A Legend in His Own Mind
“Who Is The Fastest?”
written by Bob McDonald
The need to speed has always fascinated young men. Since the beginning of time, inquiring minds throughout the decades have always asked, “Who is the fastest?” Whether running on foot, mounted on the back of an animal, or sitting behind a steering wheel, men must know, “Who is the fastest?” It is just man’s primitive, competitive nature to be the alpha dog when he finds himself in these situations. Even Henry Ford designed a race car of his own and challenged Alexander Hinton, the Dale Earnhardt of the early 1900’s, in a ten lap race to determine “Who is the fastest?” Winton was the most accomplished automobile builder and most feared racer of his time. Ford defeated Winton in NASCAR fashion in the ten lap dash for cash at the Detroit Driving Club in Grosse Point, Michigan on October 10, 1901. Henry used his winning pursue to aid in the funding of Ford Motor Company later in June, 1903. By using his automotive design, mass production, and marketing skills, Henry Ford made the automobile the dream purchase of every family in America. This ten lap mechanical sprint became known as the race that changed the world.
The same question and challenge that Henry and Alexander asked in 1901 trickled down through the ages to the Sandhills of Rockingham, North Carolina – a small textile town in the South in the ‘50s & ‘60s. “WHO IS THE FASTEST??? The same need to speed disease that infected Ford and Hinton later embedded itself deeply in the heart and soul of the James Dean and baby-boomer generations of the ‘50s and ‘60s. As a teen yet too young to drive, I stood in wide open wonder and amazement as my Uncle Bill (Billy Ray Maner) told me in detail of automobile showdowns he and his peers faced practically every time they left home.
Billy Ray always drove a car with head-turner looks and pavement-pounding power! The first hot-rod I can remember was a blue 1956 Ford Crown Victoria with a police interceptor 312 v-8 cubic inch engine topped with a Holley four barrel carburetor. This Ford was not your four door Sunday-go-to-church family sedan of modern day times. No other automobile manufacturer had such an eye-catching cosmetic exterior accent as this babe. “Mirror, mirror on my car who is the best looking and fastest by far?” Billy Ray would ask.
This Crown Victoria answered with a shout, “I am! I am! Victory is mine and I wear a chrome crown to prove it!” When Billy Ray pulled under the neon lights into Seago’s Restaurant at Five Points, everyone knew a new sheriff was in town. The mirror reflections of the neon bouncing off the wide chrome strip topping lit corners of the parking lot that had never before seen the green, the red, and the blue hazes of these gas lights. Yet as beautiful as this car was, Billy Ray did not keep it long. Bill always traded up in performance and eye-candy appeal. An Olds 442, a Chevy 409, and a Ford 427 are but a few of the rockets he has owned. Bill knew if he came to visit and parked in our front yard, I would beg him to let me wash his ride just for the pleasure of cranking it up and driving to the backyard. I could not wait to turn sixteen!
To be continued…