The California Hot Rod ~ Survival of the Fittest on the Desert Dry Lakes 1945-2010
“It didn’t make any difference to me whether I thought the airplane would go faster than sound. I was assigned as a test pilot on it, and it was my duty to fly it…”
~ Chuck Yeager
“Some dang fool gave me a roadster when I was 14 and ruined my whole cotton-pickin’ life”, begins Dick Kraft on his entry into the world of California Hot Rods. “Then, I had a ‘29 Model A with Kelseys and a Winfield head that I paid for by working on the family ranches. I wasn’t getting anywhere [with the four-banger] so I bought a ‘32 roadster with side mounts and 18-inch wheels for $200. In high school, we had a car club called the Plutocrats. Every Saturday night, we would street race to hold [onto] our number-one status.” Street racing was (and is), is a part of Hot Rod History. The Legends of the Sport didn’t become heroes by collecting stamps – as kids they were racers…” ~ Dick Kraft
Dick Kraft fires his '27 T Modified ~ El Mirage Dry Lake 1948
Although The Birth of California Hot Rodding pre-dates WWII, on the Dry Lakes & on the Streets of California ~ The War actually accelerated the growth of the Sport. With the Further Development of the Ford Flathead V-8 engine – The U.S. Army ran ’em in their Tanks and the larger displacement Lincolns and Packard engines ended up in America’s PT-Boats and Fighter Planes. All sorts of bits from the California Aircraft Industry ended up in Hot Rods after the War, including the Pilots. Indeed the ‘Belly Tank’ Dry Lakes first ‘StreamLiners’ were fabricated from the auxiliary fuel tanks used by WWII Fighter planes like the Lockheed P-38, One BadAss California Hot Rod in its Own Right, but that’s Another Story…
55th Air Group Ground Crew with 150 Gallon Drop Tanks at Nuthampstead, England ~ 16 November 1943
After 5 years of Hell-Bent Survival of the Fittest on Land, Sea & Air, California Boys had to find a way to Quench the Need for Speed, and California Hot Rodders took to the Air & Land in the Dry Desert Air in the Pursuit of Performance ~
The 1st 'Belly Tank' Lakester built by Bill Burke 1946 ~ Lots of WWII Surplus Gear All 'Round
California HotRodder Don Montgomery, 1948 ~ sporting a pair of WWII-style Bausch & Lomb Air Force issue shades, the 1st 'Ray-Bans'
And Indeed 65 Years Later, The Survival of the Fittest California Dry Lakes Hot Rods reached what Most Aficionados would consider the Pinnacle of Automotive High Style ~ The Hallowed Ground of the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance, 2010. The Iconic California Dry Lakes Roadsters And ‘Belly Tankers’ have since been restored to the Nth Degree… Far More Refined & Coveted in their Appearance than the All-Business Originals. However what Really Shines Through the Gloss, Pomp & Circumstance, The Caviar & the Champagne of the Greens of Pebble Beach is This. The California HotRodders, after enduring Years of Toil, War, Death & Destruction, came home to California to Create a Culture that was celebrated Then & Today for the Pursuit of Engineering, Design & Performance Excellence in the Thin Air Desert Dry Lakes of California ~
So-Cal Speed Shop '32 Deuce Roadster ~ Santa Ana Drags, 1950 & on the Streets of L.A., 2010
The So-Cal Speed Shop Team makes the Cover, 1950., & The So-Cal Speed Shop 'Belly-Tanker' today, Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance 2010
The Evans Equipt '27 T-Bucket Modified Roadster ~ El Mirage 1950 & Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance 2010
BadAss California HotRod 59AB Maxed-Out Merc Flatheads ~ State of the Art in 1950
Perhaps the Greatest Honour that can be bestowed on these California HotRods today is after years of racing, knuckle-busting, scraped together with bits leftover from Woe-Begotten World-War II Surplus by Men toiling in the California Desert Dust, Heat & Cold in the Pursuit of nothing more than Every Last Bit of Speed…Years of Neglect & Idleness, and finally these Rolling Works of Art take their place beside the Bugattis, Ferraris, Mercedes & Duesenbergs of the Classic Automotive Stratosphere, representing their Time & Place as California Art ~
The Shadoff Special/CT StreamLiner ~ World Speed Record Holder, Bonneville 1953 & Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance 2010
Special Thanks to Jalopy Journal.com /H.A.M.B. , Kustomrama.com, and Jimmy Bs 1925 Chev’s photostream on http://www.flickr.com for photos in the post ~
Federico de California 