Wake me up when the engines start!

Yes, I know it must seem as if this blog has been in hibernation mode, and I guess maybe it has, but that does not mean that I've been sleeping for the past two weeks. Not by a long shot!

In all actuality, work has been keeping me busy. Usually this time of year, we can kind of kick back and coast for a while, but there has actually been a lot going on in the racing world. Of course, none of it is anywhere near me, so I've had to settle for watching some of the NASCAR hype and wondering why in the world anyone still gets caught up in it. Maybe this time of year it's a bit more understandable because there is no real racing going on, but in two months, NASCAR will definitely be on the back burner as we head into dirt track season.

With that in mind, you just never know where you might find interesting motorsports stuff this time of year. Thanks to my friend Ron, I learned about the Shifting Gears exhibit at the Missouri History Museum. Yestereday my Dad and I headed off to see it, and we had a good time.

The exhibit features cars that were manufactured in St. Louis. It is amazing how many automobile manufacturers were here over the years and how diverse the styles of cars. We saw cars made by Dorris, Moon and many others on display. Most of the cars had been painstakingly restored and were absolutely beautiful. I was surprised by how big some of them were too. The 1924 Dorris (pictured above) on display had to be at least as long as the modern Suburban! The front bumper on this car reminded me of Lizzie's smile in the move Cars.

There was also an area devoted to auto racing, which I found to be particularly intriguing. The trophy on display was intricately detailed and I can only imagine the pride of the driver to whom it was presented. One of the descriptions of a race, which started at night, described the track as being lit by hundreds of gas-powered torches. Can you imagine? No Musco lighting in those days, that's for sure!

I also enjoyed the display of "motoring togs" that were popular in the early 1900s. The first photo in the blog is an example of one of those styles. Her goggles are lined in purple fur! I think she is quite elegant, but I can't imagine having to get into all that gear just to run to the mall.

There was another section with information about motoring safety and how new laws had to be enacted as automobiles evolved. At one point, the speed limit in St. Louis was 8 mph. This left us with an intriguing question: How did the cops know if someone was speeding? They certainly didn't have radar guns, in the driver's defense, there were no speedometers! Sounds like a slick way of padding the coffers of city government to me.

All in all, this is a small but interesting display. There are only about a dozen or so cars on display, but the exhibit is open to the public, and free, so the price is right. It runs through March 31, 2007.