Mail your vintage photos of you and your hot rod, along with a brief story to: Tim Bernsau, Rod & Custom, 774 S. Placentia Ave., Placentia, CA 92870, or e-mail them (3x5 inches at 300 dpi) to timothy.bernsau@sourceinterlink.com. We are unable to return any submitted material.
Eugene Wright was around 15 in 1958 when this photo was taken at his family's ranch near Canon City,Colorado. He looks proud of his ROTC uniform and his first car, a '31 Vicky. Gene rebuilt the four-cylinder engine at home and made all the gaskets himself (except the head gasket). He went to the local junkyard for the Mercury wheels. His mother, Lillian Enslow, helped him sew and install the interior and cover the top with black plastic material. Gene ordered light gray paint,but got lime green, which he brushed on. According to his son, Brian (who sent us this photo), "Dad went on to terrorize the streets of Canon City and Garden City, Kansas, in numerous different cars over the years." He still lives in Canon City.
Barney Navarro, RipBarney navarro, one of the forefathers of hot rodding, passed away on August 21, 2007,a day after his 88th birthday. A memorial celebration was held in October at H&H Flatheads in La Crescenta, California. The location was appropriate, since navarro is best known for his Flathead speed equipment, and navarro Engineering is now owned by H&H.
Navarro had legendary successes on the dry lakes, at Bonneville, and at Indy (where he qualified a turbo'd six-cylinder Rambler). He also raced boats, and even developed a heartlung machine for an L.A. hospital. He was also the first tech editor of R&C. He was an engineer, racer, designer, and mechanic-the type of hot rodder we don't see too often anymore.
Troy Trepanier: GNRS Builder Of The YearIt's been a good year for Troy Trepanier, the designer/builder behind Rad Rides by Troy. The '32 roadster he built for Roger Ritzow was one of the "75 Most Significant Roadsters," displayed at the Grand national Roadster Show in January. The '36 Ford coupe he built for Ross and Beth Myers won the Ridler Award at the Detroit Autorama in February and was named one of Hot Rod magazine's Top 10 hot rods of the year. His Blowfish '69 Barracuda,owned by George Poteet (who drove the four-cylinder car 269 mph at Bonneville this year), was also a Hot Rod Top 10 in addition to Hot Rod of the year. Troy will be distinguished as Builder of the year at the 2008 Grand national Roadster Show inJanuary. Congratulations, Troy, on every well-deserved honor.
Low RollersThe difference between a custom and a lowrider can be as narrow as the wires on the wheels. Lowriders, built from readily accessible vehicles and modified to reflect the owner's taste, started to appear after World War II and were often derided by mainstream culture. Sound familiar? Between now and June 8, the Petersen Automotive Museum (www.petersen.org) presents "La Vida Lowrider: Cruising the City of Angels." The exhibit tracks the origin and progression of lowriding, while showcasing some of the most outstanding cars from the 50-year history of the hobby.
R&C's Book ClubThe only thing better than a well-written, photo-filled book on hot rodding is two of 'em. Motorbooks (www.motorbooks.com) recently published this pair.
"Hot Rod Roots: A Tribute To The Pioneers" consists of seven chapters by different authors covering early hot rod history-Robert Genat on the influence of World War II, Pat Ganahl on belly tanks, Greg Sharp on track roadsters, Dain Gingerelli on drag racing, Ken Gross on hot rod shows and early magazines, A.B. Shuman on East Coast cars, and Mark Morton on the evolution of this whole thing. Alex Xydias provided the foreword and the American Hot Rod Foundation provided many of the rare photos from the early '30s to the early '60s, many never before published.