Tabla de contenidos para July/August 2021 en Rodding USA

When you have the talents of Havasu Speed Equipment owner Dan Van Auken, building a hot rod for yourself instead of for a customer becomes a blank slate of ideas and ingenuity. His choice of vehicle was a 1932 Ford roadster which would have a list of modifications and changes that are a mile long. The result of the channeled hot rod build would be a trip to contend for the 2014 America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award at the Grand National Roadster Show. The idea behind the car was to make subtle changes that Dan felt would enhance the look of the stock roadster. Some of the changes you observe instantly while others you may not even notice unless they were pointed out to you. Dan’s background in race cars…

The Black Dog Garage BBQ is hosted by Tom and Marilyn Pesula at their home in Port Saint Lucie, Florida, and is an “invitation only” event. It is usually held the first Saturday of March, but this year it had to be postponed until May 22 due to Covid 19 restrictions. The event was first held in March 2002 with about 20 cars whose owners were members of The Florida Roadsters and friends. It has continued as an annual event and has grown to over 60 cars in its twentieth year. Tom and the late Henry Dana were friends for over 40 years, and he wanted to honor his friend by presenting The Henry Dana “Real Hot Rod” Pick. This was the first year for the award, and the winner…

In the 50s and early 60s, Bill Story lived the dream in suburban Detroit’s version of American Graffiti. A ’35 Roadster was his vehicle for fun and transportation. But as often happens, responsibilities like education, family, career, and alternative hobbies superseded the Hot Rod infatuation. However, that passion remained, and they were some of his fondest memories. Fast forward to Fathers Day of 2004, a chance conversation at the L.A. Roadster Show developed into a lead to this little black hot rod. Bill wasn’t really looking for a car at the time, but the idea “called” to him. The visitation struck a cord as the black and brown colors were reminiscent of his beloved Rottweiler Freda. And, although the asking price was fair, it was more than he thought he…

Joe Mitchell’s Deuce sedan was initially built in the 1980s by Larry Boregga. It was painted with black lacquer paint and still sports some of the original paint today. It was then sold to Denny Cissel, a fellow Lake Havasu resident and friend of Joe’s. Joe took ownership of the sedan in 2015, and he had Ryan Reed do a significant overhaul of the car, including a modified TCI chassis to get the “down in the weeds” look. A 5-inch dropped Magnum axle took care of the front, and a 9-inch Ford filled out the rear. This cruiser sports a 327 Chevy engine with a Turbo 350 transmission. “the body was repaired in some areas , and the paint was touched up ” Jimmy Meyer and Joe modified the stock…

We would have spent Father’s Day weekend at the L.A. Roadster Show at the Fairplex in Pomona in a typical year. But, unfortunately, the show was canceled months ago due to COVID, so the Barrett-Jackson auction in Las Vegas was a perfect replacement. Not only did we get to see 700-plus vehicles cross the auction block, but we also had the opportunity to be a part of the second event to be held in the one billion dollar West Hall addition to the Las Vegas Convention Center. The auction took place in the 600,000 square foot exhibition hall. Topping the highest price list for the three-day auction was a 2015 McLaren P1 which sold for $1,567,500, followed by a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster at $1,045,000. The total sales reached $46…

jim Halsey of Port Angeles, Washington’s goal was to build the very best ‘46 Ford on the planet. Judging from the photos and personal experience, I would say he reached that goal. Post-WWll automotive design was a carryover from 1942. In the years leading up to the radically changed styling of 1949, there was little change in 1946 through 1948 Fords. Some of the automotive community of late has a relatively non plus feeling of the era, some even saying, well, it’s not a ‘40 Ford. Jim ignored them entirely as he changed an original rust-free car found in East Wenatchee, Washington, to a topnotch hot rod. Jim even drove it home. It was that nice. That was the 1980s, with other things taking precedent, and it wasn’t till 2010…

If you watch television at all, you have probably seen commercials touting Facebook groups. While none of the groups in those commercials captivate my interest, one that is continually picking up new members is Roadsters of America. As this is written, the group includes 3.4K members. Not that all of them have roadsters, but you can bet that many of them do. The Midwest Roadster Run 2021 was held June 4 and 5, in and around Alton, Illinois. roadsters, cabriolets, and phaetons came from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi, Texas, Kansas, and Missouri. The Long Distance award is the only one given at the event, and Bart Caliaro was the recipient. He drove 1,200 miles from Vermont to participate. Past experience shows that this hearty group…

John Bresswell of Scottsdale was looking to add an American classic to his collection of cars and decided a Cadillac would fit the bill. The first Caddy was manufactured in 1902 and has always been one of the luxury U.S. automotive brands. 1948 was the third generation of the Series Sixty-two and was the beginning of the “tail-fin” era. In 1949, Cadillac introduced their new 331 cubic inch OHV V8 engine producing 160 horsepower although it would be replaced by a modern power plant for this build. Once John located his Cadillac, it was shipped to Roy Brizio Street Rods in South San Francisco where the plan for it was to retain as much of its classic appearance while turning it into a modern road car. The massive body was…

Joe Mitchell’s automotive journey began with a 1964 Falcon Sprint while in high school in 1973. He grew up in Torrance, CA and had a few other street machines, including a ’69 Nova and a ’76 Camaro, which paved the way for his entry into the street and hot rod hobby that now fully immerses him. In the 80’s he built a ’39 Ford sedan, and he hasn’t looked back since. We fast forward to the mid-1990s when Joe went and purchased a plastic lunch box, cut a slot in the top, and when he had spare funds, he would save them. The plan was to one day build a Deuce roadster, and this would be the savings account to reach his goal. Once the lunch box was filled, he…

V8 QUICK-CHANGE SINCE 1958, Winters Performance has been manufacturing speed and high-performance equipment for racers and hot rodders. Their quick-change rear ends were born and perfected on dirt and asphalt racetracks, and today they’re found in everything from Sprint Cars and Midgets to land speed racers and street-driven hot rods. They offer both a V8 quick change (shown with their steel tubes and bells) and a larger Champ version for rodders. The V8 is equipped with an 8-3/8-inch, 3.78 ring and pinion and Winters’ Wedgelock differential, while the bigger Champ has a 10-inch, 4.12 ring, and pinion and Winters’ Track diff. The V8 can handle about 550 horsepower, while the Champ is good up to 1,000 (heavy-duty options are also available for racing applications). All rears are available with big…

Having just graduated college in 2011 from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, John Helmuth moved back home to start his new career as a Graphic Designer. While wanting to save some money for living, investing in himself would be nice at this stage of life. Growing up in a family filled with motorheads, John was constantly around muscle cars, hotrods, pickups, and street rods, so it was only a matter of time that he would build his car. John knew that with his Dad on board, the ability to build whatever car they wanted, given the budget was realistic for John, would be achievable. There was no rush to build it, so John would take as long as necessary to make the car perfect. The plan was to…

Dan Van Auken has been in the automotive industry for many years building performance race cars, hot rods, motorcycles, offshore boat engines, and prototype vehicles. His first modified car was a 1963 Plymouth Max-Wedge 413, which he raced at Detroit Dragway in 1963. In 1968 he was a fabricator and engine builder for Ramchargers Racing and their fleet of championship race cars. Dan was one of the co-founders and partners in the Troy, Michigan-based Wheel to Wheel, Inc. company which built proto type and concept cars and trucks for General Motors. Many of those cars have been featured at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. They also built and maintained pace cars for NASCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. At Wheel to Wheel, Dan built hot rods for Dale Earnhardt,…

The recently completed Las Vegas Convention Center Loop is an underground tunnel connecting the massive convention center property’s North, Central, and West Halls. The tunnel was bored 40 feet below the existing buildings and parking lot by Elon Musk’s, The Boring Company. The project consists of two one-way tunnels measuring 12 feet in diameter. Each tunnel contains LED lighting, ventilation, power, drainage, and a fire suppression system. A fleet of 62 electric Teslas (accommodating three passengers each) is designed to move 4,400 passengers per hour. The ride from the South Hall to the West Hall takes approximately 2 minutes versus a walking time of 25 minutes. They plan on adding vehicles accommodating up to 12 people in the future. The process is simple, you choose your vehicle, hop in, let…

As of May 6th, the Back to the 50’s show had been postponed, and then on May 7th MSRA received the “green light” to proceed with the event. Once again, the Minnesota State Fairgrounds hosted one of the largest gatherings of hot rods, classics, and custom cars in the country for their fans. Twelve thousand great cars and an impressive attendance of spectators is always a winning combination. If you enjoy cars from 1964 and earlier, there were many of them to photograph, enjoy, chat with the owners and see them receive a variety well-earned awards. The initial Back to the 50’s was in 1974 with 150 cars and it has grown every year since then. The 2021 event had 2,000 volunteers and more than 400 vendors, making it something…