THE SOUND OF SPEED Dirty Little Secrets
Can you whoop a kid on video games? Probably not. But you can
show them a whole new “reality” by taking
them to a car show. Encouraging a child to
get outside, see glistening paint jobs, and
hear the purr of finely tuned engines will
awaken all of their senses. You might even
be surprised at how much your own
enthusiasm is rekindled!
Life is full of choices for kids. You can help
them make the right ones by sharing your
appreciation for cool old cars. The
practical knowledge you share with a child
today…just may be the experience that sets
them on a lifetime of success.
For more information and a list of upcoming
automotive events, visit our website:
www.TakeAKidToACarShow.com
909/396-0289 • tkcs@sema.org
Take a Kid to a Car Show is a program of
ARMO, the Automotive Restoration Market
Organization, a SEMA Council.
THE SOUND OF SPEED
Daniel Strohl
dstrohl@hemmings.com
The New England Speed Society’s annual Gathering of the Faithful hot rod show ain’t exactly big. Any
Goodguys event will make it look like a
neighborhood cruise-in, and past locations have included a VFW’s front lawn.
Located in Rochester, Massachusetts, not
far from Cape Cod, it also ain’t easy to get
to from Bennington—about four hours
each way. And in the middle of October,
But they
serve the clam
chowder hot,
the flinty New
Englanders
with their over-drawn Boston
accents rarely
complain or
show an ounce
of pretentious-ness, and even
when the show’s well attended, there’re
no crowds.
Organizer Jack Wegman—“Flathead
Jack,” as his beat-up, embroidered ball-cap proclaims—notes, “This is the show
the way they used to be. The way it was
is the way it is.” In simpler terms, it’s
a traditional hot rod show, without the
California shine and polish of the street
rod crowd, and without the rockabilly
attitude of the rat rod crowd. Jack divides it only into two classes: Race, and
Hot Rods. In the former, you see vintage
round-trackers, V-8-powered motorcycles, speedster-bodied Ts and even a flat-head-powered drag rail. In the latter, a lot
of channeled and befendered cars, most
of them hardly updated builds from the
1950s or 1960s, along with a smattering
of customs and a dash of rust. Anything
that doesn’t fit—Mustang, muscle cars,
anything newer than about 1965—parks
in the spectator lot. A small swap meet
sits off to the side, but more attendees
are interested in the seminar, given this
year by early Ford transmission expert
Mac Van Pelt.
Talk to anybody at the show and you
find real enthusiasm. Nobody just spent
Ready to confess your hot rod
affair?
six figures on a build for the sole purpose
of winning a $10 piece of hardware. In
fact, Jack doesn’t hand out any trophies
or awards of any kind. More knurled
knuckles than manicured nails grasp piping hot Styrofoam coffee cups. Car owners, once they see you’re truly interested
in their story, shed their flinty shells and
gush about their 40-year love affairs with
their hot rods—New Englanders seem
loath to get rid of anything of substance,
so hot rods here tend to hibernate in the
barn rather than change hands.
And not a one of them hasn’t heard
of Hemmings Motor News. Which is no
inconsequential point to make. When I
joined the staff at Hemmings more than
five years ago, my editors knew of my
interest in hot rods and warned me that
there was to be little to no mention of
them in the pages of the magazine. Apparently, to do so would bring the wrath
of the purists and restorers down upon
our heads.
But, let’s face it: There’s been an illicit
relationship between hot rodders and
Hemmings for many more years than
I’ve been on staff. Hot rodders know Hemmings as a place where they can get the
parts and the raw material for their projects. And let’s just say that Hemmings
has never screened potential subscribers
to make sure they’re not going to turn
that field car in the advertisements into a
Deuce highboy; we’ve always enjoyed the
sound of a full-race flathead too.
In my years of covering shows, auctions and other events for Hemmings,
I’ve also found that the absolute purist
has today become an endangered species.
I’ve met plenty of collectors who show off
their barnsful of concours-worthy cars,
then sheepishly own up to the hot rod or
custom in the corner and admit they’ve
always had a soft spot for the modified
boulevard blasters of their youth. It is
entirely possible to appreciate both the
finely restored car and the down-n-dirty
hot rod; memories are as easily made and
relived in both.
So you’ll be seeing more of me in this
spot from now on, relating my views on
the world of hot rodding and modified
cars in general. If I exhibit any agenda,
it won’t be to revel in hot rodding’s past;
instead, I hope to draw from that past
to help build and secure hot rodding’s
future as an integral part of the collector-car hobby while at the same time celebrating the awesome things hot rodders
the world over are doing right now.
