MAYBE, IF YOU'RE LIKE ME, you've been into Rods, Customs, and, Classics since you were knee-high to a hubcap. And also, if you were like me, maybe at one time you actually drove most of the Route 66 "Mother Road" before it became fashionable...because it was the road you took to get from the Midwest to California.
My Route 66 epic tale began in September of 1963 when my Dad & I packed up my '57 Dodge Royal Hardtop and drove from our home in St. Louis to Pasadena, California where I had become a student at the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theatre Arts.
In October, 1964 I drove "66" back home by myself, making great time as I left from Fontana, California at about Midnight Wednesday and drove just about straight through...arriving in St. Louis (much to my parents amazement) about 3:00am Saturday Morning. It's amazing how you can drive through the Desert at night doing 80 miles an hour with a bad water pump !
But, as I said, the mystique of Route 66 hadn't been created yet at that time: it was a road you traveled to get from Point A to Point B. Sometimes passing hitch hikers, fighting off bed bugs in wayside motels, and, getting heartburn from that greasy burger at the "Open All Nite-It Must Be Right" Diner in the process.
SO, when I opened up my May, 2007 issue of Street Rodder and read a cool story about KEN "POSIES" FENICAL (who I had met a few years earlier at Darryl Starbird's ) and the DRIVEN DIRTY TOUR in which Editor, Brian Brennan, had participated, I knew when Posie & I got together for this Interview that I HAD to hear his one-on-one story of just how this thing started !
(Center page left: SRM, May 2007; middle: Posies gettin' ready for the 2007 DDT; right: where the idea for the DDT started...Scott Whitaker's "Dynaliner Coupe")
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SINCE 2006, POSIES DRIVEN DIRTY TOUR has turned into a Rodding phenomenon !
You've heard about - and seen - "product placement" in Movies and TV. You know: Harrison Ford drinking a Pepsi; Jennifer Aniston wearing Gap Jeans, someone on the Staff of NCIS buying Doritos out of the lunch room Candy/Snack Machine.
Well, Posie believed that Rodder's Product Placement meant that if YOU build the "product" you should "place" it on ROAD !! Vintage Air, Dynamat, Walker Radiator, Coker Tires, Dayton Wire Wheels, et al, put their products on-the-road, and to the test, every Fall as Posie leads the tour and they head for the SEMA Convention in Las Vegas.
AS THE MAP AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE WILL SHOW, the 2011 DDT began in Hummlestown, PA. on October 22th and arrived in Vegas October 30th. BUT, it's always a truly scenic tour with many well-placed stops on the way that Ken pre-planned for everybody's enjoyment, relaxation, and just plain Hot Rodding fun !
DRIVEN DIRTY TOUR 2011 Night Stops…
October 21, 2011: POSIES , Hummelstown, PA
October 22, 2011: Columbus, OH
October 23, 2011: St. Louis, MO
October 24, 2011: Grandview, MO (Day 1)
October 25, 2011: Grandview, MO (Day 2)
October 26, 2011: Glenpool, OK
October 27, 2011: Armarillo, TX
October 28, 2011: Albuquerque, NM
October 29, 2011: Flagstaff, AZ
October 30, 2011: Las Vegas, NV ········ SEMA SHOW
Thanks again, Ken ! And, if you see a guy standing by the side of the road, wearing a mustache and holding a microphone, it's just me wanting to get a ride to join in on that fun !! JK
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(Above left: "Speed Queen", 2007, at night in the Arizona desert; Above center: Posie working on the 2010 "Flatout 32"; Above right: The "Flatout 32" in finished form and ready to roll! )
Some Photos On This Page Courtesy of POSIES. And, check-out Posies Official Website: http://www.posiesrodsandcustoms.com/journal/category/driven-dirty-tour-2011/
