Event Coverage Moonshine Run: A Virginia Style Reliability Run

Loved it! Thanks for the pics....

 

I was traveling 385miles, altitudes from 574ft to 3409ft.
Gotta love technology!

Here is the map:

 

What a terrific trip. One of the very best. I left the Norfolk crowd at Sheldon's in Keysville, VA and made it back to Richmond without a hitch. We had one last coffee break. The place still looks like this:





Almost 500 miles more on the odometer. There are already plans for another reliability run in Virginia/North Carolina. We'll give everybody a heads up.

What a good time.

 

A few photos from the trip:


0600


So he hands me this huge pie...


And now it's gone.


Food for the hot rods


Rollin' down the highway.


Old cars meet old way of life.

To see more: http://s368.photobucket.com/user/57...2&page=1&_suid=136901451122805282838296824637

Thanks to all for a great time.

 

Dave, it seems like every little change I make is helping a little bit.
At least I can keep up with traffic now and Jack won't have to call me "Wobble" any more...

 

Great pictures

 

Biggest improvement Martin made to his pickup was the very fancy, very trick hightech cup holders he installed in the cab. I believe he got them from the Dr. Scholl's Speed Shop.



At the end of the Moonshine Run, he had some cab cleaning to do:

 

And don't forget, it has to be Ball jars. Everything else is not traditional...

 

Great pics. Martin. Looks like you guys really had a good time. Hope maybe I can go next year or if you all do another one somewhere this year...

 

A couple memorable moments for me....

I traveled out to the roundup spot in Appomattox by way of Route 24. It is a very lonely, remote scenic road. There is a spot I have passed for more than 30 years that always scares me. It is an old building, owned by a hot rodder who lives next door. If you travel Route 24 at night, the jokester has placed a life-sized mannequin of a full dress Indian in the upstairs window. It is exactly where your headlights sweep coming over the hill.

I can't tell you how many times I have been daydreaming, my headlights will hit the upstairs window, and I'll jump out of my seat.

Here is what you see in the daylight hours:

 

Another very cherished stop was outside of Buckingham, VA. When I first started going out on the road for my work, several of the old-timers regaled me with tales of a legendary, mystical "restaurant" called Monroe's. I was sure they were making it all up. The place was owned by a talented cook who got tired of the daily grind, the regulation and the inspections by the health department.

He opened a dining room in the front yard of his house. It flew under quite a bit of radar. It was difficult to get anybody to tell me where the place was located. But after months of trying, I earned the trust of the old-timers who swore me to secrecy, and promised I'd get a good meal.

Monroe's served some of the best soul-food I've ever eaten. It was nothing to stop in there and see traveling salesmen like me, hunters, loggers, sherrif's deputies, and other assorted characters. There was no sign, but somebody stole the M off of a MacDonald's and hung it on the side of the building.

I hadn't traveled down through the country to see Monroe in probably 25 years. I found it easily enough. The building is there, but it is about to fall in. Nothing like the tidy place he kept way back when. I was sure he had passed on, but when I drove up, his neice recognized me and encouraged me to visit with him.

I did. He'll be 90 in a month or so. We had a good visit. I was treated like royalty.

I asked, "Do you still like to bake pies? Your pies were the best I've ever had."

His answer: "I like baking them as much as you like eating them. Here, I have one in the freezer. Coconut creme. Take it with you and enjoy it with your car buddies."

I said, "I will if you take this and throw it in the offering plate at church on Sunday." I handed him a $20 and he thanked me profusely. "Now, Monroe," I went on, "these people around here know me, and they know you. Don't you throw a $5 in the plate and tell them that's all I gave you."

He laughed and laughed. Monroe is a fine man, and I miss his cooking. The pie didn't even make it through lunch hour.

 

A third cherished memory was Saturday afternoon. My old friend Bernard Hilton grew up with Leonard Wood of the Wood Brothers racing team in the Woolwine community. Bernard took the time to show us the Wood Brothers shop in Stuart and regale us with many tales. It was fun to watch and listen to him tell about the old days. The shop is empty, but the memories are very much alive.

We came within 3 hours of losing Bernard over the winter to an infection. He just about checked out on us. I'm glad he made it. He's the best.



That's Bernard there on the left, with Carl and Jim from our tour group.

 

Great visit, Phartman! Some of us in Cali still appreciate the old home folks and their ways...
Monroe sounds like those folks. Love it back there...

Wish I could 'moonshine run' with ya!

 

Great stories and pics, phartman. Looks like all of you had a grand time.

 

How about keeping us posted about when you are going to have another reliability run. Sounds like it would be a lot of fun. I would like to participate.

 

Eaten there many times! My parents retired and moved to Keysville in '81, they've passed on so I haven't been back in a couple years. Route 360 is a fun cruise in a Hot Rod!

 

Thanks for sharing this most interesting event.

 

Looks like a great time.

 

When we pulled into our motel in Rocky Mount, VA what should we find in the parking lot but a Thunderbolt! It seems that Saturday night was Prom Night at Franklin County High School. One of the students decided that rather than a limo, he'd prefer to take his date to the prom in a factory lightweight.

Very cool. If that is what high schoolers are thinking these days, the sport/hobby is in good hands.

A very nice example here with Martin's pickup cozying up.

 

I'm assuming that's a Thunderbolt tribute, but if it isn't the genuine article, it sure looks like a nice job someone did to replicate one. I can't imagine a real Thuderbolt being left out overnight in a motel parking lot, but maybe I'm just being cynical. Thanks for all of the pics, phartman, and yes if the younger generation appreciates these cars, all is well..................Don.

 

Don, I am quite sure it was a tribute car. They are pretty crazy in Franklin County, but they aren't stupid for sure.

It is interesting that the builder chose a Holman Moody example to imitate. Patrick, Floyd, and Franklin Counties were hotbeds of racing interest. Patrick County had the Woods Bros.; Franklin County had the Radford Brothers, Paul and C.L.; and Floyd County had Curtis Turner. There were at least 3 active dirt tracks nearby as well as racing at Victory Stadium in Roanoke. Roanoke County had a competitive dragstrip at Starkey, and Fieldale (near Bassett, VA) also had an operating dragway.

It seems that way-back-when behind every barn was a modified or late model sportsman or at least a hobby class car. A number of skilled mechanics went to work at the Woods Brothers shop in Stuart or drifted down to Charlotte to go to work at HM.

One of the most skilled was this fellow, L.O. Stanley from nearby Meadows-of-Dan, VA. He is known as the legendary "engine genius and man of the mountain." We passed through Meadows of Dan when we got off the Parkway.

Consequently, HM is held in high regard in Southwest VA. In the very early days before mail order speed shops, HM was one place that regional racers could source speed parts as well as find a friendly voice from home who understood what they were trying to accomplish at the local tracks.

Here are a couple items about Mr. Stanley and the Southwest VA/ HM connection:

http://www.vaautoracing.org/oval6.htm

Mr. Stanley is mentioned in the HAMB thread on the history of HM on page 47:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7059930

 

Great history there, Phartman. Thanks for posting. I love that area of SW Va. from Martinsville over to Bristol. I grew up in East Tennessee so the mountains are in my soul.

 

What a TRIP!

Thank's for sharing!

T

 

Finally got to put this little video of our trip together:
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/68739246" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/68739246">2013 Moonshine Run</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user9047267">Martin Fuchs</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

 

LO's son still runs the family machine shop and has several of his more unique pieces--specifically the "hidden carb" flathead intake and a couple of the engines that eventually led to his employ with Holman Moody. We were lucky enought to have some of the stuff on display at my museum last year. Cool stuff, cool story, great examples of some amazing engineering creativity.

 

wish i could make it

 

^^^^
Join us next year, we are only three thousand miles away.

Post some pictures of your cars on your profile page will ya.

 

Wow, what a great trip and wonderful history. On my bucket list the next time you all go. Thanks for posting the photos and movie. Cheers, David