Rodding

Camaro SS Coupe
$36,265
3870 lbs
aluminum, ohv V8
376 ci
426 hp
0-60 4.6
1/4 mile 13.0

Mustang GT Premium
$39,680
3665 lbs
aluminum, dohc V8
302 ci
412 hp
0-60 4.6
1/4 mile 13.2

Clarence "Chili" Catallo's "LITTLE DEUCE COUPE"

"LITTLE DEUCE COUPE"

First the images above, left to right. First is the Beach Boys 1963 album titled "Little Deuce Coupe" featuring Catallo's '32 Ford custom coupe on the cover.
Second is a picture of that same coupe that I took at the 2007 Detroit Autorama as part of their 75 year anniversary of the '32 Ford. And third is a scan
of the box of a plastic 1/32 scale model car kit that Aurora released in 1962 which I bought just a few weeks ago. Although the model is titled "Ram Rod",
you can easily tell that it's patterned after Catallo's coupe. It's only fitting that the coupe has received the attention that it has considering who performed
the major body modifications on the car. A very young (15 years old) Catallo bought the car in 1956 for $75 in Michigan and soon replaced the stock engine
with an Oldsmobile V8 and lowered it six inches. The original body work including the stacked headlights, side trim and front grill was performed by the
Alexander Brothers out of Detroit. In the very early '60s Catallo moved to southern Californian where the coupe's top chop took place at George Barris'
"Kustom City". The then wild coupe was featured on the cover of Hot Rod magazine in 1961 and it was that same cover shot that was used on the Beach Boys
album cover two years later. Catallo sold the coupe a few years later but together with his son Curt, bought it back in the late '90s and it was restored to
it's original album cover glory using most of the original parts. Catallo passed away in 1998 but the coupe is still been shown by his son Curt. Hope you get to
see it in person some day and I hope I can build the plastic model some day!

Road & Track's "RIVALS"

"RIVALS"

Recently I passed along an article based on Yahoo's "Most Beautiful Cars in the World". What surprised me more than anything was the horsepower ratings for
the Bentley and Rolls Royce. For the price you have to dish out for these luxury cars, extra horses is nice. Again I'm passing along an article this time based on
Road & Track's recent issue entitled "RIVALS". Besides a side by side comparison of the Bentley Continental Flying Spur and the Rolls Royce Ghost, a Camaro
SS Coupe and a Mustang GT Premium were also compared, both eight and six cylinder models. Since I'm comparing horsepower and performance stats, I'll leave
out the six cylinder test results.

detroit autorama

roddingandracing.com

My website was down for about a month and I didn't even know about it. The
website provider was sending me e-mails at an old account and I guess I never
went and checked out my own website. Well it's up and running now but with a
few glitches. Opening up on this page is one of them. So just click on the
roddingandracing.com above to be directed to my "Home Page".

Bentley Continental Flying Spur
$226,485
5575 lbs
twin turbo, dohc W12
6.0 liter
600 hp
0-60, 4.3 seconds
1/4 mile, 12.9 seconds

Rolls Royce Ghost
$308,350
5495 lbs
twin turbo, dohc V12
6.6 liter
563 hp
0-60, 4.7 seconds
1/4 mile, 12.9 seconds

Now that you've checked out the "vitals" on the
Camaro and Mustang, check out the same specs on
the Bentley and Rolls. Price and weight difference
is expected and the extra horses is a plus
especially with the extra weight. Check out the
quarter mile times though! That kind of
performance is expected from exotics in that
price range but from land yachts?

If you're an "old timer" like I am and have followed rodding and racing for awhile, you probably recognize most of the vehicles posted below. All
are well known vehicles, all built by legendary builders. This is one of the reasons I try to attend the Detroit Autorama every year. Every year
you'll see nostalgic race cars, customs and rods on display at Detroit. Amazingly enough all the images below were taken at the same show in 2009.
Unfortunately I missed the 2010 edition of the show but hopefully I'll be back in 2011.

formula 1 comes to austin! houston?

How about this for some great news. Formula 1 has named Austin, Texas to be the host city for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix for 2012
through 2021. Although the exact location hasn't been released yet, a brand new track will be built just east on the city near the city's airport. The
only time Formula 1 raced in Texas was at the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix which I was lucky enough to have attended. Anyway I came across this tidbit
when I read that a Grand Prix of Houston organizing committee had been formed to bring the Indy Racing League back to Houston in 2012. The Indy
cars raced in Houston back in 2006 and 2007 where I took the pictures above. All I can say is good luck and I hope they get the job done.

texas toy

Ran across this picture recently of the "TEXAS TOY" Ford Monster Truck. Only saw it a
couple of times, once in the Houston Astrodome during a monster truck show and left at a
tractor pull in Alice in south Texas around 25 years ago. Back then Texas had a pulling
organization that held events at small towns all over Texas. I was visiting relatives down in
Corpus Christi when I read about the event in the Corpus Christi newspaper. While I was at the
event I picked up a copy of their pulling schedule and attended one more show in Selma just
north of San Antonio. In that one week, I attended the Goodguys event held at Southfork Ranch
(Dallas television series) in Plano, heading to Disney World for a couple of days, heading back
we stopped in new Orleans for some of the good food at the French Quarter, caught one day of
the NHRA Cajun Nationals in Baton Rouge, drove right by Houston to San Antonio to catch the
tractor pull. I know it's a lot of traveling but hey I was single at the time!

royal purple raceway

Houston

Raceway

Park

on the road