VLV Wrap-Up

Sometimes there’s so much fun and adventures going on that I run out of time to write about the many wonderful wrenching opportunities where I get to learn! Because learning is what GreaseGirl is all about – I’ve worked hard to get all my coverage of Viva Las Vegas 2011 finished…so I can get back to covering all the grease, hard work, and learning that it took to get the Gasoline Girl’s cars to Viva!

Rather than spend more precious time re-publishing these stories here on GreaseGirl…go check them out on MyRideisMe.com.

• Gasoline Girls at Viva Las Vegas 2011
• Viva Las Vegas Car Show Review
• Award Winners at VLV Car Show

Get ready for some fun and informational stories hittin’ the web soon!

Viva Las Vegas 2011

Viva Las Vegas is always an event I look forward to. It was three years ago that I set off across the desert alone – bringing my 1955 Studebaker for the very first time after getting her running a short 12 hours before! I wasn’t alone this year…

This was the first Gasoline Girl’s trip out to Vegas (and our furthest one yet!) Setting off from So Cal, we joined up with the Throttle Kings Car Club and a few others for the 260 mile trek.

Back from Viva Las Vegas

It’s been a busy month in the garage! The Gasoline Girls and I had lots of work to complete in order to make our road trip out to Vegas for Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend. The good news is – we had a fantastic time and kept our cars on the road! I’ll be rolling out lots of news and pictures from Vegas – from the work we did before leaving (including metal flaking Stude’s roof and rebuilding Becky Sue’s front suspension) to all the fun we had and cars we saw while at Viva.

Just to give you a sneak peek – this beauty 1949 Buick took home Best of Show at VLV. Although Viva is largely for the fun of it, Sonny Vasquez wasn’t too disappointed to have all his hard work recognized!

More at GreaseGirl soon! Happy Trails!

Gettin’ Patriotic with The Pinup Angels

As Memorial Day and July 4th are sparkin’ up our summers – let me introduce some gals who are sparkin’ up some TLC for our boys serving overseas. The Pinup Angels are a group made up entirely of volunteer pinups. These ladies make care packages (with pictures included of course) and send them out to show a little love and care to our troops overseas.

We all know of the WWII pinup being used to boost troops moral and I think it’s really cool that these ladies aren’t just posing but they’re very active in finding other ways to support guys who are working to defend the ol’ USofA. Their care packages deliver not just pictures, baked goodies, and other useful stuff – but they deliver a message to the fellas that people back home are thinking of them and are very grateful for their service.

I was fortunate enough to get a chance to talk to Miss Kitty Baby, the Pinup Angel’s leading lady, while at Viva Las Vegas.

Gettin’ Girlie at Viva Las Vegas

So I know ya’ll are dyin’ to hear what the ladies were up to during Viva Las Vegas 12. If you had the privilege of being present, you already know that Viva Las Vegas was swarming with some of the purdiest ladies you ever did see. While you fellas might’ve been out merely lookin’ for ladies – I was lookin’ for fellow Grease Girls.

Being that the car show at VLV draws one of the biggest grouping of home-built cool traditionals, customs, and rat-rods – I was hoping I’d find a few of those “builders” who also happened to be ladies. As Stude (my own 1955 Studebaker Champion) and I arrived on the lot Thursday evening, many other cars had already arrived, but we were the only girl-owned car so far.

By the time Saturday rolled around the entire lot reserved for the VLV 12 Shifters Car Show was full, with ample stragglers in The Orleans parking lot.

As soon as I showed up on the scene Saturday morning, I wholeheartedly began my search for fellow car ladies. You’d think finding other lady car owners wouldn’t be too much work – but with so many people, things to do, and pin-up models mulling around – finding anybody is a challenge! The first couple of ladies I encountered were local Las Vegans. One had a Metropolitan Nash – who even though she’d owned it for 17 years had never needed to do any work on it – she did tell me she’d managed to stuff all of her young grandchildren (11 I think) in there at once! Another was a 61 Mercury Meteor Mama, while she was a pro at pin-up girl hair as she coiffed her daughters goldy-locks, it sounded like she hadn’t gotten too greasy under the hood of her ride.

The day was beginning to pass by and I still hadn’t found another woman who did any work on her car. I did hear elusive rumors of the presence of a couple girls car clubs – The Vixens and The Fender Skirts – but never managed to nail down any of them OR whether they had cars present!

Just when I was losing all hope, I ran into not just another lady – but another Studebaker owner! Pinkie drives a 1958 “Pink” Studebaker Wagon. She spent 2 years restoring this baby which rolls with the original Studebaker V-8 engine. Just like me, she didn’t know much about cars when she got into this and has kind of learned along the way. But she learned enough to do the needed body and engine work – with some help from friends. She’s had the Stude for 12 years now and enjoys going to various car shows, sometimes with her fellow members of the Sequoia Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club, where she loves to see people’s reactions and delight in response to her bright pink baby!

Glad to have found at least one fellow Grease Girl, I headed over to catch up with the Pin-Up Angels (article’s on the way!) when I ran into Becky Sue and her not just one car, but two! The first car, a 1952 Packard, was her VLV 11 project. Her first classic, she got it just a month before the show last year. Within that time, she and boyfriend Matt of Department of Customz(matt@docustomz.com), completely restored the Packard to a nice and clean (with some fun details) classic. The only thing they didn’t get to within that tight time-frame was the headliner. In it’s place they painted the interior roof white and leave it open for new friends to leave their mark with Sharpies (myself included!)

As if the Packard wasn’t enough, Becky Sue’s car for this year is a 1963 Comet. This one didn’t require too much work from them – as it’s in super-terrific original condition as-is. What I love about Becky Sue and her car’s is that they’re fun, driven often, done with style, originality, and her own hard-earned sweat.

I was glad to meet the ladies I did – and hope that next year more will come out of the woodwork – I mean, er, engine grease. Who knows…since Becky Sue and I are both in So Cal there’s already been mention of a car club forming. Whose name is exactly what I pondered as I made the drive back across the desert to home sweet home.

This year’s Viva stood up to it’s reputations. Cool Cars. Purdy Women. Plenty of Pabst and Lots of Music. Stude and I will be back next year – and ladies, I’m planning on there being more Grease Girls represented – so start gettin’ your hands dirty now! If I missed any fellow Grease Girls at Viva – leave me a comment and let me know about your ride. All you ladies out there who call So Cal home, drop me a line, I’d love to set up a gathering! Viva la Grease Girl!

For more fun Viva photos check out my photos page for Viva Las Vegas-the cars or Viva Las Vegas-the other fun…or check out tons more from other folks over at MyRideIsMe.com!