The Hot Rod Bustle has had a few iterations over the years. It started as a fun, simple garage crawl in 2012, and then in 2013 it grew to an awesome event with a Christmas tree run pre-party, a Pre-54 Moonshine run on a dirt track, along with a pre-66 car show with some fantastic music - all while being hit with the most devastatingly cold weather the area had seen in years. After that, the Bustle was backed off to a low-key Christmas tree run in 2014. So the details are still to come, but look for Fall of 2015's Hot Rod Bustle to be the year not to be missed!
Threads from 2013 Hot Rod Bustle http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-hot-rod-bustle-san-antonio.843537/ http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-hot-rod-bustle-moonshine.850845/
UPDATE as of September 9, 2015 The 2015 Hot Rod Bustle weekend has been nailed down to October 2, 3, & 4. The schedule and details are as follows: Friday October 2nd Pre-Party at Bexar Bones Garage 4307 S. Presa, San Antonio, TX 78223 5:00 pm - 12:00 am Live performance by The Sean Castillo Trio! Saturday October 3rd Moonshine Run at Reyes Ranch 17611 FM 1937 (S. Flores Rd.) San Antonio, TX 78221 A Pre-54 "Run What Ya Brung" dirt track timed event. A Team of two (driver & passenger) fill up a crate of mason jars from a still of water. (Sorry, Absolutely, Definitely & Positively NO REAL MOONSHINE allowed folks!). Then the team will load up the hot rod and run the track for the best time. Watch your shine levels in the jars folks! There will be trophies, prizes & bragging rights awarded! Be in the best 3 & get your Hot Rod displayed at the after party for everyone to see. DJ Jive Bomber will be spinning the vinyl trackside during the Moonshine Run! Inside the grounds at Reyes Ranch there will be a Pre '64 Car Show for anyone not wanting to run the track. Practice runs around the track available from 9:00 am - 10:00 am The Moonshine “Timed Runs” go from 11:00 am - 5:00 pm Awards at 5:00 pm Registration for the Pre-'64 car show (also trucks & motorbikes) is $10.00 and gets you and 1 passenger free entry. $10.00 for walk-in spectators. The Pre '54 Moonshine Run is $20.00. That gets you 1 run on the dirt track. You can buy in an additional $5 per run to beat your 1st time, up to 4 runs total. Saturday Night October 3rd After-Party at The Phantom Room 2106 N St Mary's St, San Antonio, TX 78212 9:00 pm - 2:00 am Live performance by Wilkinson's Quartet (Formerly The John Doe Stompers) Also spinning vinyl will be DJ Jive Bomber $5 Cover Sunday October 4th Hot Rod Run to Buck's Saloon 3751 E Loop 1604 S Access Rd, Adkins, TX 78101 For Some BBQ, Beer, Music, & Dancing.
Here are some photos from the old "practice track". I couldn't share the videos from the dreaded facebook but was able to capture some screen shots. If you are interested in going and want to be invited on the "event page" so you can see the details and updates, PM me.
Heck yeah! We'll be there Thank you Jeff for always keeping everyone in the know with events as well.
Awesome... Good to hear! We have hit a bump... The venue I was doing this moonshine run at backed out on me last Thursday. We have, however been looking at some land. A much bigger area to run these cars. Also keeping it even more traditional & Ol' TimeyThere will be more info to come. The Pre-Party at Bexar Bones Garage & The After-Party at The Phantom Room have been nailed down. No changes there.
I was planning to go, but the car won't be ready for the road quite yet, we'll try to make it down either way.
In no particular order, I'll try to add some pictures from the weekend. I can't share any of the videos but just be sure that the pictures don't do justice to the videos of the cars going around the track. I didn't take any as usual, but my wife and a bunch of our friends did so I'll borrow from them just to share with you guys. If you live within reasonable driving distance of this event and didn't make it, figure out a way to kick yourself in the balls. The amount of cool and nostalgia and family and friendship packed into the weekend is hard to describe, even with a bunch of pictures grabbed from social media. This event truly has the potential to be like the great ones that came before it, all put on with a little South Texas drawl and much more laid back attitude. If you can get on social media and look at the pictures and videos, pay attention to any and all of the background music and bands you can hear. It wasn't random, it was all specifically picked and meant to enhance the "vibe" of the whole weekend. The weekend started out in "South Town" at the pre-party held at Bexar Bones Garage (that as usual went a little later than planned and downed a few more Lone Star Beers than planned). We got to hear some Texas swing and rockabilly music by the legendary "Sean Castillo and the Hubcaps". Then Saturday morning after some barbacoa tacos, (menudo for the wife) and some Big Red (if you don't know, I cant explain it), we took a nice little drive south of town in our '28 Model A for the actual "Hot Rod Bustle" event. The event went off greater than planned with official timed runs by the registered pre-54 cars. After that, the track was opened up for unofficial "fun runs" to the old cars, and even the "new" cars that came - like a severely static dropped 64 caddy, a newly-built 65 c-10, and a healthy 69 C-10 with a 6.0 LS. Later on, five guys (including me) piled in our buddy's 53 Caddy 4-door and ran the track laughing the whole way. It was like floating on a dust cloud that swayed 45 degrees coming out of the corners. The background music (Texas Swing, Americana, Rockabilly, etc.) was provided by the world-known DJ Jive Bomber, who also took time out of wiping dist off his 45's to run his own 51 Ford truck on the track. After the run, the bustle continued as we headed back to our homes and some to their hotels, showered up and headed into town (on the St. Mary's strip) for the after party at the Phantom Room. The wife and I didn't just change clothes, but we changed cars and took our not dusty '51 Pontiac out to the party. We were treated to some great tunes by the Wilkinson Quartet (also keeping in the pre-war Texas music theme) and a few of us even got to scratch some circles on the dance floor. Looking around, you could see eveyone laughing, hugging, bench racing, and having a great time. Later on, some people we know got into a little fight and got kicked out of the bar. For them, it was just another Saturday night, but I think the non-locals thought it was a staged part of the bustle, haha. Sunday afternoon continued with a very relaxing hang out at a local bar in far south town with more cold Lone Stars, more live music, and some free BBQ. Lots of hot rod's parked in the back parking lot and lots of sunburned people moving from shady spot to shady spot. It was a weekend that will be hard to top for me.
The hot rod holy grail - a 331 Caddy powered 32 five window A real cowboy and a real mountain climber.. not kidding. Pretty sweet when grandpop's truck is a hot little roadster pickup. They pushed this out of the garage and went through it recently to drive it at the Hot Rod Bustle. I never saw him not grinning all day. Dust and all! This car in particular, the B45 Roadster, was driven about 230 miles on Friday to pre-party (of course through Lockhart for BBQ), to the hotel, blasted around the track to place in the event on Saturday, driven downtown for the post party on Saturday night, back to the hotel, and then driven another 230 miles home on Sunday. This car also recently did the Colorado hill climb. Oh and it still has mechanical brakes.
Here's a good one to give you an idea of what the racers had to do. Fill up some mason jars with moonshine (water) and run the track for 2 laps, then retrieve it from the trunk and place it on the haybale to stop the watch. Time penalties for broken jars or short fills. This our buddy Ray from the Madhatters car club and his girlfriend Valerie (who drove her own 59 Impala to the event by the way) recorded by another Madhatter Ken bustling it around the dirt track. Very cool!