MAGAZINE

WHAT'S HAPPENING

RATTLE CAN NATS MAY 22

CALROADY

But it wasn't his idea. It was Terrible T. The Big T. T-Squared. Double T. His Emenceness. Terry drives a Donovan Big Block deuce roadster with the California ego plate that reads, "HOP UP." Now waitastinkinminute. If anybody deserves.......... never mind. I'm not tellin' him. There's too much Hot Rodder in that Hawaiian shirt. It just wouldn't be prudent. The plate looks great on there.

Anywho, T tells Mark, " We gotta document the history of our club. They changed the name to California Roadsters in about 1946, but it had been Knight Riders since about '36. Bernie Couch (Deuce Roadster in the snow in Don Montgomery's book, Ed.) will give us the details. After all, we Are the oldest continuing roadster club in the West. Maybe in the World."

Byer took the lead and, with Dick Roseberry ('29 and '32 Roadsters- 'must be rough). began the History Department of the club. This is gonna be fun. Other clubs in the neighborhood make the claim of "Oldest Club...." but this one really is the one with the longest history. You can't change that fact, even if the Icon Southern California Club enjoys the most notoriety...the most attention....the most APPARENT history. It ain't necessarily so...... these cats go further back.

Photo proof is forthcoming.

OAKLAND

It was the best recent, and inevitably The Last great Oakland Roadster Show. When it goes back to numerical meaninglessness, 51st,etc., the program will return to bikes, pickups with tilting beds and chrome brake drums, and Mr.T's Van. There probably will be no mandate for all roadsters on the main floor.

This time it was absolutely bitchin. Like it used to be. There were a slew of previous winners there,

The Dick Flint car was there with some kinda bubble added to the hood (What? To match the one on the Ricky Nelson car?) because the hood barely cleared the carb tops. Never mind that it had always had modest clearance there, and worked pretty good. Never mind that you coulda milled the carb bases on the I-manifold cheaper than to remake a custom hood, or a dozen other fixes. They didn't ask us, it ain't our car, and it ain't our money. So shut up?............... OK.

It looked bitchin on a raised platform with a mural of the Mag cover in the background. Nice presentation.

The Bob McGee car was there in an incredible red. You know how many different reds there are, right? This car inspired the Hop Up flattie '32, but ours evolved to a 5W when there became too many '32 roadsters around. But the right ones are still tops. Question: why did our guys miss the important issue of keeping the rear end low on this car? On the cover of October '48 Hot Rod Magazine, the profile of this car is what made it this car. No 'California Rake'. This is where our own taste for rear-end height came from, and our chassis guru pointed out, with emphasis," it's too high!" It's too high. It's otherwise perfect. But it's too high. Mcgee died before he could see the completed car, but had admonished, "You're going to set the rear end down some more, right?" R.I.P.

Upholstery and perfect top were done by Swell Tom's Sure-Fit Seatcovers in Campbell, or Columbia or some other C-town in Upper California.

GOOD CUSTOM-WATCHING AT OAKLAND

Dave Simard has been working with Ken Gross on Ken's S.C.o.T.-Blown '32 for a while.

It is spectacular. The engine room detail has sent some Rusty Hop Up Guys to the plater/polisher. Didn't even go home first. Went straight to the plater and said, "We're re-thinking this flathead project." Influence. A highly-placed target for which to shoot, Bub! You will see this car all over the place (Probably not on a cover because it's black.

Unless the mags defer to Ken's position and put a black car on the cover because of who he is. They may have done it before, and it would be appropriate to do so this time.)

The customs are debuted at Oakland. D'Agostino, Zocchi, et. al. bring a new one each year. Livingston, too. And the Larry Ernst hardtop was there. We heard that stovebolt drive in, and remembered that on THE LIST is a Chevy Hardtop. Done Hop Up Style. Daddy, Oh, Daddy.

DOES YOUR PRIEST DRIVE ONE OF THESE?

The Hirohata Merc is all done, and in the Main Entrance along with the Chevy, and it is too, too cool. But it was kinda anti-climatic, after seeing it photo'd by Coonan in Rodders Journal. That's like BEING THERE, so it was as if we'd already seen the car in person.

A fun and proper feature had Ol' Dad Gray Baskerville conscripted to display his old red roadster at the Hall of Fame Banquet. On a crappy, rainy and cold-for-California or cold-for-anywhere day he drove the original Rat Rod (he made up the name, didn't he?) up to S.F., pulled in on the main floor complete with a tumbleweed stuck under the front axle, and went for a look-see.

Here's the fun part: several entrants pitched a bitch because the car had a primer spot on it. "We don't want that thing next to Our cars!" Apparently they relaxed when they heard why it was there and that it would not be on public display. But SHEESH!

Jackie Howerton showed his tube chassis Indy-Car/Track Roadster to the amazement of anyone with enough class to share a compliment. Get ready for this one. If it finishes as good as it started, it is a pillar. Sometimes the sheetmetal, even if it is real good, can cover-up what is most inspired about a car, and the final illusion is understated. Chances are that this one, though, with Moal on sheetmetal-detail, will be a total mind-blower.

Another custom is Jimmy Vaughn's '61 Cad. It will be in all the books, but we'll take the opportunity to scoop 'em. It'd be everywhere (we think) no matter who owned it. Our manual on customs says that modifications that are not Baroque, improve the appearance without becoming the focal point of the art, and contribute to the integration of the design, have merit.

Get ready, Teddy.

First look , and you say "Boy, I didn't remember '61's being that bitchin. Oh, look at the hood. That must be it. No, look at the roof. What the hell is it about that roof? Find out later that it's a 4-door roof. We didn't really notice that it was the roof that made the visual work so well, but then someone pointed it out and OUA LA! We's got the EYE!

Buford wires, you know - big baloney-slicer type tips and - a guy asked us what it was runnin'. I dunno. Too dazzled with the Look.

RON MARTINEZ' MERC COUPE

Big John Siroonian brought his Thelen-built candy-red deuce highboy (AMBR about '84?) with a new paint job. Maroon. Wheels painted maroon. Oh, I get it. This is like when someone bought the Neicamp car, and painted it maroon, because no one cared that it had just won a little car show a few years ago. Maybe the guys in Fresburg are lookin forward to discovering it again and RESTORING it someday. It would be too easy to have left it in SHOW WINNING style. Maroon roadsters are cool. And common. Can you tell that We would have restored it? We hate to use this already trite expression, but we haven't yet heard ourselves say, "What's THAT about?"

Hop Up Guy Jim Stroupe unveiled his modified and shook 'em up, Boys. It , too, will be in all the mags so we'll just tell you that "WE TOLD YA!" Nice Trilogy: the definitive '27 highboy roadster, the quintessential barn-find '32 3W coupe, and the new leader in modifieds.

He'll laughingly say, "That's it. Never again. No more." Then in about two years, he'll say "Ya know, I picked up this Connuter Valve at Turlock, and, I think you could build a car around it."

So the 50th Oakland came and went. It was the NUTS.

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