Innehållsförteckning för Issue# 23 från Rodding USA

Everyone is bemoaning the fact that young people don’t often have the opportunity to get involved in the automotive lifestyle, but very few people are working to change this. I recently witnessed a sensational event designed to rectify this unfortunate situation, and the outcome was fantastic! Rick Paulick is the promoter of the New Motorama car show in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and he and some others created an opportunity for hundreds of youngsters to actually build their own miniature metal belly tank racers at the show. This could not have happened without a lot of planning and effort by those involved, but the result was outstanding. All the kids had to do was stand in a short line, and when they got to the workbenches, there were pre-cut and formed…

“I wanted it to be like how I imagined a young guy would have built it back in the late forties or early fifties.” (Editor’s Note: I asked Keith, owner of this Model A roadster to fill out a Tech Sheet with info on his car and to add any additional information on the car for the story. When I read the “additional information” I decided that he did such an excellent job telling the story of his car that I would just share it with you as he wrote it.) I always wanted to build a roadster from scratch and after thinking about what and how for a few years, I decided to get after it around 2000. It would be the first hot rod I had built from…

In Issue 22 of Rodding USA we brought you a story on a stunning 1932 Ford roadster titled “Incredible Find… Or Is It.” As the story pointed out, Tom Hardy, owner of Clarksboro Hot Rods in Athens, Georgia is earning a reputation as being the “Picasso of Patina” by cranking out some very cool “new/old” hot rods. He was kind enough to share some photos of the process of massaging new steel into the imperfect hot rods which have rodders turning their heads and stopping in their tracks to look over the “old” cars. He and his crew begin by metal finishing the new sheetmetal, priming and block sanding and then spraying it in lacquer paint as you would for a shiny car. After that is complete the “process” begins…

       Goodguy’s West Coast National was held for the 30th consecutive year at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, CA. The bay area suburb is a quaint little town nestled in the rolling hills surrounded by millions of people. This has always been the flagship event for Goodguy’s since its inception by their late founder Gary Meadors and the tradition continues on. Over 3,000 rods and customs fill the grounds and will continue to do so for many years to come. www.Good-Guys.com…

Bob Melani of Langhorne, Pennsylvania was baptized into hot rodding in the 1950s hanging out at Bone Stadium in Pittston with his father at the Friday night jalopy races. The sounds, smells and excitement etched themselves into his DNA and has resulted in a lifetime of building and enjoying hot rods. This coupe started life on the West Coast and now bears no resemblance to what he purchased several years back. He disassembled the car to find it had been built on a Pete & Jake’s chassis and then proceeded to pinch the front. He installed a dropped Super Bell axle to provide the proper rake. He then added a Flaming River steering box along with P&J hairpins and Hot Rod Brake Company finned brakes. Under the rear we find…

  For the past few years the Oilers car club has been hosting the race of gentlemen on the on the beach in Wildwood, New Jersey, an event they created to celebrate the excitement and history of the automotive culture. Their goal was for spectators and participants to experience when times were simpler, featuring pre-war cars and motorcycles racing along the shoreline. Well, that they did! Folks from coast to coast, even from across the ocean, travelled to New Jersey for a chance to see hot rodders race along the beach. This year the Oilers c/c decided to take the show on the road so more people could have the chance to experience and participate in the event. So they rolled up their sleeves, packed up their wagons and travelled…

July of 1972 found me on a photo assignment in Detroit, Michigan from Portland, Oregon for the 3rd annual National Street Rod Association Nationals. The hotel where I was supposed to be was under construction and I ended up 12 miles from the fairgrounds. After a troubled night, I was wondering what to do next. Looking out my 2nd floor window I saw what I knew were two street rods under car covers. However, I could see their license plates, and they both said New York on them. Having grown up in Lockport, New York, near Buffalo, my first thought was, “New York guys, they will give me a ride”. I had to wait for some time, until almost noon, before I saw two families taking the covers off the…

Working for certain companies can come with perks but how about the benefits of having a 1932 Ford phaeton as the company car. Well, the crew that works the shows for Lokar Performance have all had the opportunity to drive the tub. Lokar Performance Products owners Skip and Debbie Walls’ Deuce has made the trip from Knoxville, TN to the Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, KY the past two years to spend the weekend in their vendor display. The “Company Car” came about when Skip began hunting for a phaeton to build when he ran across a totally stock ’32 that had been restored to a 100-point car. Upon closer inspection he knew it was the one he was looking for but a “stocker” would not work, so to solve…

A Tribute to a True Hot Rodder (Editors Note: Our hobby lost a “real car guy” when Ron Hickman passed away after an accident while driving his ’32 Ford roadster, along with his two granddaughters who survived. Many of us knew Ron, not because he was a famous builder or innovator but rather because he just flat out drove his cars all across the country. The story below is a collective effort by his friends Dave Ruhs, Dale Grau and Barry Smith to share a small piece of this real hot rodder’s life.) After a hard fight trying to recover from severe injuries sustained in an accident while driving his ‘32 Ford roadster, a true Hot Rodder, Ron Hickman was lost this September. Those who knew Ron will miss him.…

The 47th edition on the National Street Rod Association’s Street Rod Nationals made its annual early August appearance in Louisville, Kentucky. Once again the car count squeezed upwards of 10,000 which has been the norm for many, many years. As most of you know, summer weather in the South Eastern states can change in a matter of minutes and this year was no different. In fact on both Thursday and Friday afternoons I had appointments to photograph a feature car at 2:00pm and as luck would have it the skies opened up on both days and drenched the grounds, cars, rodders and spectators. The saving grace of the summer storms is that as quickly as they form they blow away and leave behind clear skies for the late afternoon and…

Professional car builders have an advantage over most of us, in that they can funnel all of their talents and turn out stunning masterpieces in their shops. Jamie Johnson, owner of Hot Rod Haven in Albuquerque, NM started this 1927 Ford phaeton for a customer and well before completion the customer decided to sell it. Upon purchasing it Jamie knew exactly what he wanted the car to look like when completed and began the necessary cutting, fabricating and changing to end up with this unique take on a traditional hot rod. Jamie took a set of 1932 Ford frame rails and contoured them to the phaeton body and added a 1936 Ford x-member. He then lengthened the front frame horns 6 inches and then set the front and rear spring…