10 Awesome Cars Of Wasteland Weekend
L.J. Williamson
See also:
*Wasteland Weekend: It's My Apocalypse, And I'll Party If I Want To
*9 Alternatives For Burning Man Lottery Losers
At most car shows, guys hover over their beloved vehicles, circling and swabbing them lovingly with a ShamWow. But at Wasteland Weekend, dust is an asset -- in fact, the dirtier, the better. Dirt imparts more post-apocalyptic authenticity, because after all, there are no car washes in the end times -- you're lucky just to get gasoline.
Wasteland Weekend, the four-day event in California City themed to the future-set movie Mad Max and its sequel The Road Warrior, isn't exclusively a car show, but since cars are so central to the films, a sideshow car show has quite naturally arisen within it. The key difference, of course, is that while most car shows revolve around making cars pristine, pinstriped, and polished, it's better here to bring the grit and terror and menace. In a fun way, of course.
LA Weekly met the devotied and gritty gearheads that set Wasteland Weekend in motion over the last few days.
10.
L.J. Williamson
What's your name?
Michael Hughes.
Where are you from?
Bethel Island, California. It takes me seven hours to drive here.
Is this car your daily driver?
No, no, it's mainly a show car.
Tell us about your car.
It started in 1982 when me and a buddy went to see The Road Warrior. We didn't particularly like the movie, but we were interested in the car. We went back to see it a second time, and a third time, trying to figure out this car. I knew deep down in my soul it was a Ford, but I didn't find out for sure until I talked to a friend from New Zealand, who said it was an XP Falcon. I told my friend the third time I saw the movie, "I'm going to get that car."
After about a year of searching on the Internet, I found the car in Australia. It took about 11 months from when I flew up there and met with them to get it shipped here from Australia. And that included 35 days at sea in a container. Then it was three years of rebuilding the body and getting the rust out. And then about a year after that of complete restoration to get it to where it is right now.
Is this your main hobby?
It's beyond my hobby. That's my wife.
Do you have an actual wife?
No. But the last wife I had, when I showed her a picture of that car, she just stared at it, and said, "That's your car. That car is you."
You saw Road Warrior three times, but you still didn't like the movie?
Well, it kind of grows on you.
9.
What's your name? 
L.J. Williamson
Brian Snelson.
Where are you from?
San Diego.
Is this car your daily driver?
Yes.
Tell us about your car.
This is an M-70, Russian-built by Ural, [a] reproduction of the German 1941 R-51 World War II war bike. Bought it two months ago. It's a 2012. The funny part is I drove a van, which consumed about $300 a month in fuel. Now the $300 goes to payments on the sidecar. Not only am I saving gas, I get a sidecar.
8.
l
What's your name?
Tetanus.
Where are you from?
Santa Ana.
Is this car your daily driver?
Yes. It has the capability of becoming fully street legal. I fabricated those hinges, the cage folds back.
Tell us about your car.
It's a 1989 Chevy S-10. It's my friend Dave's fault. This was all because of Wasteland Weekend. We wanted to Wasteland it out a little bit, so I said we could weld stuff to it.
I've been to Burning Man for the past five years, but I skipped this year because last time, someone beat me on the head with a metal cup and the cops didn't do anything to the guy. Then I got drunk and the cops pepper sprayed me and kicked me out of the event. So I decided that Wasteland Weekend was more my flavor.
7.
What's your name? 
L.J. Williamson
Ron Griffith.
Where are you from?
This is my backyard. I live in California City.
Is this car your daily driver?
No, it's not very fuel efficient.
Tell us about your car.
I've got a hot rod shop called Phoenix Auto. A customer of mine came in and said "You do wonderful work on these cars, you should actually go out to Wasteland." Of course, me being a big Mad Max fan, it was all over but the crying.
L.J. Williamson
I basically put myself into the scenario: if the big one really did hit, what would I do? I'd do what I could to find a car and make it something I could use and I could live in until things got better. I've got 110V hookups here, cell phone chargers, jump starters -- it's self contained. The slingshot on the roof actually works.
So most of the cars you do at your hot rod shop are a lot shinier than this one.
Oh yes, very much so. We do show cars, stuff like that. My whole life, all I've ever done is work on cars.
Do you drive the car around town?
I can't right now because of registration, but the car is street legal. I'm just having a little trouble right now because they say it's a distraction. If you saw this in the rear view mirror, what would come through your mind? This thing is a scary looking car.
6.
What's your name? 
L.J. Williamson
Brian Davis.
Where are you from?
I live in the Valley, near the brewery.
Tell us about your car.
Last year I had a dune buggy with machine guns on it, but I didn't have any more room in my garage so I had to sell it. Everyone here was disappointed here that I wasn't going to bring it, so I needed something that could fit in the back of my car: go kart. It looks similar to the one I had last year -- a mini version of it.
It was thrown together last week because I didn't know for sure whether I was going to be able to sneak out of work or not.
It's a lawnmower engine, supposedly it will do 30 or 40 miles per hour. But I wouldn't do that around here -- too many rocks to smash into, and there's no seat belts.
Up next: Altering a classic Mustang
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