funny stories i remember my dad telling me... after dark when all the street freaks would come out to party with the street rodders, people would be sitting in their lawnchairs drinking beer and watching the cars doing burnouts, racing light to light, some would get out of their chairs and partake by lifting the ass end of a car at a stoplight to watch the people freak out cause their car was going nowhere then all of a sudden drop and take off. the holiday inn loosing 85% of their towels to grease and road grime cause guys would use their room towels to clean their cars. The year del shannon played at the nats, a buddy of my dads was hammered and broke his ankle and some how (stupidly) drove all the way back to Fargo in his 32 3 window. One year on the way to Oklahoma City my dad broke down in kansas somewhere and the highway was DESOLATE... no traffic whatsoever... so to pass the time they sat up lawchairs in the middle of the highway and played frisbee while waiting for help. well when no help came they took a thin nylon tent rope and tied it to the ass end of thier friends car, then to the front of my dads 33 vicky, i guess the towing car made it a solid 10 feet before the rope stopped stretching and the vicky started rolling lol.
I went to Columbus in 90 and 93. The 36 Went to Detroit in 72, still have a hat pin that says participant, and the dash plaque, corse I was not there being just 5 in 72....I may have Dad's old T shirt from then as weel, even may have a few pics somewhere... Dad had just put a fresh motor in the night before they left, stayed up all night, and broke it in on the way there.
Yup, my son and I took my '40 convert and camped in a State park down by the Mississippi river. It was eventful to say the least. Had a valve guide start to fail in Memphis and put in a plug extender. on the first day coming home it started fouling plugs and burning oil in earnest. Each gas stop involved getting gas and cleaning fouled plugs. First 2, then 3 and then at rest stops. Our last stop was 30 miles from home where we were having lots of trouble maintaining any speed. That stop found 5 dead holes....but we made it. The car had fenderwell headers at the time and I got a lot of header burns. 750 miles and 17 quarts of oil. We still talk about it. Charlie
my first out of countery nationals was the 1973 austrailan nationals in narrandera and the first in the states was 1977 in St Pauls when I worked at cal street rods in huntington beach.I was young and overwalmed ,to many cars to take in .
I wasn't, but my Essex was! When they built the truck they stuck the stock '30 Chevy rad in the shell for show, then mounted a second rad behind it for cooling. At some point during the trip they had to cut the core out of the Chevy rad so the car would cool. Now it has a mesh insert in the shell to hide the modern rad.
Columbus 1978 with my dad in his '34 Plymouth coupe. Hot. Thousands of cars. Cowboy hats and "Street is Neat" t-shirts were the fashion. I'm gonna have to scan some of those pictures one of these days. Speaking of pictures, one car I remember, one of the "hot" cars there, was a '34 Vicky, chopped, nerf bars, headlights sunken in the fenders. At the time, it was black cherry with wire wheels, in later years it was gunmetal grey with Centerlines. Never saw it again outside the late 70's/early 80's. Anyone know what car I mean or what happened to it?
Here are some pictures of some past events. The channeled "A" roadster was my entry in the '70 R & C nats in Peoria. 650 cars at that one. The '34 roadster was Dick Patton's car. It won the best in show at the '71 nats in Memphis. I did all of the metal work on this one and Doug Snider built the blown flathead. The channeled '32 I built for '72 nats at Detroit. It was an old Hop Up mag feature car in '52. The one thing I remember about Detroit, it was the first time I had ever seen an armour plated McDonald's. Imagine how bad it must be now.
Well, old age and bad memory have fooled me again. I went to the second Nats in Memphis - in 1971! So, as they were there again in 1972, they were, in fact, held two years in a row in Memphis.
I think Tulsa was my first in '76. My dad drove us to St. Paul in '77 and his little Maverick started knocking. He put main brgs in it in the motel parking lot. I remember streakers back in the 70s even though I was a little kid. I sure had a cool childhood.
Oh, I just thought of this. Doing what they were doing then....now would land you on the sex offenders registry.
Gatlinburg 1970. It was the Nationals before the Nationals. Andy Brizio drove his Instant Tee from California and Bud Bryan covered the event for Rod and Custom. There were about 250 cars there. Our '33 Essex Terraplane Convertible made the coverage. I was only 26 years old. Great memories
Maverick? Maverick? Not at any NSRA event in 76 or 77 or earlier or any later NSRA Street Rod Nationals (not including current Regional Events) until next year.
73 my buddy and i drove a T bucket from south florida to tulsa, took 3 days i think..crazy..no trailered cars were allowed. alot of trailers were along the way starting about 100 miles befor show
Gatlinburg ... 1969 I saw a BLACK all steel 1932 Ford roadster ( chrome Zenith wires, BBC 427 and 400 Turbo ). I swore I would own it one day ... and now ... I do
Yes, I remember that 34 Vicky. I believe the last time I saw it was at the Louisville Nats in either '88 or '92. I hope it's still around with the modified front end on it. And yes, I too went to Memphis in '80 in that blazing heat. Was probably one of the worst trips our family took. The trip thru Missouri got us both ways. On the way down our '33 Sedan had a plugged fuel filter that took a while to figure out. On the Sunday coming home we got a flat. 29 years later and our family still moans everytime the '80 Memphis Nats are mentioned.
I was there also that car is bobby bakers car he still has it and it is red now and on the side of the cowl it says MR. Bs
Criminy, old age for sure! You're absolutely right. Peoria was the first year, then Memphis and then Detroit and then back to Memphis! I drove my 392" hemi-powered '34 5-wdw to Detroit and had a great time. I did not like the roads in Detroit as they made the roads in upstate NY look as smooth as billiard tables by comparison. And that made them VERY VERY bad! I remember a guy in a deuce coupe laying by the side of some expressway with the front axle and oil pan torn out from under the car! He had hit a raised manhole cover. They, together with enormous pot holes, were everywhere and would cause your skivvies to turn brown whenever you saw one. Yikes, can I dodge it in time, or not...
WRONG !!! My roadster and Bob Baker ran together and both were members of the Creepers. Bob Baker does still have his When Bobby Baker's roadster was BLACK ... it had Mister B painted on the cowl The fellow who owned mine ( Don Shaw ) also owned a beauty supply house and a few beauty shops/barber shops. He was pretty well known in and around Atlanta in the Hot Rod scene. He tried to buy the roadster back ... some years ago.
I know there are alot of home movies of the early nats but doing a search i found very few. You guys must have some. Would be great if you 'You Tube' d them. I have a few on 8mm i have to transfer to dvd somehow and i'll post them. Hey you might see your car or yourself in them.Would be nice to see what you have. Just for s#%ts n grins.
Your black roadster was built by Lewis Young of Atlanta and yes he and Bob Baker ran together. I thought I had a nice 40 Ford coupe and I did,but the wheels and tires on the black car cost more than my entire car. My first Nationals was Memphis in July 1971 and I had just gotten out of the Navy in June. Needless to say I was blown away by the number of cars and the event.
I knew that Lewis Young built it back then. Don Shaw owned when I saw it. He sold it to a fellow in Ohio who took it apart ... and I bought it ( in pieces ... less the frame ) from him. The guy in Ohio paid 15 grand for it in 1971/1972
first time for me was 84 in oklahoma city my 40 wasn't ready so i took my daily driver at the time my 56 fairlane victoria and they wouldnt let us into the fairgrounds because the car was too new . went again in 86 with the 40 in primer had a great time . it was a good thing the 40 is a panel everyone i knew that bought parts there had me haul em home . i shoulda painted it ups brown lol. we also went to the first rocky mountain nationals in pueblo i believe that was 85
My Brother-in-law (rip) talked me into going to Detroit ('72). I didn't own a rod, but promptly bought a T bucket project from a friend when we got back. The bug has been with me ever since.
The Jalopy Journal
