From the category archives:

Cars

Post image for Foster brothers are Menlo’s new “ice cream men”

If summer jobs are tough to get, invent your own. At least that’s the view of Joe (left) and Pete Foster, two young men from Atherton who are circling the neighborhoods of Menlo Park in the guise of Foster Brothers Ice Cream.

Their truck, purchased May 4 in Sacramento via Craigslist, has been given a spiffy new paint job and a refurbished interior, work that’s chronicled on their website. They also learned about setting up a business, particularly one that’s food related, dealing with health and business permits/licenses in both Menlo and Atherton.

Now they’re focusing on just what their Menlo Park routes should be – and promise to have an updated schedule online shortly. “We do private events, too,” says Pete. “They’ve been big for us – everything from pool parties to corporate events.”

You can meet the Fosters brothers, see their truck and buy some ice cream at Menlo Park’s Downtown Block Party on Wednesday evening, June 23.

Menlo Park parents take note: Both Pete and Joe are as nice and friendly as can be. Their Blues Brother-style pose was at the suggestion of the photographer who himself was having some fun!

Photo by Chris Gulker

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Post image for Spotted: a ‘56 Chevy by any other name

Depending on the era, this car would have been called many things: hot rod, wailin’ short, bad ride, cool wheels. The chrome is good, the paint is fair and the fat tires suggest a muscular V8 ‘mill’ under the hood – a car you’d expect to see in the classic right-of-passage film American Graffiti. In any case, this sheet-metal paean to 1950s Detroit would be perfect for any late-night summer weekend cruiser scene: Remember the sound of revving, throaty engines, tire-burning starts from stop lights and (major dare) spinning donuts? If you do, welcome to advanced middle age. Indeed, this slightly sinister beauty was spotted sitting placidly in the shade on University Avenue near the Allied Arts neighborhood, its days of smoking tires and revving engine now, doubtless, decades in the past.

You can see lots of classic cars at the 2010 Concours d’Elegance, which takes place just across the creek from Menlo at Stanford this Sunday, June 27.

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Spotted: waiting for a Mocha latte?

Thumbnail image for Spotted: waiting for a Mocha latte?

What else would a brown and black dog in a cool brown-and-white Jeepster be waiting for, especially considering ‘dad’ was in Peet’s?
Maybe the Menlo coffee emporiums are missing a bet by omitting pet flavors? T-bone Chai, anyone? Hmmmm… most will probably just stick to the outdoor water bowls that many local roasters offer.

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4th Annual America’s Pastime Car Show – Benefit for M-A High School Baseball

Thumbnail image for 4th Annual America’s Pastime Car Show – Benefit for M-A High School Baseball

Today, there’s a classic car show being held at Menlo-Atherton High School to support the MA baseball team. The show opened this morning at 8 AM and closes this afternoon at 2 PM. Attendance is free.
M-A has produced at least one major leaguer, catcher Bob Melvin. His 10-year big league career included [...]

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Hudson Auto Care: 55 years and 4 generations in Menlo

Thumbnail image for Hudson Auto Care: 55 years and 4 generations in Menlo

Richard Hudson remembers his introduction as a boy to the family auto care business: “I was small enough – and car hoods were strong enough – that the other attendants would boost me up on the hood to clean the windshields.”
Menlo Park was still a bit of a country town when Richard’s dad, Raymond Hudson, [...]

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Spotted: Just your regular Menlo putt-putt

Thumbnail image for Spotted: Just your regular Menlo putt-putt

Having spotted this streamlined roadster at the back door of the Golden Shears, we wondered, given the shiny golden color,  if it might be the new company car for that long-time Menlo Mainstay.
But, no, the owner of this $200,000 Lamborghini Gallardo was seen exiting Golden Shears with a fresh chop before stopping to get his [...]

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Spotted: Nose to nose in Menlo Park, but 80 years apart

Thumbnail image for Spotted: Nose to nose in Menlo Park, but 80 years apart

They both have four wheels and four cylinders, and the caché of being a much-desired mode of transportation in their era, and the two happened to be parked nose-to-nose in the parking lot of the Menlo Park Trader Joe’s.
The green car is thought to be a Ford Model A coupe, circa 1930, and the red [...]

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A special ‘81 Chevy – the Buddha mobile

Thumbnail image for A special ‘81 Chevy – the Buddha mobile

This green Chevy caught our InMenlo observer’s eye one recent morning. From a distance, it’s just another old truck  parked on a Menlo side street, but a closer inspection revealed, among other things, a laughing Buddha grill, a native American dream catcher dangling from the rear-view mirror (complete with miniature rubber trout) and – the [...]

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