QQ

Man, Josy. What is with all the car photos? Like seriously.

Yesterday was the Colts Neck business fair and antique car show… so there were, shockingly, some antique cars sitting around. Why this particular one? I’ve always had a thing for woodies (NO JOKES), and apparently my grandmother used to drive one of these old Chryslers.

Normally, I’d blur out the license plate, but I thought it was worth a mention that historic cars in New Jersey can be identified by their “QQ” plates. (I actually call the cars ‘QQs,’ as in, “Hey look, a QQ just drove by!” but I think I’m the only person in the state who does this.)

 

The Pequon

Today, we celebrate FLASHBACK FRIDAY with a 35mm photo taken in 2002!

The Pequon–a white 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis station wagon with fake wood paneling–was my first car. It was named after Captain Ahab’s “Pequod” ‘cos it handled like a boat, looked like a boat, was roughly boat-sized, and probably floated. Besides which, my parents had always called it “the white whale” or “the Moby Mercury,” so continuing the Moby Dick theme seemed appropriate.

(It’s also the car I took to my senior prom.)

This was taken for my first photography class, and I think it was my first experience in taking candid photos of people… and trying to mollify them after they heard the shutter go SNAP and gave me dirty looks.

 

hubcap farm

My mother and I were driving along Rte. 33 the other day–rather, she was driving and I was fiddling with my camera, as I often do.

“You going to take pictures?” she asked.
“Yeeeeahhhhhhh,” I said. “I mean, I’m… well… most of them won’t be much good, I know, from a moving car and all, but I’ve been trying to get a shot of the Hubcap Farm for several months [see below], so I’m gonna try for that.”
“The Hubcap Farm? Where’s that?” she asked.
“Ummm… somewhere between Neptune and Freehold. Thereabouts,” I replied.
“You want me to pull over so you can take pictures?”
“Nooooo, no no no, that’s okay. Part of the challenge is trying to catch it as we whiz by,” I said.

A little later, after I’d blathered about some of my innumerable bad photography habits for a while, I suddenly said, “Ooh! I think this is the Hubcap Farm coming up!”
“Where?” cried my mom, clearly interested in seeing the Hubcap Farm for herself.
“Right up here, right before the steamroller and after the golf course!”
“Right here?”
“Yeah, right here!”

So she pulled over for me.

“Moooommmmmmmm!” I squealed. “People LIVE here! You can’t just STOP here if you’re not going to buy hubcaps!”
“Why not?” she asked.
…I didn’t have a good response for that, so I awkwardly stepped out of the car, hastily took a few shots, and encouraged my mom to DRIVE! like a bank robber in a getaway car.

(…Thaaaaaaat’s my mom for ya.)

Interesting fact: Bruce Springsteen (who grew up in this area)’s song “The Angel” mentions “hubcap heaven,” which was apparently the previous name of this business.

Here are some of my previous attempts at capturing the Hubcap Farm. Hover your cursor over any image for information on the shot (date, shutter, aperture, ISO), and click any image to see it larger.

(For further information, check out comment #2 below!)

 

torque hub

A different part of a machine you’ve already seen.

Stay tuned! We’re having our first real snow AS I WRITE THIS and since everything today has been cancelled I am about to go play in it!

 

hubcaps!

There is a road, heading west from the Ocean Township/Neptune area… I think it’s Rte. 33 or 34, but I’d love to be corrected (I’m never the one driving)…

Ed.: Dawn Cartwright has informed me that it is ROUTE 33, between Neptune and Freehold.

On this road, there is, and always has been, a collection of hubcaps, strung out across a fence for all of New Jersey to see.

Yes, this is a blurry photo, but it was taken at 55mph from the backseat with a non-DSLR camera. Hopefully, I’ll replace it with a sharper image at some point in the future, but for now, you get to behold the hubcap-full wonder that is NJ.