I got hooked on cars when I was attracted to them as a small child, living in Spokane, and hot rodding when I was 13, in 1952. I tried to build my first '34 roadster (we did not use the name Ford, because it was a given!) the following year, using a body that I bought for $15 and a complete '33 Tudor with a broken rod, for $5. I tried to channel the body over the frame of the Tudor in order to build a copy Jack Morgan's '34. I made a mess of it and sold it to another rodder for $20, with a chopped windshield and '40 Mercury steering wheel. I bought a '36 Cabriolet that was complete in 1956, and by 1959 had bought a suped-up flathead (259 CI), which then came apart, and built a second one 296 CI (3/8ths x 3/8ths). Then I replaced the latter with a stock '53 DeSoto Hemi (276 CI). I became involved in Drag Racing the year before and continued until 1961. I then went to NYC to attend graduate school, and a year later applied for the Peace Corps. I spent two years teaching auto mechanics in Ethiopia, as well as other subjects. Upon my return, I trained a Peace Corps project while completing my graduate work. A year after returning, I returned home and bought a Chrysler 300-B for $250 and replaced its blown automatic transmission with a stick from a Dodge of the same year. I returned to my graduate school to train a second group of Peace Corps Volunteers and met my future wife, who had just returned from Peace Corps service in Peru. She is, and never has been a "car girl", although she loves to show off my current ride: a '34 Hiboy roadster, powered by a 392 CI Chrysler Hemi set up to 300-C specs, circa 1965. It is still a work in progress as the gaskets in the fuel system dried out while it sat during the year and a half that it took to install the upholstery and top, following a 4-year build. I have been writing a book about my experiences with the automobile for the past six years and since retiring five years ago from the Federal government in DC and moving to LA. I have spent lots of time researching the Triple A Contest Board races of 1933 and 34, as well as early hot rodding in SoCal and drag racing across the country, enough to include both of these two topics in separate future books. I probably know more than anyone about the Triple A races at Elgin, IL in '33, the Gilmore Gold Cup Race at Mines Field, Targo Florio and Oakland Oval, all held in 1934, including a morgue of photo files and written sources of the time. Of course, I could use additional photos, as well as any other reporting from the time. I intend to finish my book before the end of the year and then commence a book on the Triple A Contest Board stock car races of '33-'34 followed by a book on the roots of hot rodding.
Very interesting & cool intro. Look forward to seeing some pics of that 34 and hearing about your book. Sounds like you will be more than welcome here. Welcome from NJ
I'm a 34 Tudor guy and live just up the way from you. Welcome, and I'm sure I will be reaching out for some advise.
The Jalopy Journal
