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  '98 |
by
Curt Scott (with material assistance
from the AHA's Joan St. Thomas)
Only
five Knott-ical miles northwest of Disneyland! |
 25 & 26 April, 1998. You'll
probably notice that we've borrowed heavily from the formatting
for last year's coverage of the Knott's show. Reason is, our
schedule is, to put it mildly, jam-packed. As I write this, it's
only the day after the event. So I've elected to get up for you
the photos I shot for the article, with whatever caption material
and text I've got to work with for now, and we'll supplement
and add to the text and photo captions when that information
becomes available to us. To your left and below are aerial shots
I took at the beginnings of the show on Saturday morning (25
April).
This
year's event was one still another spectacular extravaganza in
the long history of the AHA/KBF shows; midweek before the
show the sky appeared to be ominous; blustery winds and threatening,
el Niño cloud cover prevailed. But as is generally predictable,
the sky opened up and smiled enthusiastically on the AHA's annual
event. Various AHA officials claim to have connections upstairs,
but the credit is probably due to Knott's own Janét
Wilson-Irving,
who maneuvered to negotiate spectacular weather for two carshow
weekends in a row.
You'll
notice that throughout this article that you've been provided
with hot links (both text links and image links) to the Web page
on kitcar.com or cobracountry.com where you can find more information
about that company, car, product or service.
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That's
Bob Shaw of Operations
Plus
(in center, blue shirt), Cobra replica outfitters extraordinaire,
in his counting house, counting out his money... |
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Carroll
Shelby's Children's Foundation was present, with an admiring
crowd almost continuously jamming the booth. That's CSCF's Danny
Natividad on the far right exiting the booth. |
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This
red D&R Countach replica is the proud possession of Vivek
Narang (call him "Vee") of Las Vegas. Great car, great
guy! |
...Bah
Hummbug, Spyders & Snakes...
...and
a redhead...
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| Above
photos: that's Karl Kanthak at upper left with his resoundingly
popular HummBug...
already a big hit for its dashing military scout car/sport utility
styling, nimble performance and affordable price. At the upper
right is Gregg Leach (Vintage
Spyders) with his silver blue 550 Spyder; at lower left is
Tom Brooks (of Cathedral City, California) with his (deservedly)
trophy-winning Unique 289FIA Cobra. Tom has owned and driven
this nimble snake since 1991. Bottom right: the trophy-garnering
red Testarossa replica by European Exotic Cars ("Testarossa"
is Italian for "redhead") was built by (and is owned
by) David Terrill of Santa Fe Springs, California. |
Snakes
alive!
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Cobras,
Cobras, Cobras. The show-stopping Racing Blue Lone Star
Cobra roadster at top left is the proud possession of Luis Costa
of Miami, Florida. At upper right is Tom Piana with his gorgeous,
award-winning 427 Contemporary Roadster. Tom took the show's
"Best 427 Cobra" trophy. The glittering chassis at
bottom left and the rear shot of Marty Krueger's green Cobra
(you know, the view that chagrined Ferrari and Maserati drivers
witnessed most often in the '60s) are from the shops of G&S
Motorsports.
Not
pictured above: House of Cobras alone had eight of the
Shelby asphalt terrors on display. Southwest Specialty Cars (of
Fresno, California) had a half-dozen Factory Five Cobra replicas
on hand. Roger and Jerry Upton of RU Car Crafters
assembled their show car only two days before the Knott's event,
after Roger had wrecked the car they had intended to show. They
then piloted it nonstop (except for fuel and food) all the way
from Sand Springs, Oklahoma (over 1500.miles/±2400.km)
to make the show (and received the AHA's trophy for longest distance
driven by an exhibited car). Jerry related to me that, driving
in their open, unheated Cobra roadster, they were advised at
one fuel stop in Williams, Arizona, that the temperature was
29°F (that's minus.5°C). They spent most of the Knott's
weekend thawing out.
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That's
Steve Newmark of Lone Star Classics and Bill Moore, Editor of
Kit Car Illustrated magazine. They're smiling 'cause they're
in the shade and outa the sun. |
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after
hours at HOC: Saturday evening
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House
of Cobras
hosted their legendary "Roadkill BBQ Dinner" on Saturday
evening. We caught this shot just as the festivities began, and
just as folks began to arrive. Truth be known, Dayan's Dave Radtke
invited both of his friends, plus several dozen rent-a-friends
just to bulk-out the guest roster. Just kidding. Second from
the left (wearing straw hat) is Dave Radtke, Becky Thelen, Michael
Sugarman and Ken Ellis. At the far left (with beard) and far
right is a nice couple, Karl-Heinz Bieser and his lovely wife
Ingrid, aus Friedrichshafen, in der nähe Lake Constance
in southern Germany. |
Trophy
Time! (2:00pm Sunday afternoon)
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Trophy:
Best 289 Cobra replica
Tom
Brooks (Cathedral City, California) for his splendid silver-blue
Unique Motorcars 289FIA. That's the AHA's John St. Thomas awarding
Tom his trophy. John himself deservedly received the "Best
Paint" trophy for his purple IFG Lamborghini Diablo replica.
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Trophys:
1. Best Engine
Scott
Foxwell of G&S Motorsports (Buellton, California)
holding the trophy for Marty Krueger's splendid Cobra replica.
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Trophy:
3rd Place Special Interest
Ever-cheerful
Tim Figuhr of Roseville, California in his trademark mallard-feather
headgear. Trophy for the dazzling metalflake silver dune buggy
that his firm (Fiber Jet Industries) manufactures.
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Trophy:
Best Mercedes replica
Vern
Hance of the NCKCC (Northern California Kit Car Club) at right,
being awarded a trophy by the AHA's John St. Thomas, for his
Classic
Factory white 1934 500K.Mercedes.
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Trophy:
Best Neoclassic
Under $15k
On
occasions this sort of thing just happens... two grown men fighting
over one of the AHA's trophys... no, wait! That's the AHA's President
Mike Dresbach awarding Bob Bohaboy (of the NCKCC) his trophy
for his Classic Roadsters Marlene. Mike took second place
in this same category, for his SSK replica.
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Trophy:
Best Street Rod
Henry
Caroselli of Caroselli Designs (the Rodster).
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Trophy:
Vice President's Choice
Trophy
to Julian Goldberg of Thousand Oaks, California, for his dazzling,
silver Lone Star Classics 300SLR 1952 Mercedes reproduction.
Having made plans to show his 300SLR only at the last moment,
it turned out to be one of the AHA event's biggest crowd stoppers.
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attending
clubs
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Al
Bohr, President of the Oregon Handcrafted Automobile Association,
with his 1934 500K Mercedes reproduction. This year's Knott's
show showcased an entire array of these magnificent 500K replicas. |
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That's
Bill Landers (at the left of the photo) with his 1972 Ferrari
Daytona Spyder reproduction. Great guy, even though he wears
funny headgear. Bill finished installing a brand-new Chevy powerplant
into his car only the day before the show, then he and Ann drove
it 300+ miles (nearly 500km) to the show! |
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You
may obtain information about joining the AHA (Association of
Handcrafted Automobiles) and participating in its cornucopia
of activities by writing to:
The
Association of Handcrafted Automobiles
P.O. Box 1384
Apple Valley, California 92307
The
AHA is actively seeking to expand its membership among fellow
replicar enthusiasts, and looks forward to hearing from you!
I'd
once again like to voice a special "Thank
You" to Janét Wilson-Irving of Knotts Berry Farm
management
who graciously and cheerfully went far beyond the call of executive
duty to make sure that we could obtain outstanding photos for
this article. Among other things, she once again arranged to
provide the special hydraulic elevator for the "aerial"
shots at the very beginning of this article. Thank
you, Janét!
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