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Project X Road Trip!We join Woody’s Hot Rodz and the 2011 AMSOIL/STREET RODDER Road Tour for a 700-mile road trip in Project X From the January, 2012 issue of Popular Hot Rodding By Christopher Campbell Photography by Ed Zinke
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Have you ever seen a beautifully built or restored classic for sale with scant few miles on the clock and wondered to yourself: “How could anyone put so much time and effort into a car and never drive it?” We know where it comes from; blood, sweat, tears, time, and money are all shed in varying doses on every project, and when it’s finally the car you’ve always wanted it’s hard to subject it to the abuses and wear and tear of the open road. But we’re here to tell ya, you’re missing out. We’ll admit though, we allowed ourselves to fall into the same trap; since Project X’s latest and greatest incarnation was finished up by General Motors special projects division in 2008, we’ve done little more than putt around town in it. We allowed it to sit upon a shelf and become little more than a prized heirloom and static symbol of PHR’s great past exploits than the constant source of adventure it had always been. It was a damn shame too; that’s not what X was ever about. We arrived on the last day... We arrived on the last day of the Nats and enjoyed the finals for Top Fuel and Fuel Funny Car (Antron Brown, 3.819 at 322.65 and Mike Neff, 4.060 at 313.66 respectively) but honestly it was the Cacklefest for vintage dragsters we enjoyed the most. Here’s ’70s AA/FD superstar John Wiebe getting a push from a bitchin ’32 Ford shop truck. What we needed was something to jostle us out of our complacency and protectiveness, and we found it in the form of a challenge issued by our friend Christopher Sondles of Woody’s Hot Rodz. Sondles has conspired with Real Deal Steel to bring back fresh steel ’55-57 Chevy hardtops, sedans, and convertibles and decided to organize a special Tri-Five Cruise from his shop in Bright, Indiana, to the Shades of the Past show in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, to mark the occasion. His goal? Have Project X lead the cruise. We were tempted, but tentative. News spreads around here, and a few days later we received an email from Jerry Dixey, the pied piper of the 2011 AMSOIL/STREET RODDER Road Tour, that suggested we join up with a leg of the Road Tour in Indianapolis, then merge with Sondles and commence our own Popular Hot Rodding/Real Deal Steel Tri-Five Cruise sponsored by Woody’s Hot Rodz—as it had come to be called. The annual Road Tour is one of the longest and best hot rod-centric road trips out there; Dixey covers 25,000 miles in a fresh SR project car over the course of the summer, dropping in at shows, shops, and interesting roadside venues. The combination was just too much to resist, so we decided it was high time to clear out the carbon and see a bit of the USA in our Chevrolet.  Our road trip adventure kicked...  Our road trip adventure kicked off at the U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indy. X had a space of honor behind the grandstands with a host of historic rods including Bob Glidden’s infamous undefeated ’78 Fairmont, Linda Hamilton’s Willys, and Hubert Platt’s fastback Mustang, to name a few.  Bright and early the next...  Bright and early the next morning, our leg of the 2011 AMSOIL/STREET RODDER Road Tour officially began. Jerry Dixey, the Tour’s pied piper, assembled everyone around SR’s killer flamb�ed ’55 Chevy project car to make introductions and pass out directions.  The Road Tour brings together...  The Road Tour brings together an eclectic group of rodders from traditionalists to muscle car guys—basically just anyone interested in a good road trip. Check out the turbo on the Jimmy Six in the foreground.  The STREET RODDER boys know...  The STREET RODDER boys know how to have a good time; that evening we cruised X along with the Road Tourians over to Military Park in Indianapolis for a barbecue cook-off and concert headlined by blues rocker Jonny Lang. Did we mention the open bar? Not a bad way to end day one.  Dixey gets access to some...  Dixey gets access to some amazing stuff; our first stop of the day was IHRA Top Fuel Dragster racer Bruce Litton’s personal collection. It’s a re-creation of his hometown of Oneida, Tennessee, outfitted with 1:1 scale shops and businesses and a healthy collection of muscle cars, including a couple ZL1 Camaros and a Nickey Biscayne. We were standing atop his vintage Mobil garage and fuel station for this shot.  Danchuk’s main facility is...  Danchuk’s main facility is actually a stone’s throw from PHR’s office in Irvine, California, but this facility in Indiana was built to speed order fulfillment for customers. We had a tour, then lunch amongst the fresh steel. There’s really nothing on a Tri-Five you couldn’t fix or replace with one call to these guys.  The awe-inspiring dome was...  The awe-inspiring dome was the largest in the world from 1902 to 1913 and the largest in the U.S. prior to the construction of the Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1955. It still has the honor of being a National Historic and Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, and is well worth a stop if you’re in the area.  We received a brief reprieve...  We received a brief reprieve in the torrential rain for the departure of our PHR/Real Deal Steel Tri-Five Cruise. Christopher Sondles led the way in his awesome tribute ’57 Modified Production racer. This car was once his father’s show car and all the made-up striping and decals have special meaning. We love this look, what do you think?  We love to check out the local...  We love to check out the local spots. X runs on high-test fuel only, and so do we. If you happen to be passing through Jasper, Indiana, and need caffeine, check out Sozo.  After heading out of French...  After heading out of French Lick, we confirmed that Project X is indeed waterproof! We also confirmed fuel mileage in the 11-mpg zone from the ZL1. Our fuel gauge and speedo stopped functioning, so we were left guessing when we should stop for more go juice.  What was once worthless is...  What was once worthless is now sought after; Woody Carrell’s ’55 150 Business coupe was almost crushed prior to him purchasing it, since the dealer couldn’t sell the stripped-down Chevy. The car is number 36; the first 34 went to public utility companies, so only one other civilian Business coupe came before his.  After our respective refuels,...  After our respective refuels, we stopped at RideTech and received a grand tour of their huge fabrication facilities and R&D labs. Here Bret Voelkel shows off one of the shock dynos that they use for testing and evaluation. Our stay at RideTech stretched into the wee hours as Voelkel and his team confirmed our suspicion of a significant suspension problem and worked to fix it. Watch for more on this in a future issue!  It was still pouring rain...  It was still pouring rain that evening when we arrived at Woody’s Hot Rodz for the kick-off party for the Popular Hot Rodding/Real Deal Steel Tri-Five Cruise, but attendance was still impressive. The black ’57 in the background is George Poteet’s Black Widow from the Aug. ’11 issue, barely visible behind it is Jeg’s Pro Touring Vega. Watch for more on both cars in future issues of PHR.  Only one mishap arose during...  Only one mishap arose during the drive; Sondles’ Chevy somehow sheared off the studs on the passenger-side rear. No real damage occurred; the local auto parts store delivered studs to the side of the road, and we were back on the road in short order.  A couple hours of sleep and...  A couple hours of sleep and a lot of coffee later, we were back on the Road Tour with our first stop at the historic West Baden Springs Hotel in French Lick, Indiana.  Once a 1950s-and-older street...  Once a 1950s-and-older street rod–only venue, Shades of the Past has expanded to welcome cars up to ’72. Dollywood’s parking lot was slammed full of rods and parts vendors—way more than we can show you here, but check out PopularHotRodding.com for a gallery of the Top Picks of the show. We had never been to Shades before, but were wholly impressed and plan to return.  X had a place of honor near...  X had a place of honor near the entryway where the Top Picks of the show are parked. We drove in filthy from 500 miles of rain to prove a point—there’s no rod too good to drive! Apparently it struck a chord; we had huge amounts of positive feedback from showgoers.  We were back on the road the...  We were back on the road the next morning with the STREET RODDER Road Tour gang for one of the best drives in the country: the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. This road is a must-cruise spot for anyone who loves to drive.  The next morning was unfortunately...  The next morning was unfortunately the last stop for us on the Tour, though the first day of a new leg on the Road Tour. Lokar’s parking lot was slammed with attendees ready for a tour and breakfast.  We had our fun, but to show...  We had our fun, but to show everyone that X was still on par with the best of the show, PHR Publisher (and lifelong Project X fan) Ed Zinke made sure X was flawlessly clean for day two of Shades of the Past. You can’t tell here, but he’s actually having a great time!  The views aren’t bad either....  The views aren’t bad either. We stopped at a lookout point along the way with Dixey in the Road Tour ’55, and soaked it in. This is what getting out on the road in your hot rod is all about—seeing the country.  A tight schedule mandated...  A tight schedule mandated that we left X at Lokar to ship back to the PHR offices. Spending seven days on the road gave us a shakedown run to flush out a few driveability issues that can only be found through seat time, and it also rekindled our passion for, and interest in, doing things with it. Watch for more tech with Project X in the future.  You can’t have the first one,...  You can’t have the first one, but you could have the next one! A showgoer at Shades talked Sondles out of this bitchin ’57 gasser tribute to the Hrudka Brothers. It was the first 100 percent all-new Tri-Five from Woody’s Hot Rodz using bodies from Real Deal Steel. Stay tuned for more on these bodies in PHR. No worries, Sondles already has sketches and plans for his next build. Will it be yours?  Further up the parkway, X’s...  Further up the parkway, X’s temperature started climbing (one of two gauges still working). We solved the problem by cracking open the pipes and running open headers. All the Harley guys at this rest stop loved it. Want to hear us disturbing the peace of the Smokys? Check out PHR’s new YouTube Channel at YouTube.com/PopularHotRodding.  Need another reason to attend...  Need another reason to attend Shades? Show patriarch and friend of PHR Bobby Alloway gives away a roadster every year after the awards are presented. Here Alloway (left) stands with the still-stunned winners of the lime green ’32. Need another? The 50/50 drawing was a massive 40K.  Our next stop was in Maggie...  Our next stop was in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, at the Wheels Through Time Museum. This is perhaps the best collection of mostly unrestored vintage American motorcycles in the country. The best part? Everything runs and they’ll fire up just about any of them. You might even get to see a big smoky burnout across the museum on a $200,000 Crocker race bike!  So here we had the world’s...  So here we had the world’s most famous ’57 Chevy imbued with 46 years of PHR project car history, movie appearances, and yes, huge amounts of time and money, and we drove it 700 miles through beautiful country despite three days of rain to shows, shops, and must-see spots. This really is what rodding is all about. Why aren’t you driving yours? Would you join us if we started an annual Project X road trip?
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