Tin Lizzie Ranch in lower Buckeye

Monday 27th February - 2023

Here's my final wash-up from Phoenix, Arizona after a pleasant 3-months stay here in America.

In 48-hours l will be behind the wheel of 'Sheila' for the last time here in North America for the 375-miles or 600 kms drive to Los Angeles for our final crossing of the desert on Interstate Highway 10.

Our host David Ker is one of our Club members & invited the Model A Ford & Model T Ford club members plus a few ring-in hot rods to attend his Ranch.

I'll be heading west for Hawthorne in Los Angeles, California to deliver 'Sheila' to my shippers, so that they can organise her safe passage back to Australia across the mighty Pacific Ocean to Sydney.

There were some very impressive Model T Fords & Model A Fords in attendance 

The plan is to depart Chandler here in Phoenix at 5:00am on Thursday morning to beat the traffic on their 6 lane Freeway (each way). Once it is light the 202 Loop Freeway is chock a block each way, sometimes it is like a giant carpark & I sure as anything do not want to be caught up in that sort of a traffic jam before I head to LA.

Hopefully if everything goes to plan I will arrive in LA mid afternoon drop the vehicle off then catch a taxi to LAX International Airport & wait for my flight on 'Skippy' later that evening arriving home into the lucky country first thing on Thursday morning the 2nd March.

It is still very cold here in Phoenix, especially if the wind is blowing. Early mornings it drops down to 5C or 40f very rarely does the temperature drop to that level in Sydney, however once the sun comes up it does start to warm up somewhat.

It usually turns out to be a very pleasant day until the sun goes down again in the arvos. Once the sun disappears the temperature immediately drops dramatically.

David has been collecting stuff all his life & as you can see by the photographs he has built himself a very impressive Man Shed or even better still a Museum.

I sure do not know how those Wagon Trains & those Cowboys heading west handled these conditions in the 1800s. They definitely were a tough bunch, trust me.

I really had no idea how cold it gets here in Phoenix until this trip. Usually I spend the summer months here (June-July-August) & it is stinking hot, day in day out, very rarely does the temperature drop below 100f or 38C (even in the evenings) for those 90-days continuously, this year’s adventure has been a very pleasant change.

Yesterday I attended my final event with the Model A Ford Restorer’s Club of Arizona. This years event was the Annual Round up at the Tin Lizzie Ranch in lower Buckeye, don’t you just love that name?

There will be no more live reports on ‘Warbo’s Magical Mystery Tour’ from me here in the States.

I certainly hope that you have enjoyed sharing my adventures while l was here on this trip, I have tried not to bore you with my stories & adventures.

It must have worked somewhat, because I have not received any negative feed back or nasty emails. Maybe it is because you all are much too polite.

Stay safe, I hope to catch up with you all in the not too distant future.

Regards,

Warbo

Dwarf Car Museum Visit

Friday 24th February - 2023

Hello again everyone,

Reporting live from the most amazing Dwarf Car Museum right here in the desert of Maricopa County in Arizona.

Before l start to write this post, I must tell you all that this time next week 'Sheila' & l will be well & truly into our 8-hour trek across the desert driving west on Interstate Highway 10 towards Los Angles via Arizona & California. It will end an era for 'Sheila' & myself.

Over the past 13-years we have accompanied each other over many, many thousands upon thousands of miles crisscrossing America, enjoying ourselves like you would not believe & not once in all that time has the old girl let me down.

I sure hope that I do not jinx myself by saying this. Our journey from Phoenix to Los Angeles is only 375-miles or 600 kms. 

L-R. ‘32 Ford - ‘34 Ford - ‘39 Chevy - ‘41 Mercury.

The plan is to depart Phoenix early on Tuesday morning the 28th February & arrive at my shippers in LA mid afternoon. Once we have arrived safely in Richmond, California we will say cheerio to each other & l will not cast my eyes on the love of my life until she arrives in Sydney a few months later.

Bon-Voyage “Sheila”. l am going to miss  you, l wish you a safe passage across the mighty Pacific Ocean to the lucky country, to the place they call the land Down-under.

Don't you just love 'Rust Rooms'

Now back to my blog story about the Model A Ford Restorers Club of Arizona’s outing yesterday to the famous Dwarf Car Museum here in Maricopa County Arizona.

We had a roll up of eleven Model A Fords, other club members rolled up in their modern cars & in total there we 39 people for the 100-mile or 160 kms round trip to the Dwarf Museum in Maricopa.

I was aware of the Dwarf Museum because over the years I have seen TV shows about this Museum plus l have read about this unique place in magazines.

Never in my wildest dreams did l think for one moment that l would be rubbing shoulder with Ernie Adams (see photo below) the creator of this wonderful Dwarf Car Museum.

Ernie is a spritely 82yo gentleman that is sitting on the left of me, what a legend he is.

Every day he spends at the Museum talking & chatting to all the punters that visit his museum from all over the world, he is as sharp as a tack telling stories & jokes of how he first started building these unbelievable miniature driving cars.

On the right is the 1949 Mercury that rich guy wanted to pay US$450,000 for.

Towards the middle of the afternoon l introduced myself to Ernie & his friends sitting around the table of knowledge (see photo). For some unknown reason Ernie took a liking to me & allowed the 'Squire' from Down-Under to join his inner circle of friends (see photo). I suppose with my good looks & eccentric personality they had no other option.

I sat with them for a couple of hours listening to all their stories while consuming a few chilled Coors beers, as any Aussie worth his salt would.

Ernie is a spritely 82yo gentleman that is sitting on the left of me in one of the photos. What a legend he is.

Needless to say l did ask Ernie some questions of how his dream all started way back when, he told me that the his first miniature metal car was built in 1965. He has never sold any of the miniature cars that he has built, which leads me into another great yarn.

When world acclaimed car tragic Jay Leno came to do a show from Ernie’s Dwarf Museum, for his TV show Jay wanted to purchase one of the miniature vehicles to add to his own personal collection.

It did not happen. I asked Ernie how much these treasures would be worth on the open market. He told me that the first miniature car he ever built was a ‘39 Chevy. He was offered US$150,000 for it & guess what that ‘39 Chevy is still parked in his Museum.

Another yarn he told me was about a real rich guy that wanted to buy the blue 1949 Mercury (see photo) this is the car that I saw featured in one of those car shows on TV a few years ago. Ernie tells me that this bloke went as high as US$450,000 & say no more the 1949 Mercury is still parked in his Museum.

I also wanted to know what type of engines are installed in these miniature cars due to the lack of space. He told me that they are all fitted with 4-cylinder ‘72-‘82 Toyota engines, these miniature cars are fully street legal for the road & are capable of speeds up to 100 mph or 161 kms.

At the moment they are building a miniature ‘64 Chevy Convertible Impala SS (see photo) check out the rear bumper bar, you can see how narrow the Chevy will be when completed by the width of the original bumper bar.

Miniature ‘54 Chevy.

During the conversation yesterday Ernie & his friends wanted to know how on earth l ended up at his Dwarf Museum there in Maricopa County about 8,000 miles or 12,900 kms from Sydney Australia. I mentioned that I was visiting with the Model A Restorers Club of Arizona group. He then said to me do you own one of those Model A Fords parked out there in the paddock to which l answered, yes.

What followed next completely knocked me off my feet, he said that there is a green 1931 Model A Ford Town Sedan parked out there. Ernie then told me that as far as he was concerned that vehicle was his pick of all of the 11 Model A Fords out there.

I was ecstatic to think that he had chosen “Sheila” to be his choice from the other 10 cars, because let me tell you there were some other very nice Model A Fords that he could have chosen. (see photos).

In finishing off this blog, money cannot buy the fun l had with those guys yesterday at the Dwarf Museum, l feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to meet Ernie & his friends to share their stories & jokes, absolutely priceless.

Moving right along, l certainly hope that you have enjoyed sharing this great adventure with me.

Stay safe. Regards for now.

Warbo.

Windscreen repair for Sheila

Saturday 25th February - 2023

Last week on the way to take my friend Steve Core back to Sky Harbour International Airport for his departure back to LA, I managed to be unlucky enough for a vehicle on the Freeway to throw up a small stone that hit my windscreen.

Photographs show Fernando repairing the chip on the front windscreen of my Model A Ford.

Unfortunately that small stone damaged the screen on the passenger's side of 'Sheila'. Yesterday, I decided to have it repaired so that it will not spread across the rest of the windscreen.

That my friends... is all she wrote.

Warbo

Exploring Tucson & Tombstone in Arizona

Saturday 4th February - 2023

Hello again this time from Wyatt Earp, & Doc Holliday country here in Tombstone, Arizona.

At the Media Entrance to the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Photo: Steve Core

Life has been moving right along very swiftly since l last wrote to you all from Glendale about my evening to watch our Australian boy, Liam Wilson, fight for the vacant World Title fight at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale. (right next door to the Super Bowl Stadium).

About as real as a stagecoach can get, rolling down the main, dirt street of Tombstone, Arizona.

All I am going to say is that he was robbed of winning the World Title by the corrupt boxing authorities here in America, just ask Jeff Fenech.

Just some of the airliners in storage here at the Pinal Air Park in Marana. All the blue tails are plenty of parked West Jet B737s from Canada.

Liam can hold his head up high, he is a very humble young man & spoke beautifully after his devastating loss to these bunch of crooks. I know because I was sitting front row ringside & witnessed every second of the fight & videotaped every moment including the knockdown that happened right in front of me, even including his opponent spitting out his mouth guard to get extra time to recuperate. Bunch of low-lifes.

My mate, Steve Core, had just arrived from Australia for his 3-week visit to Arizona. Here we are, in the San Tan Village RV Park, just about to load up 'Sheila' for our road trip down south to Tucson, Tombstone and Nogales.

I was talking to various people after the fight, mainly Mexicans (because they made up 98% of the audience) & they commented about the fight saying that the fight World did not know about our Aussie boy from Down-Under, however the whole world knows about him now & they can’t wait to see him fight again especially here in America.

Liam can only learn by this experience, & I wish him all the best for the future.

The 'Dream Lifter' is a converted B747 airframe that is one of four ever made to fly B787 components from around the world to the Boeing 787 assembly facilities. Pinal Air Park, Marana.

Moving right along to our departure from San Tan Mobile Village yesterday I decided long before Steve arrived that we would head south towards the Mexican border towards the Pinal Air Park in Marana, near Tucson where the huge airliner graveyard is situated for all the retired aircraft from all the airlines of the world are sent to.

Reenactment gunfighters from the OK Corral, touting for business, line the main street of Tombstone, Arizona.

Wow! What an eye opener that was for me, there were hundreds of aircraft parked out in the desert in storage or being dismantled. I suppose they were pulled apart as orders came in for their second hand parts from airlines from all over the world.

Driving into Tucson itself, we then did a drive around the perimeters of the massive Davis Monthan Air Force Base where over four thousand of retired US military, US Government and US Aerospace aircraft are parked in open storage.

These mannequins mark out the spot where the real gunfight, probably the most famous shootout in the West, at the OK Corral took place in Tombstone in 1881.

Last night we retired at a Motel in a town called Willcox, Arizona which is only 30-miles from the state of New Mexico's border for a well earned R&R.

We decided to hit the tarmac early this morning as I had made plans to spend the day in Tombstone. Ever since I was a kid I have always wanted to visit Tombstone because l grew up watching Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the legendary Gunfight at the OK Corral & all the old Western movies.

These old Tombstone words were never truer and still apply today!

I sure was not disappointed believe me, it was like walking back in time to the 1800s. Tonight we are held up here in Sierra Vista approximately 35-miles north of the real border with mainland Mexico.

Quite a few old ladies here; 'Sheila' and an endless line-up of retired American Airlines commuter jets all sealed up and basking in the Arizona sun. Pinal Air Park, Marana, Arizona.

Tomorrow morning Steve wants to travel to Nogales, a town that is situated right on the mainland border with Mexico. We will probably spend an hour or so checking out Nogales before changing direction to drive north towards Tucson.

'Sheila' parked on the fence line of the Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. The base is home to the US military's massive storage and regeneration facility.

I need to be back in Chandler in the early afternoon, the drive back home is about 2-3 hours. As long as we depart Tucson around 11:00am, that should give us plenty of time for 'Sheila' to deliver us back to familiar territory.

The sign on this 140-year old original piano sums up it's magnificent history

Once we are back in Phoenix, l have a few important things to accomplish before we set sail for the northernmost parts of Arizona, north of the Grand Canyon, towards Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Glen Canyon, Lake Powell Dam & then onto Las Vegas in Nevada to check out the new two-billion dollar 'Allegiant Stadium' home of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders.

Me, outside the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, where I had just purchased my front row tickets to see & support Australian boxer, Liam Wilson, fight for a World Title. Photo: Steve Core

We want to be in Vegas by Sunday the 12th Feb to watch the LVII Super Bowl live on one of the big screens at Caesar’s Palace.

That’s about all for now, stay tuned, there is still plenty of stories & photographs to follow from the “Squire”.

Stay safe. Cheers.

Warbo.

Finally the Front Page

Thursday 2nd February - 2023

Hello folks, firstly if your a Sutherland Shire resident, and if you’re out of your pajamas, please take a walk outside and check the front lawn to see if you have your copy of this week’s Leader newspaper because there’s a very interesting story on the 'Squire from the Shire' regarding recent events.

I have been promised many times over the years with our Sylvanvale Pre WWII Vintage Car Show that we would be featured as the front page story of the Leader Newspaper and finally after 9-years - we have made it.

I was talking to the Leader’s Editor, Murray Trembath during the Australia Day celebrations and I mentioned that we are the custodians of the annual Sylvanvale Pre-WWII Vintage Car Show and he asked me about our upcoming Car Show scheduled for Sunday September 17th, 2023 at the Sutherland Council Car Park.

I’m hoping with the support of Editor, Murray Trembath and The Leader that we will get blanket coverage leading up to this year’s show instead of a story about our Car Show appearing one week after the event - which is no good to anybody.

If you haven't seen this week's Leader, then here’s the link for you to read the front page story online. CLICK HERE

Stay Safe, Regards

Ken Warburton