J.Ukrop submitted a new blog post: Our Readers Write — or Wrong Continue reading the Original Blog Post
Great stuff, Joey. I wonder if Barbara is still around and dressing all clean and "purdy" and riding only in sports cars..That really is hilarious.
I have that magazine and got a good laugh when i read it the first time. I guess that some girls just dont get it.
I have my father's Hot Rod magazines going back to the beginning and there was one letter to the editor bemoaning the fact that all the drag guys from California were getting the accolades while the racers in his area of the country were ignored. The letter was signed Donald Garlits, Tampa Florida. I wonder if he ever got any recognition?
I had a letter published in Rodders Digest when they sold out to whatever company it was telling them not to fuck it all up, well they replied as if they were not going to, then they did and the magazine was gone. I had another one published, but I can't remember what magazine and what it was about. now I add "published author" to my resume.
Well Barbara is from la jolla where everyone is driving a sports car or mercedes and the shoes are always polished.
I can't help but wonder why in the world Barbara would have picked up a non sports car magazine in the first place and what would possess her to take the initiative to write a a publication to complain about something that didn't effect her in any way. My thought is she got dumped by a hot rodder and she had to settle for the MG or bug eye crowd. HRP
Pretty funny HRP!, but my guess is her parents forced her to dump the hot-rodder because he was "beneath her" she never got over it, so was looking through the mag hoping there just might be a picture of him, then got pissed off when there wasn't and pissed at herself for still caring. She's hanging with the sport car cars because they're the boys her parents like. And hey, nothing wrong with Bug eyes.... I had one when I was 14, did great power slides around the back yard!
Hey like Norman wrote, ain't nuthin wrong with bugeyed sports cars. I had a 1960 Austin Healey Sprite that I put a 327 SBC and 3-2's in. My shoes were probably as greasy as my T-shirts.
Never sent a letter in, but I too would often enjoy some of those I read. It's always been my opinion that the "Barbara" sentiment about the greasy hot rodder has kept drag racing out of mainstream sports coverage. Unless someone dies or set a huge record, forget about hearing it on ESPN, network evening news or the sports section of the news paper. I seem to have some twisted sense of pride in my "dirty hot rodder" status. Go figure...
We used to get 'Barbara' types coming around the local drive-ins, they'd show up in groups of 3 or 4, just to be 'safe'. Ponytail types, full skirts (Poodle) and folded down white sox in brown Penny loafers... Some of 'em wore high school class rings hanging on a chain between young pert breasts... Not all were 'going steady', some faked it...just for 'safety'. "I'm going with Biff...he's the captain of the football team..." We weren't all THAT dirty...not all the time. But my Mom took a pic of me next to my Deuce after I cleaned, polished, waxed engine, axles, and body of my 5 window, and washed the upholstery. The car was gleaming...and I looked like it had dragged me thru a grease pit. I swear I didn't look like that all the time! The day I got the 304" flattie running, I stayed at it 'til I adjusted everything, my back was killin' me, but I got all cleaned up and tooled over to my bud's house for his party. Ted was popular at school, so there was a whole clique of cheerleaders and song girls there... One of 'em was friendly, 'Sherry' was her name... one of those cute little girls named after their mother's favorite wine...she asked about my Deuce...I was naïve, and asked her if she really liked it..."Oh, yeah...my brother had one just like it..." That was bullshit, her brother had a '49 Plymouth with a coon tail and loud pipes. So, we get in, I fire the flattie up, she says "Feels powerful!" I'm thinkin', 'Powerful? Wait'll I cut this sucker loose, you think that Plymouth was somethin'?' I nailed it in low, (4.11s got it there quick...) second was violent, torqued the car clockwise, the carb noise was like, "Waaahhhh..." 60 in a block, easy. But the long stroke made the accel 'snappy', not long and smooth...scared the HELL out of her! "EEEEHHHHH!" She screamed, I jumped, thought the clutch came up thru the floor. I slowed down, engine idling, and she's hysterical. "What's the matter?" She screams: "Stop this thing, Lemme outa here!" So I stopped, and she walked. About 25 feet. It was about 1/2 mile from Teddy's house, so now it's "Promise not to gun that thing? I'll ride, if it can go normal..." Back at school, I saw her walking by, she'd sneak a little flirty smile, but wouldn't consort with our 'hot rod crowd'... but she DID tell her friends "Mike's red car is a rocket...it's way too fast. He'll die in it..." Never dinged it, no wrecks ever. But I blew 3 engines in 2 semesters...LOL some '39 boxes, too. And my good set of Zephyrs. Damn. "Second gear..."
Dad says " Why do you have to get all cleaned up to go to the parts store, they'll still take your money?" He really didn't get my hobby, but he understood a lot of other things. Happy Fathers Day, Pop
"Barbara, you ignorant slut." Last year, the editor of Street Rodder wrote an editorial commenting on how hot rodders were cutting down on the expense of trying to hit every big show and sticking to local cruise nights. I was surprised to find my letter had been posted. Probably the only time something I write will ever be in print. I have what I wrote in my album. Oops! Just remembered, the script in the albums got chopped to shit, after the last update. But, it is a cool letter. 1st letter in the Oct. 2013 issue.
I used to send in letters but back in the 60's it was to magazines that were associated with karting like the I.K.F. and in the early 70's I switched to World Karting. In the mid 80's it was National Kart News. Sending in letters is a great way to voice your opinions on different things. Jimbo
I have stepped up a number of times and sent letters and did get them published. And received replies and did get editors attention. But,,, back in the old days,,, before HAMB, before HOP UP before Shifters, it was either restored or Street Rods and we were involved with the group 40's LImited. One month in a issue of American Rodder (you remember them) was a 5 page spread of Jakes touring. Hand painted, thrown together of backyard parts and then the magazine Jake-o-pouge,,, Chick sends a letter concerning it a negative way and caused a fire storm for months. A number of years later I run into Jake at the first GNRS at Pomona, he was with his touring in the Palace and by this time Chick had become a pinstiper working on cars just like Jakes. I walked over and said Hi and asked if he wanted to meet the woman that cause all the 'fun' with his car in the magazines. He chuckled and said he remembered the letters and did want to meet her,, he walked over and they laughed and they became friends that coninues to this day. So writing letters can change yours and maybe someone elses life.
Knowing Barbara wrote this in 1957 if she was in her late teen or early 20's and assuming she is still alive she would be in her late 70's or early 80's,I doubt she ever read the magazine her letter was written to. Be interesting to hear her story today,did she marry a sports car guy or did some greasy neck hot rodder or biker shake up her world! HRP
Reminds me of when Fran Dresher jumps into the MG and Newbomb says "This dog? This dog is better, right?"
Barbara is now 75 or so.She's the prune faced gal at Pebble Beach,bemoaning the fact that there are traditional hot rods there and thinking "When will they ever learn?".
"They're coming to get you, Barbara!" Reading the letters from the readers is always one of my favorite things about old hot rod magazines. I like the ones when they ask the experts for advice on how to customize their car. The best part about it, for me - a guy who never lived this stuff back in the day, is that I could see the point of view of guys my age, but from back then. Those letter's make the history of hot rodding more real to me. More than stories from old timers, period-piece movies, or pictures in those same magazine, the letter's from "Joe Schmoe" is what can bring 1962 to life for me.
The Jalopy Journal
