Kickin' Rocks

with Don Pennington

F2 Bar Spinners, Grease Balls and Wally

There are things in this world that we all hang our hats on, things that are cast in concrete as part of where we came from and is key to why we do what we do. Everybody's make-up is a pile of stuff like things your mother told you that you shouldn't do, things your old man swears to emboss that famous cat paw pattern in your backside if you are caught doing, and things that your buddies require you to do to join the club. No matter the source of the memory, it sticks real good and will haunt you as things that continue to embarrass you and things that give you the big smilie because it was really really cool. And then there are those things, the small things, that fill in the picture, things like banana splits that are made with three different flavors of ice cream instead of just vanilla with different toppings, believing that Levis hold grease better than others, and oil cans made of metal so it takes a real man to crush with his hands.

It's important to have these things in your brain and use them as often as possible to keep the infidels off the wall. You need to think about what makes you buzz and bring them up to keep your world cooler that it usually is. Things like... when you were 13 sitting in your bedroom with the shades pulled down leaving a tiny slit so you and your buddies can peep out undetected, watching to see your jerk neighbors reaction when he comes out and sees someone has swiped his ‘55 Buick 2 bar spinner hubcaps... again. Or maybe it's the neighbor's daughter you are watching (years later she would tell you she knew you were watching because that was the only time you pulled the shade down). It's these "fillers" that put the candy red toner on the base coat.

We are so lucky to be around so many people that think they are the coolest of the cool. We are being infiltrated by normal people, people that have never owned a hot rod suddenly think it would be fun to have one, just once, sell their extra Saab and get what they believe to be a "roadster" (which most of us call a 3 window, hey Saaby... if it's got a steel roof it ain't a roadster). They even get tatoos although they are easily covered up for the Monday through Friday deal, or they wash off. There are these guys trying to "pass" to get in on the fun others have worked long and hard to provide, and then there are the guys that don't need hype, like Wally Parks. I know this sounds like it's coming out of left field, but Wally is my hero, along with Spideeman and Wonderwoman's costumer. A promoter, risk taker, visionary, and a damn lucky guy. Most of us consider a risk as buying this or that and hopefully turning a little profit. Wally was there at the beginning of hot rodding, before NHRA and all that cash, he was an SCTA officer numerous times, editor of Hot Rod Magazine in it's earliest days, pushed... without end... that hot rodders are not hooligans, talked up the benefits of organized hot rodding to community leaders, street pounded a ‘29 hiboy roadster pick-up among umteen others, drove a bunch of fast race cars, and lest we forget... was one of the guys that put the Bonneville deal together in 1949. As things evolved guys wanted to race as often as possible and just a bit closer than the overnight drive to the lakes, street racing found a home at local airports and wide open roads when not between stop lights. The reason for all this is to point out that Wally is an okay guy, and we may just owe ALL OF THIS TO HIM!

Some things we don't owe to Wally, let's see, there is.....and then there is....I can't think of anything. I can't imagine how the Dooms Day Sooth Sayers of the early 50's would have stopped the spread of hot rodding, but it could have happened. Wally was a big part of presenting the good side, but the snowball was way down the hill and was rolling too fast to be stopped. The guys coming back from WW2 grabbed every car in sight and started racing. The dry lakes boomed and Bonneville was way cool. "Wow, you went to Bonneville! That is way cool man!"  The hi performance industry began years earlier, nearly died during the war, but sprang back to life overnight, doubled and then doubled again and again. Even the cornerstone people like Vic Edelbrock closed down during the way, moved home and were kept from making their stuff because of the restrictions put on raw materials....not to mention many of them were in uniform.  The new wave of rodders was met with newspaper articles coast to coast pitchin' on the hooligan hot rodders terrorizing the streets, playing that loud rock and roll music and corrupting all the young girls. Oh my goodness... I am amazed we all survived... and became Senators and stuff!

So hot rodding got cool, grew into a major industry and even has made a place for the unwashed to play, Saabites and the like. But there are some people who just don't care about all that, all they know is that this is where they are and they want their piece, heritage be damned. These guys are easy to spot, they think tennis shoes are deck shoes and come in colors or they cut a car to the point of pissing people off, get a tattoo and grease down to push a life style, or they just melt into the background and become car dealers. All have one thing in common, they are not here to live hot rodding, they are here to let hot rodding be their stage for whatever they do. The life style seems to be the thing, the cars are an excuse. But having been taught to turn the other cheek and respect others opinions, that's what we do after all. All kinds of people doin' all kinds of stuff keep the hot rod thing spinning. There are real hot rodders who wear Keds and have tattoos, and some don't. What's the matter with these people? If we are not careful they will destroy all that we know to be normal. Soon these hooligans will be terrorizing our streets, playing loud rock and roll music and ravaging the women, we need to make a law or something, have town meetings and get the newspapers to do those splash fun headlines.... "Hot Rodders On Rampage...Build Multi Billion Dollar Industry", and a picture showing a group caught in the act.  If you look closely I think you'll see Wally and Gary and Vic and other risk takers in there with a hot rod flathead logo or lady luck tattooed on their arms. Be tolerant and multiply, well you don't have to be tolerant but the multiplying could be fun.