What HOT ROD LEGEND would you like to meet?

Those Tardel fellas, they seem to have it goin' on, would like to pick their brains and their parts stash..

 

But damn, they were good looking!

 

This turned into a much cooler post that I intended. I was asking because Goodguys does a Hot Rod Hero thing where we bring important hot rodders from the past out to events for a storytelling/Q&A sesion. Last year we had guys like: George Barris, Gene Winfield, Lil John Butera, Andy Brizio and more. Most of the time it was a very interesting morning BS session over donuts that you could ask questions at, and was FREE to all who showed up. The stories were awesome!

Thanks in part to input from the HAMB, for 2006 they're shooting for:

Don Garlitts (March Meet, confirmed)
Bill Hines & Larry Watson (Del Mar)
Richard Petty (if he'll do it)
Ed Iskenderian
Ohio George (I think)
Bob Petersen (yes, the founder of Hot Rod magazine. Again, if he'll do it)
Vid Edelbrock (West Coast Nationals)
and more

Bitch about Goodguys all you want, but I personally can't wait to talk to these guys and add them to my list of legends that I've met.

 

Make sure you bring the Hedgehog to Indy then.

Thanks in advance Kirk.

 

I'd like to meet cole foster also.

matt

 

Kirk,

Ollie Morris would be a great addition to your line up. He was in charge of research and development for Offenhauser for 30 plus years. Almost every item Offenhauser has, he worked on. He has work with numerous racers behind the scenes. Don Gartlis, Tommy Ivo, Carrol Shelby, and many many others. His stories of the early days of drag racing with Mickey Thompson, Wally Parks, Bud Coons, Joaquin Arnett, Otto Reismen, Chuck Potvin, Dean Moon, and others are endless.

 

This is COOL! I usually don't go the the GG events that don't include racin', but this gives me a real reason to go.

The people who bitch about Good Guys obviously haven't ever had to deal with NHRA. The Hot Rod Reunion is the NHRA MUSEUM, not the asswipes that are ruining the drags. Although the GGs run too many BORING street rods down the track when they should have more real racecars, they give us a place to run. For that I salute them.

 

Roth, Navarro, and Vern Tardel.
I may be making a trip out to cali by plane after Xmas, plan to make it up to the peach orchard with my for a day.

 

How hard would it be to get some of these guys to post here under their own names at a promoted date and time? Like maybe Larry Watson hangs out on a thursday night at 6 answering questions and telling a few stories?

 

I really wish I could have met Pete Millar. We corisponded by email a few months before he passed and he was a really cool and humble guy. He always answered my emails and seemed to be surprised I was interested in his career.
Id also like to hear what Stanley Mouse has to say about Roth.

 

I think Art Arfons would be interesting to talk to.
He's still around, right?

Joe Reath is a kick to listen to his always different and progressively longer stories, but he spends a lot of time playing his "Playboy" pinball game in his office... I doubt you'll get him on a computer...

 

Bob Hirohata and asked him why he was killed.

 

Wow ... Did I miss it ?... no Von Dutch ? ( not that it's all its cracked up to be )
Linda Vaughn .... god is she nice !!!

Jim hall ... and dam near all the ones mentioned ....

Craig Jackson ... so I could kick him in the balls for making cars an "#@&^* investment ".

 

Harry Westegard
Raymond Lowey
Harry Miller
Metalshapes, Wait I checked that one off.
Michael Schumacher

 

Westergard, Roth, and Foster.

I could have met Roth at Autorama about 5 years back, but I couldn't think of anything to say to him that he didn't already know, so I didn't go up and talk to him. He died right after that. My buddy got his autograph on a shirt or a picture or something, and I always wish I would have too.

Plus, I have already met DIRTYT and FatHack.

Oh Wait! Add Tim Conder! What up doood! You are one cool fucker as far as I can tell.

 

lmfao

 

I'd just like to raise a toast to everybody in "The Grove" and those from the flats who're gone...

Get em all back for a night, pass out the beers at the bend in the road or the beach at Half Moon Bay. Torch a couple VW blocks, and just kick back and soak it in.

CHRR is close as we'll ever get to that.

I always wanted to lock Ed Pink, Kieth Black, and Donovan in a room and wait to see what kind of republican knocks the door down and escapes!

Never realized what a good life I've had till I read this post and realized just how many of the listed people I have met over the years. Lots have gone, lots more are getting up there, but there are lots of new names being added now. Screw back in the day, look around. THESE are the good old days...

Now I'm feeling old, Crap!

 

Because my dad was a drag racer from the 60s and 70s, I'm sorta lucky in my own way..I've met Big Daddy Garlits, Muldowney, Dyno Don (409?), WJ, Grumpy Jenkins, and some other old racers, and I met the legend of germ, Mud, flamedaboner, boones, ElC and some other superlegendary heros from here. I would more like to drive the cars of the old guys as I think most of them are sick of meeting people.

 

He was killed in a robbery. If I remember correctly he was working on his parents car in their driveway when he was robbed and murdered. All for a few dollars....

 

Man, that stinks. Wonder if they ever caught the guys. Thanx

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-53113.html
xxx

 

Von Dutch has been mentioned several times under his given name, Kenneth Howard

Billy Gibbons! That's a good one, someone mentioned, I'd really like to talk to him. Good music and a hot rodder. The Eliminator coupe brought hot rodding back from the grave, and made it kinda mainstream. Don't know if that's bad or good, but what an impact that made.

 

I got to spend a fair amount of time with Garlits once. He's is known for his Drag Racing accomplishments........ rear engine dragsters, 3:0 gear, port nozzles, etc etc. but it's amazing just how much he knows about early hot rodding. The man can do it all - panel beating, paint, engines, history, fab, and so on. If you ever see him out at a show, they pay him just to show up and be Don Garlits, strike up a conversation about hot rodding and listen. Cool dude. Also, I got a 2nd owner '32 roller from him with the title which is now my 3-window - and he delivered it from Fl.

 

Cole Foster and Pat Ganahl and the up and coming Ryan Cochran, the hotrod computer geek.

 

In all honesty, I'd have to say Ted Kramer from the St. Louis area who tore up the strips and embarassed a lot of SBC's in the early 60's with a Ford Y-block powered altered (later Hilborn injected).

Ted later went on to have other "Snoopy" altereds with inliner power that were also consistent winners. Sure would like to be able to locate him today.

If that wasn't enough, he was in the elite group of non-resident LA Roadster members.

 

I'm with Caffine on this.

Although I'd like to meet Ryan before he becomes HOT ROD Legend.

Josh

 

Dave Koffel
Gene Schwartz's
Bill Alvey
Jungle Jim Lieberman
Joe' the fonz' Carloni, best customizer ever
Roth
Dutch
Henry Ford
Edsel Ford
The Dodge Brothers
The whole Chevy family.

 

How come anybody didn't mention the Chrisman's yet ?

 

I feel very fortunate to have met in person many of the folks in the hot rod world that I admire and since I am a die hard scrapbooker it's very unusal for me NOT to have my camera, therefore........

Bill Hines, I am 5'7" so that gives you some reference to his height. This photo was not the first time I met "Uncle Bill". Many summer's ago he was here visiting his nephew, TeddyZ, which he does almost yearly, when I spotted him sitting behind his car in a lawn chair. I approached him and introduced myself, (yeah, I'm not shy) and he was very surprised that I knew who he was (I guess you might call his comment a sexist statement but he was forgiven, I understood) Anyway, I said of course I knew who he was and that I had admired his work for years. He invited me to sit down and we had a very nice chat. A true gentlemen.


Larry and Mike Alexander, with me and George Barris. All three guys I see at least once a year and yet they are always willing to pose for a snapshot or two..... yep, George has got my ass


Bo Huff, I think he's one of the great customizers of my generation and I admire his work emensley