14th Annual Turkey Drag 2018

With the 14th annual show in the books plans are already being formulated for next years event! If you have never been and are wanting to go I would suggest booking one of the on-site cabins early or an RV spot down by the lake. This 3 day event starts on Friday with early move ins and vendor set-ups to get ready for the Saturday morning show start. This year though some drama was brought in by "Mother Nature" in the form of severe storms, high winds and a tornado not to far from the event. People woke up Saturday morning to tents collapsed, damaged or missing all together and people piecing what was left back together to get ready for the day.

With the stormy weather long gone Saturday morning came in with no clouds and beautiful weather which lasted thru Sunday. With the great weather and mild temps it made for a fantastic backdrop to show and shine.

This is an open event and does not restrict any discipline so don't be surprised if you see a jacked up 4x4 parked next to a Mercedes or Lincoln, thats just how kool this event is.

Our cover photo for this issue belongs to Albert Vowell's Ford pick-up truck and vintage camper.

OWNER:

Brian Self 1946 DeSoto 5-11C Suburban

Big Kahuna Edition Not many people would look at this and think "Oh Look Lets Build a Bad Ass Hot Rod out of that!" But thats exactly what the original owner "Paul LaClair" said when he picked it up in Ontario Canada. And just like most projects Paul had to convince his wife Pauline of the vision he had for it and once he did she got on board with helping to bring his vision to life.

Every step in the process of turning this old family tour bus into the work of art you now see was meticulously photo documented.The car was originally white, so that had to go and the two tone turquoise and black laid down. All of the wood grain on the interior and exterior as well as the "Patina" around the trim work and the custom matching surfboard and Kahuna Man is hand painted. Paul and Pauline also did all of the interior work. And right now you are probably asking yourself "surfing"? In Canada? Yes Canadians do surf! And there is several hot spots to hit up in the Great White North...just be sure to bring your wet-suit cause it is Canada, but enough of that, the surfboard on this rig just about as big as the car and features a hand painted "Mermaid" as well as the same faux wood treatment as on the car.

You would think that with all that this car has going on that the engine department would feature a equally bad ass upgrade, like an "LS" swap with twin turbos or at the very least a blown big block all stuffed under the hood...but you would be disappointed as the car still retains the original 236 straight 6 flathead with an upgraded oil bath breather, with new oil of course.

The "Big Kahuna's" stance can be attributed to the 3.5" top chop front and rear along with the 2.5" static suspension drop, rolling on the original 15x5 steelies painted a "Vintage Read" with some old chrome Plymouth hub caps. The Croker G-78-15 wide whites keep the nostalgic look going and riding smooth.

Mr. Self found the "Big Kahuna" for sale on Facebook and just had to have it, so he snagged up his passport and made flight arrangements to Toronto, Canada. Once there he still had an additional 2 hour drive before he got to the final destination in Midland, Canada where he met up Mr. LaClair to make arrangements to acquire the Kahuna, once the formalities had been agreed upon Mr. LaClair handed Brian a hand sketch rendering of his idea for the car and he headed back to Texas.

As for the "Big Kahuna" it started its long trek across Canada to the Lone Star State but ran into some problems and wound up stranded in Detroit Michigan,so Brian loaded up his car hauler and headed to the Motor City to retrieve his baby. With the "Big Kahuna" now back in Texas, Brain is enjoying taken it out and showing it off. So if you ever see it stop and check it out you will not be disappointed.

TEXAS WAKE N SCRAPE