When We Were Young

It’s a game we tend to play from time to time with our hot rod buddies over a cold beer out in the garage.  Call it hot rod trivia. You know how it goes.  Who was the guy that owned that red chopped ‘32 coupe with the blown Chevy from Indiana?  Did John own a ’39 or was it a ’40 Ford coupe in high school?   How do you tell the difference between a ’33 and a ’34 Ford, or a Standard from a Master Chevrolet?  Well, the next time you are in this game, here is a question that separates the tenured from the unschooled; name five driving events that were once the centerpiece of seventies rod runs.

The National Street Rod Association (NSRA) and more specifically the Street Rod Nationals East (Nats East) were once founded on the mantra ‘Fun with Cars’, which was a synonym for competition between car owners and car clubs. . . and we are not talking about Best Paint or Best Engineered.  The Nats East led the way with a cadre of competitive car events; Rod Jousting, Irish Wheel, Rally Round the Flag, Disco Duck and Back Seat Driver just to name a few.  Then there were also traditional NSRA events like Streetkhana and Street Sweeper.  Awards and prizes (including the title Grand National Street Rod Champion) were tied to event participation and success.

In 2008, NSRA hosted the 35th Nats East at the York Fairgrounds in Pennsylvania. Walking the fairgrounds of this contemporary NSRA event, times have clearly changed.  Gone are the sounds of squealing tires and roaring crowds cheering on competitors.  Even still, it remains the largest regional street rod event held by NSRA.  Looking back, the seed for the success of the Nats East can be traced back to one Washington DC area car club, Capital Street Rods.

How It All Began
Although it is not counted as the first Nats East, the 1973 East Coast Mini Nationals in Rockville, Maryland was the first involvement of NSRA with an East Coast rod run and laid the ground work and cooperation that started it all.  Local rodding entrepreneurs Dave Anderson and Rich Venza, owners of Ai Fiberglass, had the connections with NSRA as exhibitors and advertisers.  This first event was hosted by the Capital Street Rods, where both Anderson and Venza were members.  The one and only East Coast Mini Nationals was held in an open parking lot at a suburban Washington community college.  While the draw was good and profit modest ($719), a larger and more controllable venue was needed. (TRJ Publisher Steve Coonan, too young to drive, had his father drop him off at this show.  Within the year, he became a Capital Street Rods member).

As co-sponsor of the event, NSRA requested several changes for 1974.  A fairgrounds type location was favored over the Mini-Nats college parking lot.  Another important amenity was the proximity of acceptable ‘upscale’ hotel accommodations.  NSRA President Dick Wells and the Capital Street Rods Board met in January to finalize plans.  Capital Street Rods secured the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium in early 1974 (for $1,500) for the first Street Rod Nationals East.  Timonium Fairgrounds was selected over several other scouted locations, in part due to the projected completion of a new Hilton hotel.   NSRA provided their name and insurance coverage for the event and shared in the profits.

Car Crazy at Timonium
From 1974 through 1980, Timonium Fairgrounds was the site for the annual gathering.  These early year events were legendary, with a teeming swap meet, active club involvement, rivalries, and car competition. Clubs from throughout the mid-Atlantic sponsored an activity for their fellow rodders.  Some events required driving a rod.  Others included the use of a rod, such as Club Rod Packing, where you tried to get as much luggage as possible in a designated rod.  Part of the fun was to see who could create the best event.  The hairiest driving activity was always rod jousting.  Patterned by Capital’s Venza after Maryland’s state sport of horse jousting, with a pool cue aimed in hand, the passenger hung out or held on to a rod.  Upon a signal, the driver blasted through a coarse with the passenger trying to spear Mason jar rings that hung from specially designed holders.  The best elapsed time capturing all the rings earned the team the years’ bragging rights.  Essentially, it was a combination drag strip and slalom event with targets.

At one of the early events, a ‘Celebrity Joust’ was used as a spectator draw in conjunction with local radio station personalities and event coverage.  John Goodman, the Maryland NSRA State Representative, was at the wheel when the DJ planted his balancing foot on top of the gas pedal at the start signal.  At full tilt, they shot through and out of the course and across the fairgrounds.  Of coarse the crowd went wild cheering, unaware of what was really occurring. (I know. I was one of the cheering masses.)  To this day, I still cannot understand why anyone did not receive a serious injury from this, or a hundred similar situations.

Rod Jousting wasn’t the only hair-raiser.  The Irish Wheel competition had drivers spinning in a circle balancing keeping a rope suspended from a central pole from touching the ground or pulling over the center pivot.  Cars regularly got up on two wheels as they sped to obtain the best time.  The trailer pull and back seat driver contests were also crowd favorites.  Several engines lost their innards as drivers screamed through an obstacle course pulling a trailer.  Several couples sought marriage counseling after the blindfolded driver piloted incorrectly through a hay bail chicane, being instructed by a back seat driver.

While the driver contests were exciting, competitive and fun, Saturday evening was a night of comrade and tall tales from the past two-days activities.  A bull roast for all run participants followed by a dance were the Nats East signature draw.   All of this for your $15 entry fee in 1974!  The Nats East drew rods from up and down the coast, and after several years, several hot rod celebrity visits from notables like Pete Chapouris and Jim ‘Jake’ Jacobs (Pete & Jakes), John Butera, Jim Ewing (Super Bell Axles) and actor/hot rodder Norm Grabowski.  These visits, where some of the best of the west came east, were very well publicized since NSRA helped fan the flames of coastal and regional rivalries with the slogans ‘ East is Neat’ and ‘West is Best’ on merchandise.

NSRA
Unfortunately, success and growth led to changes in the embryonic event format.  After the 1975 run, the Street Rod Nationals East became the sole property of NSRA.  Bill Kauffman, who had held presidential responsibilities with Capital Street Rods and then a splinter club, Free State Street Rods became the NSRA Eastern States Event Director.  Capital and Free State alternated hosting responsibilities under Kauffman’s direction.  Event registration fees increased to $25.  The event grew, based on the successful format of club and car involvement.  During the seven years the event was held in Timonium, the fairgrounds also went through a number of changes; some of which helped the event like new buildings, but much of the demolition of older horse stables and building construction restricted space available for the show.

In 1980, NSRA brought in Gary Meadors (of Goodguys fame) to take over from Kauffman as the event coordinator.  Abruptly in 1981, NSRA moved the event to the York County Fairgrounds in York Pennsylvania, an hour north, where it remains.  With the change in location came a complete restructuring of the event, which scaled back car activities as well as eliminated the bull roast. Host club responsibilities similarly moved with the venue.  It was a change that surprised the Timonium devoted, and even brought forth protests from some (including Ai Fiberglass who had been instrumental from the very start).  With twenty-five plus years of hindsight, many who were saddened or even offended at the location and format changes would admit that space needs, logistics of feeding thousands and the danger of the car events (and the ability to insure them) necessitated the move.

In recognition of 30 years in 2003, NSRA allowed a display of Nats East photos and memorabilia just inside the main exhibit hall documenting and commemorating this vivid history.  One hundred and forty of the original five hundred thirty five entrants from 1974 attended re-union held on Friday afternoon and signed an original “Welcome Street Rodder’s” banner that was raffled.  Special commemorative buttons were developed for the re-union. Participants in a round-robin exchange introduced themselves and spoke of their cars and family highlights over the last three decades in Street Rodding.  Tales of miles traveled and engines rebuilt, multiple marriages (and divorces) and streaking brought applause from the crowd.

Outside, a small corral was devoted to 30-year participants and their cars.  Several were still driving the same cars from 1974, in the same paint.  Several displayed their 1974 window stickers.  Some people never throw anything away.

Shown here are photos from these early seventies Timonium events.  Delaware Street Rod member and NSRA Representative Joe Troilo  provided the majority of these early shots.  Although the event car fun and club competition that captured my attention with hot rods has now become history, the Nats East still remains a ‘must attend’ event annually.  As we used to proudly proclaim, East is Neat!

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