411 For 4/1www.halfbakery.com/category/carThis page, one of plenty in the elaborate halfbakery.com Web site, takes you to more than 100 categories, each relating to some aspect of automobiles or driving (engine cooling, recreational driving, and speed control to name three). Clicking on a category takes you to a variety of technical innovations and suggestions, many of which will be new to even experienced automotive enthusiasts. The format is a variation on message boards, with contributions from registered users. It's hard to explain. Just check it out for yourself. All we can say is, the ideas may not all be good, but there sure are a lot of them.
Yesterday's Young Guns"This photo is of me and my channeled '34 Ford coupe which I constructed from 1961 to 1965. I was 25 years of age when it was finished. I built it mostly for show and go; however, I never raced it because there were no strips close by. The body was channeled 7 inches at the doors. It had '40 Ford brakes and a warmed-up '49 Mercury flatmotor with Fenton 2x2-barrels and Offy heads. The '39 gearbox had L-Z gears. The interior was all rolled/pleated white Naugahyde. It also had some of the first Astro chrome reversed wheels. It was a nice handling road car and I had to watch my speed on many occasions. The car won several trophies. It was sold in 1970 to help finance a house down payment when I got married. I miss the car and the sound of that flatmotor at speed very much, but that is life in the fast lane." -Ralph Casper, Manhattan, KS
If you've got photos of you and your hot rod from the '40s, '50s, or '60s, mail them, along with a brief story, to: Yesterday's Young Guns, ROD & CUSTOM, 2400 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim, CA 92806, or E-mail them (3x5 inches at 300 dpi) to timothy.bernsau@primedia.com.
Dave Lane Wins in VegasWinning in Vegas isn't easy. They could pave the Strip with the nickels the R&C staff drops in the slots. Our favorite reason for going to Vegas isn't gambling; it's attending the SEMA Show in November to hobnob with aftermarket parts manufacturers, check out the latest automotive products, and go to the SRMA banquet. The Street Rod Marketing Alliance (SRMA), a branch of SEMA dedicated to the street rod market, hosts this event every year in order to honor outstanding contributors to this hobby and industry. At the '03 SRMA banquet, rod builder Dave Lane, owner of FastLane Rod Shop in Donohue, Iowa, was awarded the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association's Trendsetter Award, presented annually to an up-and-coming individual or company.
Dave's name and his outstanding rods are already familiar to R&C readers. He built the flamed green '32 roadster that George Poteet drove in the first Asphalt Ego-Rama event in 2001. The black '32 five-window coupe he recently built for Poteet was featured in our January issue and won Ford Motor Company's Excellence in Design award and Mothers Polishes Excellence in Design award at the SEMA Show. That car was also Goodguys' Street Rod of the Year for 2003. Dave had no clue he would be receiving the Trendsetter Award (he wasn't even planning to attend the SRMA banquet until Poteet insisted) and upon receiving it, he was genuinely surprised by the prestigious honor. We weren't surprised at all. Congratulations, Dave. Don't get a swelled head now.