If you\u2019ve been with us from the start – just two issues and four and a half months ago – you\u2019ll notice we\u2019ve changed – again.<\/p>\n
While going with a glossy cover on issue #2 was a smash hit, the size of the publication was giving our distributors a headache.<\/p>\n
Some of our readers also found the tabloid format a bit cumbersome, so we\u2019ve decided to shrink to a more conventional – but still unique – magazine size.<\/p>\n
When the insanity of publishing my own magazine first struck, my primary mandate was to produce something different than the competition.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s still my aim, but I hope you like our new format. We\u2019re going to stick with it – so stick with us. Feel free to let us know what you think of the magazine and send in your suggestions or contributions to mycarpublications@shaw.ca.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re always looking for club bulletins, features, pictorials, first person features or Rearview Mirror, Reader\u2019s Rides and Roadside Attractions photos.<\/p>\n
Through your contributions, clubs and gearheads from across Canada can keep in touch and keep track of interesting happenings and events they\u2019d like to attend.<\/p>\n
Above is a picture of me doing my best to smoke the tires on the CHC 2005 Dakota.<\/p>\n
With a stock V8 Magnum and highway gears, this wasn\u2019t easy. But it was fun trying. The scene of the crime is the annual Thunder in the Alberni Valley event that takes place every August at the Alberni Valley Regional airport in Port Alberni, B.C. (That\u2019s Vancouver Island for folks east of the Rockies.).<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve never attended – it\u2019s a blast. There\u2019s a Friday night car show and cruise and the whole city becomes a hot rod mecca for a few days.<\/p>\n
In the past, I\u2019ve attended as a spectator\/journalist, but this year I couldn\u2019t resist my 1\/4 mile urges. You see, despite having gasoline for blood, the last time – and the first time – I travelled \u201cofficially\u201d down 1320 feet of asphalt it was at St. Thomas Dragway (Sparta, ON) in the late 1980s and I was behind the wheel of my dad\u2019s 1948 Chevrolet pickup street rod. I think the mouse-motored pickup ran in the low 90s, but since it was only an exhibition event, I never got another chance to race.<\/p>\n
Since then I\u2019ve become more interested in circle track racing (more on that in later issues) but a second round exit in the Street Class at Thunder in the Alberni Valley only whet my appetite for straight-line racing.<\/p>\n
The Dakota\u2019s best time was 17.071 at 78.50 – not fast by any measure – and the car that beat me in Sunday\u2019s second round of eliminations was a freakin\u2019 Pontiac Sunfire. On a more positive note, thanks to a tip from Ray Digby of Nanaimo\u2019s Smokin\u2019 Oldies car club, my reaction times improved from very slow (.785, .839) to very quick (.560 – with perfect being .500.) over the course of five passes. But the truck performed as well as it could with the factory setup and a rookie driver.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m contemplating a few easy changes for next year\u2019s event that may get me down the track a little quicker; maybe a chip, different exhaust, rearend gears, cold air kit.<\/p>\n
As if I, or my bank account, needed another project. Anyway, enjoy the pics and brief wrap up on Thunder in the Alberni Valley (pages 9&10).<\/p>\n
Speaking of projects, I\u2019ve been working on a backyard shop that should soon house the \u201957 Ford Courier Sedan Delivery you read about in issues #1 and #2. Once that\u2019s done, we\u2019ll start monitoring the progress of CHC Delivery. Meanwhile, if you\u2019ve got a project in your garage, give us – and CHC readers – a sneak preview. Send us a jpeg along with some info and we\u2019ll put it in our In Progress feature. Till next time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you\u2019ve been with us from the start – just two issues and four and a half months ago –<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n