Contents
Op-Ed
Three Cool Cats
Vene Vide Rodzy
Five Hours Later
Roots
Way Cool Event
Magazine Info
Previous Issues

Hop Up MAGAZINE

October '97

WHAT'S UP

Late in September, on a balmy So Cal summer night, a couple hundred of most everybody who's anybody from the Hot (and Street) Rod business congregated at Art and Mike Chrismans C.A.R.S . Performance Racing Industries had invited them for food, grog, rodtalk and an introduction of the first HOTROD AND PERFORMANCE TRADESHOW., taking place next fall in Louisville. It sems L-ville is the belly button of the rod product world. Not bad. The SEMA Show is mixed up with sports cars, off-road, trucks, Hummers. Hummers? Hmmmmmmm.............

So the demographics monitors must have said that there are enough exhibitors (400-600) and spectators to make it pencil out. Ther goes our theory that there are just a few of us!

The spectators are 'volume buyers' of stuff: customizers, restorers, engine-builders, and dealers; we don't know yet if plain ol' Hop Up Rodneys can go yet. You'll get it all here.

Note that this show won't be all power windows and IFS parts. It'll be axles, pumpkins, guages, pre-cut hardware, etc., too. Keep an open mind. There can still be innovation in the development of parts for real hotrods....Chapouris is makin' some cool parts for our kind of cars.

THREE COOL CATS

They were having dinner after one of those invite-only reliability swindles. Feelin' kinda smug.
"We got away with it. 70 cars that, if photographed in black and white coulda been in '51. Jeez, I liked that! "
""Did you notice there were NO spectators, and nobody opened his hood and stood around fishing for attention?"
"Yeah, did you see Loser Ted (not his real name, Ed.) open up that roadster and pass 16 cars out on that two-lane? He's about a a mother-clutchin', tire-squallin' Hot Rod Daddy!"
Laughter. "When we gonna do it again?" "I dunno.."
"It doesn't have to be that big, ya know"
"Yeah".
"Had ya heard about that little thing in Bend on Fourth of July?""Nope."
"Ya hafta be invited, but it's low key and far away. That's all I need." "How do we get in?"
"I know a guy."

[Picture - click for larger version]
The roadsters hurried to the view point. The big block guy swears he had lots left when they backed off at a buck-twenty.
Five Months Later

Ring. Ring. "Hello?"
"Hey, man, you didn't ball up your fourth of July with some parade or something, did you?"
"Whaddaya mean?"
"I got us in!"
"In what?"
"In that Bend run."
"Ohhhhhhh. How far is that for me?"
"About a thousand, I guess."
"maybe I should change my oil...... naaaaah!"

It was lowkey. It all happened at the hotel; COOOOL!:

a - dacquiri party
a - poker run
a - dinner party
a - dios!


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