Memory Jog
First off, I'd like to say, awesome magazine! I'm a faithful reader from my junior high school days (OK, it was only in '89, I'm a late bloomer). Anyhow, I picked up the Jan. '09 issue and was intrigued by the '55 Chevy featured. Where have I seen it before? Was it the '58 Ford side trim, the canted quads, the toothy grin, or maybe the in-dash TV? Then it hit me. This was the car I had drooled over as a young'un that my dad had taken a picture of in 1968 at the Lethbridge, Alberta, indoor car show. He was 18 at the time and was impressed at the tangerine '55, as he had one of his own at the time. The Circuit Breaker was a hit at that show. I've enclosed the photos from that show with hopes you might find them interesting enough to show fellow readers. The car shows of those days inspired not only my dad, but he inspired me to turn our family into custom car fans. My wife and I built a Larry Watson-inspired '56 Ford Kustom, and our kids love it. Thanks as well to R&C. Well, you did get me through high school!
Jason and Cindy Schreiber
Medicine Hat, Alberta
BonneVille Bound
Boy! Rub salt in the wound, will ya? I thoroughly enjoyed reading about rodders' travels to Bonneville for the 60th SpeedWeek (R&C February 2009). It hurt that I wasn't among them. The best laid plans were laid low just two days before I was to leave for the Salt from Maryland in 33 COOP in the form of a piece of metal hammering the tops of the pistons of the 392...back to the drawing board. Haste doth indeed make waste! Oh well, there's always 2009.
In 2006, I drove my '33 Plymouth out to the Salt for SpeedWeek (as a spectator), left the car in Denver, and returned for the USFRA's World of Speed to try for the 130 MPH Club. Just missed it because of too small of a carburetor for the gearing (four runs from 127.2 to 128.6) and then drove it back to Maryland. That was my High Sodium Diet odyssey and I was planning to return with dual quads this year to make it for sure.
To all the rodders out there who've been thinking of driving to Bonneville: DO IT! Bonneville is otherworldly and the experience will change you for sure. Salt fever is real and I love it!
Jim Ireland, aka Irish Jr.
Via E-mail
Road-Worthy
I just wanted to comment on the '53 Ford ragtop featured in Rod & Custom's February '09 issue. What a beautiful car, and finally a feature car with decently sized wheels, a great stance, and road height. It's refreshing to see coverage on a car like this instead of the bizarre vehicles so prevalent in American hot rodding today. I'd much rather look at a tasteful custom than one with the ground clearance of a power mower. Thanks for the article and photos.Roy Olson
Tucson, AZ
Birth Of A Comeback
Thanks for the article on Bud Bryan. I had the privilege to see his highboy up close and personal at the Street Rod Nationals in Memphis in 1971. I'll step out on a limb and say that car inspired the rebirth of the '29 highboy. I looked back at the pictures I took at the first Nats in Peoria and the Nationals coverage in the November 1970 Rod & Custom, and I did not see any '29 highboys. Bud's car and Jake's cars provide inspiration and ideas for my own Model As, and the motivation to log thousands of miles all over the Midwest. Bud's new project is living proof that we never recover from cars. Thanks for the memories.
Bob Galbraith
Via E-mail