Built For Speed

Built For Speed

Bob Bleed Hot Rod

Editor’s Note: You most likely know him as Bob Bleed. He’s not a writer and is not pretending to be. He’s a talented musician with an intense passion for hot rods. And it is that intensity that made me pursue him as a guest writer for the Jalopy Journal. These are his words and for the most part, they are unedited… Enjoy.

Its crazy to think that this traditional Hot Rod movement we are a part of is now ten or even fifteen years old. We have engraved our piece of history and turned an industry on its head! The street rod industry we rebelled from in the first place now pretty much caters to us. There are countless products and magazines aimed at the traditional mind… I used to get thrown out of car shows in my shoebox, now there are more traditional hot rod shows than I can get to!

Even the H.A.M.B. has grown into something huge. When I found the H.A.M.B. it was a few hundred members – a bunch of dorks, typing with one finger, talking about Hot rods (haha I still type with one finger…). Now it is an industry of its own. The Jalopy Journal is all legit now, and there are several small companies that depend on the H.A.M.B.. In fact, there are several companies that wouldn’t exist without the H.A.M.B.

CRAZY.

Where did all this come from? How did it start? Some would say clubs like the Shifters, Choppers and other like minded guys… Or maybe Hot Rod Deluxe magazine – that was a big deal. It really was. It kind of solidified the movement and brought together a lot of people. Then there are the shows like Billetproof, Viva Las Vegas and the newer ones like the Round Up, the Pile Up, etc…

All of those events have contributed for sure. Plus, the excitement of the older guys seeing the younger guys build cool stuff is a big part of it as well… Its been quite a ride.

I think it all started long before that stuff though. As far as i can tell, it all boils down to the STRAY CATS. It really does.

I was in fifth grade when the stray cats released “Built for Speed.” It was around this time when cable TV became popular and all these kids were glued to this channel called MTV. Cable TV RULED! I remember the summer we got cable, HBO was brand new and they had limited access to a lot of films. They would play certain films over and over. One of these films was American Grafitti. I must have watched it 200 times that summer!

Anyway, back to MTV… I pretty much hated it. I was raised listening to early rock ‘n’ roll and all that new synth music and heavy metal just seemed terrible. It kind of scared me. Then one day I saw a video by the Stray Cats. It was called “Rock this Town.” I couldn’t believe it! I would watch MTV for hours waiting for them to play that video again… It was the coolest thing I ever saw or heard.

All of the other kids would make fun of me for not liking the new music and I felt like a dork, but the Stray Cats made it OK. It was all of a sudden COOL to like that stuff. I remember asking a girl to dance in sixth grade to “Stray Cat Strut.” That music and those early stray cat videos changed my life.

I got the album “Built for Speed” and almost every song was about Hot rods. Then, “Rant and Rave” came out and it had the coupe on the cover and those guys changing the hubcap – Those guys were just so damn cool. I starred at those album covers for Hours while listening to those records over and over. They stirred all these 50’s fantasies in my head. I wanted to be just like those guys.

The fad came and went pretty fast and most of America basically forgot the Stray Cats, but I never did. In my earliest bands we always covered stray cats songs. I used to borrow this beat up old 50 ford from my dad and drive it around when I was just out of High school. One of my friends was like, “all you ever want to do is drive that shitty car and listen to the Stray Cats….”

It seems as though there were other kids who got the bug – just like me. By the early 90’s there was a rock’a’billy revival going on. Roots music in general was coming back – the whole Swing thing, the Surf thing and then the spin-offs like psychobilly and cow punk. All of this early music being recreated by kids in their 20’s. They started collecting 1950’s stuff and it became a subculture. Even Brian Setzer himself was caught up in the movement with several swing albums and a whole new career long after the Stray Cats.

The car clubs and hot rods kind of spawned from that. These kids were trying to recreate their own version of the past. Hot Rods were inevitable.

As with everything, the subculture the Stray Cats spawned has become watered down and lame. People jumping on bandwagons and trying to be cool. That whole scenester thing is just kind of dumb and most of the music SUCKS. There are several shining stars, but a lot of those people trying to recreate the past, just don’t have any talent. Most of them don’t have the class the Stray Cats did back in ’81, let alone the greats from the ’50’s and it has become a weak interpretation of the past.

But the Hot Rods, THEY RULE!

The cars that came out of that scene inspired new builders and other kids to build cars with a traditional mindset. These guys don’t necessarily care about subcultures and all that other bullshit. They just want to build killer traditional hot rods. It has inspired older guys as well and brought new life to some of the original pioneers like Gene Winfield, Bill Hines etc… Its has also created an avenue for builders to focus on creativity, rather than the hot new part. Great hot rods are being built for less than what some street rods have invested in wheels!

Now there are down points. The rat rod thing and dudes trying to be “Ol’ Skool” (What the hell is ‘Ol Skool anyway?), but as a whole there are more safer, stronger, faster, and just plain COOL traditional Hot Rods and Customs being built than ever before!

These are cool times. OUR time.

Is it all because of the Stray Cats? I think it just might be…

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