Asleep at the Wheel: Hot Rod Lincoln

[BillST4s]

For Tim (aclearspot). Thanks for introducing me to this group.

 

[Andy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Rod_Lincoln

 

[Andy]

 

[Andy]

 

[BillST4s]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Rod_Lincoln

From the article: Ryan owned a real hot rod that was built from a 1948 12-cylinder Lincoln chassis shortened two feet and with a 1930 Ford Model A body fitted to it. Thus the song explains how in "Hot Rod Race" a kid in a Model A could have outrun late-model Ford and Mercury sedans. Ryan actually raced his hot rod against a Cadillac sedan driven by a friend in Lewiston, Idaho, driving up the Spiral Highway (former U.S. 95) to the top of Lewiston Hill. His song, however, keeps the same location as "Hot Rod Race", namely Grapevine Hill, which is an old-time local southern California nickname for the long, nearly straight grade up Grapevine Canyon to Tejon Pass, near the town of Gorman, California, between Los Angeles and Bakersfield.

That is too funny. I went to junior high and high school in Lewiston. After graduating from high school, I attended college about 30 miles north of Lewiston at Washington State University (Go Cougs!) in Pullman. At the time, the old Spiral Hghway (known locally as the Lewiston Hill) was the only way north out of the valley.

One summer, in order to gain Washington state residency so I could quit paying out of state tuition, I lived in Pullman and commuted every day to my summer job at the papermill in Lewiston. I could visualize every inch of the Spiral Highway with my eyes close. I have led motorcycle rides back to the area, which always include a trip up the Spiral Highway. I warn people to make only a single trip, as there is a new county jail at the bottom of the road.