Mel gets a ticket. All photos are frame grabs from video below.
Mel and Thera are your prototypical teenage couple in Santa Ana, California, in the early 1950s. Mel’s certainly doing well enough, sporting about in what—best we can tell—is a 1948 Buick Super Convertible Sedan (56-C). Or is that a Roadmaster? Mel’s primary issue is that he’s a total jerk behind the wheel. He can easily afford to pay yet another moving violation ticket, so what’s to be Mel’s motivation to straighten up and keep in line?
Mel stumbles across a drag racing event at a nearby abandoned air strip (presumably that which opened in 1950 as the country’s first commercial drag strip by C.J. “Pappy” Hart at Orange County Airport), notably populated by far more disciplined drivers. He runs against his New Best Nemesis (NBN), Dave, who soundly whips Mel’s butt.
Mel is quite taken by this grand assortment of speed seekers from clubs like Hood Lifters, Throttle Jammers, Shifters, Chaparrals, Knuckle Busters, Clutchers, Dusters and Sidewinders who pilot streamliners, hot rods, belly tankers, T-roadsters, chopped coupes and the like. But can he fit in?
First thing you know, Mel sells the convertible, buys a hot rod and tries his hand at engine modifications. This is where we sense that Mel is not a natural gearhead, and, worse, that he must now go to NBN Dave for expert advice. Turns out, Dave’s quite a friendly sort and all the fellows are more than happy to work on Mel’s hot rod.
Can Mel overcome his creepy personality and learn how to play well with others? Will he win a Southern California Timing Association trophy at El Mirage? And, of particular interest, what becomes of Thera? Invest 12:34 minutes to find out.
Public domain archival footage courtesy of the Internet Moving Images Archive, in association with Prelinger Archives.
from Hemmings Daily - News for the collector car enthusiast http://ift.tt/1yyCWWw
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