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Hop Up 2002 August Cover Drip Pan Antique Nats |
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MAGAZINE
If someone had penned a Declaration of Tradition......or a Constitution.....for us.....or chipped out a Tablet of Stone......we would have proof that the founding fathers had something in mind that has to be honored for the sake of rodkind. Wait. Hop Up may be the thing. The original Hop Up, in it's 20 little 64 page mags, is as close to the Constitution as we're gonna get. (We won't go the 'Tablets' route.)
Like, here in America, you supposedly can get away with a lot of things, but don't screw with the constitution. You are allowed to be a Communist, or anything else, as long as you don't violate the basic societal rules laid out in ........that document..... The Constitution. (Get it? ".....that woman. ......Miss Lewinsky.")
Ergo, you can like evolved forms of rods. Dubs on Mercs. TPI. Nissan motors (or are they Toyotas? RR?). Consoles. Suicide doors on '37's. Paint that changes color when you walk by. Whatever. G' 'head. Be avante garde with attention-getting treatments that approximate the things you get on new cars much cheaper........but you should have to have reverence for the traditional. And for the beginnings. And don't rewrite our history.
It's why they teach History in school (although we hear that it's getting revised a bit). Relative newcomers to this activity maybe should get a primer (the Hop Up Reprint of the first 12 ought to do it). And they don't have to end up doing it our way, either. But they should take note, and respect the correctness of austere design; they should resist chauvinistic gook and fleeting trends, and they should dignify the truth that is in the style. And the style that is in the truth.
We don't own the franchise, Boys, but it's ours to protect.
The Greaseguys are doing a good job of revering early stuff. They cleave particularly to anti-heroes from the day, even though some of the anti heroes were really kind of tongue-in-cheek caricatures in some cases; e.g. family men who put on the outfit to go out amongst 'em, and were armchair Dads when they came home. Some of us wear different lids for different occasions, too. They study. They read Montgomery's books and, even if some of them like some things that were trendy at an earlier time - things that did not make the test of time and become lasting - most all of them get the fact that traditional themes are what matters.
Caveat: As you/we re-enact history, do we have to re-do each and every trend that was ever on the cover of a mag? Will we have to do vans? Go-Karts? Panel painting? Big fat whitewall tars hanging outside all four fenders? Scallops all over a perfectly stock and stainless-burdened 50's hardtop? Tacky old is still.........tacky.
Ya gotta be brave to let fashion, trends, and sometimes your peers, move on without you. That's what being an individual is, fellers. The reward is visceral, and...... of you; not........of them. When your pursuits, your tastes and your Style cause glory to get away....you probaby still have peace. Pax. Serenity. Serendipidy is an every day occurence, and blessed juxtaposition is around every corner. And actualization. Fulfillment. Satisfaction. Grim satisfaction sometimes, but satisfaction.
You won't miss the glory. Someone else can not be better at peace than you are.......if they got it, too, then, bitchin.. If you're here, you probably got it. Well. Maybe not all of you.
Some of you weren't invited.
en hopup veritas
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