Thread: Rum Runners (future idea) what would be right car?

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I went to my great-grandmother's funeral on Monday (after 10 years with Altheimers it was best for her). I found out my great-great-grandmother was a bootlegger. that gave me the idea of later (money and wife allowing) building an appropriate Rum Runner Rod. What era cars would have been used? I'm thinking a truck might be cool. or something with a rumble seat, complete with some hidden compartment.

Your thoughts?

Red

Have you seen the movie "Thunder Road" starring Robert Mitchum? He used a '49 or '50 Ford (never have been able to tell them apart) and then a '57 Ford. I suspect that any of the early to mid-fifties cars would qualify. Buy or rent the movie.

Large car, big trunk, big motor. Any number of cars from the 50's and 60's. Got to be fast and capable of hauling large quanities of shine.

Here is a cool story about Rum Runners from Canada. Looks like some of the original cars were from the 30's

http://www.virtualsk.com/current_iss...nner_moon.html

Great story Pat.

BACK IN MY YOUNGER YEARS(50'S) THE CAR MOST POPULAR WAS THE 40 FORD COUPE.I HAD FRIENDS I WORKED WITH THAT WOULD MAKE A RUN ONCE A MONTH FROM NEWPORT TN. TO CINN.OHIO AFTER FINISHING WORKING THE SWING SHIFT.THE CAR HAD OVER LOAD SPRINGS AND WHEN LOADED WOULD LOOK LIKE A NORMAL 40 FORD. FLAT HEAD ENGINES WERE USED PRIOR TO THE OLDS. V/8.I WORKED WITH THEM 5 YEARS AND THEY WERE NEVER CAUGHT.THE CAR WOULD BE PARKED IN THE PARKING LOT READY TO MAKE THE RUN ON SAT. MORNING AFTER THE SHIFT CHANGE.MOONSHINE IS STILL BEING MADE IN THEM THAR HILL'S.

Don In Austin

There was just a documentary on TV a month or so ago about moonshining. Showed the reasons behind it, and the process. It discussed how the American Revolution came about because we were being overtaxed by England, and how George Washington then found it necessary to start taxing liquor to support the new Government. This didn't set well with some Americans,so they started making shine in remote locations. Shine became a form of currency, and was used to pay for things, just like money.

Supposedly, some very famous people were involved in the business, and it produced some of the best race drivers in history.

Don

All the storys i have ever heard its got to be the 40 Ford For sure, if only i could go back in time

Want a classic?

Just refer to the song COPPER HEAD ROAD.

Originally Posted by Don Dalton

BACK IN MY YOUNGER YEARS(50'S) THE CAR MOST POPULAR WAS THE 40 FORD COUPE.I HAD FRIENDS I WORKED WITH THAT WOULD MAKE A RUN ONCE A MONTH FROM NEWPORT TN. TO CINN.OHIO AFTER FINISHING WORKING THE SWING SHIFT.THE CAR HAD OVER LOAD SPRINGS AND WHEN LOADED WOULD LOOK LIKE A NORMAL 40 FORD. FLAT HEAD ENGINES WERE USED PRIOR TO THE OLDS. V/8.I WORKED WITH THEM 5 YEARS AND THEY WERE NEVER CAUGHT.THE CAR WOULD BE PARKED IN THE PARKING LOT READY TO MAKE THE RUN ON SAT. MORNING AFTER THE SHIFT CHANGE.MOONSHINE IS STILL BEING MADE IN THEM THAR HILL'S.

Don In Austin

My wife's Daddy was from Newport, made shine till He passed away in the late 70's,got a picture of his '51 Merc and had it enlarged.I was back last Thanksgiving and some of the oldtimers say nobody made it better.

One of those old Dodge coupes with the lonnnnggg trunk (about 48-52) has always struck me as the quintissential "shine running" car. Like the one in "Copperhead Road". You, however, do not have to buy it at an auction at the Masons Lodge!!!

Rum Runner????? I don't think so. Most rum was made in the West Indies, as it is made from sugar cane. The rum-runners were in ships that brought West Indies rum across to south Florida and the Carolinas, and it was brought in to avoid the exise taxes put on it by the American government. This happened before prohibition. During prohibition, most of the moonshine liquor that was made in Tennessee and the other "moonshine states" was made from a corn base mash, and was in fact a "bourbon whiskey", not a rum. Canadian whiskey was made from rye grain, and as a consequence was a "rye whiskey". Back when I was a kid, an American tourist taught me how to make corn whiskey. I used to run off small batches for myself and my friends. One of the big fears of making moonshine whiskey was that you would cook a "bad batch"----this was a result of cooking the mash at the wrong temperature, or getting an outside contaminant into the mash. The resulting booze made from a "bad batch" could make you go blind from drinking it. I know that we used to get a spoonfull straight from the still, and light it on fire. If it burned with a perfectly clear blue halo of flame, it was considered a good batch, and was safe to drink. If it burned with a smoky flame, it was considered to be a "bad batch" and was supposed to be thrown out.---Depending on how close it was to the Saturday night dance, and how desperate we were for a drink, sometimes we threw it out,---sometimes we drank it anyways

Hey, Tech, "Thunder Road", my favorite early car movie! And the later one with Jeff Bridges, "Last American Hero", wasn't it? Moonrunners all! Apparently, most stock car drivers were, or at least knew and copied, these guys.
Up here in Canada, they were rumrunners, driving smuggled rum to "Silent Pigs" or illegal bars, using so many McLauglin Buicks that they became known as "Whiskey Sixes" . So I guess there was some whiskey being moved, too.

My granddaddy ran his under a load of melons or sweetcorn or whatever else he was selling at the time in the 39 Reo 2 ton. A couple years ago, bank erosion on Lake Sharpe uncovered his old still about 20 feet underground. Even Grandma said she never knew where the still was. It still had some jugs and the boiler in it but before it could be recovered, the bank caved an it all went into the muddy Mo.

Originally Posted by JeffB2

My wife's Daddy was from Newport, made shine till He passed away in the late 70's,got a picture of his '51 Merc and had it enlarged.I was back last Thanksgiving and some of the oldtimers say nobody made it better.

MY DAD'S DAD MADE MOONSHINE,MY DAD WAS A LITTLE SMARTER AND MADE WINE ALL HIS LIFE.I STILL HAVE 2 GALLONS HE MADE BACK IN THE 90'S.PROBABLY WILL NEVER POP THE CORK ON THEM,AS KIDS WE DID A LOT OF SAMPLING OF THE WINE.NEVER GOT CAUGHT THANK GOD.WE WERE BORN IN MORRISTOWN,ABOUT 20 MI.FROM NEWPORT.LOT'S OF NICE RIDES IN THAT PART OF THE COUNTRY.

Don In Austin