Life is made up of your past, your present, and your future, and so it is with cars, kit cars, and our industry.
PresentAt the last Hot Rod and Restoration Trade Show held in Indianapolis, Indiana, in March 2003, Carroll Shelby was the guest speaker at the opening breakfast and, later, was the second recipient of the Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award. Along with Shelby, attendees were Pete Petersen, the founder of Hot Rod Magazine and the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, and the former Formula 1 World Champion, Phil Hill. Johnny Rutherford, former Indy 500 winner, was the guest speaker at the SRMA Forum Breakfast and answered many questions from the members. Rutherford also attended the three-day show. For many people, including me, it was an opportunity to meet the people who are legends in their own time.
What do we all have in common? The love of cars and the love of hot rods, with hot rods' being defined as any cars that are modified and that run the gamut from a Cobra kit car to a '32 Deuce coupe component car.
PastIn growing up, my first love was always going fast, whether it was on bikes, skates, or boats; it did not matter. My uncle built and sold quarter midgets and go-carts, and I raced them until age nine or ten. Those who know me know that I had to quit because I "outgrew" the car. Drag racing came next through my '49 Ford with Caddy power. The guys with Mercs, Tri-Fives, and any combination were kings, and Hot Rod Magazine was my bible. Anyone who could put a kit car together was okay by me.
In the late '60s, I changed careers from a designer position in the aircraft industry to become a manufacturer rep in the motorcycle industry. This led me to Hooker Headers and my first SEMA show. All of a sudden, the people who were only names and faces on television and magazines became business associates and, in many cases, are old friends today. I was doing something I loved in an industry that built speed and custom equipment, and better yet, they were going to pay me for it.
Carroll Shelby said, when accepting the Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award, "What an honor. You know, when I first heard about this, I said, 'Why in the hell would anybody honor you when all you've done all your life is what you wanted to do?'"
His passion is similar to mine and is one I still have after all these years, dealing with hundreds and hundreds of people in our industry and related industries.
FutureHow do we keep this passion going? Well, it is accomplished by commitments from people such as Shelby, who, at 80, is still committed to continuing his legacy with the new Shelby Series 1 and 2 and a revised Shelby American Team. All the other fine kit car manufacturers who build modified classics or replications of the same also keep it going. Every kit car manufacturer who builds his dream car then shares it with and sells it to his buyers has that passion. The passion is also kept alive by associations such as SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association, which is more than 5,200 members strong and has councils dedicated to keeping our love of the industry and hobby going for many years to come.
With this future in mind, the SRMA Council (Street Rod Marketing Alliance) added the kit car and street modified classifications to the council base. The crossover of these two associations is a great future-building tool. In many cases, you cannot tell where a street rod starts or a kit car ends.