I stumbled across a classic article that was originally written in
Hi-Performace Cars magazine back
in August 1968 which I have in my collection (not the one pictured on
right - the 8/68 edition I have has a beat cover). I do believe the
article was reprinted in a different rag in 2007. Along with the three different Super Stock magazines (one of them pictured on right) being published during the late 60's,
HP Cars is one of my favorite reads. Mostly because it was an East Coast
publication and more politically incorrect than the California
periodicals like
Hot Rod. Nothing against
Hot Rod mind you; I have tons of those titles in my collection as well. It's just that HP Cars was way more hardcore - as were it's readers.
Getting back to the article in question, it was about the street racing scene that was hot and happening in Brooklyn, Queens & Staten Island. The problem was, no one spoke about street racing back then. It widely existed, but was still in the closet, so to speak. The street racing scene had a very bad reputation, whether it was deserved or not. Don't believe me - check out the picture of the pulp fiction publication from the 50's to your left. Very stereo-typical indeed. So, when this nationwide magazine hit the newsstands that summer, I guess the shit hit the fan. It was considered shocking that any magazine would be glorifying street racing. The author of that article, Joe Oldham, didn't glorify street racing. He just reported on what he saw. He knew it existed, as did thousands of others all across the country. It's just some people were in denial.
Now, before we go any further, I'm not here to take sides. I am not condemning nor advocating street racing. I did it in Massachusetts when I was younger. I now do my racing on the track. I would be a hypocrite either way if I took sides.
The feedback and the resulting criticism that resulted from that article was astounding. Even former Hot Rod magazine editor and NHRA founder Wally Parks called in protest. Parks claimed that one of the chief reasons he formed the racing organization was to get racing off the streets. Of course, by the late 60's, and into today, so many people realize that the NHRA was and still is an entertainment business taking in vast sums of money at events, through television contracts, and corporate business ties. It was no longer a "grass roots movement" by 1968 - it hadn't been for years. Many people still respect Wally Parks, as do I, even though he is no longer with us. But, I can also tell you first hand that it's not an easy thing to look at yourself in some way and face your own denial - especially when you think someone is calling you out and exposing you. In this case, the NHRA thought that they were solely responsible for making the streets safer by getting street racing off America's main roads. The problem was - that really didn't happen.
I've also come to the conclusion that another form of denial is brand loyalty, especially when it comes to muscle cars. This subject is about as touchy, if sometimes not more so, than sports, politics, and/or religion. Remember the story I relayed about a friend of mine who restored a rare 1971 Boss 351 Mustang that was even more uncommon with a funky green / teal color quite a while back? Just like some people who were absolutely fanatical about the restoration standards of factory muscle cars when that hit it's zenith around 1990 and fortunately is now more or less subsided, the same is true about brand loyalty. Either you love GM, or Ford, or Mopar, or AMC - there is no in-between or gray area.
Myself? I love them all. I consider myself fortunate to have owned a muscle car of each marquee save AMC and Buick. To me, they were uncommon from the get-go, all had their quirks, pros and cons. In reality, none were really better than the other. Some were faster than others - okay. The build quality was never really top shelf - considering the technology and the mind-set we had back then - it doesn't surprise me at all. Over the years, I never liked the feel of Chrysler power steering; it was always too sloppy. I never liked GM rear ends; they didn't hold up as well. And a Ford 390 (which was their bread and butter muscle car engine for years) was always under-powered. This is just my experience. Yours may be different, and that's perfectly fine as well. There were also many good points; Some differentials were bullet proof, like the Chrysler Dana 60 and the Ford 9 inch. Nothing sounds like a Chrysler 426 Hemi engine - nothing. The same can be said for the feeling when one is power shifting a Ford Boss 351 or a Pontiac 421 dual quad. They were all cool and iconic. If I have the chance to purchase one, regardless of make - I'll lay my money down. Every time. I have yet to purchase a muscle car and have someone tell me,
"It's in nice shape, but why did you buy that piece of shit?"
It's funny though, when you flip over the other side of the coin and get into hot rods and street rods in particular. Don't you think it's odd that no one bats an eyelash when you see a small block Chevy in an old 30's street rod that isn't a Chevy? Ditto with a Ford? Or when you see an old Ford rat rod with a Chevy engine or vise-versa? That would be utter blasphemy and subject to the death penalty if one stuck a Ford Boss 429 engine into a 1970 Chevelle SS. Or are we just in denial to admit that it's actually pretty wild looking? Maybe because we're afraid of what others will think? The way I see it, I may not agree with it or even like it, but it's someone else's car; if I want to tell them "how it should be done", then let me pay the bills to restore it. If I'm not doing that, then I need to refrain from such comments of
"well, you fucked that ride up. Good goin' pal." (Above photo courtesy of
Hot Rod magazine)
Strength is diversity and also in unity. Competition also breeds innovation. Remember when Toyota wanted to get involved in NASCAR quite a while back? Officials had no problem allowing teams to run a Camry as long as it met all the rules and requirements. But fans of the sport? You would have thought they made the announcement that all events were closed to the public and would not be televised. I mean some of these people went nuts. I can remember the rants;
"Keep NASCAR all American" or
"We don't need rice burners in NASCAR"... and those were the nice ones. But it happened - Toyota entered the fray. The world didn't end, all the American cars didn't go away, blah, blah, blah.
We just didn't want to face our denial.
Face it - as humans we don't like change, but we don't like the way things are. It's goofy, but it's true. But we must embrace positive change. We will lose our freedoms, including all things performance and hot rodding, if we remain placid and lazy. If all we do is complain and be divided by petty aspects of our car hobby, then we are part of whatever problem we're faced with. Moving forward together - it's a cool thing.
Until next time, peace out.
Dave
Unless you've been off the grid on some vacation excursion or living under a rock for the past week, you've heard the news about the scandal that has rocked the automotive world, and in particular, VW. News stories are everywhere about the approximately 500,000 turbo diesel vehicles (in the US alone) that contained illegal computer programming within the engine control modules that operated in two modes, instead of just one. One mode kicked in just for yearly or bi-annually emissions testing (so the vehicle would pass) and the second mode operated pretty much the rest of the time, spewing out as much as 40 times the legal limit of exhaust emissions. The fallout has begun, consumers & dealers are pissed, and it will be months, if not years, before the dust settles. It was an out-right case of cheating the system.
In the early years of drag racing back in the late 50's, there were very few rules and only a handful of classes that vehicles could be put in. Experimentation was thriving. One of the best examples of this was the 1949 Plymouth business coupe called "The High and Mighty". It was campaigned nationally for two years back in 1959 and 1960. Assembled by a group of engineers that eventually became known as the Ramchargers, the vehicle was a sea of innovations despite its looks. The Plymouth is regarded to be the first altered wheelbase vehicle (the team moved the wheels forward for better weight distribution). It was also the first case of engine setback (and even tilted rearwards) to accomplish the same. The rear suspension was a handcrafted multilink setup - the first iteration of what's now known as the adjustable four-link. The vehicle was purposefully lifted to improve weight transfer, and it contained what is regarded as the first engine tunnel-ram system. Cheating? Nope - just pure experimenting and innovation.
I can remember when rat rods first started making huge waves in the hot rod world. Most of them were structural and mechanical works of art with modern suspension, brakes, tires & wheels. Numerous rods carried that theme to the drivetrain. They just looked like hell on the outside with surface rust and patina. However, when most zig, others are truly going to zag. Some rat rods were truly that - absolute rust and rot buckets that were somehow saved by using whatever parts and sheet metal were available. It didn't matter if the parts came from different cars or trucks and the sheet metal used ranged from public street signs to roofing material. Some say it degraded the street rod or hot rod scene. Others say, it brought it back to it's roots, where you used ingenuity rather than a checkbook. In the end, some enthusiasts still shouted that the owners of these rebel rods "cheated" when it came to building them. In my opinion, you own the rod - you build it how you want. Just make it safe to drive.
