Or something from nothing.. and the chicks are never free. No, wait, that's money for nothing, and the chicks for free...

But enough of the '80s music. We play enough of that thanks to SIRIUS. There's a story to be told here, one that quite possibly is the reason I am building cars today.

I remember the first real hot rod I ever saw. I was probably 7 or 8 years old, was on my way to "town" with the parents, riding in the back seat of a '73 Impala. As we merged on to the interstate, a Model A coupe moved over into the left lane to let us in. I can't remember any of the details of it, not even the color. What did stand out was the fact you could see the engine.. and somehow the spinning of the blades of the fan had some effect on me. Call it planting a seed, if you will.  But I'm digressing from the true story here..

But first, just a little more history. My grandfather, Charles Logan Sr. was a lifelong Chevrolet mechanic, and chronic tinkerer. I've got his first Chevrolet certificate from Chevrolet hanging in the shop, dated 1947. He never built any hotrods, as far as I know. But one day, somewhere in the late '70s, he brought home on a trailer the remains of a '26 Chevy delivery truck. He had traded some work for it, and had great plans of 'fixing it up'. Pretty much nothing but a frame, cowl, engine and grille shell. It was unloaded in the edge of the woods near my house. I wasn't really sure about it, but I knew it could be a hot rod, and a hot rod it was... in my mind, anyway.  I bet I drove it a thousand miles that summer, sitting on the rusty gas tank and turning the rusty steering wheel. But, a few months later, a friend of his offered him some cash for it, so it disappeared from my yard, but not my mind... shortly after that I subscribed to 'HOT ROD'. The seed had sprouted....

Fast forward to sometime in the mid-nineties, I ran into the guy who had purchased the old Chevy. I knew he had never finished it, but I had to ask anyway. Well, the engine had been mistakenly hauled off for scrap, and the cowl, frame and shell were sitting on a wooden frame trailer which had rotted. He said " If you've got a use for it, take it on... I'm getting too old to fool with this stuff anyway." Thanks, Mr. Holder. Well, I brought it home, and there it sat. Eventually the cowl was brought in the shop for storage, and I could see it being made into something.. if I just had the time.

Here it is after I got it back.. not that much different than my childhood memories.. just missing a few more parts.

Pressing the fast forward button again (without having to flip the cassette over!), summer 2006. The Black Lizard was not going to be finished in time for the HAMB Drags, neither was Reed's truck. A short lived plan was conceived to build a HA/GR. While going over what parts  we had  on hand for the build, I mentioned the cowl to Reed. Went upstairs, dug it out, and this picture was taken a few minutes later...

A cowl and a dream...

And so began the frantic build to have it ready in time for the drags. Well, if you attended, you know we made it there, but the car wasn't drivable. But we had fun anyway.

As the build progressed,  the car developed a personality of it's own. A '47 Farmall grille that I had bought for a tractor project was thrown into the mix, a F-1 rearend was rescued form the scrap pile, Jeep wheels from ebay, front axle and '40 spring from Skipstitch, headlights from 'the dirtys' in TX, and the list goes on... there's a story behind nearly every part of this car. We built it with what we had, or could come up with quickly. The only new things on the car are the tires, brake hardware, and the NOS jeep wheels.

A little closer, a few design changes and additions..

At the HAMB Drags... wish we could have had it finished... (pic by Jim Marlett)

And now, 30 years later, I get to drive my 'hot rod'. It was worth the wait.

And if this long-winded story has a moral, it is this: if that Model A had been on a trailer, I bet I wouldn't even remember it today.. I drove this thing to my 20 year class reunion last week. Some kids of a former classmate wanted a ride.. I slowly drove around the parking lot, into the gravel lot adjoining, and NAILED it.. a couple of times. I think I ticked off the guy washing his truck in the  self -serve car wash next door. Oh well...

I don't think the poor kids had ever been sideways before.. and certainly not with dust and gravel flying.

Planting seeds.....