California Hot Rod Reunion 22
SoCal Diaries W
Former Custom Car editor Tony Thacker lives in California these days, and this month he’s been enjoying the sound of flatheads…
hen Steve Gibbs and Greg Sharp created the California Hot Rod Reunion 30 years ago in 1992, I don’t think either of them imagined the impact it would have on the nostalgia drag racing scene. Indeed Wally Parks, their boss at the time, said: ‘We’re only doing this once.’ That first event, held at Famoso Dragstrip north of Bakersfield, California, attracted a few hundred old racers and their cars and it was truly a reunion. Like Topsy, the event grew and in 2000 Steve coined the word ‘Cacklefest’ to describe the noise made by nitroburning dragsters. ‘We thought it would be neat to push start some cars just like in the old days and thought we might be able to get around six of them to do it,’ he said. ‘We ended up with nine and the next year we doubled in size.’ It continued to grow. In 2016, Steve moved on to form his own Nitro Revival event and sadly the Reunion has never recovered. It was always described as a car show with a race on the side – but for a number of reasons, it has evolved over the years into a race with a car show on the side.
Some people might not agree with the spectacle of ‘Back Up Girls’ but they certainly add to the show. This year’s crop had a Playboy bunny theme
The sign says ‘Motor Racing is Dangerous’ and it can be but thankfully Shevey Mack walked away from this accident when his A/Gas ’68 Camaro made an unscheduled right turn into the wall
Most of the two-door Austin A40 Dorsets went for export and all we got was the taxi. Thankfully, however, many were turned into racecars – including this one powered by a blown, big-block Chevy by Morrison Racing Engines
The swap meet was down, no doubt due to the Internet but there was a Moggy Minor jammed between a ’55 Buick Century and a Ford Falcon, a ’59 Ford Ranchero at $2900 and a ’56 Ford wagon
Randy Winkle of the Famoso Speed Shop is a prolific builder/collector/racer and his latest is the famous ‘Durachrome Bug.’ Built and raced by Warren Gunter in the late 60s, this early Funny Car powered by a nitro-burning Chevy ran into the 7.0s at 210 mph
You don’t see many of these, do you? Gary Lynch’s ’58 Austin A40 is an old Gasser resurrected by Gary. Powered by a 383 Chevy, Gary lost in R2 after running 9.527 with a speed of 140.08 mph
Above: I love the D/Gas Anglia of Don Fournier – last year’s winner – but sadly Don was out in Round 2 having run a best of 10.55 at 126.26 mph with his 377ci Chevypowered ’48 Left: Now there’s a tough B/Gas ’48 Anglia belonging to Wayne Charbonneau from Ramona, California. 632ci big-block Chevy ran 9.293 with a speed of 154.05
Who doesn’t love a wheel-standing straightaxle ’55 Chevy? Fred Cline’s Tri-5 with a 632ci Chevy ran a best of 10.585 with a speed of 123.75 but lost in the first round to Beau Dyson
50 CUSTOM CAR FEBRUARY 2023
2pp SoCal Diaries February 23.indd 50
08/01/2023 23:24
