“The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby”

“The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby”

Muffled voices grew louder as my eyes stayed locked on the material in front of me. The cursor blinked. Like an entrenched soldier, I peered out of my library cubicle — ravaged by pens and blades of demoralized students — to see what the hell was going on. By the time I collected my thoughts to tell them off, the group was gone. So was my focus.

A few minutes later I found myself wandering the deserted library looking for call number E169.1.W685. After brushing up on the Dewey Decimal system, I found the book near the top shelf deep within third floor stacks. In the dim corridor, I read the spine: WOLFE, “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby.�? Copyright 1965.

If Tom Wolfe’s name sounds familiar, it’s likely not because of hot rodding. Wolfe, an influential writer and scholar, was on the cutting edge of “New Journalism�? in the mid-‘60s. This included, but wasn’t limited to, in-depth reporting, long form style and the inclusion of elements that you’d normally find in fiction writing — scene, character, et. al. But in the early 1960s, Wolfe’s journalism took him into territory that was completely alien to him — and familiar to us.

While working for the New York Herald Tribune, Wolfe’s editor assigned him to cover the “Hot Rod & Custom Car Show�? at the New York Coliseum. By the end of the day, he assembled a standard, admittedly boring, story to satisfy the boss. Wolfe wasn’t happy with the outcome, so he delved back into the booming hot rodding scene for more.

With the help of Esquire magazine, Wolfe jumped into the thick of things in California. His visit started with a trip to a typical SoCal outdoor car show (or “Teen Fair.�?) Although he notes some of the cars in attendance, he primarily acts as the reader’s eyes and ears to paint a picture of the activities at the show as well as the people. Deeper in the essay, Wolfe speaks with both George Barris and Ed Roth about customizing. There’s no doubt that both offer a unique, classical look at both of these renaissance men, but I’d argue the Roth section is one of the better first hand accounts of “Big Daddy�? in his Maywood years.

Oh, and about the title. “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby�? was the shortened version of the original, which read “There Goes (Varoom! Varoom!) That Kandy-Kolored (Thphhhhhh!) Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (Rahghhh!) Around the Bend (Brummmmmmmmmmmmmmm).” The “Baby�? was a 1960 Chevy convertible that belonged to 22-year-old Ronnie Camp. An Indiana native, Camp trekked across the United States to have his car customized by Barris. Wolfe spares no expense in his explanation of the car:

“It’s what is called a semi-custom. Nothing has been done to it to give it a really sculptural quality, but a lot of streamlining details have been added. The main thing you notice is the color—tangerine flake. This paint—one of Barris’ Kandy Kolor concoctions—makes the car look like it has been encrusted with chips of some kind of semi-precious ossified tangerine, all coated with a half-inch of clear lacquer.�?

As a whole, Wolfe’s essay provides a fresh look at the custom car world from the perspective of an outsider. He appreciates the cars as modern art forms and views the customizers as artists. I like the way he thinks.

If you’re interested in the essay, here it is in .pdf form for your enjoyment.

-Joey Ukrop

Photo of Camp’s Chevy courtesy of chevytalk.org

 

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