T n' A

T n’ A

As a reminder, we do this section each month as a tribute to the foundings of the car craze, and to the young barnyard engineers who kicked it all off. Thought it was worth doing. For their own satisfaction. Actualization, Bub. There’s that word.

SO….THIS PIC OF NEAT STUFF DOESN’T HAVE MUCH
TO DO WITH T’S AND A’S (DIRECTLY) BUT WE DIDN’T
HAVE THE RIGHT PHOTO FOR THIS SEGMENT AND
WANTED TO EMPLOY ANOTHER IMAGE FROM THE RIDE
TO NEW HAMPSHIRE. COOL, HUH?

So when a new generation of would-be car guys started reading the Big Catalogue and that coincided with a run on fat fendered cars since it looked like everything else was used up – those newbies just figured that fats oughta be the coolest thing because….it was in the ‘catalogue’. So, publicly, anyway, T’s and A’s became passé.

Well. Not for the few. The brave. The Hopped Up. The Boys.

Our boys slugged along, having a ball with no one looking at all (rhymes, don’t it?), and two things were noticed over here:

1) ‘No one looking’ is plenty OK with those who are doing it for pure reasons.

2) T’s and A’s have the same cache they always had if you’re not worried about the attention of newbies who think (because of a Big Catalogue) that they (T’s and A’s) are not relevant. To their credit, the refined newbies – those who have undergone the percolation test and morphed themselves in to the car guy category, not the lifestyler bunch, are beginning to get it. Some of what they get is the tastes and sensitivities of Greybeards who they were loathe to dignify, early on. The Greasers mostly got it (if they were hot rod types) because they were miming Montgomery’s books. Their greasier (k)custom counterparts seem to be those with less money, thus later model cars, orphans and Falcons et.al. and they can really get it wrong if left to their own interpretations. We’ll leave them out in the rain to grow….

  Anywho (Wileymon)….. then, be still my heart: As they get to where they can afford earlier iron, they are taking their liteweight, practice-bat ‘customs’, offering them to younger guys…..and starting on legit hot rods. Not all of them, but a recognizable percentage. It’s lookin’ like they want trad hot rods but couldn’t afford them earlier on…but will definitely grow in to them through having a job (Hop Up Guys got hot rods and jobs.)

Then, later, as a side-swindle,  they will get big Detroit Iron from all eras and do legit customizing on them rather than mimicking the all-scallop-on a new-fully-badged-Impala style that was en vogue in Bellflower (right where we grew up) for about an hour at one time in the past.

If it’s easy it just might not have merit.

*****************

So, it’s beginning to look like the en masse banger attack planned for Bonneville ’04 will finally happen in ’05.
Some extant cars may be changing hands, bare racecars may move from one barn to another where they’ll be outfitted with appropriate bangerness to shake poor ol’ Hop Up down for more shirts. Suits us pretty good.

Quick n’ Easy Racing out of Long Beach will have their piece done for sure and as we said, Hop Up may even run a car of it’s own.

There’s word that the long-dormant “Patio Racer” is under way and could make ’05 but certainly will make ’06.

Pity the foo’ who thinks he can have more fun out there than our gang. With the folks in our spectator fleet ranging from Texas Hooligans to River City Roadsters et al, count on a good time.

On that B’ville note, we didn’t mention last month that Maine Barons’ Greg Samson went 202 in the yella coupe She Bad II…. settling a score, a solemn promise, made the year before.

Good on ya, man. Go get some more…………..

BE SURE TO READ HOPUPLAND, DRIP PAN AND MORT’S SHORTS