Their Formula 1-inspired '62 Corvette astonished participants in the Street Challenge Autocross at the Goodguys Nats in Columbus and was named Goodguys/RideTech '09 Street Machine of the Year. But it's not all Corvettes and muscle cars in Mundelein. Visit the "Current Projects" page at www.roadstershop.com to find a '31 Model A five-window on Deuce rails, a Speed33 roadster with a hand-fabricated aluminum track nose and injected Nailhead mill, and other cars and trucks from the '30s, '40s, and '50s.
SEMA Person of the Year: Doug Evans
Speaking of people earning honors, Doug Evans, Performance Automotive Group senior vice president at Source Interlink (owner of STREET RODDER), is the '09 SEMA Person of the Year. Doug has worked in publishing for almost 30 years and has served on the SEMA Political Action Committee, which brings legislative issues to the attention of enthusiasts in our hobby and represents our interests to local and national politicians. Here at SR, he's the only guy allowed to tell Brian Brennan what to do. He'd probably tell him not to print this news item, but we'll sneak it in and hope he doesn't notice. Congratulations Doug.
Go Rat Pacer
Leave it to the combined imaginations of Joe Molina and the crew at Galpin Auto Sport (GAS), to combine one of America's most ridiculed cars with one of hot rodding's most ridiculed styles by applying rat rod aethestics to an AMC Pacer.
"Think Wayne's World meets Mad Max," suggests Pacer owner Joe. "Hot rodding can take itself too seriously-and what's less serious than a rat rod AMC Pacer?"
Galpin Auto Sports in Van Nuys, California, is well-known as the home shop for the Pimp my Ride television show, as well as the shop that bought and restored Ed Roth's Orbitron about a year ago.
"This is a project we couldn't resist," explained Beau Boeckmann of GAS. "It's always fun to create something different and irreverent, a car that tweaks conventional wisdom and pokes a little fun at the pretensions of high-dollar hot rods."
The Pacer has been upgraded with a whole checklist of rat rod-style elements, including Moon discs, wide whites, skull shifter knob, skull door lock caps, skull 'n' crossbones hood graphics, Rat Fink antenna ball, and the obligatory flat black primer. The extensive retro pinstriping was brushed by Dave Shuten, who oversaw the Orbitron revival. The finishing touch is the novelty horn that plays "La Cucaracha," so that blind people can enjoy it too.
Corner Gaffe Station
In the feature story on Ricky Tedesco's Model A pickup ("Ricky's Ride" in the STREET RODDER Feb. '10 issue), it was stated ". . . with some estimates putting the production run of trucks in 1929 at over 1.5 million units." We meant to say that the production total for all Model As in 1929 was 1.5 million units. We regret the inaccuracy.
In a "Street Corner" item in the same issue, we reported that Bobby Green set a Bonneville landspeed record in V4F/FS, the four-banger Fuel Streamliner class. Reader Fred Lobello informed us that the Old Crow Speed Shop belly tank ran in V4F/GS, a Gas class.
Fred Lobello, we should point out, knows a bit about racing 'bangers at Bonneville. A member of the Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame, he's been building and racing these engines since he was a teenager and has been running a Fuel Lakester with a Riley four-port since 1958, with a best time of 189 mph. He ran a Winfield head in his '32 roadster in 1947 and plans to run the same cylinder head (and new rollcage and canopy) in the Lakester class at Bonneville this summer. He recently celebrated his 88th birthday.