April 1st 2011, STREET RODS FOREVER'S new shop was included on the annual garage crawl, that coincides with the the Lonestar Roundup car show in Austin. The event was coordinated through the Jalopy Journal's H.A.M.B. message board. The crawl offers hot rodders a chance to visit garages around the area that specialize in street rods, hot rods and custom cars and meet the people that share the passion for classic automobiles.

The weather was perfect and hundreds of drivers from all across the country cruised through Central Texas to see the facilities and locally owned classic cars. There were also visitors from other countries including Great Britain. Our friends Ben and Tina from Germany made a surprise visit back to Austin just to attend. They get plenty of stares back home while driving their classic American cars.

Everyone seemed to approve of the design and execution of the new shop and went away with ideas for building and improving their own garages.

View Larger Image	The night before, we finished up last minute cleaning and put Jim's 1969 Chevelle SS on the lift. As we began arranging cars to display, Jim's 1938 Chevy 5 window coupe was joined by a beautiful '32 Ford sedan.
Ozzie's 1936 Ford sedan was ready to show and moved over to make room for 2 more cars. Malcolm's 1965 Mercury Comet arrived in time for a late happy hour.	View Larger Image
View Larger Image	Friday morning, the Comet flanked Jim's car and Paul's classic '57 Chevy got a last minute wipe down. Now it was time for coffee and donuts, the fuel of hot rodders.
Dan brought his Model T street rod in behind Paul and Scotty parked his 1961 Ford next to the '36. Even with 9 cars and 3 fiberglass trailers, there was still plenty of space.	View Larger Image
View Larger Image	As we waited for the people to arrive there was time for some shop talk about the cars on display.
The running conversation about Malcolm's Comet is about updating the steering and suspension. He's checking out his options and the argument for making it a straight axle "gasser" is losing.	View Larger Image
View Larger Image	Jim has time for one more cup of coffee before the crowd arrives. Acting as general contractor, Jim's understandably proud of what he's built and is anxious to give people a chance to see it and hear some feedback.
In addition to the classic cars on display, the shop features plenty of automotive art and memorabilia from previous businesses and hobbies. It really shows well but it's still a working garage.	View Larger Image
View Larger Image	The greetings are as warm as the spring morning, as visitors start to arrive in the street rods and hot rods.
Although there was plenty of room to park on the property, most chose to find a spot on the street and walk the grounds.	View Larger Image
View Larger Image	"Return of the Pink Panther" James drove up from Kerrville in his pink 1934 Ford 3 window coupe. He brought along his friend Mouse, ( yes, that's his real name ) who owns Saphira, a 2006 Mustang that is well known around the country.
Even with the large number of people visiting, there is still plenty of room. Many of them climbed the 20 stairs to see the office and lounge as well as to view and photograph the shop from above.	View Larger Image
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Happy Hour came early and there was finally time to relax after months of hard work building the shop and preparing for the garage crawl. Jim's son Pat not only installed all the security systems, he compiled a video of historic racing footage for the event. He and pals Walter & Jerry prepared a fine meal for everyone at the end of the day.

STREET RODS FOREVER is a place where you will get straight talk and real answers about the car you are looking to buy, sell or repair.

Jim has been active in the Austin, Texas Hot Rod scene for decades and knows the old school guys and the newest car enthusiasts. Jim is a founding member of THE DONUT GANG car club, and participates in local cruise nights and car shows.

If you have a street rod or muscle car that you would like to list with us, call us at 512-284-8421.