May 20: Storage Wars??

I don't watch a lot of TV (honest). Aside from Modern Family, some car racing and golf, my watching usually consists of sitting in front of my TV and playing channel roulette for about half an hour. Now you probably know where this is going. A couple of weeks back, I came across a show called Storage Wars. Yes, I know, it has been around for a while and is one of the most popular (maybe the most popular) show on A&E. Anyway, that was the first time I had seen it. Sure, it has the typical plot twists (expectations?), but what intrigued me, was that every time Barry Weiss was shown driving to an auction, it was in a different ride and usually a very far out ride. So what was he all about? Time to head to the net and do some research.

Turns out that this guy is not making a living off of gambling on other people's junk. He was partners in a large California produce company and is currently worth millions. One of his interests is cars and it seems like rather unusual ones, such as this chrome land yacht. And land yacht is an apt description, since as you can see, it has a flying bridge, from where the owner can drive it in good weather (bugs permitting). When was the last time that you saw one of these? When was the first time? Guaranteed to be an attention grabber as you pull into the trailer park.

Or how about this demur little big rig..........

I say big rig, since it is designed to look like an old cab over engine (COE) truck that plied the highways back in the '30's and '40's. It is about the size of a pick-up truck and that is actually what it is. Again, not something you'd see at your local Loblaws.

Now, I've seen Barry drive a ten year old Jag XJ, no doubt on those days when he doesn't want to draw attention to himself. But that car sure isn't his show persona. I mean, who would drive anywhere in this wide ride........

Like the royal Lexus in last Friday's blog, only modern technology could keep one from slowly cooking, as they drove along in that hot California sun. Hey, no shrinking violet is going to be seen in this old style bubble top custom. And this certainly seems to fit Mr. Weiss's "out there" personality. But he has fun with it, not like some of the other serious grinders Storage Wars features.

Low and slow, would describe this chop top, lead sled Cadillac from the late '40's. Not quite ZZ Top's Cadzilla, but a classic looking custom ride, never the less. When I saw Barry pulling up to a storage locker auction in this car, I knew something was up.

So I don't watch a lot of TV, but maybe I should do some more channel surfing, trying to turn up some unusual stuff like this. Yes and no to that, but I admit this was a cool find. And maybe the "low and slow" description for Barry Weiss's Caddy wasn't quite accurate..........

Until next time........