Hopupland
HOPUPLANDi>HOPUPLAND
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CAVEAT EMPTOR
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THIS MONTH’S COVER
Our man Farmer was hangin’ at the usual haunt…The Hot Rod Garage in Martinez, Cal, worshiping at that shrine to traditional hot rods and customs when he came on an ol’ Pal and thus sent the following:
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Hey Rev. Morton-
I just heard from the horses mouth that Mr. Jay Ward is now on the Hop Up staff. I say that’s cans! He’s a nice guy and us guys up north here don’t think you could have picked a better fellow, he’ll do us proud. Now, here’s a few pics of your new intern conversatin’ with Randy at Hotrod Garage, Mtz. and a couple of artsy fartsy shots of Jay’s ‘39 Merc. custom (which ought to be in Hop Up i.m.o.) I will do my best to give updates to the Church of Gow on a regular basis as a Hop Up missionary, spreading the good word, and doing the good work.
“Yea, though i drive through the Valley of Rice, I shall fear no Turbo, For Gow art with me, Thy eight pistons and pushrods, they comfort me….”
(Cowl 3:16)
Farmer”
(Yeah, knowwhatyamean: my rod and the Hop Up Staff..they comfort me, too. Ed.)
He’ right. Brother Ward is on staff (when Pixar lets him loose); that, and Marc D’ Estout in Art is the reason we are havin’ such a good time bringin’ y’all the Gospel of Gow these days.
Here’s Farmers other pics:
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NEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HEY, BUB!!! SHED THE CABBAGE NOW, GET ‘EM IN THE FIRST BUNCH IN JUNE!
Second in the series of real littlebooks with more of what you gotta have….............
NEW! Hop Up Special No.2 on sale now - Ships June 1
$7.00 + $2 s & h = $9.00 to:
Hop Up
Special No.2
PO 790
Riverside, Ca. 92502
or click on SPEEDSHOP , select Spec 2 and use Paypal.
(US 50 only - See Links for offshore vendors)
an’ you did get Annual Volume VIII, no? See that one in Speedshop, too.
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DRIP PAN IS ALL NEW AS USUAL; TAKE A GANDER
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SOMETIMES I WILL - THEN AGAIN..I THINK I WON’T
We got it so good in Hopupland, this month we’re hardly on duty at all…runnin’ in old cars (some times in real old cars…) then jumpin’ in hot rods and takin’ Sweet Thang on a little B ‘n B r ‘n r......she’s so lucky….6-700 miles in a mohair-interiored slammed comfortrod..baby! Oh, BAAAAABEEEEE! Hell, we know we’s a great catch.........
Then we chuck up for Paso…....we heard it’s not the one any more (give me a break)....an’ that makes us wanna go even more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Soooooooooooo…......The ‘07 DiviningRod Tour is on, will even get out of the country this summer (we start in Couer d’ Alene where Bos Man is storing the staff car), an’ ya know what, Ol’ Podnuh? That raggedy-ass ol’ ‘36 will probably finish the Continental 48 States this time. If not, first run of ‘08 and we’ll have that blank map of the US of A all Crayola’d in, an’ whatdaya wanna bet we start over again? We gots to get back to Desoto, Bismarck, Watertown, Long Lake, Wrentham, Billings, Leominster, Redding, Greenfield Village, Longview, Des Moine, St. Louis, Kerrville, Houston, Prescott Valley, Albequerque, Waterford, Collinsville, Chandler, Omaha, Denver…........aw, you know…...solid hot rod memories…..coolest people (no elitists, that’s for sure)....... and damn if we don’t expect to have MORE time for it next year and the one after that!
HAHAHA!
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Oh yeah: MORON ELITISTS..HAHAHAHA!
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STREET RODDER FAKES PICTURE
Street Rodder did a GNRS article for June ‘07 and to capture a pic of Poteet’s car they had to take a picture of the Hop Up Booth.
This is Dillard’s pic of the booth…...................faked , mocked up, SRM picture beside.
BUT...then Eric planted more HOP UP logos all over the booth with his computer and captioned the shot something like, “Gee, wonder whose booth this is?”. We had 6 incidents of the Logo and EG put in 8 MORE, thus 14 total.
Problem was, some folks who were not at the show thought the excess was OURS, so Eric has penned a mea culpa for their August issue and will print the actual pic.
No prob, thanks, guys.
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C.W.SEVERA LOSES RETAINER
Noted Probist C.W.Severa (Houston, TX.) was replaced recently as crew chief for the Hop Up Jive Five coup-pay. Since he was not available to address a recent broken driveshaft problem, staff here considered the political repercussions of a change and, weighed against the opportunity to retain Corona Bert as a replacement crew chief (for less money…way less) the votes were cast and..C.W. was out.
Now, since Corona Bert doubles as Co-crew chief on the HURT race car, and Driver, Crew Chief, Builder and Public Relations Officer on the Black Blown V8 flathead 518 car, C.W. may be able to wiggle back in…... in a pinch.
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FIRST CAR FOUND..NOT QUITE FOR SALE
We introduced Hop Up Guy Ron (Canuck) Limbrick last time on here and what follows is another cool story with which most everybody can identify. Remember to look for another Limbrick tale in Hop Up Splecial No.2 which is on sale now. Grab the cabbage son, we got needs here, capice????
“There are only a few personal firsts that really stick out in a guy’s mind, I’m sure you can think of at least two. My first car has to rank right up there very close to the top of my list and I would bet that you feel the same about your first car. Let me tell you about my memories of my first (car that is). It was early May 1955 and spring was just beginning on the north shore of Lake Superior which meant that getting around and exploring car lots on your bicycle was the perfect thing to do when you are one month away from your all important 16th birthday. I can remember rolling past Dominion Motors used car lot, which was just down the street from my home in Fort William Ontario, where something caught my eye sitting in the back row. I immediately recognized what I saw and made a beeline to the back of the lot. What was sitting before me was, what all of the car magazines were full of in 1955, a 1932 Ford 5 window coupe. Wow! This is what they were talking about! Fort William (now Thunder Bay)is a world away from San Diego geographically but for that instance, they were one and the same. My enthusiasm and inexperience overlooked the many imperfections and all I saw was the beauty in black. I made my way to the sales office to find out what the asking price was for her. After a quick search, I found Mr. Winters (I’m positive that was his name) and he told me that “the fine little car was $75.oo”. No time to bargain, I had to get back home to tell my Dad about it as fast as I could as it’s not every day you find a ‘32 coupe for sale for $75.00. I had all the finances worked out in my head by the time I burst through the front door. I could sell my outboard motor that wasn’t needed anymore as someone had stolen the boat that my Dad and I had built the year before. I could find a job to pay for the balance. It was all going to work out, I just knew it was.
Well,I must have caught my Mom& Dad on a really good day as the coupe was in our yard by nightfall. One very lucky 15 year old, wouldn’t you say?
I remember getting my beginner’s permit on my 16th birthday and driving MY ‘32 “B” with its new brushed red paint job, to get my driver’s license the very next day.The tester asked me how many miles I had driven with the beginner’s permit to which I responded “about 15”. He said” We had better make that 150.” He then directed me to drive him around the block, then drop him off at the front door of the Vehicle License Office, where he said,“You are doing just fine. Go and park it and come in and get your license.” YaHoo! As you might expect, I had a great summer learning about cars and driving. However, I was still way too short to pick up chicks. Looking back on it all now,It would have been great to have had an older brother that could have tutored me in Hot Rod 101 as I think I had the” Jughead Jalopy” mentality back in those days. I’m sure I would have at least peeled off the fenders and running boards in no time at all, with the proper role model looking over my shoulder. Oh, well.
I traded the ‘32 in on a ‘40 Ford coupe the next spring,but that’s another story. Over the many years that passed, I kept hearing reports that my ‘32 was still in town but I could never verify that until very recently when a friend of a friend gave me a name and phone number that might lead me somewhere. Sure enough, it did. So,Is this the end of the story?
I would really hope that it isn’t but if it is, I’m sure glad that I experienced this part of it.”
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LUKENBACH WEST?
RCRR XI or so. We’d run up on this Road House lookin’ affair and…...we’d pre-run the deal so’s we knew they’d dig it…...and we made a rest stop out of it and told ‘em this was gonna be Hop Up Headquarters. “A regular ‘Lukenbach West’ ” says Jett. Damned well may be, too, cuz we’re lookin’ at it again this month and..who knows?
Stubbies pictures make it look good, all rural and shady and Road House-ish…...........cuz it is I guess…
Bade top right>
Robert Lomas right>
Fabian below being stalked
by a Texan! Eeeeeek!
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MINNESOTANS SEND TEXAS NOTES TO CALIFORNIA
Minnesota kinfolk John and Martene were our surrogates at Austin, this time, and they do such a good job, such nice reportage, with glam photos of all the cool-livin’ daddies’ rides…we don’t even need to go ourselves!!
Just look at these nice photos, see whatimean? More later.
(John Sticha did the piece on flatheads in Minnesota in HU Volume VIII. Ed.)
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RPU FROM HOT ROD WORKS IS FOR SALE
I drove this RPU once and was not in the least surprised at how great a driver it is. It is for sale and you can catch Nick or Ken at (208) 463-1068.
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“COOL CARS SQUARE ROLL BARS”
A note from Bernie Shuman came, which said they’d released a new version of the book with 48 pages of new copy and photos.
It’s the same great East Coast hot rod history book with the 48 page bonus. Get it before they sell out like the first edition did.
$33.90 to:
Hammershop Pres, LLC
64 Cannon Forge Drive
Foxboro, MA 02035-2211
(508) 543-1796
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TUNE IN TO DRIP PAN (OVER THERE>) FOR SOME MORE ODDS AND ENDS TO SAVOR
