As a consequence it's a bit of a backwater for most people, somewhere to travel through on the road from Eugene to Corvallis or Newport.
The tracks run straight South towards Eugene...
and straight North towards Albany.
This bit was left over when they finished laying the tracks.
Once a year Junction City hosts the Function 4 Junction Car Show, when owners of "interesting" vehicles for miles round gather together to show their vehicles throughout the day, and have a drive up and down the strip in the evening. The joy for an outsider is that the owners pay to show their vehicles, while the general public (i.e. me) pays nothing - not even to park.
An area was cordoned off around a crossroads just off the main road (Highway 99), and here the show took place. I estimate there were nearly 100 vehicles on show, and more attended the evening cruise. The show is not limited to any specific decade, make, model or anything else, so there was a tremendous cross section of American Vehicular Splendor to be seen.
I'd like to have seen the vehicles organised a little more myself, so that one could walk through the decades and see the development in styles and ideas. Thus in my rough and dirty guide to Function 4 Junction I am organising my photos into groupings that make sense to me.
1920s and 30s
This car (I don't recall the make, but it's not a Model A Ford) was actually parked a little outside the official show area, but probably the oldest I saw that day. The boxy body, flat windscreen, running boards, and substantial spring-mounted fenders (bumpers) all mark it out as a late 1920s car.
Five pedals? Yowsers. The functional rather than styled dashboard at least has most of the instruments considered necessary for modern driving.
Another 20s car here has been heavily customised, yet is still clearly showing its pedigree.
A customised pickup rounds out the 20s for me. I found that I prefer seeing a restored car rather than a customised car, though I appreciate the skill and work required for both branches of show cars.
Behind the engine and wheel replacement this custom hotrod shows its pedigree.
This wonderful restoration from 1938 is perhaps my favorite from the show. It retains the running board, but the windscreen has now been split and angled in a nod to aerodynamics. The headlights are still housed separately and the engine accessed from the sides of the vehicle, the nose being almost entirely radiator. This style of car remained throughout WW2, as factories were busy with bombs, tanks and areoplanes, and had no time for redesigning vehicles. Winston Churchill and General Eisenhower would not have looked out of place in the back of this car.
1940s
This customised milk float shows its 1940s roots in the split flat windscreen, flared wheel arches and vestigial running board.
Still with a split flat windscreen, the headlights have now been absorbed into the main bodywork of the car, and the running board remains only as a slight flaring out of the doors and panels.
You cold be forgiven for thinking this is the same vehicle as in the previous picture, but check the radiator grille. At $7,500 for the pink slip I was tempted!
Not sure the bright yellow was a popular 40s color, but the split windscreen and hint of a running board at the bottom of the door confirm this pickup's vintage. The pickup in the USA became the popular vehicle for farmers and is still a popular style.
The station wagon too makes its appearance, though I'm not sure whether the lack of a front fender is original.
This may be late 30s or early 40s, with the running board still functional and the split windscreen. I found the vast unrelieved expanses of paint somewhat dull, but Beth liked the clean lines.
More custom than original I think, but the split windscreen and running board put this in the 30s to 40s era.
Hidden behind the hood (bonnet) the windscreen is still split flat panes, but the running board has vanished entirely. With a different paint job this vehicle could almost be Doc Hudson Hornet from Disney's "Cars"
Next blog post, goodbye 40s, hello 50s !
I can understand why a hobbyist who'd rebuild and/or modified the engine of an antique would want to show it off, but I agree that I prefer to see the vehicle in shiny mint condition, without the souped-up bits so dramatically highlighted.
ReplyDeleteFor a few years Jeff and I gave almost-serious thought to acquiring a vintage pick-up (similar maybe to the yellow one, but not yellow,) and having Clement Hardware painted on the doors. Don't know what we would have done, other than drive it in the 4th of July parade though. Saw one we liked in Wappingers Falls New York, but distance and slow consideration kept us from acting. Just as well.