Poster belongs to The Original Poor Boys, I do not claim any credit for this
So this year was the 5th Midnight Mass in their 5th location, and the 3rd year I've gone to the show. To describe Midnight Mass it's a huge car show mixed with a huge gathering and party, all held by the Original Poor Boys car club. It's a different car show in many different aspects. It starts in the middle of the day and runs until midnight (hence the name), the cars are not your usual shiny classic cars that can be found at most other car shows. Everything is pre-'65 and completely traditional. Some call it a hot rod show, others call it a rat rod show, others just call it a fun time.
I call it all three. Midnight Mass is one of my favorite shows of the year. I look forward to this and Billetproof every year. These two shows are really what sparked my interest in cars and taking their pictures, as they presented cars that were made not just to show off a couple times a year, but they are cars to be driven, raced, and enjoyed. As I said this is my 3rd year going to the show and my 2nd year doing pictures and a report. I of course go with my dad and his business Fun Collectibles, where we did some pretty good business, as per usual at this show. Last year I posted the report on MiceChat and wasn't planning on writing one this year, but one of the show promoters was interested, so I decided to post it here on my blog, as MiceChat isn't exactly the right audience for a bunch of car photos. Enjoy a sample of my 243 pictures from the show.
Before I get started, all pictures can be found on my Flickr page in the .
I couldn't get as many details shots as I usually do, mainly because the heat was really doing a number on me for the first part of the show, which made constantly kneeling and getting up even worse than usual.
Here are the rules of the show, this hood was parked near the entrance while the cars were coming in, but I didn't get a picture until the end of the night when it was propped up behind the host club's booth.
This is the typical rat rod that shows up at these shows. This is most likely the finished product, no more work really needs to be done body wise. Though I'm sure they'll always be tinkering with that huge engine.
I don't know how many laps around the show this guy did, he probably passed our booth a good 10 times throughout the night. Love the color.
This year's Mass was filled with a lot of vehicles that you rarely see at shows, this was one of them. An old Studebaker pickup truck.
Another was this 1964 Plymouth Valiant Wagon. There was a few Valiants and Darts around, which was quite surprising. Car guys going for the smaller cars for better gas mileage?
1959 is my favorite year of Chevys, especially the '59 Impala. There were quite a few '59s this year, a lot more than I usually see at any other show.
And this is why I love the '59, those huge fins and taillights.
This truck, named Lucy, was also at last years show. These type of pickups are some of the only older pickups that I really like (not a huge fan of the '40s-'60s trucks).
I'm always on the look out for any old Plymouths, Dodges and DeSotos since they seem so rare. And while there no DeSotos in the show (very unfortunate as they are quickly becoming one of my favorites), there were plenty of the formers, like this '50 Plymouth.
This was an interesting custom. The front end of a '65 Mercury Comet attached to the back end of a '65 Ranchero. It was a good fit seeing as the Comet was Mercury's Falcon and the Ranchero was just a pickup made from a Falcon.
A fat Mercury with the customary custom grille most likely taken from a DeSoto. I'd love to own one of these.
This '64 Impala was owned by the vendors who set up next to us. They pretty much had a full bar going amongst themselves, I think they had more alcohol in their booth then entire show. Thankfully they weren't too rowdy, though they did leave a mess when they left. The paint job on the car was nice, though the green wheels were kind of odd.
And this was owned by the vendors on the other side of us. The paint job on this is one of the best I've ever seen on a '55. Just beautiful.
The engine on this bad boy was quite impressive.
This was a neat pickup. He was later caught burning out and got in trouble with the show runners. I don't think he was completely kicked out though.
Fairlanes were quite popular in this show, which I usually don't see a lot of at other shows. I think the Fairlanes actually outnumbered the Chevy Bel Airs of the same years.
Usually at car shows the only Mercs you see are of the fat variety ('49-'51) and the occasional '39. But here there we quite a few '53 and '54. It was interesting to see them, but I can't say that I'm a huge fan.
The grille on this 1957 Buick looks like the car is really happy. I'm not usually a fan of green for cars, but this one does fit the car.
It's hard to believe this was once a 1954 Chevy. The car is appropriately named Frankenchevy and was sporting a different paint job last year, orange with flames. This paint job is a lot better, the car itself catches your eye, having bright orange flames is a bit of an overkill.
About to become roadkill by a monster
The way this Oldsmobile was catching the light was stunning. It made taking a picture hard and I really couldn't capture it completely how it was in reality. A really nice car though.
I see everything else from FoMoCo, Fords, Mercurys, and even Edsels. I rarely ever see Lincolns and I have never seen a '50s Lincoln. I was surprised how small the car was compared to their later models. Loved the color on this one.
As I mentioned, there was quite of a few early Mopars in this show, much more than most other shows (I even think there was more early Mopars here then there was at the Mopar show I went to). This is a '53 Plymouth
This '54 Chevy Bel Air looked to be all stock, or pretty close to it. The brown and cream really went well together.
Most of the Buicks I see are stock or near stock. This '54 was a shock with how customized it was. I'm not sure I really liked the complete package, but the grille is great.
And the new badge is quite fitting for it's new look.
Don't see many of these Dodges. The grille is insanely big. Also really hard to pinpoint the year with my car book, as '46 through '48 are grouped together as one style.
The ram ornament is one of my favorites. The subtle changes over the years are really cool.
There was quite a few Edsels throughout the night, more than I see at most shows, and they were different then ones I have seen (not shiny and in perfect condition)
A 1958 Citation
A '58 Pacer
A closeup of the "horsecollar" grille (or what I like to call, the lemon puckered lips)
'59 Ranger
'59 Corsair and my favorite Edsel of the night. The paint job is quite neat and the interior is unique and cool.
This Dodge Brothers truck is neat, but the door artwork seems a bit out of place.
The "shoebox" '49 and '50 Fords are neat if only for the "eye" in the middle of the grille.
The colors on this were great, the orange accents go perfectly.
One of the few "forward look" Mopars at the show and an early one at that, a '55 Dodge
This guy had his truck's make down as "Ford-Chevy-Chrysler", he's got the three bases covered there.
This '58 Impala had the best black paint job I have seen. Gorgeous in the setting sun.
I wish I had one of these to get around to show, if only to get to the food booths and bathrooms a lot quicker. That long walk was torture in the heat of the day.
Really neat color on this, looked like a nice glass of root beer.
And how about a close up of that.
The '60 Cadillac is my favorite year for the Cadillacs. Its curves and fins are great
The sun caught the tail light just right and I didn't even plan this.
It seems so rare to see a rat rod like this, using that Ford body without chopping it down like most guys do.
The '60 LeSabres have great swooping lines on them. This car was getting quite a bit of attention when I was taking this shot.
I'm not huge on El Caminos, but I've been warming up to them lately and it was really neat to see the early El Caminos at this show. The fins on the backs really work with bed.
This '59 had the sun shinning on the chrome making it appear gold.
This '60 was for sale, it needed some bed work and interior work, maybe a paint job. I wouldn't mind owning it.
This was probably one of the most unique cars at the show. I have never seen a Hupmobile, only in my car spotters guide. So cool to see something so different.
Got a picture of the wheel to both remember it was a Hupmobile and because I was able to get it so the reflection reflection the adjacent car and not me.
This guy took a unique approach to his panels and wheels, doing them up in copper instead of chrome. It was pretty neat and unique. It went really well with his paint job.
Never even seen a Packard Caribbean before. It was huge and fancy looking. The three-tone paint job wasn't my thing, but I know it's stock, so that adds to the cool factor. (Had to lighten the picture up in Picassa because of the shadows)
Seeing a Nash always makes me smile a bit. They aren't very common and they have a kind of silly look to them. The grille gives them a cartoonish grin. The paint job on this one added to the "cartoon" feel because of its pastel tone.
This is my absolute favorite style hood ornament for Pontiacs. This shot was actually calculated to be able to capture the sunlight in the shot.
I remember this Kirby van from last year and I really dig it. Probably the coolest car owned by the Poor Boys. The addition of the vintage vacuum in the back really seals the deal.
Another early forward look Mopar, a '55 Chrysler Town & Country. This is something I have never seen before.
Feel sorry for this guy for getting a flat tire, I bet those thin white walls aren't cheap. Good he had that spare on the back.
This guy was a real piece of work. I loved the style of it and it's name "El Cheapo". My favorite part is the Alfa Romeo badge on the front grille.
This isn't something you see everyday, a Corvair Wagon. Watch out for Ralph Nader!
It's amazing how aafter '58, GM started to consolidate the look of their brands a bit more. The '58 Cadillac, Chevy and Oldsmobile all have similar front ends. Though I rarely see '58 Oldsmobiles.
This and the black '59 were my favorite cars in my show. Beautiful machines. I praise the owners of both.
This Buick needed some dental work, some teeth were black and others just weren't there.
'57 is my least favorite year of the Fairlanes, the front end doesn't look right to me. This one was in great condition though.
This one really surprised me. I'm always waiting for someone to bring a Mustang into these shows since you could get a '64 1/2 or a '65 in, but I never expected a GTO.
Never seen one of these before, '60 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88. It's a huge machine.
The artwork on the side made this Impala really unique, I can dig the personalization.
Took me awhile to identify this car. It seemed so tiny, I didn't expect it to be a Plymouth, my first instinct was some non major manufacturer.
Has it been made clear in this report that I love the Pontiac Indian hood ornament, because I do.
I hope this doesn't stay in this condition, not because I don't like unfinished cars, but because I'd love to see an early Skyliner restored completely, there is so few of them out there.
Overall this year's Midnight Mass was great, the Poor Boys outdid themselves once again. Cal Expo was a great location for them. While it had it's negatives (lack of shade, long walk to food and bathrooms), it was overall a better location than the previous ones and will really help the show grow. Hopefully Cal Expo hasn't banned them too.
We did great business as vendors, busy throughout most of the night and selling out of quite a few things. We may not have enough stock for Billetproof because of Midnight Mass, but hey that's nothing to complain about too much.
Can't wait until next year's Midnight Mass and I hope to see some of these cars in Antioch at Billetproof too.
And with that, I leave with the girls of Midnight Mass
THE END!
