fill 'er up

To celebrate a New Year, let's set the Wayback machine for a nostalgic look back at some great gas stations of the teens and twenties. Note several Texaco outlets and a Ford garage sprinkled amidst. Fire up the Jordan Playboy or Stutz Blackhawk and let's go fill 'er up.

Ethyl? Who's Ethyl?

blanche waits for santa

Looking for a festive holiday performance art display that your neighbors will remember for years to come? Well, here's one that's easy. Take one 1964 Cadillac Sedan de Ville, preferably in a Holiday compatible color. I chose Blanche, nicknamed for obvious reasons.

Position Blanche on your lawn. Use 300 outdoor red lights to outline the defining characteristics of the car, especially the tail fins and the peak of the hood. Now add nine hundred sequential blinking white lights on the horizontal surfaces to simulate snowfall. Add a festive holiday wreath on the grille, and optionally, a plastic Santa behind the wheel. Wait until dusk, turn on parking lamps, and enjoy. Serves thousands.

Santa's got a GTO

Okay, another Christmas season is upon us, so it's time to put a little ho-ho-ho in our horsepower. Most of you know I'm crazy about the Ramones, and that enthusiasm extends to some of their tribute bands as well. Today's stop on the tour of the truly unusual features the world's only all-female Ramones tribute band, the Ramonas, and their festive little holiday number called "Santa's Got a GTO". This video features original imagery including renderings by legendary advertising artist Art Fitzpatrick.

So put some Octane in your holiday and take a look: