I am sending you a couple photos of my father's '50 Ford convertible. His name was Bernie Hamilton, and these photos were taken in Port Alberni, British Columbia, in 1957, when he was 20 years old. I don't know a lot about the car, although I remember him talking about the Flathead engine in it, and that the lighter shade of paint on the Ford was actually primer, mixed into the paint, to give it a satin look. (We also happen to love the early-style flames on the front quarter-panels! -Ed.) I don't imagine there were a lot of people cruising convertibles in Port Alberni, since it is the middle of the Pacific rainforest. My father passed away in 1997, and that is when I received these pictures. -Daniel Hamilton
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 (digital images should be 500 kb or larger) to timothy.bernsau@sourceinterlink.com. We are unable to return any submitted material.
Dedicated Hot Rod Wife
Is your wife supportive of your hot-rod habit? She's probably not as supportive as Valerie Harris from Northern California, who made the news the week before Christmas.
The Sacramento Bee reported that Mrs. Harris, armed with a pistol, walked up to the teller at a grocery store bank counter and handed him a note demanding $10,000.
Local police and federal agents arrested the middle-aged woman at her suburban home, after being notified by the owner of a local hot rod shop, who recognized her from surveillance camera images released to the media. According to the report, Mrs. Harris had called the shop owner shortly before the robbery, promising she would be by the shop with some of the money owed to him for work done on her husband's '47 Chevy. True to her word, she arrived two hours after the robbery with cash in hand.
In the newspaper story, Mrs. Harris was described as "very nice," "friendly," and "cheerful." The newspaper, as you'd expect, offered no description of the '47 Chevy.
Is This Your Year to Be in R&C?
Do you want a Rod & Custom Top Tin award? Would you like to see your car in Rod & Custom magazine? Would you like to earn the respect and envy of all your friends? Want to cruise your pride 'n' joy past a crowd of appreciative onlookers as the Goodguys' announcers call out your name and mispronounce your hometown? If so, 2008 might be your lucky year. Rod & Custom editors will be at five Goodguys shows this year, selecting 10 rods and customs at each event as Top Tin winners. In addition to the honors described above, each award recipient will also receive an R&C Top Tin jacket, available only to winners.
R&C will be presenting Top Tin awards at the following Goodguys 2008 events: Nashville Nationals, Nashville, Tn, June 27-29Ppg Nationals, Columbus, Oh, July 11-13West Coast Nationals, Pleasanton, Ca, August 22-24Lone Star Nationals, Fort Worth, Tx, October 3-5Nostalgia Nationals, Bowling Green, Ky, October 17-19
For information on how we pick the winners, check out our Web site at logs.rodandcustommagazine.com/6222057/editorials/how-r-c-picks-award-winners. For details on the events themselves, go to www.good-guys.com.
Alex Xydias To Be Honored
When we think about lifetime achievers in the extensive hobby of hot rodding, a few names come to mind. One from the back of the alphabet that belongs at the top of the list is Alex Xydias. It should be no surprise then that he has been selected to receive the 2008 Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award, presented at the Hotrod & Restoration Trade Show, February 28 through March 1 in Indianapolis.
The award was established by the Petersen Automotive Museum and the Hotrod & Restoration organization to "recognize an individual who has contributed significantly to the growth and well-being of the hot-rod and restoration markets." What better choice than Alex? He may be best known as the founder of SO-CAL Speed Shop, but his involvement goes back to his youthful beginning of a lifelong participation in-and contribution to-virtually every aspect of the hobby and sport. Some of the most famous and best hot rods ever were his. His SO-CAL belly tanker was built to compete at the dry lakes, where it set records and then broke the records it had set. He was involved at Bonneville since the beginning, starting with the SO-CAL Special streamliner. Later, the famous SO-CAL '34 coupe-built for the new sport of drag racing-also set records at the salt flats.
Alex opened SO-CAL Speed Shop in 1946 and operated the business until 1961. A couple years later he got into publishing as the editor of Car Craft magazine. He later worked on the Hot Rod Industry News and was director of the Petersen Trade Show, which became the SEMA Show. SO-CAL Speed Shop eventually reopened, of course, and Alex continues to be associated with the shop.
"I am really overwhelmed by this wonderful honor," Xydias remarked. "I am blessed to have been part of hot rodding for 70 years. To join my friend, Wally Parks, and the other recipients of the Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award is quite literally a dream come true."
We Need Event Photographers
Speaking of event coverage, we've been trying to figure out how to show our readers more events from around the country. There are shows all over that we'd love to attend but just can't. So, we'd like you to help us out and get some recognition for some of the shows in the process. If you have good digital photos from a hot rod/custom show that you'd like to share, send us a CD, and we'll post the photos on our Web site. We'd love to see photos from Back to the '50s, Frog Follies, Hunnert Car Pile-Up, and other prominent events. We'd also love to see small shows like your club's annual fun run. Send some information about the show, along with your name and phone number, to Rod & Custom, 774 S. Placentia Ave., Placentia, CA 92870.
Can Your Kid Drive?
If you have teenage kids, you've probably already encouraged them to get involved in hot rodding. But, there's more to hot rodding than learning how to build cars-there's learning how to drive them.
Driver's Edge is a non-profit organization that has created an upbeat, high-energy driver education program, designed to appeal to young drivers. Whereas high-school driver's ed teaches young people the ABCs of operating a motor vehicle, Driver's Edge is designed to teach them how to actually drive a car in real-world situations. The professional driving instructors are drawn from various corners of the world of motorsports and are qualified to instruct students in defensive driving techniques, such as skid control, collision avoidance, controlled panic-stopping, and more.
Driver's Edge will be taking its free half-day program to numerous cities around the country this year. To find the national tour stops for 2008, go to www.driversedge.org.