Thread: Don is real!!!

Tweet

The billetproof show was big hit today!! Close to 500 cars, i was told. But i finally got to meet the mystery man!! He is real!! Had a damn good time! I only took pics of this car, it was a real neat coupe.

nice pics man , someone posted a pic of his ride on the HAMB but i have not seen any of dodgerodders ride yet.. looks like a killer show one of these days i will have to try and make it down..

Don ain't real, that's a mannequin..... Nice cars though...sure would be a fun show to catch some time.

Acually denny, when i took this photo ,i had not found don yet. I had been standing by his car for about an hour, so i thought it would be funny to post that shot with a caption like "I found the car, but no don" or Where`s don, something like that. But about 20 minutes later i saw him , his son and bill (gastrick) standing about 30 feet away.

Originally Posted by DennyW

Very cool to finally get to meet them. Sounds like you guys had a good meeting finally....that's great !!

or...Got here, and the Don wouldn't see me...I've got the Don's car in sight....He has to come back some time....

Now thats funny Denny!!

Looks like a fun event. It still amazes me how low Don's car really is. It looks like it was built to a slightly smaller scale than any car near it!

And Hotroddaddy is for real too!!!!! He's more elusive than Bigfoot!! Yep, we finally hooked up with John, and his beautiful wife and equally beautiful Mom. Also got to see some old friends like Gastrick, JRobinson, and various Sons, Brothers and Dads. Made some new friends too, like Glenn and many other guys from the Poorboys Club. In fact, there were so many truly nice people at this event that it would take a week to mention them all.

I bet I walked away the same impression and good memories that everybody else did...............this was one of the very very very best shows I have even been to. There was no evidence of any problems whatsoever, and when you met someone it was like you had known them for years and years. Alan from Billetproof and the Poorboys should be extremely proud of the organization and manner in which they pulled off this event. I think it surprised even them to see how many people showed up.

I had driven past Garlits Museum a bunch of times, vowing to stop someday. All I can say is WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!! I could have spent two days in there and still not seen all of it. There are cars in there that even predate my interest in hot rodding. The inventory of cars and parts must tally into the many millions of dollars. If you haven't seen it you have to put it on your list, trust me.

I forgot my camera but knew everybody else would be taking lots and lots of pictures to cover the show. I truly can not wait to go back again next year. Some of the most interesting cars and folks I have ever met. Thanks Billetproof for a weekend to remember for the rest of my life. And thank you God for bringing Dan and I safely home. I hope everyone else had the same troublefree trip.

Now I have to shower and put aloe on top of my sunburned head!!!

Don

Glad to hear you guys had a safe trip and were able to hook up with fellow members. I hope you bought a disposible camera and got some pics anyway!

I didn't pre-register because I couldn't confirm my plans in advance. I assumed the place would be full, so my son, one of his buddies and I drove up for the day in my truck. It was a nice run. Next year I hope I can plan well in advance and go up for the weekend WITH my hotrod.

Anyway, it was a nice day. I saw both of Bill's (Gastrick) cars, but missed him and got to visit briefly with Don (Itoldyouso) and his son, Dan and look at Don's roadster again. Pictures do not do justice to these cars. Both of Bill's cars and Don's roadster are magazine feature quality.

Big Daddy Don garlits made an appearance, too. They had one of the cars from the museum out on the field and he fired up the engine for all to hear. I have met DG in the past; he is a nice person and a real "class act".

This was my second visit to the Garlits museum and it is well worth the price of admission. There is so much to be learned there... Most people think that Big Daddy always only drove Chrysler Hemi powered dragsters. Surprise! How about Chevrolet and Oldsmobile power? Yep, he did that too! There are some priceless cars in the collection, too. What is a flawlessly perfect, unrestored original '37 Ford with original seatcovers and paint and only 6,000 miles worth? And that is just one of many...

Don, I happened to see a guy and his wife really studying your car, so I tried to answer a couple of basic questions about it. I also told them where to find your thread on this site. I got the impression that your car is about to get cloned or copied...

We really enjoyed seeing you again and meeting your Son. Words can't describe what an enjoyable day Billetproof was. Alan and the Poorboys should be very happy and proud with the event they gave us. The ONLY glitch in the whole thing was the event T shirt vendor running out of lots of sizes, but I bet they never expected the turnout they had. If that is the only problem a show has, you know it is a success.

I was pleasantly surprised at the nice comments and reception my T got. One guy was actually trying to buy it, and I got interviewed by Channel 8 in Tampa and the guy shot lots of film of the car and asked lots of questions. I hate doing those kinds of things, but it wasn't too bad, and the reporter made it pretty easy.

I'm looking forward to next year, but I sure hope I see you guys way before then.

Don

Sorry i missed you JR, i asked bill if he had seen you, but i guess he had not.

Im with you guys, i could not even begin to imagine how much money don has in the museum!! Ive been there before, but did not go in this time. I bet he has 1/4 million in stromburgs alone, not counting all the blown hemi`s!

Did you guys see the never used flatheads, still in the crates?

Sorry I missed you guy's, hope to try Turkey Run again, but this time I will get a room and stay longer than 5 hours.
BradC

No, I missed the flatheads, but I swear I never saw so many chromed Chryler Hemi valve covers in my life!!!!! I also never knew Don ran engines other than Hemis in his career........Olds and Chevy too.

There were so many cars that were remarkable, but one that was strange was the one where they had a huge air pressure tank up front, must have been 10 feet long. The idea was they pressurized the tank and then used that air pressure to force feed the race motor. I guess they were trying to eliminate any parasitic loss by not using a belt driven blower. They just opened a waste gate or something during the run and let all that air pressure "supercharge" the engine. Wasn't real successful, I guess, but they had lots of cars there with experimental stuff on them that just didn't work in reality.

I've got to go back and spend a whole day there sometime. Dan took some pictures inside the museum, and I will post them later on when he wakes up from his nap. I guess the excitement of Billetproof was too much for him.

Don

We should plan a trip for all us forum guys to have a day at the museum. Spend a full day there, then go grab some food. I know its kinda far for some of you, but it could still be fun!

Sign me up Hotroddaddy!!!!!!! I think that is a great idea.

Don