T Bucket, It had Kids Dreaming...

Let's rewind life a little. Do you remember walking or riding your bike home from school in 7th or 8th grade? Stop for a minute and reminisce about that feeling of freedom on a Friday afternoon, a warm breeze on your face, the thought of knowing you had two days with your buddies, watching TV at night, or building model cars,  before returning to the classroom.

One clearly etched memory from that time walking home was the anticipation of watching "77 Sunset Strip", a private eye series running Friday night on the ol' black and white. With it, one of my young idols, "Kookie", the car hop at Deno's Lodge. Kookie delivered the bitchin' rides to the customers as they left the restaurant. Only one word summed him up...Cool! But, what made him the coolest of all, was his own personal badass "T Bucket" that he drove on the series for all of America to see. Hot rodding had somewhat now been legitimatized by making it on 'prime time'. How did it happen?

Norm Grabowski poised with his creation, the T Bucket, "Kookie Kar."

Porsche 944 GTR 003 / Time with...Vic Ofner

With a previous post on the Porsche 944 GTR 003 generating so much interest, here is an interview with the Alan Johnson Motorsports team crew chief, Vic Ofner.

Looking back to 1986-1987, a little background. The Porsche 944 GTR was a made in the USA race car designed to do battle in SCCA club events, IMSA, and Trans-Am. It's probably one of the rarest of Porsche race cars made. Al Holbert, Porsches racing boss in the U.S. at the time, came up with the idea, and Dave Klym of FABCAR designed and built seven cars to represent Porsche's newest model, the 944 Turbo.

Read on to hear what Vic Ofner had this to say...

Vic Ofner with the Alan Johnson Motorsport 944 GTR 003 at a SCCA race held at Carlsbad Raceway, 1987.
 Image © Vic Ofner

Porsche 944 GTR 003 / It's two year racing history...

It was 1985 and the Porsche 962's were battling it out on the IMSA circuit in America. However in SCCA, Porsche only had the aging Speedsters, Roadsters and 914's to hold up it's banner. Enter Al Holbert, the American Porsche racing boss with the idea to run a new car to represent the marque. How about a Porsche 944 GTR Turbo? The factory had no interest, so what to do? Build the new car in the U.S. out of bits and pieces from the Porsche racing parts bin. Fabricator, Dave Klym in Tucker, Georgia was contracted to design and build the project.

The car took shape at first as a wide body fiberglass silhouette 944, the later look was a 944 turbo, all of this built on a square tube frame with coil over suspension. It used 962 bits, a 928 torque tube, a Hewland transaxle and a specially built 944 Turbo engine. McLaren Engines in Michigan did the development work on the engines but Andial in So-Cal took over and bettered them. The independent teams to run the cars were to do the R & D to make them competitive.

Next enter, ex-racer and Porsche Dealer, Alan Johnson in San Diego who stepped to the plate to take on SCCA. A team was put together including, Don Jones, Vic Ofner, Pat Scanlan, myself, and Robbin Herring handling the teams PR. The driver was, three time SCCA National Champion, Tom Brennan from Danville, IL. We were now off to the races.

1986, our original team with the Porsche 944 GTR at Carlsbad Raceway.
L.to R. Vic Ofner, myself, Pat Scanlan and Don Jones.
Image © "Along For The Ride"

Saturday Morning Outing...

Saturday morning and it is happening everywhere. It's a gathering of like minded guys and girls that take their rides out to show what they have, rat rods, billet cars, barn finds, concour cars, you tag it. A time to take the cover off, fire them up and head out for a 'Cup of Joe.' They're normally called, "Cars and Coffee" and a place to meet up with buddies or make new ones.

The weather here was great, so how could there be any resistance? I turned the key and headed out to make some new friends. Google a "Cars & Coffee" and find one close to you.

C'Bad's gathering in Carlsbad is held every Saturday, the large ones, the last Saturday of the Month, 7-9 am.
Image © "Along For The Ride"

More info on this gathering, can be found here.

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BANG 'EM Hard / Bumper Cars

Shuffling along during the set-up day at the San Diego Auto Show, my foot hit an unstitched seam in the red carpet, and stopped me with a jolt. My head whipped around turning to the side rattling my teeth. Then with a raised eyebrow, to convey a reappraisal of what was in front of me, I saw old bumper cars...restored old bumper cars on steroids. How cool is this, which deserved further investigation.

They were Tom Wright's rescued Auto-Skooters and Dodgems from the Long Beach Pike Amusement Park. Tom restored the bodies and mounted them on a frames with four cylinder Honda's or Kawasaki 750's. He started with two, and now has a fleet of these So-Cal beasts. They are street legal and a couple have a claimed top speed of 160 mph, if you have the huevos. The only thing I would miss, is the creepy sparking sound that they made when the arm rubbed on the electrified metal ceiling. This got me to thinkin' about how these started.

Tattooed Windows / Burger Run 2012

What do you do when you get to a show first thing in the morning, chill in the air and there are 700 plus cars? If you're like me, first look for your buddies to hang with, grab a bacon cheese burger to drag along...then start checking out the badass rides. At a recent show, called the "Burger Run" in Vista, California that's just what we did.

Unleash that '57 Chevy.
Image © Along For The Ride

Way too many cars to shoot, so here are some tattooed windows, enjoy...

One Fast Lady / Betty Skelton

Once in a great while, someone comes along that turns the car culture on its ear. Betty Skelton not only turned it, she up-righted it. Her parents knew she was different because she was fascinated watching airplanes flying above her house and would rather play with models of planes instead of dolls. The handwriting was on the wall, she began taking flying lessons at age 10, had a private license at 16, and was a flight instructor at 18. She was addicted to speed and became a daredevil pilot, who was a three-time National Aerobatics Champion, which lead her to fast cars.

By 1951 Betty had become friends with Bill France Sr., the founder of NASCAR. Bill talked her into driving the pace car at the Daytona Beach Speed Week. At that point, she was the first woman granted a race driver's license by the Automobile Association of America. This lead her to be hired by Dodge to set a stock car record for women in a 1954 Hemi-powered Dodge Ram V8 on that same beach. Suddenly she had a new career, the first woman to be a test driver for the auto industry. The following year, 1955, Betty headed to the Bonneville Salt Flats as part of the Dodge team that set 395 new records during a 14 day endurance test. in 1956, General Motors and Corvette attracted her to become a spokeswoman for Chevrolet by appearing at auto shows, television commercials and national print advertisements. The Corvette bug had struck, and more was to come for Betty.

PR shot for her favorite car, the Corvette. Image, General Motors Media Archive

Pork Juice and Burnin' Rubber

For New Years Day most were thinking about going to the gym, Jenny Craig, or some other worthy diet goal. That's not for me! It was a "Burn Out Party," with pig-roast, all the fixings, friends, lots of smoke, open header noise and a little mayhem. Upon receiving an invite from my buddie Jon Guilmet, to Mike Hayden's annual New Years Day party for hot rodders, racers, and badass fast cars...how could I say, no.

This was the fourth year for this gathering at Mike's house, race car shop and "burn-out" strip for a worthy cause. Collect donations for the "Wounded Warriors Project" and have fun doing it. Picture this, Mike has a concrete hundred yard strip in front of his house to test cars he builds for customers. How bitchin' is that? Add to that, the "Shafters" a car club from Fallbrook that kept the hospitality going strong and one could see there was something special sitting back and watching the camaraderie at this party, the smiles never left, even with a blown tranny or two, and a dropped drive shaft on another. Oh yeah, you know you're having a great party, when the Sheriff shows up packin' heat. That just slowed us down in time to dig into the slow cooked gourmet grub donated by "pit-master" and racer, George Sevelle, along with his wife, Lani and son Cas, with help from Liz Dely. Then back on the strip after the bellies were full.

Some of you may have heard about the car club, "Shafters," for those of you who have not, it was started in 1949 by prominent drag racer, Dode Martin along with some friends. The club is out of Fallbrook, California and is still going full on, under the leadership of president "Clint" Campbell.

What better way to start the New Year with friends, for a great cause...thanks Mike for the good time!

Mike Hayden's "Burn-Out-Party." Image © "Along For The Ride"

Knowing When To Click / Bill Garrett

Knowing when to pull the trigger on the camera is only part of the art of photography. Also important is the composition of the shot, the lighting, the subject, a computer, and the ability to deliver something that's not just a snapshot of car culture.

One of my blogging buddies is capturing the sub-cultures within the sub-culture, within our culture. Bill Garrett has been taking great shots, that he's been posting on his blog. It's certainly worth taking a look. Check out some of these shots...bitchin' stuff.

Speed Shops / Karl and Veda Orr's

This little jewel of a "Speed Shop" looks kinda' lonely sitting there. Well why wouldn't it, it's one of the first Speed Shops that came along to help ignite the world of hot rodding. This is Karl and Veda Orr's shop that opened up in 1940 in Los Angeles after George Wight's Bells Auto Parts in 1923, Lee Chapel's shop in 1929 and Jim White's in 1932 years before the postwar hot rod boom. Orr's shop quickly became a hangout for local hot rodders as it was considered one of the best.

Karl ran his shop as a mechanic, parts supplier and early member of the SCTA(Southern California Timing Association). Both Karl and Veda were racers, however before WWII women were not allowed to belong to the SCTA. This did not stop Veda, as men went off to war and with her interest in racing on dry lakes, she introduced her own "California Timing" news publication pictorial featuring popular race cars of the period that she produced at the shop. When SCTA's activities were put on hold during the war, she extended her "CT" news to a special-interest mailer sent to hot rod interested military servicemen gratis, at least to ones she could locate. It was a little touch of home.

"She was the glue that held hot rodding together during the war years." - Tom Medley

Veda was granted membership to SCTA after the war and the speed shop continued at the original location in Culver City until it closed sometime in the 50's. The shop was reopened in the 60's on Sierra Highway in Mint Canyon, California.

The Deuce sitting outside the Culver City Speed Shop. Notice the track car inside the shop on the left.

That Time of Year...

Well as the blog finishes it's second year, I would like to take the opportunity to thank each and every reader, subscriber, friend and devotee to "Along For The Ride" and wish you all, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas with a cartoon that harkens back to the likes of Ed Roth....

Finishing the first year there were 15,000 clicks to the blog...finishing the second year there were 65,000 clicks from readers all over the world; the U.S. leading the way, then in order, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, France, Netherlands, Italy, Brazil, Spain, Japan, Kuwait, Turkey, Slovenia, Mexico and others. Keep the faith, please share with a friend and keep on reading.

If you have old stories or photos to parcel out to others, please let me know. Email me here.

Now it's time to suck it up and head into year three...

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Bonneville / A Case Study in Experimentation

The salt has called many a driver, and in 1966 it was Tom Bruch's turn with his 1956, 356 Porsche Speedster. However, this was a return trip after the previous year there with a VW, he had obviously caught the "Bonneville bug." It seems that once a driver touches the salt, he's destined to find his way back one way or another and why not, the Speedster was a more aerodynamic shape.

Back in those days drivers experimented without the aid of computers with engine modifications, such as "scrapers" to pull the oil off the cranks, cams, head designs as well as other engine tweaks, and including body aerodynamics. It was a giant test lab and still is today.

"You are trying to get the most out of whatever cc's you are playing with, but it's not just the engines and horsepower...you have to look at the whole system, which includes aerodynamics, gearing, and even the weather."- Tom Bruch

Dick Koenig did a wonderful interview with Tom that was published through the excellent  "356 Registry" in 2001 along with photos from, Carter Kudrle and Mark Bouljon. It's a great read about the ingenuity that Bonneville competitors are up for. You can find the full story by clicking here.

The Bonneville crew; L to R, Dr. John Dickinson, Tom Bruch, Carter Kudrle and Howard "Bud" Jackson with the Speedster in 1966 sporting Goodyear "Blue Streak" tires.