch installed sideways on the passenger side) in my adolescence. In fact, Adrian was the guy who introduced me to Lemons in the first place, and Jim ended up marrying a classmate I'd known since age 10.

So, as you might imagine, I've been to dozens of Alameda 4th of July parades and it killed me not to be at this one-- just couldn't get out to California due to a bunch of work-related boolsheet. I'll do my best to make it to the 2016 parade.

Re: Streets of Alameda 4th of July Parade

You guys won! Actually tied for first place. Close enough for me

Vehicles: 1st Place Tie
1st 24 Hours of Lemons
1st The Greene Family "Mixed Green(e)s" 
2nd Lou's Lagoon and Property Services
3rd Sikh Riders of America

29 (edited by fleming95 2015-07-07 12:41 PM)

Re: Streets of Alameda 4th of July Parade

Wow!

(But I guess my mother-in-law is, yet again, right!  When I explained the concept and themes of 24HoLM, she summarized it as, "oh,  so I guess it's like a big parade!"  I tried explaining that, no, the cars race, but she wasn't having any of it.)

Whatdya win - free entries to next years parade? smile

Re: Streets of Alameda 4th of July Parade

http://blog.naomiharris.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/03-11-12-Sikh-Motorcycle-Club-Vancouver-BC-Pier-21-69581_RGB_150_18in.jpg

Lemons totally beat the Sikh Riders of America!

Re: Streets of Alameda 4th of July Parade

The Sikh Riders where awesome!!

Best part was that by the end of the parade the guys on the big air cooled Harleys couldn't sit cause of the HOT SEAT!