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The 50th Anniversary of the Club in 2006, we were the first club to reach this milestone.
If you have any history or memorabilia that you can contribute to the clubs 50th records please contact us. 50 YEARS of HOT RODDING SOUTHERN HOT ROD CLUB WoW! 50 years, where did they go? 21/10/1956 - 21/10/2006 *and they said it wouldn’t last* A small group of guys got together that afternoon in John McCaggan’s garage, paid a one quid membership fee & formed the Southern Hot Rod Club. From such humble beginnings, who could have imagined how big the sport would grow. Sure, modified cars had been around Melb streets for a few years before this, but not as an organised group, with rules & regulations & a name. Southern was chosen because it was the first club outside the U.S. & was in the Southern Hemisphere. The fad that won’t last soon attracted more & more members & by the end of the 50’s, numbers had risen to well into the 100’s Impromptu Drag meetings were common place, after all, this is what Hot Rodding was all about, modifying a late 20’s or early 30’s car to go fast in a straight line. It was often lonely country back roads that were used & if another car came along, they were asked to stop, pull over to the side while the next run took place. Most people out on a Sunday drive were happy to oblige & would watch with interest, this new form of Car Racing & the enthusiasm of the young rebels participating. It did not take long to realise this could not continue & the old Pakenham air field was available, so the first official Drag meeting was held (circa) 1959. There was no bitumen, just a concrete launch pad, supplied by the Pirotta family, then back onto dirt, still the competition was fierce. Well organised meetings were held through to the early 60’s, things changed & the 1st Drag strip closed. Activities quickly transferred to a strip of asphalt behind G M H’s engine factory at Fisherman’s Bend – Riverside Drag Strip & Australian Drag Racing was born. Early Hot Rodders from N S W began driving down & joining in the action, the sport was growing. More clubs were needed to increase the keenness of competition between them, Kevin Mayo left to form the Eagles Rod & Custom Club as did Peter Rayson to form Southern Beaches Rod & Custom Club, Ray Charlton was instrumental in the Sultans Rod & Custom Club being formed, Bob Dykes, an associate, rather than a member formed the Rockers Hot Rod Club, later to become Thunderbirds Rod & Custom Club. The 60’s saw the sport grow with clubs all around Australia; the show circuit emerged with the 1st Melb Hot Rod Show held in the Exhibition Building in 1966. Organised runs were held & interstate rivalry was ripe. At one of the early Melb shows, Southern decided to create a beach scene to display the cars in, so of they went to Sth Melb or Port Melb, backed a tandem trailer down onto the beach & shovelled it full of sand, no one really questioned what they were up to, imagine trying that today. Another very ambitious project was undertaken, when it was decided to have a Club stand at the Adelaide Hot Rod Show, the stand was built here, then disassembled, loaded into trailers & transported to the show, re-assembled on site & won them a prize, the quality of the cars that drove across, was outstanding & also won awards. The 70’s were upon us, Riverside had closed & the Drags had moved to Calder, Southern were still involved, helping run the meeting & providing the startline crew etc, in those days they were telecast live on Channel 0, just ask Ted Gibbon about the time he was adjusting his attire while the camera was trained square on him. Joey Parotta & Charlie Carawana had been involved in drag racing for sometime, they campaigned a Y block powered FJ, then came the magnificent Satisfaction a Mk1 Cortina 289 powered, later to be replaced with a 427 SOHC, man what a ride. The father of Aust Drag Racing, Eddie Thomas, just kept going faster & his Speed Shop – SPECO Thomas, never stopped providing innovative speed equipment to all us Hot Rodders. Robbie Ratliff, son of Pat Ratliff, another drag racing pioneer, went on to build ‘Classical Gas’ a 48 Anglia powered by a 426 Chrysler. Pete Way, as part of H & W Performance, helped build & maintain the fastest ‘iron engined ‘ dragster in Aust history, while the rest used aluminium engines ( Donovan’s K B’s etc) the Hussey Bros & Pete kept that old iron Hemi humming, taking them to runners up at the Nationals 1973 . The 1st Street Rod Nationals were held at Narrandera in ’73, Rods from all over Aust came to this sleepy town for Easter. John Lynch drove his ’34 Roadster up , 260w powered by then or maybe it still had the Flathead, later it received a 351w, now days has a 427 SOHC, Pete Clara was there in his Super Charged Y block powered, channelled 32 Roadster, Doug Carter had his ’32 Sedan, Ken Dunc drove the Model A & Lil Pete had the Spinner. Who can forget the Sultans acetylene filled balloons floating up into the night sky & then mysteriously exploding? Hot Rodding had now become a truly National sport! Southern’s 21st celebrations were held at the StKilda Town Hall, the biggest Hot Rod ball ever to be attempted, almost didn’t happen, an electricity strike was called on the Thursday, meaning no power for the Friday night spectacular, somehow Graham Harris managed to secure an industrial generator, along with whoever was using the town hall the next night. A qualified electrician had to remain with the generator throughout the evening, so Alan Harrison volunteered his brother, the night went ahead & history was made, Hot Rodding had come of age. The 25th Ball was held at the Camberwell Civic Centre & we almost all got locked up for selling specially labelled bottles of port without a liquor licence, only some quick talking from Bluey Wilson & Alan H got us out of trouble. The 30th was at the Hawthorn Town Hall & was a great success, but by then annual balls were no longer in favour, so attendance was falling. Rod runs were nearly every w’end & Swap Meets were getting bigger. By the 80’s politics had crept into Rodding. There were 2 distinct “ schools of thought” & Southern members had very strong views on both, regrettably it caused several members to leave & form their own club, others just left continuing to support the sport as individuals. A drag meeting at Heathcote was organised for the same w’end as the Bendigo Swap Meet, overnight camping was available on the Sat, with racing that evening under lights, we put more spectators on the hill than they had ever seen before. Others were held at Calder, with the help of the Spades Rod & Custom Club, they to were a great success. The sport just kept on growing, the club had regained it’s composure after the difference of opinion with the ASRF & was looking for another activity, with the help of the Earlies & the co-operation of the Chirnside Park Shopping Centre a Swap Meet was held in the car park on a Sunday afternoon, when the shopping centre was shut, this became a bi- annual event, & went on for a few years until Sunday trading was alloyed for retail shops, forcing us out of the car park. Another location was found at Yarra Glen & this too was good for a couple of years, now we have the Xmas party at Lilydale. The ‘need for speed’ still seems to drive members & ex-members, both of which are heavily involved in the DLRA as admin, officials or competitors, Robbie Carroll is there every year helping out & Ray Charlton Rod Hatfield & John Lynch all compete. We sponsor the fastest roadster trophy. Looking around at Club meetings now days you notice the predominant hair colour is grey, for those that still have hair, & the waist lines are a little larger, but the eyes are still bright & sparkle at the mere mention of an Arden equipped flattie, some guys have built car after car, while some are still building their first, it doesn’t matter, the mateship & a life long connection to Hot Rodding does. It’s your sport – it’s your past – it’s our future They’re your memories – cherish them. Yours in Rodding. |
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This Webpage has been created using the my connected community (mc2) Webpage generator. my connected community (mc2) is funded by the Victorian Government and coordinated by Vicnet
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