The course for this event began at the corner of East Broadway & East Main Street and climbed 2000 feet to the top of the hill terminating at the gateway of Belle Terre at Cliff Road. Historically the hill climb race was a measure of a car’s strength and torque.

Cars on display before the climb:

click all photos to enlarge

The car owners were friendly and happy to tell you about their beautiful vehicles. We spent some time talking with the owners of this beautiful Ford. He even let my daughter give his ahooga horn a go. I think I might have enjoyed that more than she did.

He mentioned an interesting fact that I was complete unaware of. The original headlamps were powered by acetylene. He does not run a tank so he only drives the car during daylight hours.

When I first moseyed into the parking area of the Village Center, the first car that I laid eyes on was a long, tough looking racer that bore the number 8 on it’s radiator. For some reason it rung a bell with me but I couldn’t place why I would’ve ever seen it before.

When I came home and started looking for information on the car, I was lead back to Vanderbiltcup.com. As it turns out that was one of the sites I’d used as a source of information when researching the De Dion Bouton tricycle. Ah ha!

This 1909 Alco-6′s pedigree boasts 2 Vanderbilt Cup wins in 1909 and 1910 as well as participation in the very first Indy 500 in 1911. Not too shabby, huh? The car returned to Long Island in 2008, when it was purchased by local motorsport historian and enthusiast Howard Kroplick.

Link and Information on the 1909 Alco-6 “Black Beast”

• The Alco-6 Black Beast Racing History
• Conceptcarz.com – 1909 Alco Six Race Car news, pictures, and information
• If the Alco-6 Racer tickles your fancy as much as it did mine, make sure you stop by the Vanderbilt Cup Races blog and peruse the history and videos of the beautiful Black Beast.

Up, Up, Up We Go!

Port Jefferson Mayor Margo Garant dropped the green flag sending the first cars on their way. It was so exciting to watch them chug up the hill cheered on by onlookers. Admittedly a few cars looked as though they might not make it but most of them powered on steadily up, up, up.

When the beautiful blue Bugatti made it’s way to the starting line I knew we were in for a treat. The driver easily sped his way up the hill past us. The sound of his car zipping by was like a song.

In the line behind the Bugatti was the car that held my fascination for the day; the Black Beast. I was so excited to see him roll away from the line. He began his ascent and then… the big black racer chugged and chugged and slowed… and sputtered to a stop partway up the hill.

Oh no! I could see steam coming out from under the front of car.  Unfortunately I wouldn’t have the opportunity to hear it rumble past me on the hill on this day. I was fortunate enough to see and hear it driving earlier in the day so that would have to do.

Some of the more “modern” vehicles on hand:

Your Help Appreciated
I’m afraid most of the cars did not have signage with their details, so I am short on information on makes, models & years. If anyone knows anything about these beautiful vehicles, please comment below!

We had such a great time at this event. I only hope we don’t have to wait another 100 years to attend it again!

Historical Port Jeff Hill Climb Information:

• Portjeff.com – Port Jefferson Hill Climb Centennial 1910-1929 a re-enactment for cars 1975 & earlier
• Vanderbilt Cup Races Blog – Port Jefferson to Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Hill Climb
• New York Times – GETTING READY FOR BIG HILL CLIMB; Port Jefferson to be Scene of Attack on Ralph De Palma’s Record (1911)
• Port Jeff to celebrate 100th anniversary of Hill Climb

This post is just a little teaser; a little something to whet your whistle to come back tomorrow for a huge, photos-galore post about this fabulous event!

Click all photos to enlarge

click to enlarge

We were fortunate enough to see it parked on the National Mall in the summer of 2006. Just awesome~

More Information:

• TheWondrous.com – Decorated Vehicles in Pakistan
• The Silk Road Project
• The Smithsonian Institution
• Flickr Photos: Decorated Trucks – Pakistan

With the fiberglass giants getting up there in age, they often need some upkeep and repair. They also get customized and personalized. Many of them have unique features like chest hair, eyelashes  and in blue-eyed Stan’s case, white gloves.

I don’t know that I want to venture a guess as to what he’s up to with those gloves on but he looks like he’s beckoning you to ‘bring it on!’

Stan underwent some major surgery in 1998 after a storm did a number on him.

Hey -you can view some more of the big fellas we’ve visited in the Muffler Man Gallery.

While in Iceland, we hiked along and behind waterfalls, super jeep-ed and walked on black sand beaches, visited Geysir, and drove on a glacier.  On the flip side, we luxuriated in the geothermal delight that is the Blue Lagoon and strolled the streets of charming Reykjavik. It was an amazing trip that I often think about.  In many ways it feels like a dream. I came home wishing that everyone could see this naturally beautiful country and at the same time selfishly wanting people to stay away so as not to spoil it.

With the country firmly planted in the news following the eruption of the volcano at Eyjafjallajokull, my thoughts are again of Iceland.

More Photos, Posts and Links from our Iceland Trip:

• More Iceland Posts
• Super Jeep Exursions – NatureExplore.is
• Visit Iceland
• Iceland Tourist Board
• Blue Lagoon

With the strong winds came rough seas. On Sunday afternoon we went to Smith Point to watch the angry waves roll in. The dunes and the sandy beach were all but gone. The foamy tide relentless pounded the shore up to the retaining wall.

The Gotham Dream Car Tour puts you in the driver’s seat of some of the world’s most exotic road cars for a day.  The tour gives you the unique opportunity to pilot six exclusive autos out on public roadways, spending about a half an hour behind the wheel of each before moving on to the next car.  I was fortunate enough to be taken along as a passenger on this great day of driving.

Much to the collective palpable disappointment of the 7 drivers participating in the Tour on that day, no one would be getting any seat time in any of their Lamborghini cars, which were all in some state of requiring mechanical attention. To their credit, Gotham knowing right away that this would be a major letdown to the group gave each driver a fifty percent off certificate that they could use on a daily rental or on another tour. Beggars can’t be choosers, so the drivers would have to suffer through a pair of Maseratis, the poor things. The lineup of cars that we would have the opportunity to ride in on this day was the Maserati Quattroporte, Maserati Gran Turismo, Bentley Silver Spur, Bentley Continental GTC, Ferrari 360 Spyder and the Ferrari F430.

The way that the tour works is each driver is listed on a driving rotation sheet, allowing each person to experience about 30 minutes behind the wheel of each car. After the safety meeting and car orientation the group received their driving badges and the driving rotation. You could see each driver excitedly scanning the paper looking for their name to see where they fell in the car driving lineup. Let’s face it, each of these boys wanted to pilot those Ferraris on the twistiest part of the route to get some understanding of the amazing handling that they’ve all read about since they were wee lads. It seemed that Lady Luck was riding along with us as Kenny got the 360 Spyder and the F430 while we were going to be driving in Harriman State Park which offered the most winding roads of the route and then the Silver Spur and the Gran Turismo on the to and from highway legs of the drive.  Score!

When the tour leaves the garage facility in New Jersey the train of exotics tails a lead car that is a rather inconspicuous looking sedan. Following behind is a sweep car of similar non-descript ilk making sure that none of these very expensive sheep get lost. Each car is equipped with a CB radio to keep in verbal contact with the entire group. Route directions, road hazards, Smokey is hiding in the bushes type messages all come across the radio during your drive with a northeastern accent that had me chuckling at times. One of the messages actually included the phrase, “a couple ten fifteen minutes.” You just don’t hear that outside of the New York metro area.

The lead car radios the group to pull in to scheduled stops to make driver changes. What ensues is then something of high profile Chinese Fire Drill. Excited chatter about their impression of the car they are exiting flurried between the drivers. On this day each of the drivers was salivating over the Ferrari F430, wishing they could just get a little more time behind the wheel of the Italian beauty. The group could not escape without pictures, questions or just general awe at the collection of fine automobiles all congregated together.

As a passenger, my impression of the driving segments of the tour overall can be summed up in a single word: Terrifying. Admittedly, I am probably the worst choice as a front seat passenger. As Kenny, with an uncharacteristic giddiness, blipped the paddles and moved through the gears of the Ferrari F430 it rumbled a delicious guttural growl through the deep green surroundings of Harriman State Park, I sat gripping the door white knuckled all the way. The car skimmed across the roadway with agility at speed unlike anything I have ever experienced before and am unlikely to again. The term handled like it was on rails never meant anything to me until riding in this car.  It was ferocious and manly and oh so exhilarating and being a passive entity in the ride was absolutely scary. Watching the man I love be truly overcome with the driving experience, wrapped up completely with an excitement that I don’t think I’ve ever seen from him before was hands down worth the price of admission.

What I came away from this event with was an understanding that giving the gift of an experience will leave a lingering joy unlike anything else. Clearly the people at Gotham Dream Cars understand this. I would absolutely recommend the Dream Car Tour to anyone with a thirst for exhilarating pursuits.

To read a firsthand account of the Dream Car Tour, visit Kenny’s blog on watermelon18.com.

Last night, my eye-rolling family found themselves once again humoring me as I strode up and down the aisles of the store with a curious mix of wonder and maybe I shouldn’t touch that with bare hands. All the while in my apparent oblivion I chirped things like, “isn’t that awesome?” and “ooh look at that! Can you believe it’s only a dollar?” When yes, they can in fact believe it’s only a dollar because a) it’s a piece of shit and b) every piece of shit in the store is a dollar. See how that works? The whole store… everything in it… $1.00. Hence we have, the Dollar Store err Tree.

That brings me around to one of my favorite pastimes, Dollar Store Haiku. You missed it, I know.

Innuendo Snacks
Swiss Roll in the Honey Buns
Taboo 40 States

Got Jungle Fever
You’re Icing My Zebra Cakes
Sweet Cosmic Brownie

Requires great skill
Taking on Banana Twins
Eat one from each hand

Without further ado – some snaps as of late: