Cole Coonce Interview

When Hot Rod magazine added Cole Coonce to the staff in the 1990s, it not only caught my attention, but changed how I read magazines forever. I really didn't think it could get any more personal than reading features by Gray Baskerville and Ro McGonegal, but this guy's style hit me right where I lived: Here was the edgy immediacy of Hunter S. Thompson, enhanced with a wordcraft worthy of a Kurt Vonnegut eyebrow arch. What fun! What grabbed me the most was how Coonce raised the bar by going under the surface. Intrigued, I seeked out a couple of his long-play stories in paperback: 'Infinity over Zero' (guerrilla documentation of the Land Speed Record wars pitting the U.S. against Britain) and 'Top Fuel Wormhole' (a hilariously twisted psycho analysis of Nitromethane's allure). At that point, I was officially junk. Inspired (and yes, influenced), I set out on my own automotive journalism quest. At this point, I'm still in first gear, but by God, I have Cole Coonce on my blog. Who'da thunk it... He crashed through the front window of the SGE office in spectacular fashion and dusted himself off. We performed the secret automotive journalist handshake ritual and got down to it.

This is quite an honor for me, Cole. Thanks for dropping in.

Glad to do it (shaking glass shards from hair).

Were you born a journalist, or if not, how'd you get into this stuff?

I got into journalism because I was turned on by two art forms when I was a mere guttersnipe: Drag racing and rock 'n' roll. I saw The Beatles at Dodger Stadium when I was four years old. I saw my first Top Fuel dragster when I was five. I had an uncle Rick who was the drummer for The Grass Roots, who had many Top 40 hits and ended up on American Bandstand. His brother was a dragster driver. Because of their influence, and the fact that I could see them both on their respective stages on any weekend in Southern California, I became consumed with both music and drag racing. I read everything I could on the subject, whether it was Rolling Stone or Drag News. In my opinion, both race reports and rock criticism were also art forms and every bit as valid as the scenes they covered. I didn't figure I could drive a Top Fuel car, but I reckoned I could write about it.

Wow, you had a killer pedigree before you ever wrote your first words!

 Well, writing about something is only as valid as what one is actually writing about. Dragstrip journalism was at its most crucial when the drag racing itself was very dangerous, exciting and unpredictable. You couldn't wait to get the next National Dragster or Drag Racing USA because you knew there was going to be something in it - a speed record, some weird bondo-beyondo streamliner body shape, a macabre crash, some violent and catastrophic explosion - that hadn't ever happened before. I'm of the opinion that most of the interesting stuff in both music and drag racing has already happened. By extension, most of the interesting writing associated with those forms has also already happened.

And you were first exposed to those bare knuckled glory days of racing at five years old, when I was literally drooling on the pictures in the magazines.

Initially. Then in the late 1960s, my uncle Phil Coonce drove a Junior Gas dragster at Lions Drag Strip and San Fernando Raceway. I thought everything about that car and all the other dragsters of the era were pure magic. I've always loved front engine dragsters, especially the Top Fuelers. That's what myself and other school kids drew on our notebooks. When the rear engine dragsters hit, I think kids stopped scrawling fuelers on their book covers. Funny Cars maybe, dragsters not so much.

Have you built or owned many hot rods? Whatever happened to the '71 Grand Prix that was a regular character in your books?

Honestly, I've never cared about production cars, even muscle cars of the 60s and 70s. I've been obsessed with Top Fuel dragsters. Everything else is kinda boring, really. But to answer your question, I no longer have my '71 J Series Grand Prix. It was my daily driver for years, but 8 MPG while sitting in LA traffic is a kind of political statement with minimal practical returns. I sold it years ago and bought a Japanese shitbox from a yuppie nurse in Van Nuys who wanted an SUV. Nowadays, I drive a late model six cylinder Chrysler coupe. I think the suspension needs work.

 Is there anything on the streets that you're into at all?

As far as what I'm actually into? What forms of transportation stir my manhood? Chevy Volts and bicycles. Fossil fuels are as archaic as the dinosaur bones they're extracted from.

(thoughtful silence from Scotty, as Cole watches traffic distort through the broken window)... You mentioned music being an influence, earlier. Are you a musician yourself? And does music and car culture meld into one for you, or exist in separate realities?

I was a musician... When the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and the Clash hit all those years ago, I realized I couldn't just write about music, I could actually play the same stuff these guys did. Ten years later I formed a band that was equal parts Black Sabbath, Funkadelic and Blondie.

This was 'Braindead Sound Machine'?

(surprised) Right. Although we had a reasonable success, I stopped playing when I found myself caught in a record deal with a company who wouldn't release my band's second album, nor let us out of our contract. I wrote a book about that whole experience: 'Come Down from the Hills and Make My Baby'.

I can relate.

At that point, I was so appalled by the music business that it affected my ability to listen to or play anything. I've always been fascinated by sound, but couldn't stomach hearing another power chord or snare drum. But I craved the sound of something loud and pure and at that moment in history, the vintage Top Fuel scene was making strides in California. As a kind of catharsis, I hit every nostalgia drag race that ran, from Bakersfield to Sears Point and from Pomona to Tucson. Just standing next to those beastly nitro burning machines as they thumped and whomped filled my soul with fulfillment, if not nourishment. I was being cleansed of all the bullshit I put up with in the music industry.

Still relating, big time.

Vintage drag racing wasn't a very big scene at the time, but it made me very happy. I felt like it was the world's best kept secret and I just wanted to tell anybody that would listen about this stuff, so I approached the publisher of a local 'zine, Full Throttle News, about doing race reports on this indie drag racing scene. That led to writing for Super Stock & Drag Illustrated as well as other mastheads, both in the drag racing world and beyond. I collected all of those race reports and dragstrip features into a book - a collection called 'Top Fuel Wormhole'.

A masterpiece, in my biased opinion. But speaking of 'mastheads beyond drag racing', I've spotted your byline in such diverse locales as Gearhead Magazine, RAZOR Magazine, LA CityBeat, LA Weekly, Wired, Bikini, Bicycling Magazine, Grand Royal Magazine, Men's Journal and... help?

I don't remember what all else...

Well, you have a quite an online presence too, with your Nitronic Research site and Drag Racing Online, among others.

Yeah well, getting back to drag racing and rock 'n' roll: There is some crossover between the two scenes, I suppose. But, for a multitude of reasons, I consider both of these scenes slowly dying, so the crossover is getting more fleeting every day. But for me, one scene led to the other and the actual intersection was pretty small.

Same here. But my experience took place pretty anonymously, far from the big stage of the LA Basin, where you live every day. Do you hang much with the race crowd there, or do they see you as a pesky journalist they have to watch their words around?

As a journalist, you try not to become too chummy with your subjects, but after a while it's inevitable. So while some of my friends are more drag strip journos - Dave Wallace, Mike Bumbeck, Jeff Burk and Darr Hawthorne - I do socialize with some of the drivers.  I would be remiss in not saying that my girlfriend (Mendy Fry) is a nitro Funny Car driver. But as far as 'hanging with the race crowd', whether it's LA or anywhere else, I've never been interested in any public figure who figures they have to watch their words. I'll interview somebody like that only if I absolutely have to, but that's not the individual I seek out to document. When it comes to racers, those who are guarded and watch their words, give milquetoast interviews because they think that's what their sponsors want. Nothing could be further from the reality: Sponsors want representatives who generate eyeballs, because that means attention is indirectly being focused on their product. If you can't generate attention, you can't generate a return on investment for your sponsor's patronage.

That's another reason I was drawn to the more independent and alternative 'nostalgia' scene. These guys said what they felt without any filter, and emotions often run high in the heated contests of fiery machines and the daredevils who drive them. That makes for interesting quotes: dragster drivers cursing a machine that just tried to kill them, or the driver in the other lane that jacked her or him around.

There's a misconception that Kenny Bernstien and John Force nurtured, grew, and took drag racing to some supposed next level by using up precious broadcast time to thank their sponsors when they climbed out of the car, instead of motherfucking the guy in the other lane. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every idiot could see who the sponsor was and it's not like one is listening to the radio, for fuck's sake. For all practical purposes, drag racing is dead and with this formulaic interview style, these guys helped kill it. So it's not that racers are afraid of what they might say to me, but more that I've never had any desire to interview somebody who's going to give me the Kenny Bernstien boilerplate of banality and sponsorship recital.

I think everyone would agree with that. The last realistic racer interview I can remember was with Al Hoffman and even that seemed watered down. Who's the biggest 'character' you've dealt with?

(instant response) Brent "The Mad Rocket Scientist" Fanning. Absolutely out of his mind - or wants everybody to think he is. A very free thinker and a remarkably resourceful human being. After his Top Fueler failed to stop at the end of the dragstrip, a friend of mine helped him extricate the race car from out of the woods and asked Brent if he ever thought about quitting. He answered, "Quit? What for? We're out here making memories!" I understand he's playing professional poker tournaments now and I keep looking for him on television.

Ha! The Fannings are heroes to me. I've been impressed since they answered some flakey NHRA decision by popping a parachute packed full of cow manure at 250+ MPH. The Safety Safari wasn't amused though. The outlaw spirit lives on... And who was the biggest pain in the ass?

(even quicker response) "Jocko" Johnson. He threatened to sue both Hot Rod magazine and myself, based on a feature he described as "pulp fiction". Drag racers are tough guys, mad geniuses and bad asses, but man do they have frail egos! Jocko was upset because I said one of his streamliners "laid an egg". It ran once in competition and qualified dead last, before its owner, Don Garlits, had it mothballed because he said it actually went through the timing traps with the back tires in the air.

Bwahahaha! I've dealt with Jocko and Donald, too... But we have to wrap this up. Ready for your bonus question? What's the future of hot rodding/motorsports/transportation/print media/America/Planet Earth?

Today's consumers care about iPads. They don't care about cars, except for the ones with holographic gauges that that resemble an iPad app. And the only magazines people will read is on the holographic iPad-like dashboard in the car that Google designed that drives itself. I'll let you do the math on the ramifications of such a future as it relates to hot rods and car magazines. But I will say this, the sooner America embraces such a paradigm, the better chance it has of staving off its own obsolescence, and the better chance Planet Earth has of not choking on its own exhaust.

Damn man, do you realize you just addressed six subjects with one answer and nailed every one of 'em?! How'd you DO that?

That's the one question Coonce didn't answer. I turned to see him stepping into  an adolescent-drawn rickshaw at curbside and he was gone. I thought I caught a whiff of nitro in his wake, but it was probably just another flashback.

America's Coolest Station Wagons in 3-D!!!

It's true! My advance copy of the wagon book arrived this week. I actually held it in my hands for the first time, after a year and a half of wondering what the finished product would look like. It looks good (in my biased opinion). It feels nice in my hands and even smells good!

When I build a car, I'm constantly pushing it out of the shop to get some perspective on it. I'll walk around it a few times, checking my work for flow and balance, then roll it back inside, knowing what I have to do next. I have no such luxury while writing. I can see the text, or the photo captions, or the images themselves (one at a time), but this old wind-up computer isn't equipped to show me the big picture and I don't do my own layouts anyway. That's done back at the CarTech offices in Minnesota, as they're not ready to trust me with that make-or-break aspect of the creative process yet. So imagine my relief to open my copy of the book and find surgically clean editing by Scott Parkhurst and tasty layout and design work by Monica Seiberlich. I didn't realize how stressed I was about this until cracking the book open, browsing a few pages, then closing my eyes and deflating into my chair for a good five minutes, before continuing.

That was two days ago and I'm still grinning. I'm happy to report that the paper is high quality, the images reproduced beautifully, the font is easy on the eyes and it reads well. Like the cover, the interior layout is crisp and bright, evoking an upbeat energy that enhances the text nicely.. Being trusted with the wagon owner's personal stories meant that emotional connections were inevitable, rendering me instantly biased.  So I'm too close to the text to judge it. You'll have to do that for me.

It's been a long twisted road from racing the backstreets and working the wrecking yards to authoring my first book. Who knew you could get here from there? Not me. This book should be on the shelves of your nearest bookstore by April 15th. Check it out and let me know what you think, okay?
Thanks,
Scotty

Adam Sorokin Interview

In October and November of 1998, Hot Rod Magazine presented Cole Coonce's 'The Epic Saga of The Surfers (How three bucks-down Geeks single-handedly put Top Fuel on its collective head)' , introducing a new generation of railbirds, pitbulls and nitro jockeys to the greatest story rarely told. It's required reading for all fans of overthrowing the status quo by dancing faster on the razor's edge.

A follow-up piece on Surfer Mike Sorokin's son Adam - 'The Only Son of The Surfers' - ran in the April '09 issue. It's also worth a look (in my biased opinion).

In 2009, Adam shook up the troops from under the canopy of the Champion Speed Shop's controversial smallblock Chevy powered 'Batmobile' retro-rail and the fans ate it up. He came back with a conventional Hemi powered configuration in 2010 and drove away with the NHRA Heritage Series' Nostalgia Top Fuel Championship (the fans liked this, too). Adam and 'The Champions' returned to the nitro wars in 2011 with the RB Entertainment Hemi dragster sporting a bold new look (paint and graphics) along with a Champion's swagger . After a somewhat inauspicious season debut at the March Meet, Adam stopped by the SGE megaplex while en route to parts unknown.

Adam, it's always great to see you, man! But first things first, what happened at March Meet? The car seemed to be laboring, big time. Was that a fuel or timing thing, or clutch, or what?

Plain and simple, we were hosed! We tested the previous weekend and kicked a rod. Thought we had it fixed and then kicked more in qualifying at March Meet. We knew we had a major issue and put a new motor in it with different rods. That was our spare motor and now we knew we had a real problem! We'd changed our combination a bit during the off-season to take some stress off of the motor and it has something to do with why we're killing our parts. Performance-wise, the car was frustrating us. It never did get off the line or really pull at all. We qualified #12 at 6.22. By the time qualifying was over, we were out of blocks and couldn't make the first round of eliminations - Denver Schutz got a single when we didn't show. It's being re-thought right now. We'll just continue on to the next race...

Ouch... That's showbiz though. I'm confident that Bobby and Tony and the guys will have it sorted out soon and you guys'll be tougher (and wiser) than ever. Do you still plan to run 2011 with both cars? That's an ambitious undertaking!

Well, right now, the plan is to run both cars in the NHRA Heritage Series, which is four races. We may run some non-points races, too. I'll drive the Hemi car and Larry Gottelli will drive the Chevy. My team will remain intact, with the exception of Jeff Stich, who's moving over to Gottelli's car to be Car Chief. A new crew has been formed to maintain Larry's car. Tune-ups for both cars will be called by Bobby McLennan and Tony Bernardini.

Woah. Who'da thunk we'd ever see a goat (Gottelli) on the Champion team! And while some may wonder if there's an advantage of running a two car team with cars as different as boys and girls, these issues were addressed in a recent interview Cole Coonce did with Bobby McLennan, which can be found all over the 'net. These are are basically non-issues, though. Anyway, your racing history is well documented, but what's your life like when you're not taking 250 MPH oil baths? Is your business still going? How's things with (sweetie) Jenni and (son) Mikey? Are you still hanging much with your mentor (Surfer) Tom Jobe? Do tell...

I'm still in the same line of work, which is Quality Control of digital masters for feature films and TV shows. I had my own business for the last three years, but am now working full time for Testronic Laboratories, running their Master QC department. I still have the other business, but just ramped it down.

Jenni and Mikey are doing great. Jenni does encoding/transcoding for a post-production company. Mikey plays baseball and football and is doing pretty good in school, too! He's really becoming a tremendous young man!

I talk with Tom every so often. He's retired now from Honda Racing (Supercross and Road Racing). He keeps pretty busy, working on all kinds of projects...

Nice to hear you have these people keeping you grounded... Any comments on the NHRA being this week's train wreck? This scandal could be pivotal for drag racing. Do you still aspire to get into the big show, or would you rather stay put for now?

(laughs) Well, I'd say NHRA isn't exactly 'winning' these days. Honestly, I think it needs a bit of a different direction. The ESPN2 TV show could be improved on, for sure!

I would still very much like to drive a Top Fuel Dragster or Funny Car in the big show. It's just that today you're expected to bring money to the table to drive. It's the 'best funded' drivers out there - not just the best drivers. It loses a little something for me because of that. I still love driving front engined fuelers though - there ain't a better ride out there, in my opinion.

Having said that, what's the future of motorsports?

Faster, quicker, safer, more expensive, more political... the way of all things!

You've sacrificed a lot to go racing - even your beloved street/strip Nova. Any toys in your garage these days? What's your dream car?

Actually, I just sacrificed the Nova, period - didn't intend to - that pole just jumped out in front of me!

I have a '61 Cadillac Coupe DeVille custom.

I like all kinds of cars. My dream cars would include a '63-'65 Buick Riviera, '32 Ford, '40 Ford, '69 Chevelle, '70-'72 Corvette roadster and a nice new Porsche Carrera 4S (white, with black wheels. Chip Foose, are you taking notes?).

Sorry Adam, but you overshot your allotted dream car by five. Now you have to answer a penalty question: If you were a car, what kind would you be?

A fully armored, big diesel powered, flat black Chevy dually, with black wheels, complete with an M134 machine gun bolted to the truck bed and a cow catcher or snow shovel in the front.

Yikes! But this is probably what everyone fantasizes about, while stuck in L.A. traffic. You may need a vacation, man. But we're glad you're here, instead.

Anyone reading this along the I-5 corridor should take note - this guy obviously feels strongly that anything under 250 MPH is slowing him down. Be advised.

Holly Felsen Welch Interview

One of the bigger events on this year's car culture media calendar is the re-release of Henry Gregor Felson's 'Hot Rod' - his first in a series of speed crazed teenager parables. It turns out, about the same time Hot Rod was kicked out into the world, so was Henry's daughter, Holly. She followed in Henry's footsteps as teacher, author and parent. Now married to Mike Welch, retired and living back in her native Iowa, Holly is the living force behind the current Felsen renaissance.

I was honored to have connected with Henry shortly before his passing and when the same thing happened recently with Holly, I knew something important was up. The least I can do to honor that is to pay attention. So  when Holly accepted my invite to share her insight, imagine my delight!

Holly, thanks so much for agreeing to this whacky 'interview' experiment. You're a good sport. You may have a bright future as a test monkey.

Well, I'll just answer the best I can, without trying to put any literary twist on it.
Hey, twist the night away!

Okay, if you say so.

In your new intro to Hot Rod, you mention that you'd never read it before and in fact, you grew up embarrassed that your dad didn't have a 'real job'. Would you care to elaborate on that?

My dad was a local celebrity, so everyone knew I was his daughter. I’d get questions like, “What is it like to have a writer for a dad?” I wanted to be known for me. Besides, I thought it was ordinary and it wasn’t really until recently that I realized how special it was.

Everyone liked my dad and where ever we went, he was treated with care. It was kind of nice, but also a little embarrassing. He liked to be funny and sometimes said things about me. I didn’t want to be singled out. I liked my anonymity!

I remember going with Dad when he was interviewed on a local TV show and I got to be on the show with him. It was a mixed blessing.

However, it was nice in some ways. We went to the state fair one year and he got us in to meet Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. That was really special, to go back stage with them.

When I was a teenager, I was totally embarrassed when I had friends over, because he was always funny and I didn’t really want him trying to make my friends laugh.

I didn’t even know my friends read his books until a couple of years ago. We were working on our class reunion and one of the men said something about reading dad's books. I had no idea anyone read them! No one ever said anything about it to me in high school. Hmmm, maybe I could have had more boyfriends!

You've mentioned that your brother Dan is more of a gearhead - but you must've been exposed to some car culture too. Was it a pain being the daughter of a famous figure in that scene?

Not really. I think, being a girl, no one expected me to be interested in cars. I am just realizing the effect my dad had on me. I never drove an automatic until I was 45. I thought of driving as having a stick shift. I know that was his car influence.

He had a 49 Chevy for many years, then bought a new Dodge Dart in 1965, but it was a stick. I loved driving it! I also realized that the last three cars I have owned, I kept for 11 years each! I don’t think I ever got the idea I had to have a new car. He bought the car he wanted and kept it. Me, too!

Besides writing, you also followed your dad's footsteps into teaching. What did you learn from your students?

Be prepared! I learned a lot about life from my parents and Dad used to go to schools and talk to junior high kids. He would have some kid put on his suit jacket and ask him how it felt. He talked to them about doing age appropriate things and not trying to be an adult too soon.

He used his story characters to teach life lessons and I think that had an effect on me growing up. Always knowing that there would be consequences and were you aware of what they were before you chose your actions.

As a teacher, one of the things I learned from my dad was to be what you are, follow your passion and use your talents. I think we are so locked into this idea that you have to have a certain score on a 'fill in the dot' test, that we miss the best part of people. Appreciate all the talents, whether they be art, music, reading, mechanics, great comedic timing....whatever it is, use it!

Yeah, I guess we all take turns being students and teachers every day, huh? So what's your life like today, when you're not busy being Henry Gregor Felsen's daughter?

My life is perfect. I started teaching at 21 and never missed a beat, even though Mike and I moved from Iowa to Texas, to Nebraska, and back to Iowa. I was lucky enough to always get a teaching job. That afforded me the luxury of retiring at an early age. I spent my last year of teaching trying to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up and finally decided I would follow my love for photography. I was always taking photos, but had a gut level feel for what I did, not a technical approach. The day after I retired, I started a photoshop class at a community college, then joined the Professional Photographers of Iowa. I’ve spent the last 4 years taking classes, reading, watching tutorials and now I know the technical side, as well. I have a small studio in my basement and was shooting kids, families, babies, weddings, whatever I could do. I found though, that my real talent has come from the books. I have been shooting cars since getting Hot Rod ready and now I have been finding success printing those photos on metal.

But the real pleasure is that after years of dressing up every day, I now get to wear my jeans and boots. I am comfortable all day, can go to the  bathroom whenever I need to and I can take more than 20 minutes for lunch! I also have quiet time to myself, which enables me to think! I spent 36 years surrounded by kids all day and didn’t have time to put a personal thought together!

Considering your experience with this project (Henry's car books), what's your take on the publishing industry?

Wow, I don’t know what I think of the publishing industry. I only really had one company that was interested, The Iowan. They are interested in it from the standpoint of Dad being from Iowa (transplanted from NY). That helped us get started.

I am sad to see so many people preferring to read on an electronic device, as I still have a place in my heart for the book. I want to hold it in my hands and keep it on my shelf. Fortunately, Dad’s fans feel the same way, as they have kept their older copies of his books and they still want the new one! I don’t know if we will really sell very many, according to today’s standards. I’m just happy that there are people out there who still care and want a copy to have on their shelf. One person bought two: One to put on the shelf and one to fold in half and carry in his back pocket!

There's a strong testament! If/when this whole series of books gets re-done, what's next? Where would you like to go from there?

I have that planned already!! As soon as the car books are done, my brother and I want to republish dad's 'Letters' books: “Letters to a Son in Uniform”, and “Letters to My Son the Teenage Driver”. My husband just read the 'Son in Uniform' and suggested we get it out again. He was in the military in Vietnam and he thinks there is an important message in the book.
After that, or before, or during, I’m working on a book about a trip my dad took to China in December of 1945. He wrote a short story about it, that was chosen as Best Short Story of 1952. It was always my favorite story. I found one other person who was on that trip (out of 11), and now know the whole story. My dad saved all kinds of things from the war, so I have the receipts for his hotel stay, dinner with Chinese officers and the photos, as well. I think it would be an awesome book for middle school students, as I also have the original draft in his own handwriting. This is the book I’ve always wanted to do.

'Li Chang's Millions', right? I've read that and it left a mark on me. I hope you guys get it back out there. That's amazing that you connected with one of the people in it! Anything else going on?

There is also an animated film being made in LA from another war story, 'The Gentle Rain' - a very moving story, that I hope will get a little recognition. We are also going to do a book of his short stories and include The Gentle Rain.

A movie! Very cool. First I've heard about that. Hey, guess what? Unexpected down-shift!: If you were a car, what kind would you be?

I would be my first car. My little green VW bug. I miss that car to this day! I had a lot of fun driving that car around.

Bonus question: Now that you're an esteemed member of the elite automotive literary hierarchy, you're qualified to answer this: What's the future of transportation in the U.S. and in the world?

I think our only hope is to go back to driving things that you have to work at, meaning no more automatic transmissions. People don’t drive anymore. They eat, they text, they talk, they put on make up, read books, and I saw one man shaving his head as he drove. If we went back to DRIVING cars, people would have to pay attention to the road. So, I say, let’s really drive, and take a bus if you don’t want to do the driving!

Ha! Someone had to say it! I sense that Henry may be beaming right now... Hey, before you sign off, can you please substantiate or quell this rumor: Word on the street is, there are plans underway for some kind of Henry Gregor Felsen car event this year. Truth, or urban myth? What say you?

Funny you should ask. The rumor is true! The Inaugural Henry Gregor Felsen Memorial Car Show will be held on September 17th at the famous Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines, Iowa - where Henry lived when he wrote the car books. I don't know all the details, but the planning is being taken on by four top notch supporters. We'll be meeting next week and I'll be able to give you more details soon. I do know that there'll be a '50s dance with a band and maybe a personal appearance by a certain hot rod songwriter that you all know. It should be a lot of fun!

Well, it's definitely been fun having you on the SGE blog. Thanks for playing along.

My pleasure. But you owe me, big time...

I know.

Keep tabs on the movie at: http://www.gentlerainmovie.com/

For more on Hot Rod and the car show go to: http://www.henrygregorfelsen.com/

Secret spy photos of Holly at last week's World of Wheels show in Des Moines (with Tommy Shaw's T and her metal photo art) by Mr. X.

Scott Parkhurst Interview Part II

(Theme music) (Applause) Welcome back! If you're just joining us, we're talking station wagons with 'Chevelle from Hell' owner/builder, Scott Parkhurst. Now, this thing is just nuts - a full on Autocross and Road Course terror that floats down the highway on 87 Octane swill! There's some pretty bent wagon owner/builders in this book, but you sir, are seriously twisted.

Guilty.

When we went to break, you were decided on a 6-speed trans for the car. Was that like installing a locomotive switchyard in a shopping mall?

(takes sip of coffee) ...Well, the aces at American Touring Specialties had pioneered the A-body swap kit for the T56 and they worked with me to insure that it was flawless.

Is that because you offered them magazine exposure that could potentially make them enough money to justify GIVING you a tranny?

(blows coffee across room) Damn, Scotty! Actually, ATS used my car to prototype their T56 swap for A-bodies. My trans came from Rockland Standard Gear - makers of the 'Tranzilla T56'. Mine is officially a 'Son of Tranzilla' version.
Ah, got it. And did the swap meet your expectations?

Yes. By using a lot of factory (LT-1 F-body) parts, the upgrade is simple, once the trans tunnel is replaced. The T56 makes the car what it is and once it was in place, the notion of the wagon as 'tow vehicle' was gone for good. (more coffee)

The road narrowed at that point.

(nodding) Now it was a summer only car. ATS offered geometry-correcting spindles for the A-body, so I wanted a pair of those. They're based on late model Corvette hubs, which allow for use of huge Corvette brakes. Nice! What else could I do to improve the handling? I coordinated with various experts and chose QA1 double adjustable coilovers  - soft for daily driving, stiff for the road course at high speed, or stiff compression and loose rebound for the dragstrip. Simple adjustment with a knob, too. The swaybar is from Hellwig and it's designed to match their adjustable rear bar.

Can I drive it?

(dismissive wave of hand) Wait! (puts coffee down) The rear suspension is where the men and the boys go their separate ways. After making wholesale changes to the front end until it worked well, the back of the car was nowhere close to keeping up. At speed, the front would grip and the back would predictably come around. Not good.

I'd drive it!

(sideways glance) So when Hellwig created their adjustable chassis-mount rear bar, I was all over it.  A set of upper and lower control arms from Currie Enterprises , teamed with the adjustable bar from Hellwig and another pair of double-adjustable shocks from QA1 really brought the rear suspension into the same dimension as the front. I then learned from Mark Savitske at SC&C (who has been my suspension coach from day one) that Jim Fay at Fays2 was releasing a bolt-in Watts link for the A-body. This would allow the rear suspension to travel up and down as much as it wanted, but wouldn't allow the axle to shift from side to side. That's all the motivation I needed to get one.

A longroof slot car! That's how it sounds, anyway...

It corners nicely. Some stickier tires (Nitto's 555 design, with a 300 treadwear rating) helped too.

Shifting gears here, but they're easy on the eyes, too. Your rolling stock, combined with the stance and paint, make for a fun but aggressive visual package. Did that look just fall together, or was it all planned from the start?

(leaning forward, inspired) Style-wise, I wanted to retain some vintage flavor. I decided to stick with some late '60s/early '70s inspirations, without letting van-era disco sillyness get the better of me. I love the Trans Am race cars of that period and they served as loose models for my mods. Where function was critical, I let performance take over. Where visuals were key, I stuck with 1970 as a time stamp.

Personally, I get a kick out of how the two-tone paint scheme seems to drive home the Trans Am look, even though those cars were mostly monotone.

The wagon has a gold interior. Typical in 1967, but when's the last time you saw one? It's simply too cool to replace. So, I brought the gold interior to the outside and kept the factory off-white as the lower half of the two-tone. The stripe separating the two colors is thick and purposeful and gives the scallop stripes on the hood and roof a reason to exist. It looks old and fast - which is good, since the car is both.

Could I just have it for a weekend? I'm a very careful driver...

(scowling) No. I've had it for seven years now. The first year, I drove it as it was when I bought it. The next three years, it was in pieces as I upgraded the suspension, drivetrain and paint. It's been on the road for the last three years, but spent most of 2010 sitting, as the engine ate a rod bearing and blew up in May and wasn't running again until September. That pissed me off, sure... but it happened on track, down the long straight at Road America in Wisconsin.  I'd been beating on it relentlessly all weekend and was traveling at about 100 MPH when it let go. So I got over it pretty quickly.

That NEVER would've happened if I'd been driving it. I always keep one eye on the oil pressure gauge and -

(sneers) The rebuilt engine is pretty much a duplicate of the original, with a touch more compression (10:1 vs 9.7:1), H-beam rods, shaft-mounted rockers, Tri-Y headers, etc. I plan on attending a few Track Day events, some Autocrosses and maybe even a couple trips to the dragstrip. Mostly, I'll just be driving it on the street and enjoying it the way I'd initially intended. It's comfortable, delivers 20+ MPG and is just a blast to drive. (nervously glancing at wristwatch)

Hey Scott - before you take off, whatever happened to the GTO clone project?

I sold it, unfinished, last year. It was the car I always wanted and I began building it at the highest level of performance and quality - I always envisioned it with the best of everything. About halfway through the build, I realized there was no way I could afford to see it through to completion on my current salary. So away it went. But, the wagon I bought to tow it with is still here and hopefully it will remain for many years to come. Or, at least until I can get the speedometer and heater to work.

At that point, Scott's army of interns, attorneys, managers and press agents whisked him from the building and out to the sidewalk. I saw them pile into the wagon and make a dramatic exit, cutting into heavy traffic with tires ablaze and RPMs still climbing, as they disappeared in a cloud of tire smoke and clutch dust.

Scott Parkhurst Interview Part 1

After mucho hype, it's finally time to fire up the SGE interview series. Our historical first guest is none other than my own boss and owner/builder of the '67 'Chevelle from Hell' wagon, CarTech Editor, Scott Parkhurst. Picture us sitting on toolboxes, jangling at the workbench in Scott's spacious shop compound (his home garage). So, without any further adeu, how 'bout a warm SGE welcome for Scooott Paaarkhuuurst!!!
(Imagine theme music here)

Welcome to the blog, Scott. How's it hangin, Chief?

Just right, thanks (don't call me 'Chief' here).

(Gotcha Chief). Scott, 'America's Coolest Station Wagons' features 65 wagons. We asked each owner, "Why a wagon?" and your response was, "I bought it to be a functional vintage daily driver and tow vehicle for my GTO road racer. I went a little overboard on the upgrades. No regrets though!" Your book feature is packed with tech specs and the buildup of the car, but how did it go from 'daily driver and tow vehicle' to harassing megabuck race cars on the road course?

I can't tell the story of the wagon without some mention of the GTO, which wasn't really a GTO. Bear with me.

No sweat.

I'd always dreamed of owning a really hot '65 GTO.

Who hasn't?

Ha! I know. The crisp, square lines, the stacked headlights, the little scoop on the hood, the fact it was lighter than the '66s and others that followed it...

I'm right there with you.

So I found a '65 LeMans for sale when I lived in Huntington Beach. I got a good deal on it and immediately began dreaming of making it a GTO clone and modifying it.

We seem to have led parallel lives in this department. But how'd it turn into a station wagon? Pixie dust?

Well, I even allowed myself to dream of a killer tow vehicle. Something that'd look the part and be from the same timeframe. Jason Walker - a guy I worked with at the former McMullin/Argus/Yee/Primedia magazine factory - was writing for both Super Chevy and Street Rodder at the time. He was driving the '67 wagon to work regularly. He didn't want to sell, but as these things often happen, I had some parts he wanted and he had the wagon I wanted. We traded off and I began working on the wagon almost immediately.

Did it look then like it does now?

Not exactly. It boasted three different colors (four, if you looked closely) and that simply wouldn't do. I bought a couple cases of white primer spray cans and made the whole car that color within a week. It was a big improvement.

Ha! I never would've guessed you'd do something like that! You just earned another hero point... Okay, so you made the most of what the factory and father time gave you to work with...

It had a later 350 installed, but the Powerglide and 10-bolt rear remained in the car since its birth, untouched. The speedo didn't work, so I had no real idea how many miles were actually on it, but I didn't care - all the stock stuff would be replaced. Jason had upgraded to aftermarket front disc brakes and the wheels were Edelbrock 17 X 8s with Nitto 450 rubber. The coils had been cut to lower it and it looked pretty good. It started, stopped and turned.

I didn't realize you started with such a nice car. Is that 350 the one you built up into the current powerplant?

No. I built a 383 small-block to power it. I wanted it to run on 87 octane, since this was to be my daily driver. Being a performance guy, I wanted as much power as I could get on the 87 octane. I threw every trick I knew into the build and aimed at 500 peak horses at 6,500 RPM. When the engine made 545 at 6,500, even I was surprised.

Man, that's major gow, on cat pee gas! Again, most of the specs are in the book, for those of you wanting to duplicate Scott's efforts - just remember to duplicate them EXACTLY, if you want to get similar results. So, now you had a fresh engine...

I dropped the engine in at a pal's shop. He said I could take a day to do it. One single day. I rounded up some pals and we got going early. I drove the car home late that night. It sounded really mean and it was. But that Powerglide was not happy - it slipped and slid whenever I eased the pedal down even halfway. The need for a new transmission just moved to the top of the list.

Then, of course, we chose to move across the country, to Minnesota. The return to a four-season environment dictated that this would no longer be a daily driver. My new job as Editor of a start-up hot rodding magazine allowed some of the upgrades to happen as magazine stories. The move to a T56 6-speed was one of them.

And that's only the beginning of the beginning of the 'Chevelle from Hell' story behind the story. Get the rest of the dirt behind the build next time, followed by Scott's driving impressions of the finished product. And more... Coming soon in Part 2.

Just A Speck On The Road To The Next Road

Everyone's busy these days. So it's taking longer than expected to put together the interviews for this blog. It should be worth the wait though, for chats with Scott Parkhurst, Cole Coonce and Holly Felsen Welch. And more are coming...

Meanwhile, I'm busy too, working on multiple book and magazine projects. CarTech has me working on 'Rat Rods - Rodding's Imperfect Stepchildren'. This one had me digging deep to identify my balkiness at the subject matter and I learned some beautiful ugly truths about my rigid narrowmindedness and how I'd managed to forget where I came from. Since that excavation, I'm more comfy in my skin and having big fun now with the book. These guys and their cars are all colorful characters, to say the least - a writer's toybox!

On a more pragmatic note, I'm exploring publishing options for 'Surfing the Asphalt Playground - A Hitch Hiker's Guide to Grassroots Motorsports', the socio-political journal of my time on the road to various race events around the country. A grassroots book seems to demand grassroots publishing, especially when the "impossible to market" subject matter scares traditional publishing houses into closing the blinds and taping scribbled 'Sorry, We're Closed' signs to the door. Luckily, I love a challenge. Expect to see this one being spammed on your Facebook page soon. Or at least stapled to your phone pole.

Some really cool pieces are falling into place now on the latest project - a book of short stories about racers from around the world who come to run in the U.S. - working title: 'Racing to America'. I have about a dozen of these stories so far and more trickling in every day. Jaw dropping stuff of the incredible passion required to build a race car oceans away from the land of instant gratification (parts stores and wrecking yards on every corner) and spending huge money to ship it (and several hangers-on) to and from a longshot at glory in the birthplace of hot rod culture.

A couple of years ago, a local gearhead asked me when I was going to write something about Noel Black . It's excruciating to admit this today, but I was unaware of the guy who grew up one block from me here in Medford, Oregon, then wrenched and drove his way to legendary status, ultimately paying his dues at Bonneville in 1970, when he crashed at well over 400 MPH. As I researched this one, events unfolded that had me talking in tongues, when a much bigger story presented itself. The result is 'Black Wednesday Libretto - The Not So Famous Story of B&N Automotive And Their Attack on the Record Books'. Originally written for Hot Rod magazine, the end product is too long for a magazine and too short for a book. The perfect challenge for a guy with more passion than brains! I have a couple of options in the works, but this one really makes the publishers nervous.

There's also the biography of a hot rod pioneer who doesn't want his story published until after his death (it's that juicy); a magazine feature on the latest car from one of rodding's most edgy and whimsical builders; and yet another CarTech book, deemed Top Secret by my publisher. Typical corporate paranoia, but I'm an obedient slave to the machine myself, so I'll remained zipped up for the team. And oh yeah, I apparently have enough time on my hands to update this blog, dailyish. Life is so sweet. Really. You just can't get here from where I came from. I'm the luckiest guy in town - if you believe in luck. I just may be the most grateful though. I'm lovin' this.