"
Hot Rod Lincoln "
My Pappy said,
"Son, you're gonna' drive me to drinkin'
If you don't stop drivin' that
Hot Rod Lincoln"
***
Have you heard this Story
Of the Hot Rod Race
When the Fords and the Lincolns
Was settin' the Pace?
That Story is true,
I'm here to say
I was drivin'
That Model A
Got a Lincoln Motor
And it's really souped up
And a Model A Body
Makes it look like a Pup
Eight Cylinders,
And uses them all
Got Overdrive,
Just won't stall
With a Four-Barrel Carb
And a dual Exhaust
Four-eleven Gears
They really get lost
And Safety Tubes,
And I ain't scared
The Brakes are good,
And the Tires are fair
Pulled out of San Pedro
Last Night
The Moon and the Stars
Was shinin' bright
Was drivin' up
The Grapevine Hill
Passing Cars
Like they was standing still
***
Yeah
All of a sudden
In a Wink of an Eye
A Cadillac Sedan
Passed us by
I said,
"Boys, that's a Mark for me!"
By then the Tail Light
Was all I you could see
Now the Fellas ribbed me
For bein' behind
So I thought
I'd make the Lincoln unwind
Took my Foot off the Gas
And Man alive
I shoved it on down
Into Overdrive
Wound it up
To a hundred and ten
My Speedometer said
That I hit top ten
My Foot was glued
Like Lead to the Floor
That's all there is
There ain't no more
Now, the Boys all thought
I'd lost my Sense
And Telephone Poles
Looked like a Picket Fence
They said,
"Slow down! I see Spots!"
The Lines on the Roads
Looked just like Dots
Took a Corner;
Sideswiped a Truck
Crossed my Fingers
Just for Luck
My Fenders were clickin'
The Guardrail Posts
The Guy beside me
Was white as a Ghost
***
Smoke was comin'
From out of the back
When I started to gain
On that Cadillac.
Knew I could catch him,
I thought I could pass
Don't you know by then
We'd be low on Gas?
They had Flames comin'
Out from the side
Feel the Tension,
Man! What a Ride!
I said, "Look out, Boys,
I've got a License to fly!"
And that Caddy pulled over
And let us by
Now all of a sudden
She started to knockin'
And down in the Dips
She started to rockin'
I looked in the Mirror;
And a Light was blinkin'
Cops was after my
Hot Rod Lincoln
They arrested me
And they put me in Jail
And called my Pappy
To throw my Bail
And he said,
"Son, you're gonna' drive me to drinkin'
If you don't stop drivin' that
- Hot
... Rod ... Lincoln -
******************
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Charlie Ryan is
a musician, songwriter and a car guy. In the late
1940s, he purchased a used 1941 Lincoln Zephyr
four-door sedan. After a couple of years, he decided
to make a hot rod out of it.
He removed the Zephyr
body, cut two feet off the frame to shorten the
wheelbase and dropped a 1930 Ford Model A coupe body
on it.
At first, the car was painted black with red
wheels. Charlie installed a '48 V-12 engine in it
along with the 3 speed + overdrive '48 transmission.
The car has a lot of Lincoln touches on it, including
cut-down Zephyr bumpers, a Lincoln emblem on the
radiator, an the Lincoln greyhound radiator ornament.
The interior has a narrowed '41 Zephyr dashboard. At
first, the car was painted black with red wheels.
Later, in 1960, the car was repainted red.
It was
repainted again in 1986 in Datsun Z-car red. Charlie
says, "The paint's the only Japanese thing on it."
While he was
working on the car, Charlie was thinking about the
song. By the early 1950s, he had the lyrics worked out
and began performing it. Charlie Ryan recorded 'Hot
Rod Lincoln' in 1955; it was released as a
single by Souvenir Records in 1957.
It became a major
hit in many regions of the United States. While
traveling to perform, Charlie and his wife Ruthie
often took the Hot Rod Lincoln on tour. By 1960, it
needed another engine. Charlie installed a 1939
Lincoln V-12; that's what's in it now.
Other car songs
were written before Charlie's, everything from 'My
Merry Oldsmobile' (1903) to Jackie Brentson's 'Rocket
88' (1951 - and, with Ike Turner on keyboard, it's
considered by many to be the very first rock n' roll
song).
But 'Hot Rod Lincoln'
was the first car song to become a major hit and make
the Billboard top ten list.
'Hot
Rod Lincoln' has been performed by many
artists - Johnny Bond had a regional hit with the song
in 1959; Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen
covered it in 1972. In the 80s, Asleep At The Wheel
did a very nice version. In 1995, Jim Varney (Ernest)
recorded a cover which was used in 'The Beverly
Hillbillies' movie.
Today, at 83
years old, Charlie Ryan is semi-retired - but he still
occasionally performs the song. The photo above was
taken at the Lincoln & Continental Owners Club's 1994
National Meet in Silverdale, Washington.
Charlie
brought the car and gave a live performance of 'Hot
Rod Lincoln' -- to the cheers of a room
filled with over 300 Lincoln enthusiasts. Charlie and
Ruthie (married 62 years) have been awarded lifetime
memberships in our Club.
They spend their summers at
their Spokane, Washington home - their winters are
spent relaxing in Arizona. And, after all these years,
they still have the car.
We hope that
Charlie will never "quit drivin' that -
Hot ... Rod ... Lincoln!"
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(Copyright 1999 Joseph M. Sherlock.)
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