SoCal Diaries

Former Custom Car editor Tony Thacker lives in California these days, and this month he’s been enjoying the sound of atheads…

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

When 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 rst event, held at Famoso Dragstrip north of Bakers eld, 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.

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 Randy Winkle of the Famoso Speed Shop is a proli c 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

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

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 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

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 rst round to Beau Dyson

Below: Another rare beast in Randy Winkle’s Famoso Speed Shop stable is this ’38 Austin sedan. Powered by a 350ci Chevy, it lost in the rst round with a 10.467 and a speed of 125.97

Right: Who knew? I only knew Cushman because of their classic scooters but obviously in the late-60s they built the Cushman Trackster. Powered by a 25-horsepower two-stroke, it could hit 16 mph

Above: I’m not a big lover of four-doors but I do like the suicide rear doors of this 1950 Merc. With overdrive and new brakes and tyres, this could be a great project car for just $4000 Above: ’34 3-windows don’t come much tougher than this at-black louvered beast from the Camden Speed Shop. I’m liking the rear nerf bars and the front winged hairpin bracket

Left: Satin black paint remains a popular hue for hot rod builds and this ’55 Ford F-100 complete with Moon discs had it in spades

Above: The top end of The Grove used to be jammed with cool rods and customs from clubs such as the Beatniks and this chopped and slammed ’41 Chevy Special Deluxe coupe had it goin’ on

Above: $36,000 seemed a lot for this 1930 Model A, despite the ’54 331ci Chrysler Hemi with dual quads. Riding on a TCI chassis with a Ford 9-inch it might be a good start for somebody

Dale Seaholm’s ‘Holy Hell’ chopped ’34 5-window enjoys lots of notoriety due no doubt to its unusual forties’-style ame paint and early drag car stance Above: 1930-31 Model A coupes seem to be everywhere now and this white-walled, Chrysler Hemi-powered ’30 is fronted by the ubiquitous Deuce grille shell

1933-36 Willys coupes are fairly rare but when was the last time you saw a panel van? Again, satin black was the color of choice. Back in the day, these were popular delivery vans Left: In some places, murals never went out of style. And here’s the proof – Rambo on the hood of an early80s Fox-body Mustang. It’s not for everybody but what is?

Above: Now, I could give garage space to a ’41 Willys Americar coupe and this blown big-block Chevy powered orange whip had the perfect street rod stance. Could be equally tough as a Gasser though

Pink with white ames is not everybody’s choice of color combination but this ’28-29 on Deuce rails with a dropped and drilled axle and Moon discs worked, somehow – as did the chopped Deuce Phaeton in back

Above: It looks like a pile of unrelated parts that don’t know each other screwed together to sell, however, the grille and the cowl might work for somebody if the price was right – though I doubt it

The patina looks a little fake but this Bonesstyle chopped ’32 3-window from the Jokers Bay Area car club had great presence, even down to its home-made at aluminum wheel discs