1969 Nostalgia Drag Videos from the US Nationals

Every once in a while when cruising Youtube, you find gold. I found it five times with these 5 videos from the “Big Go” the US Nationals from Indianapolis, Indiana from way back in 1969 when they just called it, “The Nationals”. Called the “Tournament of Champions” and presented by Hurst Performance Center you’ll hear the late great voice of drag racing Steve Evans narrating.  The videography’s cool too. You’ll have no doubt, this is the late 60’s!

Even cooler for me is that these are from 1969! The year I was born and like me, they’re about to have their 20th birthday, again.

I haven’t heard a single drag racer, especially the current pros, mention any other race ahead of the US Nationals. This is THE race of the year and it looks like it has been for 40 years.

Enjoy these 5 nostalgia drag racing videos from before corporate sponsors and big dollar teams. The 4-speed bang’n, the tire smoking, the love of drag racing shows clear.

Here’s part 1:
Featuring the intro and credits. Don’t want watch the first minute of this one, then skip on to your next internet destination! This part also includes some great wheels up action clips and an explanation of the “Hurst-aid Center” supplied by Hurst at the race. This is the start of what Steve Evans calls, “The psychedelic kaleidoscope of action!” in part 2.

Part2 -
Featuring the fashion and people of 1969 drag racing including one of the most wicked comb-overs I’ve ever seen. The camera takes a double take on this dude! Then there’s non-stop wheelstanding front engine dragsters and blower explosions making me wonder how’d they see with a face full of fuel and oil? Then, it’s an intro to the “stockers”.

Part3-
Featuring “Big Daddy” Don Garlits and the parade of trophy queens and the top fuel qualifiers then racing starts. It’s Danny Ongais at the wheel of Micky Thompson’s  Mach 1 Mustang  then Bruce Larson driving the “USA-1″ Camaro funny car racing current drag race team owner Don Schumacher driving his “Stardust” Barracuda. Next it’s Connie Kallita’s “Bounty Hunter” cammer powered Mustag funny car racing “Big John” Mazmanian’s Cuda funny car.  The top fuel racing starts with Garlits accidentally turning off his car during staging and losing the race then Don Prudhomme’s engine blowing win.

Part4-
Featuring Ronnie Sox and Dick Landy, the Candies and Hughes funny car, a “ride-a-long” with legendary Altered “Pure Hell” then “Ohio” George Montgomery’s blown 1969 Mustang funny car (recently sold at RM’s Icons of Speed and Style auction for $132k) Not sure if this one or Part 3’s my favorite.

Part5-
This one’s all about the finals. The first is Ohio George’s nasty Mustang racing a Hemi powered altered. What was Super Eliminator anyway? There’s also a pair of wagons racing for the $6000 purse in Stock. You know I love the wagons! Then you get the bizarre story or Top Gas winner Santucci who set low ET while unconscious from choking on his gum in the car. They thought he was having a heart attack and took him to the hospital! Finally, the video ends with a ride-along camera split screen as Don Prudhomme wins his 2nd Nationals title.

In case you’re wondering who won, here are the winners by category (heard of any of these folks? WOW!):

• Top Fuel Winner Don Prudhomme, Runner-up Kelly Brown
• Top Gas Winner Domenic Santucci, Runner-up Phil Hobbs;
  
• Funny Car Winner Danny Ongais, Runner-up Rich Siroonian
• Super Eliminator Winner George Montgomery, Runner-up Ron Ellis
• Competition Eliminator Winner Terry Fritsch, Runner-up Neil Ellis
• Street Winner Glen Self; Runner-up Carroll Caudle
• Super Stock Winner Ronnie Sox, Runner-up Ron Mancini
• Stock Winner Bill Morgan; Runner-up Tom Neja

Gotta thank Youtube member DragStripRiot who also represents Drag Strip Girl clothing for loading these GREAT videos.

Horton Hot Rod History #2

“Who the heck are the Hortons?” you might well ask?  The Horton family has been in the street rodding hobby/industry for over 30 years, first with a company in Canada called Horton Street Rod Parts, which he started in 1978.  Since Paul Horton sold the retail end of that business in 2005 (to his very first customer!), he has been working full time with his wife Dorothy and son DW at his new business, Welder Series Inc.  If you’re interested in high quality hot rod chassis parts, check out www.welderseries.com.

Captioned by Dorothy Horton:

All our honeymoon pictures are like this!

If there was only a quality street rod shop in Canada… shouldn’t have to grind these welds. (That’s Dorothy with the grinder)

Finally! Our track ‘23 T built in Montreal – 1975

Driven to Louisville KY & many runs in S. Ontario from Montreal, 1975/76

Montreal to Louisville… camping, no top, Dorothy pregnant, Paul got pneumonia.

Check back for more updates to the Horton’s Hot Rod History.

Rocket Axle Galaxie? (Yea, rocket)

Here’s another video of this car – It’s not very good, but at least you can hear it run.

Also known as the “Tobacco King Rocket Car” this thing is pure indulgence.

The rest of the story is found at Hoopty Rides. He wrote about this car almost 1 year ago to the day. I’m right on top of things!

1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Rocket Car

Anyone ever heard of the “Black Widow” Volkswagen Beetle? The Mecum auctions story says that this rocket powered bug beat TV Tommy Ivo’s four engine dragster called “Showboat”. WOW!

Photos courtesy of Mecum Auctions

John’s Drag Blog – Old Fuelers Never Die!

Story Submitted by John C. Hill or MoparMagic

Old Fuelers Never Die!! (They just become “killer” bracket cars)

Many of you that were spectators at drag races during the late 60’s, the 70’s and early 80’s probably remember a lot of the fantastic Top Fuel and Funny Cars that used to compete. Some of these cars may have been favorites of yours, but have you ever wondered what became of these ultimate drag race machines? It’s not like you could take the pink slip and sell it to your neighbor after the racing season was over. These were special built cars with only one purpose in mind: go fast and do it quickly!

A lot of these cars ended up out behind the garage as scrap, or perhaps pushed over in the corner of the garage and covered with a tarp, never to be raced again. Some of them ended up in museums such as Don Garlit’s Drag Race Museum in Ocala, Florida. If you have ever been to his museum you would be amazed at the number and quality of Top Fuelers and Funny Cars on display there. This includes every one of Don’s Top Fuel cars from his career, including the rebuilt car that sawed part of his foot off in a clutch explosion in 1969. If you are a true drag race fan, a visit to his museum is an absolute must see.

There are a few cars that have lived to race again! Because of the recent popularity of Nostalgia Racing, many associations have been started with the purpose of racing the old cars once again. NHRA holds several Nostalgia Racing meets throughout the year which are becoming more and more popular with the fans. The “Kackle Fest” is most impressive with all the front engine dragsters firing up at once to make some incredible noise! The “Nitro Funny Car Association” is running strong with some of the most famous cars of the era including the “Blue Max”, “Plueger and Gyger”, “Pisano and Matsubara” and many others. I recently saw these guys run at Firebird Raceway this fall, and they hold nothing back. It’s just like the good old days when cubic dollars wasn’t necessary to build and race a competitive car.

Then there are guys like me, who find and purchase old cars to turn them into bracket racers. I have been racing a 440 powered 1970 Cuda at Firebird Raceway since 1994. But like every other drag racer, I wanted to go quicker and faster, without spending huge amounts of money. To me, the plan was simple, find an old rear engine dragster and update it to a killer bracket car. I was unaware of just how lucky I would be when I answered an advertisement for a rear engine “roller” for sale in my area. The car was a 225 inch rear engine dragster that was run briefly in the 90s as a NHRA Super Comp class car. The owner was selling it as is, frame, wheels and tires, Ford 9 inch rear end, and body panels with fuel tank. That’s it. For $5,500, it was mine, and it was up to me to build all the rest. As I started to tow it home, the owner gave me a copy of the history of the car. I was very surprised as I read the contents…

The dragster was originally built by Eddie Delarno of Eddies Engineering of Tucson in the mid 70’s. It was built for Red Greth and Lyle Fisher of Speed Sport Automotive fame. It was originally built for a Hemi engine and was to see Top Fuel action. They never fielded the car and it sat in their garage for several years. It was brought back to Eddie for an updating after it was sold in the early 80’s. In the early 90’s the car was updated by Tom Yancer with a new roll cage and back half. The wheelbase was also shortened from 250 inches to 225 inches and a modern tripod front suspension was installed. The entire car was updated to “advanced ET” status and was run as a Super Comp car with Bruce Kenyon at the controls. The Mark Williams prepped Ford 9 inch rear end sported 4.56 gears and is a Top Fuel setup with 35 spline axles. A Strange Engineering pinion support and aluminum third member completed the rear end.

A car like this is built to run in the 6’s at over 200mph. Since I didn’t have a lot of money, I purchased a 360 cubic inch magnum, 380 horsepower “crate motor” directly from Mopar Performance for $3,500. The space for the transmission was tiny, so I went with a “shorty” 727 Torqueflite out of a motorhome, prepped by Hughes Performance for another $550. I did all the rest of the work myself including plumbing all the lines, the electrical system, the cooling system, the brakes, the safety requirements, and even a few dollars for “rattle can” black, yellow and fluorescent orange paint! Hey, if it doesn’t make it go faster, I don’t spend a lot of money on it! Grand total for an awesome bracket car: less than $10,000!! Since I do not run any “electronics” of any sort, I could run in the “Pro” class at Firebird Raceway.

As it turns out the choice of the motor for this 1,650 pound car was perfect. The car runs consistently at 10.00 seconds at 134 mph. NHRA rules state that cars that run quicker than 9.99 seconds or faster than 135 mph must comply with much stricter (and expensive) safety rules. I didn’t have to have all this extra safety equipment, and that saved me huge amounts of extra money. I’d like to say it was planned, but how lucky was that? And running 10 flat at 134 mph is still a maximum rush as you can imagine! And, it also makes me one of the quickest cars in the “Pro” class which means my opponents almost always have to leave first, and potentially red light!

As I’m writing this I have plans to bring the car home so that I can start prepping it for the 2009 “Team Firebird” bracket racing season. Our first race should be in February, and we race at least once a month all year after that. Stayed tuned to my blogs as I fill you in on all of our results, race by race this year. I’ll tell you who we run, what our dial in and tune up strategy is, how we won or lost races, and all the maintenance and costs we encounter to run the whole season. Essentially, you will become a member of our crew you’ll be with us race by race as we plan to win the “Pro” class in NHRA “Team Firebird” bracket race action this year. Shoot, we’ll even run an Episode of “Pinks All Out” if they come to a track in the southwest this year! As a fringe benefit, the NHRA Division 7 Championship Finals will be held at Firebird Raceway this year. We plan on finishing in the top 10 (if not winning our class) in Pro this year, which will qualify us for that race against the West Coast’s best bracket racers for Divison 7 honors. So stay tuned, the thrill is about to begin!!

John

Woodward Ave’s Legend, Jimmy Addison

Written By: Bill Stinson, published with permission.

Bill wrote this story in May of 2006, but it wasn’t until 2007 when I first saw the Silver 1968 Plymouth GTX known as the Silver Bullet. The undisputed “King of Woodward Ave” drew a crowd for days at the legengary Woodward Avenue cruise and stirred up quite a controversy when there were two of them! (that’s another story about the Silver Bullet)

Please enjoy this story from a man who was there and knew the owner of the Silver Bullet, Jimmy Addison.

The Passing of a Legend

I first met Jimmy Addison around 1961. The McKay family lived down the street from me, and of the five kids in that family, there were the twins, Gloria and Gerri (Geraldine). They were (and are) about four years older than me. One of them (Gloria) had a suitor who drove a cool ’60 Chevy convertible, black with a white top, red and white interior, packin’ a hopped-up 348 4-speed.

That car was named “Restless”. Jimmy and his friend Ted White raced the car on the street and at the strip and it was very fast for its time, especially with Jimmy behind the wheel. Race driving requires a combination of skill, knowledge, instinct, and a healthy dose of courage, and Jimmy Addison excelled in each of those categories. He was an excellent and meticulous mechanic with amazing driving reflexes, and was quite at home in the driver’s seat at well over 130 miles per hour, on the strip or on the street.

He was born on August 19, 1940, the only child of Archie and Ruth Addison. Born with chronic and life-threatening asthma, Jim was of slight build and frail as a child. But that never held him back. If he wanted to make something happen, he dedicated himself to that task until it was completed; a trait that served him well all through his life.

Now, from the mid-‘50s through the mid-‘60s, the north Woodward suburbs were hotbeds for young rodders with something being built or hopped-up in at least one garage on every block, and, with no shortage of young talented mechanics in Birmingham, Jimmy found himself right in the midst of it all.
One such ‘talented mechanic’ back then was Ted Spehar. Barely old enough to drive, Ted and friend De Nichols rented a garage to work on their cars. The garage was just across Woodward from Jimmy’s house, so it wasn’t long before the like-minded young rodders hooked up and began a lifelong friendship that took them through many ventures and adventures that ultimately led them to unimagined heights in the realms of drag racing and engine building.

In the early ‘60s, Jimmy worked at a local Cadillac dealership and then went to Jerome Oldsmobile in Pontiac, where he bought and built up a ’64 Olds Starfire. It ran a very robust 394-inch motor in a very classy ride. It was also at around this time that Jimmy bought my ’55 Chevy and he and his friend Ted White began converting it into a B/Gasser with 10% engine set-back and all – that is, until a disagreement sent them in separate directions, with White taking his freshly built 327 and going home, leaving Jimmy with a half finished gasser and no motor. The car was sold.

Jimmy first went to work for Ted Spehar in 1965. Ted owned an old Texaco station on Maple a couple blocks west of Adams in Birmingham. Besides accumulating a brisk neighborhood business, Ted had become acquainted with Dick Branstner. I used to see the ’64 Color Me Gone Dodge sitting out in front of the station, along with a little red Dodge pickup with a full-race Hemi protruding through the bed just behind the cab. My first glance at the yet unlettered, carbureted Little Red Wagon, then driven by Jay Howell. It was at this time that Jimmy and Ted began their long affiliation with the Chrysler race program.

In late 1967, Spehar bought a Gulf station on 14 Mile Road just east of Woodward in Birmingham and (I believe) it was at this time, or shortly thereafter, that Jimmy assumed ownership of the now-famous Sunoco station. It was also at about this time that he bought a nasty-looking ’62 Dodge from the Mancini’s.
It was half dark blue and half red primer, and it shook and shuddered and clattered like crazy while in Neutral, but that was nothin’ compared to what it was like in first gear with Addison behind the wheel. I remember, once while we were sitting at a light out on Woodward, I asked Jim, “How the hell do you ever get a race in this thing?” Was it a Hemi? Nope. It was what Ted Spehar described as a “thrashing machine” Stage III 426 Max Wedge in full drag race trim with a manual-shift Torqueflite with a stout set of gears out back!
That car was simply a blast. Talk about an attention-getter! And Jimmy had no problem runnin’ it hard an’ puttin’ it up wet. In comparison with the Bullet, I’d say the Dodge was the vehicular equivalent of the slavering, snarling, unwashed, fairly deranged older brother who lived in the attic. The car was a raging radical handful. It was as though Jimmy was the only one the beast would respond to. Once he was on board, it was safe for you to enter, too. Frankly, I thought the Dodge was a lot more fun than the extremely smooth-running, very streetable and much, much faster critter that was to come next. No one could have predicted the legendary status that Jimmy and his biggest project would achieve.

In the late ‘60s the Sunoco had become a nightly hangout for what was to become Chrysler’s “Direct Connection” gang. An assortment of Chrysler engineers that included Dick Maxwell and Tom Hoover, the man affectionately known as the “Father of the Hemi.” They were there to test speed parts on the street, plain and simple.
Well, one of the cars that were used as rolling test labs was a blue 440-4-barrel powered ’67 Plymouth GTX that was used for drag testing. The car had never been titled. It was snatched right off the back lot, used and abused, and eventually given to Jimmy Addison. The 440 came out, in went a lightened Hemi K-member, followed by a heavily massaged 1968 426 Hemi, the manual-shift tranny, and a Dana 60 rear end with a set of 4.56’s and a pinion snubber for traction.
In initial drag tests in ’69 at Motor City Dragway (rented by Terry Cook, then editor of Car Craft Magazine) Jimmy ran a low e.t. of the meet thru-the mufflers 11.89 at 121 mph and an uncapped 11.34 at 127. Not too shabby, eh? Well, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

As the weeks went by, Jimmy began making the new car into the quintessential street runner of the day. To make it lighter he took several hundred pounds of weight off the body by using fiberglass body parts and drilling huge holes in anything he could. He then modified the rear wheel wells by slitting them and forcing them outward, in order to fit a wider slick in back. And he worked evenings removing metal (with a hand grinder) from the interior of the Hemi block so the half-inch CSC stroker crank would spin freely, and a set of A990 aluminum heads and a Racer Brown roller cam were added for good measure.
The trick exhaust system was fabricated from three-and-a-half-inch pipe with two runners coming off each header and running through four reworked Cadillac mufflers. The body was then finished and prepped and the car was painted silver.

One day while Terry Cook was at the station, Jimmy took the car out for a little run off the 14 Mile light. As Cook watched Jimmy launch, with virtually no tire smoke, he mentioned that it looked like a silver bullet being fired from a gun. The name stuck, and the legendary team of Jimmy Addison and his Silver Bullet was born.

In January of 1970, I came home on leave from the Navy just before I was to be discharged. I met up with Jim and his then wife Gloria, told them I was looking for a job, and Gloria made Jim hire me. For the next few months, I pumped gas and did oil changes while Jimmy handled the mechanic work.
Now, for those of you who may have come by the station back then, to check out the Bullet or other cars being worked on there, you were probably summarily ordered off the property in a far less than gentle way. Jimmy had a business to run with a lot of time, money and sweat invested there, and he wasn’t about to waste time with kids who came to ogle the race machines. He was not a warm and fuzzy guy when someone seemed to be interfering with him providing for his family.

To Jim, family was everything. And providing the best he could for them was his main goal in life. He once told me that the primary reason he street raced was to supplement the family income. The gruff exterior was a survival tool. But there came a day when I found out what the real Jim Addison was like.
One day a guy brought in his tricked out Dart for an oil change. I did the job, but apparently didn’t tighten the oil drain plug tight and, as the guy drove off, oil began leaking out of the motor at a fairly rapid rate. Thankfully he caught it and came back to the station before he did any internal damage to the motor, and he was pissed!

He began rippin’ on Jimmy and I knew I was as good as dead. When the guy left, with a fresh oil change done by Jimmy, he took me into his office, sat me down…and calmly explained what had happened, what could have happened, and how I had to be extra careful from now on…and he gave me a raise in pay. That was the real Jim Addison. It’s a shame that few people ever knew him like I did.

Well, soon the escapades of Jimmy and the Bullet began being written about in virtually every rodding magazine across the country (and eventually, many different countries) and Jim’s reputation grew and grew, and stories about the undefeated street racer spread far and wide. There was even supposed to be a race set up between Jimmy and Big Willie Robinson, head of the L.A. Street Racers.

Willie drove a Hemi-powered Dodge Daytona. The race was to be somewhere in the Mid-West, half way between here and California, and was being organized by Terry Cook. But nothing ever came of it. Years later, when Jimmy told me the story, he said he’d have won the race anyway because Willie’s car was set up all wrong, the car weighed too much, and the Hemi was an original 426 and fairly mild compared to the Bullet.

Finally, after having done everything he could to the now infamous Silver Bullet, Jimmy sold the car in ’73 or ’74 and began work on the Silver Bullet II, which would have been a Hemi-powered Plymouth Duster. Work was begun on the drive train while the body was being acid dipped, but the car came back with too much damage due to the extreme weakness of the ultra-thin metal, and the project was scrapped.

By the mid-‘70s, with the Arab oil embargo in full swing, the Sunoco station saw less and less performance work and Jimmy sold the station in ’77 or ’78 and he stopped building cars. He continued to work at different gas stations as the Big Three got out of the performance business and, as his asthma worsened, he began to look for a less strenuous line of work. One where he could keep his oxygen bottle close at hand. Eventually, in 1993, he began driving a cab for a living, and found he thoroughly enjoyed the slower pace. He was sitting in his cab in his own driveway when the disease that nearly killed him as a child, tightened it’s grip on him for the last time. He was 65 years old.

Jimmy Addison worked hard all his life and he was fortunate enough to earn a living for most of his life doing what he did best: making engines run better, and often much faster than they had previously done. He was honest and forthright in every way, modest about his successes (which were many), and absolutely devoted to his children, Dawn and Michael, and to his beloved Donna, his wife of eighteen years.
It’s said that people come and go in and out of our lives for a reason. Jimmy Addison gave me a chance that I will always be grateful for. I’ve always been proud of him and I’ve always bragged about his accomplishments, even though he used to get mad at for doing so. And I will be forever proud and honored to have called him friend.

Bill Stinson

If you like the story, let us know. Please leave a comment.

16 Years old on Woodward Ave Circa 1968

This story is written by Paul Schram. I met Paul after he left a comment at one of my first (and most read) blogs at MyRideisMe.com: The Real “Silver Bullet” – 2007 Woodward Cruise. The comment said:

“True, not true, fact, fiction, legend, Only Jimmy and maybe I know.
I have heard many stories…”

Being a curious (and somewhat desperate) blog writer, I contacted Paul. After all, talk is cheap. Needless to say, it wasn’t just talk! Paul was there. He knew the people and was a big part of the scene. I’m fortunate that this is the first of maybe 4 posts Paul will contribute about his time and his memories from Woodward Ave. back in the late 60’s. Here’s his first post, a bit of an introduction:

Imagine being 16 years old, in love with cars and anything to do with Drag racing. Imagine living just a couple miles away from Woodward Avenue in the suburbs of Detroit. Imagine that it is 1968, the explosion of muscle cars from the Big 3 are hitting the streets of Detroit. On top of all that imagine you work at the Sunoco gas station on Woodward Avenue just north of 14 mile Road in Birmingham, Michigan pumping 260 gasoline into almost every muscle car and hot rod that was cruising Woodward on a Friday or Saturday night. Oh, did I mention that the Sunoco station was owned and operated by Jimmy Addison the builder and owner of a certain 1967 Plymouth GTX fondly known as “The Silver Bullet”.

Sounds like a job some kid would dream up after reading the latest Hot Rod magazine. It might be except the kid was real, the job was real and that kid was me. Of course being 16 years old and totally engrossed in everything around at that time I had no idea I was right in the middle of what would become not only a part of automotive history but also street racing legend.
How do I come to write about this now? Last year was my first Woodward Cruise and like a lot of people I saw the two cars that were supposed to be Jimmy’s Silver Bullet GTX. However, one person had the car, another had the engine. It had been years since I’d seen the Bullet. And, I just recently heard of the death of Jimmy Addison. All this made me want to remember and talk about those times now that I have some perspective about what I was actually in the middle of back then.

So, who am I and how did I get that dream job for 16 year old car nut. I actually had a pretty close connection to Chrysler racing myself. My father, Brian Schram, was the manager of Chrysler Performance Parts back then. Actually he started the Performance Parts Department in the very early 1960s and ran it until 1988 when it was still known as Direct Connection and he retired. He found me my first job in cars back then. But oddly enough it was not Jimmy’s Sunoco station on Woodward. My first job was working at a Gulf station 2 blocks east of Woodward on 14 Mile Road. But this is where you see the rare opportunity I had back then. The Gulf gas station was owned by Ted Spehar. If you don’t know who Ted Spehar is maybe you have heard of another car called the “Motown Missile”. Though the Missile had yet to be thought of or built back then there were other cars that were quite famous being built and raced by Ted. The car Ted was building then was the “Iron Butterfly”, a 1964 Super Stock Hemi Dodge driven by Wally Booth at the time I worked there. But school was starting soon and though I was working full time for Ted that Summer I could not work full time during high school. So I may have been involved the first trade in racing history. I was traded to Jimmy Addison where I could continue to learn about engines and cars and be able to work evenings and weekends. And, someone who was not in school any more and working for Jimmy was sent to Ted’s new shop in Royal Oak to work full time. Sound’s pretty wild when I write about it now!
But let’s get back to the Sunoco station. What did I do back then working for Jimmy Addison? Basically I was the “grunt”. I pumped gas, I cleaned the bathrooms, I cleaned Jimmy’s tools and washed the service bay floors. However, those things did not take up all of time, so in between the cleaning and pumping I was taught about engines, cars and racing.

Here’s a link to some info about the Motown Missile and the Iron Butterfly: ProStockHemi.com;

I’ll kindly BEG Paul to go on. Please encourage him by adding any info you might have and if you’ve got some vintage pics of the “Iron Butterfly” or the “Mowtown Missile”, please let me know.

A rocket ride to oblivion…

…and a trade that rocked the world.Twenty years ago this week, the Edmonton Oilers traded Wayne “The Great One” Gretzky to the LA Kings, marking the day that Hockey stood still. August 9, 1988 is a date that still elicits a response in any Hockey fan, and for good reason. I’ll throw in another date: December 12, 2000, the day that GM announced that they were pulling the plug on Oldsmobile. Two very different events with very different outcomes… yet, they share a few key things in common, and a valuable lesson that a carmaker could have learned from a Hockey player.Consider the impact that Gretzky had on the game (if not a community): 1851 points… 200+ points in each of four seasons… 92 goals in ONE season! (hell, being a Sabres fan, I have to point out that Alexander Mogilny came close once… at 76 goals in the early ’90’s) Take a moment to fathom that, then, consider that his record has stood since being set in the ’81-’82 season. The man’s photo should appear in the dictionary under the word “Hockey”. I could spout off stats here, but you can find those easily enough… Suffice to say, he dominated the game on the ice. Yet, what he did OFF of the ice would forever change the game as well.In 1988, the Great One was traded to the LA Kings.The deal was monstrous to begin with, but the terms were astounding in their own right: The Oilers gave up the league’s reigning superstar for $15 million, three number one draft picks, Krushelnyski, McSorley, and negotiating rights to minor league defensemen, along with LA’s Jimmy Carson (a recent pick who just put up 55 goals).Take a second to drink in that trade.Not only was that big money in ’88, but it broke up a team that had “dynasty” written all over it… If you’re a Hockey fan, then you know all about the Oilers of that era, with Grant Fuhr, Jari Kurri, Mark Messier… Man, I remember collecting cards and stickers of those guys like they were gold (in some cases, they were… Remember the gold foil stickers?). To take Gretzky to LA?! What were they thinking?Granted, number 99 in Los Angeles wasn’t the ticket to a cup victory (or a dynasty) on ice… But what the deal did for the sport itself?! Far-reaching and dynamic are two words that scratch the surface… Barely. Here was an uber-talent, wrapped in a marketing dream. Great personality, incredible with words, and a look that could move product. His assimilation into US pop culture was the stuff of legend. Consider: If, like me, you grew up in the ‘80’s, you knew Gretzky (even if not from Hockey) from ads for Campbell’s, Coke, Ford, American Express, an action figure, hell… the guy even had a Saturday morning cartoon with Bo Jackson and Michael Jordan! (remember “Pro Stars”?) Add to his clout an ambassador status, bringing the game to numerous new fans… A fact to ponder: When Gretzky hit US soil as a player, there were 15 franchises of the NHL in the US. Today, there are 24. Talk about opening a market!Back to Oldsmobile for a spell here… Consider that in 1897, the carmaker was forging ahead, pushing design and technical innovation to create a dynamic new car. It was to become GM’s shining star, the brand that pushed innovation for the corporation. Being GM’s “innovation brand” meant that other carmakers would often study their products, and attempt to mimic them. Not only was Oldsmobile the first mass-produced car (the 1901-1904 Curved Dash), but was the first with an automatic transmission (1940 – the Hydromatic), the first overhead valve V8 (’49 – also leading the way with a hardtop and wrap-around windshield that year!), the first turbocharged engine in an American car (’62!), the first front wheel drive car in America (the ’66 Toronado), and so on… Ponder this: in the 50’s and ‘60’s, makers like Mercedes would buy and dissect Oldsmobiles (and other GM cars) to see what made them tick. At the time, there was truly no substitute for an American car.Oldsmobiles were the choice of the techie crowd… they had the advanced features, and appealed to the more technologically hip consumer. Olds and GM capitalized on this for a bit, but then lost the vision somewhere along the way. Rather than build on a success (see Gretzky above), GM stuttered, and down-graded the brand to compete with foreign cars on their own level. Rather than push the envelope, and allow Oldsmobile to bloom into the leader in technology and design for GM, they pulled funding from the coffers for projects like Saturn, among other things. (don’t get me wrong here— Saturn is a fine make, and having worked for Saturn, I am grateful for the food and shelter my career there provided… just still suffering the “WHY??!!” over pushing Saturn into Oldsmobile territory, and giving the little plastic-clad cars all of the cool advancements) GM dropped the ball, and took what should have been a bright Oldsmobile future, with great new cars that would have rivaled Lexus, BMW and their ilk, and let it slip into the old folks home of the corporation. One notable exception was the Aurora (I have a very soft spot for the first-generation units… Remember the first time you saw the ‘95’s… Man were those cool when new!), which led the way 20in innovation, and sat at the crossroads for a trek back to greatness… yet, sadly, it seems that the higher-ups were too busy looking into overpriced, oversized SUV’s to haul fat-ass suburbanites around the mini malls. By the time that last Alero rolled off the line on April 4, 2004, the fire was definitely gone. The rocket was more of a lawn dart, sadly…Adding insult to injury, GM decided to kill off more jobs and cars with potential to concentrate on… Trucks.At the start of a new environmental awareness, the good General concentrated on big old SUV’s, targeted at vacuous housewives who have no clue how to drive them. Another well thought out plan. Rather than attack the future and hold an upper hand, doing some good for the entire brand, they concentrated on one small niche, which ironically, has become the proverbial Achille’s heel of a car-making giant. Presently, they have no true marquee in brand that does what Olds once could. Who’s to say that Oldsmobile may have been the leverage point for GM in the escalating hybrid wars? I’d like to entertain that notion. Had they stayed on path, who knows? We may have seen George Clooney cruising a Cutlass versus a Prius.Consider the effects of the Gretzky trade, when applied to the Oldsmobile (and subsequent GM) debacle: While Edmonton sacrificed a pillar of their team, they still managed winning seasons and a Cup victory, and gained a fairly stable ground (player-wise, not so much owner-wise) to build on. Bigger than that, Hockey itself won, big time. By allowing a great talent to continue down a road that he himself forged, great things happened all around. Had number 99 stayed in Edmonton, I have no doubts that we’d have seen a number of Oilers Stanley Cup years… it’s a given. Yet, what that trade accomplished for the future of the sport was incredible. Am I suggesting that had GM invested resources into allowing Oldsmobile to progress on the brand’s original course that it may have had a similar effect on the corporation at large? You bet your ass I am.All told, I’ll bet that there will be a moment of silence this week as Edmonton fans and residents recall the day the Great One left the Great White North… and that, at the same time, a few tears will be shed by GM shareholders as they look back on the rocket ride that could have been…Need more insight and opinion? Just want to look at cool pictures and hot rod designs? Head on over to PCK Studio at www.problemchildkustoms.com.

The Supper Car Club-

…and yes, you read that right. “Supper Car” Club.

Why “supper”? Simply put, supper is the term usually used by my kids when referring to dinner-time here, and weekday dinners (or “supper”) are usually nothing over-the-top or spectacular, just a fill-you-up on good food moment in the day. A necessary part of the day, without a lot of fluff. Kind of fitting as you’ll see when we get to the cars that would be in this club.

I had stumbled across the supercar club idea back in 2000, and thought “novel idea”… but then dismissed it, and went back at my day job. This past week, the thought popped back in my head while parking at the Post Office to ship out some designs, and I parked next to a perfectly preserved Gremlin. (I know!! Bitchin’!!) How long has it been since you’ve seen one of those? Apparently, the three other folks checking it out had the same thought. (note to the owner of said ride: What I wrote on my card is serious. I want your car.)

If you’re into exotics, you no doubt know of organizations like Group 20’s incredible Super Car Club, or P1 Prestige and Performance Car Club, or a few others. The basic idea is a shared-access plan, wherein members have access to a number of exotics and luxury cars for about the same cost as owning ONE. Pretty slick, and not unlike shared-access plans for yachts, jets, beach mansions, islands and so-on. So, for like $30k per year, plus a $5-10k membership fee, you’re driving a number of cool cars throughout the year, insurance included. Nifty if you’re of the persuasion that can afford it.

Me? Nope.

I fall more in line with my nifty idea:

The Supper Car Club.

Regular folks cruising regular (and occasionally rare!) cars. We’ll round up a group of investors, and purchase a fleet of hand-picked, basic transportation cars from the past and present (if you can get ‘em from the future, well, we’d like a word with you, too!). We’ll set up a membership fee based on the value of the cars, say $75.00 to join, plus like $300.00/year, and base it all on a points system, allowing everyone access to the cars. You may buy extra points, or trade points for allowing off-use days for cars, etc. Naturally, cruising the Cavalier rag top in June would be double the points of the Cimmaron with the broken A/C, but hey, this is about exclusivity.

I can hear it now– “Why would anyone want to drive a car like a Citation, or a Fairmont sedan, or an ‘80 El Camino with a broken tailgate?”

NOSTALGIA.

Unless you were some spoiled brat as a teenager, chances are that through college (or beyond if you draw cars for a living and have kids), you’ve driven some questionable-looking, as well as performing cars. And what always comes up in conversations about those times past (or present… it happens)? “Man, I hated that car, but I miss it!” Admit it. That ‘79 Delta 88 with the door skins flapping in the breeze was pretty cool. You had FUN with it. I sure as hell did. And my friends still remember that car… even the ones I bump into so many years later… And think about it: If you’re into cars like I am, you check everything out. Like the aforementioned Gremlin. I was drawn to that like flies on… oh wait, bad comparison… but you get the idea. A car that hits home will draw as much, if not more attention than some exotic ride. (consider Playboy’s Farmer’s Daughters specials— I read it for the article on cobbler — was that a fluke? The girl next-door is always more approachable, and often more realistic. I bet they sold millions. Cars are the same way, I’ve found.)

Admit it: You had this poster right next to that one with the white Lamborghini.

We’ll offer typical high school and college-year cars, and even a few hot rod-style versions… Maybe ‘78 Malibu with a severe rake, N-50’s and Jensen 6×9’s on the package tray, or even a hand-me-down LTD in powder blue… The kind of stuff you had back then. Imagine pulling up to your reunion in a Camaro with a dented fender, a Moroso decal and sheepskin seat covers, just like you had back in school? Talk about keeping it real. No rental Caddy for you. Just bringing back memories, much like your mullet and parachute pants.

And for those who were in all of the musicals, or had weird parents, we’ll round up some used Volvos, VW’s, and the cream of the crop:

…it’s tres chic

(I’m showing the smaller cars so that we get the “green” folks on board. Fret not, my fellow size 34 EEE carbon-footprint friend, I’ll be battling you for points on the Granada with the bad valve seals and cracked rings… or the ‘77 T-Bird with the 429, slurping gas like Ted Kennedy on 25-cent margarita night. We’ll have a little something for everyone. AMC Eagle? We’ll have THREE.)

All told, I think that once the trendies see Justin Timberlake pull up at the ESPY’s in a Monaco with Keystone mags, bad paint and bubbling tint on the windows, this club will be hotter than some crystal and gold-leaf decoupaged Von Dutch hat in an LA boutique after seeing it on some celebrity’s spray-tanned melon.

If you’re in, hit me up at the PCKStudio Garage here at MyRideisMe.com. This will be huge, and a total blast. I have a line already on a Volare’ wagon and a cherry Grand Prix…

More insight/design/lunacy over at www.problemchildkustoms.com.

Pictures from Billetproof 2007

2007 Billetproof Rocked! Here’s the pictures we have. We still have about 350 to add including a bunch of bikes. If you like what you see, please join! MyRideisMe is like a great party at 8:30 PM… the band’s setting up people are on the way… have a beer and enjoy until the music starts!

Click HERE to see all the car pictures.

Click HERE to see all the bike pictures.

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Vintage Drag Racing Photobook

I’ve found a book I’ve got to tell you about. It’s called Speed Kings by the German Hot Rod & Pin-Up Photographer Dirk Behlau. Dirk was kind enough to let MyRideisMe.com use a photo he took, including Switzerland’s premier pinup model Zoe Scarlett, for a promotional flier at Billetproof. While I rush to get this photo printed, I’ll let Dirk describe the book in his own words:

It’s a Satanic drag thing you wouldn’t understand! It’s not what you think it is. It’s pure power, adrenaline, danger, suspense, Pin-Ups, passion and soul. Call it Rock ‘n’ Roll! Die Gestalten proudly present “Speed Kings”, the hottest publication this summer’s likely to see. “Speed Kings” presents photographs by Dirk Behlau that show the wonderful world of Drag racing. My photographs skillfully capture the primordial displays of power and high-tech, the eroticism of machines and the open flirtation with death and destruction. It was certainly not Jesus who built these Hot rods but dedicated people who create, drive and admire their time bombs like no-one else. Drag racing’s individual brand of aesthetics fascinates an ever-growing community of fans all around the world. Drag racing is down-to-earth as well as accessible and affordable. Like we said, it’s Rock ‘n’ Roll!

Speed Kings – Racing Photography by Dirk Behlau
Pages: 128
Size: 26×18 cm
Release: 16. August 2007 / Published by Die Gestalten
Price: $ 42 / 29,90 / £ 25.99 /
ISBN: 978-3-89955-197-6

Watch for the picture of Zoe Scarlett… coming soon!!