Moving On Up

I woke up this morning feeling a bit nostalgic. See, The Jalopy Journal as a company took a big step last week. No longer are we based out of the house in a small office that doubled as a guest bedroom. Nope. Instead, we are based out of a tiny steel building located down a slow country road in the heart of TEXAS. It might seem trivial to most of you, but it’s a HUGE transition for me. I’m officially small time now.

Of course, the most important step to take after a big leap is to glance over your shoulder and make sure you remember where you came from. As such, I decided to dig into The Jalopy Journal archive and pull out an editorial from 1996. Read it and you’ll guess the author was a 20 year old kid with more gusto than experience. You’d be guessing right… But, it’s where I came from and nothing will change that. (Right D.W.?)

Enjoy.

…………………………

Duvall windshields. Style. Visions of B-ville. Speed. Art deco dreams of screaming down I-5 with one eye on the coast and the other squinting from the glare. Are you in a deuce? Maybe an a-coupe or a ‘35 roadster. It doesn’t matter - the essence is the same.

Stromberg 97’s - lots of em. Power. Ya can’t not think about Milner’s coupe, but there other thoughts. Tommy Ivo’s Buicks for one. They can also take you to a destination. Stare at the velocity stacks long enough and you’re in the driver’s seat of a flathead powered drop tank at the lakes. Keep it straight. Follow the black line, but not too tightly. Welcome to the 200mph club…

The Flathead. Lots of ways to go here - they do live forever. Can ya feel the mello lump of a model 40 driving by with some tricked heads, Fenton headers, and maybe a 3/8 Potvin? Everyone knows flatheads sound different, but they also feel different. Can YOU feel it?

Ardun. Sophisticated, yet not. Hi-tech, then. Move the valves over the heads and get a different sound, a different feel. I told ya flatheads lived forever.

Quickies. Halibrand. Stock conversions. Circle track. More B-ville. They rest deliberately between the frame rails - supporting the big side of the big and littles. Like a second power source, cars seem motivated by their presence. If not the cars, the drivers - that additional gear wind has to equate to more power, right? Right?

Stewart Warner. Control. A visual party of needles and numbers that dance to the rhythm of the machine. The faster the music, the faster the dance. Bitchin.

Steel wheels. Simple. The basics. Elegant with caps and rings, but brutal without. How in the FUCK can you screw that up?

And that’s really it - right? That what makes a traditional car - TRADITIONAL. It’s all there, but you wouldn’t know it unless you knew it. It’s not a popularity contest. In fact, it’s not a competitive venture at all. It’s soul and history. And to me… to us… that’s what makes this little world of ours turn.

………….

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