The Posie Aeroliner Sport. Photo courtesy Posie’s.
Conventional wisdom says that concours d’elegance events, especially those as well-respected as Amelia Island, are no place for the think-outside-the-box world of hot rods. Bill Warner, founder and chairman of the Amelia Island event, would beg to differ, and in 2015 created an “East versus West” hot rod class devoted exclusively to that American automotive art form.
The category will feature a total of 16 cars, including eight built on the West Coast and eight constructed on the East Coast. The centerpiece of the West Coast cars will be the Moal Coachworks Falcon, while the cornerstone of the East Coast contingent will be the long and low Posie Aeroliner Sport, a car that Warner sums up by saying, “If Jay Gatsby were a hot rodder, Posie’s Aeroliner Sport would be his car.” Even the hot rods immortalized by the U.S. Postal Service, including Bruce Meyer’s red 1932 Bob McGee Ford and Mark Graham’s Vern Tardel-built black highboy, will be on display.
Moal Falcon. Photo by Peter Vincent.
Though one could argue that the roots of hot rodding predate the Second World War, the explosion in popularity of the shadetree-built performance car followed the war’s end. Returning GIs, particularly those without family obligations, found little of interest on new-car dealer lots. Instead, many turned to the same improvisational skills that had gotten them through the war, relying on trial and error to improve the performance of cars on hand.
Though East Coast and West Coast styles evolved simultaneously, Warner is quick to point out their differences. “The East Coast rod is a blood relation of the sports car, while the West Coast Rod has the style of the dry lakes roadster, of Bonneville and the whole Ford ‘flathead’ V-8 scene; probably what most people envision when they hear the words ‘Hot Rod.’” Blame it on Hollywood, then, since the West Coast style has long been celebrated in movies and on television, while the East Coast style hasn’t gotten much exposure.
Photo courtesy USPS.
Warner likens the hot rod to a “rogue animal,” comparing builders like Posies and Moal to the Carrozzerias of Italy or the coachbuilders of England. In fact, Warner says, modern builders take things a step further than their European counterparts, declaring, “While the Carrozzeria designs and creates a body for an existing platform, the current American hot rodder usually makes the whole car from the wheels up. Sometimes they even make the wheels.”
The 2015 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance will take place on March 13-15 at The Golf Club of Amelia Island at The Ritz-Carlton. For additional information, visit AmeliaConcours.org.
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