Denny Carlyle has a custom license plate on his 2008 smart fortwo passion coupe: “TPANTS.” At first glance, it’s a little perplexing, but put together with the name of the car’s make – SMART – right above the plate, it reads: Smart TPANTS or Smarty Pants. Carlyle has lived in Blacksburg since 1975, when he relocated from Northern Virginia. He accepted a job as controls engineer at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant, where he had previously consulted for two years. …
When you become the owner of a high performance vehicle, it’s natural to show it off to your friends and family. So when Joan Mitchell, a Blacksburg Realtor (RE/MAX 8 associate broker), …
Virginia native Jim Williamson is no stranger to the water. Born in Radford, his mother took him to Claytor Lake often. “I’ve been water skiing since I was 7,” he says. “Just …
When Alan Neely gets near an auction that has a buggy come up for bid, it’s likely he’ll raise his number. The black buggy dubbed the “Charles Dickens” sitting on the side …
When Todd Ratliff was growing up in far southwest Virginia, his grandfather nicknamed him Hot Rod Todd. Todd had caught the car bug from his grandfather, a car salesman, and his father, …
Text by Karl H. Kazaks | Photos by Tom Wallace When Johnnie Self Jr. was in high school, he loved playing football for the Christiansburg Blue Demons, and he loved driving …
Text and photos by Nathan Cooke When exploring Blacksburg, you often notice three things: maroon and orange outfits, gray limestone aka Hokie stone and city-style buses. Blacksburg Transit (BT) is responsible …
Watching Dr. Daniel Hurd drive his 2001 Ferrari 360 Modena is to experience the sublime. In every sense, the machine gives the impression of being a mechanical marvel. Its engine, even at …
Text by Karl H. Kazaks Photos by Tom Wallace “Instantly, instinctively, you know.” So says the narrator of a 1959 television ad for Ford’s new top-of-the-line, full-size car, the Galaxie. As …
Text by Karl H. Kazaks Photos by Tom Wallace You can tell a lot about people by the possessions they keep. Raymond Bishop owns three VW Beetles – orange, burgundy and black …