Cheating... or Just Experimenting?

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.

We've all heard stories over the years about how a vehicle manufacturer, or a race driver, or some other instance where the envelope of rules and regulations have been pushed to the extreme. But unlike today, a number of the instances of the past were in the veins of experimenting and not cheating. Looking back, there were also huge gray areas where even federal laws could be manipulated in some way. Case in point, the 1969 Dodge & Plymouth model year offerings. Starting with the 1968 model year, the federal government made it mandatory that all vehicles have side marker lights on the front fenders and rear quarter panels. Adding this feature, meant more manufacturing costs in Detroit. Chrysler side-stepped this rule for 1969 by installing highly effective reflectors that bounced light back just as efficiently as regular lights. It was also way cheaper to produce. But it didn't fly - for the 1970 model year, Chrysler had to play by the rules like everyone else... or be fined heavily.

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.

NASCAR is famous for drivers cheating - or as they put it "just interpreting the rules". On June 19, 1949, the very first official NASCAR "strictly stock" race was held in Charlotte, North Carolina... and had it's first racer who cheated. Founder Bill France insisted that since the "SC" in NASCAR stood for "Stock Car," he didn't want the race to be filled with backyard-built, chopped and channeled hot rods, but by cars that actually looked like... well... cars. So a large percentage of the field of 33 vehicles came straight from a local dealership. The race took place on a three-quarter-mile dirt oval track, for 150 miles. The winner was Glenn Dunaway, who drove Herbert Westmoreland's 1947 Ford all 200 laps, finishing three laps ahead of second place, Jim Roper, who had read about the race in a comic strip and showed up in a Lincoln. When the dust cleared, it was actually Roper who was declared the winner, because there was evidence that Westmoreland's Ford, a genuine moonshine-runner, had modified rear springs. Dunaway ended up last, and Roper received the $2,000 purse. Dunaway ended up filing a lawsuit, but it was thrown out before it even went to court. Because of that controversy, as few as 15 cars showed up for some of the remaining races of the 1949 season. France wasn't anxious to kick out any other competitors during this fragile infant period of racing, so it wasn't until July 31, 1951, that another winner, Jim Delaney at Rochester, New York, was disqualified, this time for a non-stock camshaft.

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.

On that note - peace out.
Dave