Just before Labor Day in Imlay City, Michigan...another local Thursday evening cruise in. I took some pics of a few cars, but not many were showing up. Somebody said it was because there was a bigger show a few miles south of us in Romeo...part of the Romeo Peach Festival. "Oh...that's today? No wonder." I started thinking about heading down there. Then who pulls in, but none other than Hamber Kirk Hanning in his chopped and channeled '34 Ford 2dr. Oh man...cool! His hot rod looked and sounded great. He parked, and his car immediately drew a crowd. He and I had talked a few times on the Hamb but we'd never met in person. I introduced myself, and after taking some pictures of his car, we looked at some of the other cars there...what few there were. I mentioned the Romeo show and told him I was thinkin' about going down there. He said he was figuring he'd do the same...and would I wanna ride along with him? I was like, "Really?...hell yes...let's go!" So off we went. It was a super-hot, humid day and it felt good getting up to speed with the wind rushing through the open windshield, the side windows and the million louvers in the roof. And it had been quite some time since I'd had the opportunity to ride in a real hot rod. I was diggin' it. Below are the pics of Kirk's '34...and the video of us heading to Romeo. It's just a short clip, sorry. But here I was screwin' around tryin' to figure out how to take a video, (I hadn't done that for a while) and I finally thought, "To heck with this...I'm just gonna enjoy the ride." And enjoy it I did. Even being chopped and channeled, the car is plenty comfortable, and the sound of the 241 Dodge Hemi and the QC rear is like music. As we slowly cruised through Romeo we saw that hundreds of custom motorcycles and their owners were lined up along Main Street...and all eyes were on Kirk's hot rod...heeheehee. Same thing when we got to the show...Kirk was driving up and down the rows of other cars looking for a spot to park, and everybody was eyeballin' his '34. I don't blame them. Imo, his was the coolest car there. At one point in the video, you'll hear him ask me, "Take the freeway or old Vandyke?" (right after we hang a left) Again, I was preoccupied with the camera, and not paying attention or being a good navigator. His question caught me off guard. My hand comes up in front of the camera as my few good brain-cells frantically tried to come to attention and I sound like I'm retarded or somethin'. "Uh...duhhhh...go to the...uhhhh...go to the right." Jeez...lol. Thanks for the ride, Kirk! That was a real treat, and it was nice to meet you. If you're ever again in need of a retarded navigator...I'm your man!
D-Russ, Kirk's '34 is a perfect example of a hot rod that's so close to being 100% pre-'66 traditiional. But it's equipped with a T-5 trans. I believe it's got an alternator too.
. Kirk's car is awesome and he is "aces" too. I had a great time cruising to Ohio with him earlier this summer and look forward to driving out to Baltimore for the Rodder's Journal Revival together in a couple of weeks. Great people - great hot rods. Can't get any better than that!!! .
I really appreciate the positive feedback, especially the one on being young! It was a pleasure finally meeting Rick in person and I'd like to thank him for posting this as I'm not that technologically advanced yet.
Having ridden in this car , I will say it's the best riding hot rod I've ever ridden in. So smooth.....Just proves the point that Ford's suspension engineers knew what they were doing back then. Great car, great builder/owner.
I rode in his truck that had the elptical parrell springs,,,and that rode fairly well...so I would have to think his 34 rides very well...great guy, and yes very good fab man...he did a great job on revamping my frame under Lil Beast....I think we got it right
Thanks for sharing, and for the ride! I even dig the bug splatter on the windshield. Don't find that on a trailer queen............................ I was waiting the whole ride to see him kick it, but he's more sensible than me. And even with a hemi, bet he gets better than my 10 mpg for driving right.............lol Thanks again!
The first several hundred miles on the car the quickie was super whiney, after 2500 miles the gears are seated in nicely with a low roar. With a final drive ratio of 3.78 and a T5 tranny the trip to Ohio the cdan got 21 mpg running 3 Strombergs straight.
He did do a wheelie down Main Street, but taking video would've been difficult. Thanks for posting, fellas.
"Duhhhh...yeah. Turn right." My only saving grace: The coolness of Kirk and his car more than compensates for my dorkiness. Lol.