2009 Barracuda Calendar

Just in! The Limited Edition 2009 Barracuda Calendar!

Each month comes with a new calendar girl to help keep you company while you spin your wrench.

Hurry in and get yours today. Once they're gone - they're gone.

Operation Christmas HAMB

Kevin appeared in an article in the Sun Times this weekend in regards to his Christmas HAMB project to send packages to troops stationed overseas.

Tully is truly a classic

Kevin Tully Runs Hot Rod Chassis & Cycle in Addison. They build hot rods, custom motorcycles race cars, etc.

This year he organized a nationwide gift drive for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan who are into hot rodding. Through a hot rod message board, he set up drop points around the country and people not only donated the normal toiletries and other necessities, but also DVDs, magazines and books, new and used. I do some DJing, so he asked me to compile a CD of rocabilly/surf Christmas songs, and another friend dubbed copies to send.

This was all volunteer work and donations. (Note: They sent about 130 packages from the Chicago are, plus other packages from other cities.)

Joe Wislar, Evergreen Park

Hunnert Car Pile-Up in Hot Rod Deluxe

Make sure you stop by the shop and pick up the latest issue of Hot Rod Deluxe from the HRCC newsstand! Featured is coverage of the 2008 Hunnert Car Pile-Up...check it out.

Bettie Page

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Legendary pinup queen Bettie Page died of pneumonia at the age of 85 in a Los Angeles, California, hospital Thursday, a week after suffering a heart attack, according to her agent.

"She captured the imagination of a generation of men and women with her free spirit and unabashed sensuality," said agent Mark Roesler in a written statement. "She is the embodiment of beauty."

Page, said to be one of the most photographed people of the past century, became a recluse in recent decades. Yet, her images continued to be used around the world to market Bettie Page action figures, clothing lines and other merchandise.

The Web site, BettiePage.com, logs about 20 million hits a month, Roesler said. A TVGuide.com poll recently placed Bettie Page as the "ultimate sex goddess," outscoring others such as Marilyn Monroe.

Page was born to a poor family in Tennessee on April 22, 1923. While her birth certificate spelled her name "Betty," she changed the spelling later in life to "Bettie."

At a time when few women pursued a college education, Page earned a bachelor of arts degree in education from Peabody College in Tennessee in 1944, according to her official biography.

Her teaching career, however, was hampered by her looks, she said.

"I couldn't control my students, especially the boys," she is quoted as saying.

After her modeling career ended, Page returned to Peabody College to work on a master's degree, the bio said. Her southern drawl and a refusal to sleep with a Hollywood producer hampered her acting career, according to her bio.

"I didn't like his looks," Page said. "I wouldn't have gone to bed with him anyway. He was a creep. He drove off in his big car and scolded me, 'You'll be sorry.' I wasn't."

Page said she regretted not accepting studio boss Jack Warner's offer of another screen-test, but it came while she was trying to save her marriage to her first husband, Billy Neal.

Her modeling breakthrough began after she divorced Neal in 1947 when she met a police officer whose hobby was photography. He suggested the black bangs, which became her trademark, her bio said. Not long after, her images were everywhere, gracing magazine covers and locker pin-ups.

Page wore nothing but a Santa hat in Playboy's January 1955 centerfold. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner said her appearance in his magazine's first year was a milestone.

"She became, in time, an American icon, her winning smile and effervescent personality apparent in every pose," Hefner said.

"A kinky connection was added by Irving Klaw's spanking, fetish and bondage photos, which became part of the Bettie Page mystique," Hefner said. "They were playful parodies that are now perceived as the early inspiration for Madonna's excursions into the realm of sexual perversion."

Perhaps the most memorable photos of Page were her bondage poses, which she said were all pretend.

"I never understood how anyone believed those poses were sexy," she later said. "To be tied up? I don't get it."

"She was a remarkable woman, truly someone that changed the social norms, not only here in this country, but also around the world," Roesler said. "While Jackie Robinson was changing the racial attitudes, Bettie Page was changing our attitudes on sex. She became a James Dean type of 'rebel' figure as she allowed people to be less inhibited and look at sex in a different way."

Saucy photos of Paige in skimpy clothing or none at all helped to lead the way for the sexual revolution of the 1960s.

Page suddenly disappeared from the scene in 1958. It was only decades later revealed that she re-emerged to explain that she underwent a religious conversion and moved to Florida.

Her life took a dark turn starting in 1978 after her third marriage failed, Roesler said.

Page went through "some mental instability, violent mood swings, and serious trouble with the law" and was eventually diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, according to her bio.

Page reappeared in public in December 2003 for Playboy's 50th anniversary party, where she made a grand entrance with Anna Nicole Smith.

It was the only time in the past 50 years that Page allowed her photograph to be taken, Roesler said.

A private funeral service is planned for Tuesday. Page will buried at Westwood Cemetery in Los Angeles, just a few feet away from Monroe.

Magneto Magazine

We've got the new issue of "Magneto" in stock at the Special Bail-Out Price of only $9!

Cover features -
Excaliber : The Jackson-Peterson Rail
A Couple of Roaring Twenties Model T's
A Real "Hot Rod Black" Model A

makes a great stocking stuffer...va-room!

Remember Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941... a date which will live in infamy. Like a lot of kids, I read about Pearl Harbor and the attack. I could picture the Zeros sweeping in on the attack. Three years ago I had the chance to visit Pearl Harbor with my Dad. To actually be standing there and looking down upon the Arizona was pretty moving. And to see the "tears of the dead" rising up to the surface from the ship... humbling. I cried. How could you not? Lest we forget.

HAMB Holiday Soiree December 18th

It's that time of year again to spread some holiday cheer! Come by the shop starting at 6pm, Thursday December 18th,  for our annual holiday open house. Please bring a dish to share with all the other guests. Last year we had a great crowd and a good time was had by all. Please note that this is an adults only event and any offspring should be 15 and up. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Shave and a Haircut.

Just a little off the top please. If you're a Model A or T owner (or any brand 1922-1931 coupe or sedan owner) getting your lid lowered is a breeze. We now offer chops on these flat roof cars for a flat fee. No guess work. Simple. What are you waiting for?

America's Super Power : Traditional Power Plants

Check out the new issue (no. 9) of "Hometown Hot Rod Magazine" and read Kevin's article on some of the lesser know engines that are cool, reliable and over run with horse-power.

The issue is on our news-stand now so come on by the shop and pick up your copy today.