Street Rod Car Show At Pebble Beach - The Monterey Weekend

The Guldahl-Henderson RoadsterRalph Guldahl and Pete Henderson's roadster, like so many others, changed many times through the years. Restored now to the way it looked in the '40s, it will always be known as "the hot rod that beat the racehorse." Legend has it a cowboy with a quick quarter horse won many bets challenging hot cars in 1944. With Henderson driving, this was the only car that could beat the horse.

Henderson purchased the speedy '32 from Don Casselman, when it was equipped with a Don Blair-built, bored and stroked, twin-carbed, Bertrand cam-equipped Flathead. It also featured a chopped top, mechanical brakes, and wire wheels. Henderson sold the car in 1946, and, for a time, Manny Ayulo and Jack McGrath drove it and it competed on CRA circle tracks. Miraculously, the well-used roadster survived racing to become a noted street highboy, evolving in style, with bobbed rear fenders by Art Chrisman, a 265-cid Chevy, baby moon caps, and wide whites

Later, it was channeled, powered by a Buick V-8, and further modified before its present owner purchased it. Thankfully, its true identity was discovered, and Chuck and Mike Longley restored it to its 1944 guise-now it's ready to take on that quarter horse again.

The Walker Morrison Roadster Although Walker "Mo" Morrison's ever-so-sharp ride only appeared in Hop Up magazine in 1952 and shown in a one-page feature in Fawcett Publications' "Best Hot Rods," it made a lasting impression on many hot rodders (including this author). A trim highboy with a neat white top, it packed a full-race 284-cid Flathead with Evans heads and triple manifold, Vertex magneto, and a Winfield Super 1A cam. Fed by Belond tri-Y headers, discrete lakes pipes ran under the 'rails, exiting in mid-chassis.

Finished in dark maroon with plated hairpins by Doane Spencer, it was a perfectly completed rod, at home on the street or at the lakes where it turned 134.50 mph. A full leather interior was complemented by an Auburn dash panel with Stewart Warner instruments.

After Morrison sold his roadster in 1953, it traveled to Colorado, and then disappeared for decades. Unearthed, verified, and restored by Jack Stirnemann in his St. Louis shop, it debuted at Pebble Beach as a remarkable example of '50s-era ingenuity and craftsmanship.

The Paul Fitzgerald Roadster
New England Hot Rod Hall of Fame member Paul "Fitzy" Fitzgerald's '32 roadster typifies the hot rod that was always being improved. Fitzgerald started with a Flathead, evolved through progressively wilder engines, then upgraded to a series of Chevy V-8s. Never satisfied, he engineered a detachable front subframe and independent front suspension. His car was featured in national magazines-not an easy feat for a Boston-area roadster.

Shown and raced extensively, this car decisively won its class in the New England Championships three years running, 1954-56. In 1957-58, it won the Belknap and Mt. Equinox Hill Climbs, competing and thoroughly thrashing many sports cars. A frequent Best Engineered Car trophy winner, it was always being improved. It was a challenge for Fitzgerald to take his car back to 1959 specs, but he agreed to do so for Pebble. Now that it's over, Fitzy's Deuce will be updated again; that's the way this super-active engineer likes it.

The Carl Stone Roadster
Carl Stone's full-fendered Rollin' Stone Deuce won the Street Roadster class at the 1957 NHRA Nationals with a 109.05-mph pass in 13.32 seconds. Featured in Hot Rod and Rod & Custom, it was subsequently sold to finance Stone's next hot rod. A street car for a few years, it passed through several owners before Stone was able to buy it back in 1979.

After Stone died, the roadster went through several hands before it passed to Jerry Hill, who wanted Jim Smith at The Hot Rod Garage in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, to transform it into a high-tech rod. Recognizing this significant car and appreciating its racing history, Smith refused. Fortunately, Steve Kormondy had the roadster redone to resemble the way it appeared half a century ago, complete with Rollin' Stone graphics. Despite a few modern upgrades, we think Stone would have been pleased.

The Chuck Adams Roadster
Chuck Adams, a Dallas native, built a '32 roadster for the street in 1946 while he was an Air Force captain, and then he stripped the car when he started his business, Custom Automotive, and raced it at Bonneville. Running a 296-cid Mercury stroker at the Salt Flats in 1951, Adam turned 136.363 mph on alcohol in the C Roadster class, and the following year ran a creditable 152.57 mph.

Mitchell Rasansky bought the '32 from Adams in 1956, and has owned it ever since. He drag-raced it at Caddo Mills in the late '50s as the Mitchell Auto Company Special (complete with Donald Duck motif), turning speeds in the 128-mph range in 10.51 seconds-good enough to win the Middle Eliminator award many times. Rasansky has owned this car for half a century, and not many guys can say that about their cars. Donald Duck flat blew 'em away.

It was a thrill to see this great Deuce lineup rumble onto a field filled with multi-million-dollar classics and sports cars, accompanied by cheers from diehards who assemble each year at 6 a.m. to watch the entries take their places. I'll confess, that's always an emotional moment for me. I count "my cars," one by one, as they roll onto the field, and breathe a sigh of relief when they all appear.

Sadly, the Guldahl-Henderson-Longley '32 was badly damaged in transit. Pebble rules permit a car to be judged if minor damage occurs en route to the Concours, but the roadster couldn't be judged because this crunch was so extensive. The Longleys patched up things so people could see the roadster that raced the horse, and new owner Ralph Whitworth has commissioned a full re-restoration.

Hot rod class judging at Pebble Beach this year was handled by yours truly (as chief class judge), along with former drag racer Don Montgomery and talented restorer Avid Grant. It was the toughest class we've ever had, with four virtually perfect cars and several others that were very well done. Pebble Beach uses a 100-point judging system, with three additional points that can be awarded, at the judges' discretion, for racing or show history, engineering, and, yes, even elegance.

In addition, each car that completes the 75-mile Pebble Beach driving tour (held the day before the event) is credited with a point in the event of a tie with a car that didn't do the tour. Besides being fun for spectators, it ensures these cars are actually driven, not just shiny bookends. Pebble Beach is not a "clean-car contest." The entries have to be dead right, of course, but a little honest road dust is OK. (Don't try that at the GNRS or the Detroit Autorama-you'd lose).

It was a very, very close competition. When it was all over, the ex-Lloyd Bakan coupe took Best in Class; the Walker Morrison roadster was second, and the McMullen Deuce was third. The Dean Batchelor Award, honoring the most significant car in the class, went to the Barardini Brothers' roadster. It was great to have Lloyd Bakan and Pat Berardini there-both these hot rod heroes rode over the awards ramp in their old rides along with the proud new owners.

There's always a hint of controversy when judging is so close, and owners are intense competitors. For those of you who remember the Bakan coupe on the cover of Hot Rod in '57, the car appears to be Titian red; but, if you look closely, the models' flesh-tones are intensely pink. Famed photographer Andy Southard produced some photos he took back in the day of the Bakan coupe, and it was definitely an intense burnt-orange hue, so Don Orosco's talented team matched the final finish to Southard's vintage Ektachromes-Bakan confirmed the color was correct.

The Pebble Beach Concours capped an incredible long week in Monterey. The historic races at Laguna Seca featured a wonderful showing of authentic '50s-era Indy cars; at the Friday-Saturday night RM Auctions, Mark Van Buskirk's ex-Jim Khougaz roadster sold for $385,000. The two Tony Nancy drag racing roadsters plus Nancy's famed Wedge and Sizzler dragsters brought big bucks, as did the Frank Kurtis-built Tommy Lee Speedster, a slick little one-of-a-kind boat-tail on a '36 Ford chassis, with a 270-cid Offenhauser 4 under the hood. This car topped 138 mph before the war, running without fenders, and with its original 318-cid Offy.

The hot rod pedal car auction pitted all the top rod builders-such as Brizio, Moal, Trepanier, SO-CAL, and Rolling Bones-against one another, with the proceeds of the customized kiddy cars going to charity. Some of the baby bombers sold for in excess of $35,000! And at the Gooding and Co. Auction on Sunday night, Dave Simard sold the all-original, unrestored, ex-Tom Beatty blown Olds-powered belly tank for an incredible $425,000! Who said hot rods weren't hot?

Hot rods will not be at Pebble Beach next year, but will return in 2009. Proposed classes include '49-51 full-custom Mercs, since several restorations of recognized period classics are underway. Also under consideration is a Legends of the Lakes class that would include historic belly tanks, lakesters, and perhaps a streamliner or two.

But whatever the venue (Pebble, the races, or the auctions), you'll always be guaranteed to see something interesting when you hang out for a week in Monterey.