Hey Ryan, I like all your writing. It must be nice to finally get to write the way you like, about subjects that can't flood you with posts with hurt feelings. Good job. Sounds like fun. I would rather drive my truck, than sit around a fairground sometimes. Especially when you got your whole crew rolling with you down the highway!
What I love most about this run? That one of my pals saved me a seat in his roadster and already covered our admission! Damn! I may have to wear a skirt and a wig.... Just call me Bonnie! Can I bring my machine gun?
I think they will give you half off if you dress the part. Most the fellas at the speed shop love a man in a skirt.
I agree. I have wondered about that ever since I first heard about Bonnie and Clyde, the first Jesse James, and local Oregon "Heros" the D'Artromont brothers who blew up a Mail train and killed the crew.
^^ HAHA I dont think anyone "celebrates" what Bonnie and Clyde did...yes, they were thieves and murderers. I think that the "infatuation" with them is this: they are pehaps the last connection to the "public enemy era." They were perhaps the last known connection to the term "outlaw" and they were a couple; who were in love and robbing stores and having shoot outs with the law; all the while on the run in their Ford vehicles. If it was just Clyde performing all these crimes on his own perhaps it wouldn't have been such an iconic story; he would've been like all the others. Here these two are in the midst of the Great Depression both young, in love, and out to get money the easy way: by stealing it and running from the law. And they didn't often do it alone; there were other couples involved along the way. This wasn't Jesse James or Billy the Kid. These were gentleman and WOMEN who were madly in love behind the crossfire and by day they were most wanted criminals. I think what's most incredible about their story is they had so many different run-ins with the law and escaped mostly unscathed every time and they were on the run throughout major parts of the country for a long time. It's the type of story only movies portray. No one is celebrating the crimes they committed and the people they killed; they're celebrating the story itself and the iconic place that these types of criminals have in history....while celebrating the Ford's they relied on in order to gain their spot in history.
One of my best friends is closely related to Clyde, even has pictures of his Mom on Clydes knee. The family resemblance is un deniable. He is a VERY talented car builder, with a long list of trophies to back it up (for what those are worth). He gets invited to the reunion ever year but says he's not to interested in being famous for something he wasn't involved in. But whenever they are asked permission to use Clyde in a movie or some such , where there is the possibilty of making money, I notice he is suddenly interested! LOL
" These were gentleman and WOMEN who were madly in love behind the crossfire and by day they were most wanted criminals." Wow just like the movies. Funny the HAMB is the same place where people cry about their cars being stolen and ask for help to recover them, then call for the head of the theif. But hell, everyone loves an outlaw.
Well I'm not saying what they did was right. because it wasn't. Im just saying that in today's society that behavior would not be tolerated with AT ALL and they wouldve been caught much sooner. People today, relish in stories like this from the days when things like this happened quite regularly. look at that 16 year old kid who had been living on the run, barefoot, for many years. he slept in broken into houses, ate their food, stole money from stores, travelled by stolen vehicle and planes....and made it from Alaska to the Carribean by doing his thing.....and no one could catch him (even in today's society with all of our technology). here is a kid who grew up much like Clyde did. Came from a poor family that had family troubles and he had been in trouble with the law from a very young age but he became a modern day outlaw and the Media couldn't get enough of it. i don't support any of his actions of stealing and committing crimes BUT his story was intriguing and often times i even found myself rooting for him. Even in modern day society with all the technology that we have; he could not be caught. Bonnie and Clyde came from an era where stuff like this happened more often than most think....but the fact that they were a couple made it even more intriquing to the American public and people became infatuated with the fact that they couldnt be caught. We celebrate prohibition and the mob era and what happened during those years with all of the killing and skeevy behavior, do we not? We celebrate running rum and moonshine; breaking the law, running from the law for the sake of booze and mob culture...do we not? no one condones breaking the law or murdering people but these are historic events that happened during certain eras and most of them revolved around the cars we love. So why not tie it all in?
Thers a little gas station & resdurant on I-20 near arcadia that still sells copies of the newspaper that came out the day after they got shot ... Lots of pictures and a big write up ... Look for... Nob Hill ... Going east on I-20 just after you pass minden on the right ...
The Texas Ranger museum in Waco is a great museum that's definitely worth a visit. The notorious Bonnie and Clyde have an interesting exhibit http://www.texasranger.org/
Great write up Ryan- I wish I could go-------> Dont think my car will be done in time I'll see you guys for the round-up though! Can't wait!
The Bonnie & Clyde "death car" still exists. It is full of bullet holes. Just recently I saw where it was either sold or was going to be sold. Years ago it weas on display at the Detroit Autorama. There is a Michigan law prohibiting the driving or exhibition of a vehicle with bullet holes. Someone dusted off that law and required that the car be taken off display. I alway wondered what caused that law to be enacted. I know people who have driven cars with bullet holes and not been challenged. I suspect most cops don't know it's illegal.
Great write up! Sounds like a killer event....you Texan's rule. I can't wait to see the pics!.....maybe a video or two. That roadster is looking pretty bad ass!!
Limited run of these posters now available get 'em while they last! http://austinspeedshop.myshopify.com/
Dang it!!!! I can't get down there that fast and my 496 big block ain't got that much radiator anyway.... maybe next year when the gasser gets done. (one can always wish)
The Jalopy Journal
