The Birth of So-Cal Speed Shop In Alex’ Own Words…

I’m still riding high from the birthday party for Alex Xydias, and one thing that really struck me was his amazing memory of details from over 70 years ago. Think about that… You’ve probably met a few old timers of the hot rodding world and quickly realized you possibly know more about what cars they’ve built than they do! But that’s not the case with Alex. He remembers everything. Here’s a very short interview with SEMA from about 12 years ago (when he was a mere 87 years old) talking about how the So-Cal Speed Shop formed. Essentially, he’s one of the very few living eyewitnesses to the birth of postwar hot rodding boom as it happened in Southern California. The birth of the speed shop industry, the SCTA and the NHRA all happened right there. He was there at very first Bonneville Speed Week, there for the first issue of Hot Rod magazine, the birth and death of the racing Flathead along with the rise of the OHV V8s from Chrysler, Olds, and Chevy. How cool is that?