Category: History

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7 Reasons Hot Rods Are Dying

Greaser Alley

BY CRAIG LIEBERMAN ON DECEMBER 2, 2022 If it seems to you that hot rods are dying, you’re not wrong.  If you go to any generic Cars & Coffee events, you’ve probably noticed that fewer and fewer hot rods are in attendance.  Just a few years ago, it seemed like the Japanese sports cars were dying out.  Today, in many places they are more popular than the Hot Rods.  Of course, there are still few Hot Rod only shows like this one where Hot Rodders are among the best in the business. The pre-teens, teens and twenty-somethings grew up watching The Fast and Furious … Continue reading 7 Reasons Hot Rods Are Dying

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1954 MERCURY ROADLAMP KIT

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An option for the 1954 Mercury passenger car was a roadlamp or fog light kit.  These lights mounted in the front bumperettes.  What makes them of interest to me is that they later became a rare option for the 1955 and 1956 Ford Thunderbird.   Shown below is an NOS kit used in these cars.  The switch is a sought after item as not many have survived.  The switch allowed the headlamps to be operated in conjunction with the roadlamps, as required in some states.  The lamps could either be clear or amber.   Continue reading 1954 MERCURY ROADLAMP KIT

Custom and other projects, History3 Comments

Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper died a few minutes after 1 a.m. on Feb. 3, 1959.

Greaser Alley

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa–At 1 a.m. Friday, a handful of people will gather under a waxing moon on a gravel road about 5 miles north of here.  As they listen to Don McLean lament “the day the music died” in his 1971 song American Pie, they’ll walk, as they do every year, to the site of the plane crash where singers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper died a few minutes after 1 a.m. on Feb. 3, 1959. At a memorial in a farm field, the fans will say a prayer and sing a couple of songs. “We give thanks for the lives of these … Continue reading Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper died a few minutes after 1 a.m. on Feb. 3, 1959.

Art, History1 Comment

Kenneth Howard a.k.a Von Dutch

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Despite his genius and popularity, Dutch never made any money from striping. Money was something he detested. In this quote from a 1965 article Dutch explains his thoughts on money.               “I make a point of staying right at the edge of poverty. I don’t have a pair of pants without a hole in them, and the only pair of boots I have are on my feet. I don’t mess around with unnecessary stuff, so I don’t need much money. I believe it’s meant to be that way. There’s a ‘struggle’ you have to … Continue reading Kenneth Howard a.k.a Von Dutch

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July 1st ……….On this Day

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1995, DJ Wolfman Jack died of a heart attack. Was the master of ceremonies for the rock ‘n’ roll generation of the ’60s on radio, and later on television during the ’70s.                 1956, Elvis Presley appeared on NBC- TV’s ‘The Steve Allen Show’ and performed ‘Hound Dog’, to a live Hound Dog. US TV critic John Crosby panned Elvis’ performance, calling him an ‘unspeakable, untalented and vulgar young entertainer.’                       1962, Gene Vincent plus up and coming local group The Beatles appeared at … Continue reading July 1st ……….On this Day

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Studebaker Goes Bankrupt

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                                                                  STUDEBAKER HISTORY On this day in 1933, American automaker Studebaker, then heavily in debt, goes into receivership.  The company’s president, Albert Erskine, resigned and later that year committed suicide. Studebaker eventually rebounded from its financial troubles, only to close its doors for the final time in 1966. The origins of the Studebaker Corporation date back to 1852, when brothers Henry and Clement Studebaker opened a blacksmith shop in South Bend, Indiana. Studebaker eventually became a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn wagons and supplied wagons to the U.S. Army during the Civil War. Around the turn of the century, the company entered … Continue reading Studebaker Goes Bankrupt

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Indoor Drag Racing?

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Of course we know that for the most part organized drag racing started on the West Coast but not to be denied, the other states caught on quickly.  When the guys back east decided to go drag racing, they really got serious.  Unlike the West Coast where there was good weather almost year round, when it closed in on them, they did what any rabid racer who suffers the dreaded “Nitro Methane In The Blood Disease” would do, they built an INDOOR drag strip.  Yep, that’s right, an indoor drag strip. In 1962 those crazy guys from Chicago built the … Continue reading Indoor Drag Racing?

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This is the car that in 1954 could have “killed” the Corvette.

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   So, Chevrolet, being GM’s big sales and profit division, campaigned to GM to “kill” this car. When Chevy was coming out with its 6-cyl. sports car with its 2-speed  “powerglide” transmission and side curtains, here was a sports car from Olds with a big old V-8 and power windows. GM said no to Oldsmobile on building this car. The world’s rarest automobile:  a 1954 Concept Old’s Rocket F88 – the only one in existence. John S. Hendricks, (Discovery Communications founder) paid in excess of 3 million to acquire this 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 Convertible Concept Car . After spending decades as a collection of … Continue reading This is the car that in 1954 could have “killed” the Corvette.

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Feb. 3 marks the anniversary of “The Day The Music Died”

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February 3, 1959 was the snowy night when Buddy Holly, J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson and Ritchie Valens took off in a small plane from Clear Lake, Iowa, after playing a gig at the Surf Ballroom. They were headed to the next stop on their Winter Dance Party tour, and Holly, sick of the miserable experience on the tour bus, chartered a plane. The plane crashed in a field about five miles from the airport due to poor weather conditions. In an interesting bit of trivia, Valens and Richardson weren’t even supposed to be on the plane. The plane was … Continue reading Feb. 3 marks the anniversary of “The Day The Music Died”