50 years worth of hotrodding, system administrator of Hotrodsonline.com, Started as a pinstriper as a kid. Owned the El Matador for a time. Helped start the little deuce coupe with friend as a teenager. Many cars over the years. I was born in 1940 and started becoming involved in the mid fifties.Rods and customs in the Detroit area during the fifties, Mostly customs there in the fledgling years of the Detroit Autorama. I was there for the first one in 53, I think that was the first, and had a 1946 Lincoln Coupe in the 1959 Autorama. Bill Hines and Dick Dean were also in that show when they both lived in Detroit. Bill Hines debuted his original "Lil Bat" at that show.
Ran at the strips in the lower michigan area running a Caddy powered 40 Ford Sedan. Scattered many a tranny.
I moved to Florida in the sixties and became involved in drag racing there. I was the flagger at the old Golden Triangle drag strip in Oldsmar, Florida and that was home to Don Garlits in the early days. That is where he did most of his testing and took home $100. almost every week he was in town. Top Eliminator going to Don Garlits was a given. We literally paid his living at that strip. At that strip I flagged off Don Garlits, Ed Garlits, Chris Karamisines, Connie Kalitta, Tommy Ivo, Dragmasters, Art Arfons, Pete Robinson, and my all time favorite, local boy Ed Pantley, plus others that I can't remember. That old drag strip is now the street going into a subdivision. About 5 years back, I went out there and stood in the middle of the street and remembered some great times. Tragedy and death were involved there too.
During this time is ran a Cadillac Powered Henry J with an extended front end in A Gas, held the record for one week at 122mph at 12.92 in the quarter.
Did a car show in St. Petersburg Florida in 1961 that featured the original Beatnik Bandit that I rented from Bob Larivee and Ron Ekholm of Showcars inc.
Now that I am retired, and have moved to the N. Georgia mountains, I need an nice old flathead pickup to go get my coffee every morning and pick up a bale of hay in case I ever buy a mule.

 

I am a new owner, having returned to Ford after owning a GMC, then a Dodge. I chose the '06 F250 Powerstroke diesel to best tow our travel trailer or boat. I found the FTE when looking for information on warm ups before driving. I found a lot of information based on experience and knowledge. I look forward to more reading...

 

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