Goodbye, Walt’s Walls

Sometime in the spring of 2013 I slid out of the Detroit suburbs and paid a visit to Walt’s Auto Supply. For close to an hour, I walked around the property under grey skies soaking up the speed shop’s past. (You can read more here and here.) At this point it was clear the building had seen better days. Above the door, metal letters that once read “WALT’S Car & Truck Parts�? slipped from the tan brick storefront. Plywood panels replaced plate glass and a red, white and blue “For Sale�? sign was slapped front and center. Despite the visible deterioration, it was still Walt’s. Partially in name, and mostly because of what was painted on the building’s north-facing walls.

Since the early 1970s, two of Walt Knoch Jr.’s most well-known drag cars — or Walt’s Puffers — have been immortalized on the side of the speed shop. Much like Mr. Knoch himself, the paintings were bright, bold and larger than life. The roadster, originally campaigned after Walt’s infamous ban from the NHRA, was as beautiful as it was fast. To its left was his last Fiat altered, an AA/FA, which he drove into the ‘70s. By the time I made it to Walt’s, the paint was faded and flaking in several areas. On Puffer III, most of the front end had worn off through the years. But the wall still advertised with pride that the shop on Inkster and Van Born was “Home of the National Champions.�?

Last week, that all changed. Thanks to a tip from Matthew Brehmer, I discovered the building had been sold and the murals were painted over. Walls that once celebrated an unforgettable era in Detroit hot rodding history have been blacked out in an effort to clean up. That doesn’t sit well with me.

Although the paintings are gone, the building still remains. And don’t worry; it’ll take a hell of a lot more than a couple buckets of black paint to keep Walt’s Auto Supply out of the history books for decades to come.

-Joey Ukrop

Recent photos by Matthew Brehmer, historical photos from the Knoch collection.