I was email chatting with Jim Robinson today and he shared the link to his history of the SBC engine in hot rods, posted in another thread, and mentioned “living it” back in the mid to late 50’s. I responded that I’d been around too, but lived in the sticks of extreme SW Missouri, spitting distance from both Oklahoma and Arkansas, so not much “hot rodding” that I remembered. But I did remember what really got me interested! So the question: Can you point to one thing from your youth that triggered your interest in hot rods, customs, hot cars and speed in general? I’m thinking that there may be some pretty good stories from some of you guys, if you think back a ways. Since I’ve posed the question I’ll start.

I grew up in really small towns of SW Missouri so I’d not seen much in the way of hot rods. It was fall of ‘60, I was almost 13 and we’d moved to town that summer. All the boys were interested in the new cars coming out and the dealerships made a big deal of keeping things hidden. There was a guy back from the Army who had a ‘57 BelAire with a continental kit and the rear lowered, and a ‘56 Chevy with the front bumper pulled, but not much else that wasn’t stock. I’d listen to WLS in Chicago with their Saturday ads, “Sunday, Sunday, Sunday at the beautiful US30 dragstrip” and dream. One Sunday after church we went home for lunch, and I was told we were going for a drive. Now I’m an 8th grader, which is an “interesting” age anyway, and of course I was bored. We’re in Joplin, 50 miles from home and Dad asks, "What would you do if you could do anything you wanted?" I remembered hearing on the radio the night before that there was a car show happening in Joplin at their municipal auditorium, and to my surprise they drove over, stopped at the curb, handed me a dollar and said "Come back when you've seen what you want to see!"

The show was put on by the Cam Twisters Car Club, probably had 100 or 150 cars of different types plus their club dragster! The seed was planted, and even in the sticks of SW Missouri the seed took root and grew!

Who’s next?