Undead hot rod culture, a match made in hell

I spent the last few weeks doing a deep dive on my obsession with monster trucks. How I became a fan, what toys I collected, a history of the organizers, and more. I had something left to say about the design behind the Bone Shaker. I said that it was essentially Mattel’s counter to the Grave Digger. I argued that the reason why the Bone Shaker was an instant hit with the community was because it called back to the roots of hot rod culture. It had a body similar to the classic Ford Model T, A-Frame, and B-Frame cars with the styling of modern rat rods, and the fantastic elements of a chrome skull, and skeleton hand headlights at the front.

Americans had been car crazy ever since the introduction of the automobile. In the early 1900’s cars were utilitarian. They were a replacement for horses, and buggies. Some of the first car builders were former carriage makers. As technology improved they made cars with better handling, better visibility for drivers, and better comfort for passengers. By the 1930’s cars started having more unique body shapes that were less carriage like. Automobile manufacturers also started offering different colors, and options. Some cars were now becoming luxury items. Roads began being paved, and expanded beyond the city. In the late 1940’s Americans were returning from a war economy to a peace economy. Factory jobs were changing. Women, and minorities were not willing to give up the advances that they had gained, and suburbs were expanding. There was some civil turmoil boiling under the surface, and it would only get stronger through the 1950’s, and especially the 1960’s.

As far as car culture went it was in the late 40’s, and ‘50s that a perfect storm was brewing. That original generation of cars were now filling up junkyards, and collecting dust in garages. There was a surplus of bodies, and a youth culture that was eager to get away from the war mentality that they had grown up with. They put that energy into rock and roll music. They put that energy into rebellion. They put that energy into remaking old cars because they couldn’t buy new ones. More than simply trying to go faster, and faster this was the foundation of hot rod culture. Hot rods were considered too fast, and too dangerous for the masses. Hot rods were counter culture. They were punk. They were rebellious. They were visual statements against the establishment. After all what could be more punk that ripping the hood, and fenders off of grandpa’s old car, chopping off the top, and exposing the motor?

Teens were constantly embracing anything that shocked adults. The fashion, the music, the language, anything that challenged the status quo was appealing to them. The bigger the shock value the more the youth were drawn to it. Years ago I talked about “Big Daddy” Ed Roth. He created the most mind-bending custom cars, trucks, and motorcycles. More important he created Rat Fink. He would become the mascot of hot rod culture. Aside from Rat Fink things like ghouls, ghosts, skeletons, monsters, and the macabre actually mixed into hot rod culture very well. This wild mashup of elements couldn’t be ignored any longer. It was becoming a part of pop culture. It could be seen in Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow, a movie from 1959.

Hot rod culture was constantly evolving, and creating different branches. Entering the 1960’s there was another movement happening within the culture. Builders were creating what would later be known as “show rods”. These were hot rods seemingly built out of anything, including a barbershop chair, telephone booth, bathtub, bed frame, and popcorn cart. The Boothill Express by Ray Fahrner was arguably the coldest example of the movement. He turned a late 1800’s funeral coach, the kind that carried the outlaw Jessie James into a hot rod. Show rods could be a little campy, but the builders that understood the culture could really make a statement. Such was the case for the “King of Kustomizers” George Barris.

Mr. Barris was known for building all sorts of outlandish hot rods, show rods, and especially cars for television. He built the Black Beauty for the Black Hornet television show. He built the Batmobile for the Adam West TV series. He built K.I.T.T. for the show Knight Rider. He built the Beverly Hillbillies truck. He built the Monkeemobile (designed by Dean Jeffries) for the Monkee’s television show. All of these cars were brilliant, but I would argue that his best work went into the Munsters show. The family car was a stretched t-bucket-meets-hearse called the Munster Koach. Not long after he gave Grandpa Munster a car by turning a coffin into the wickedly cool Drag-u-la. To be fair these last two were designed by Tom Daniel. Tom had created a number of best selling hot rod model kits, some of which were so popular that they were turned into actual show rod builds.

There was definitely an appeal to the ghoulish hot rods. By the late 1960’s hot rod culture was becoming mainstream culture. It was subtle in movies like The Great Race. The 1965 Warner Bros. classic featured several fictional rides, but none were as scene stealing as Professor Fate's Hannibal 8. I would call that ride the original Sinister Six. You could also see the hot rod appeal in the cartoons from the era. Shows like Tom Slick captured the spirit in 1967. A more popular cartoon was called Wacky Races, which was influenced by The Great Race. Animation studio Hanna-Barbara was always quick to turn a pop trend into a cartoon. They were the animation studio that turned the live action shows Happy Days, Star Trek, and Gilligan’s Island into cartoons after all. The studio saw how quickly car culture had grown in the past decade. They made a cartoon that was essentially a mash up of show rods, hot rods, and the model kits from Roth, Daniel, and Barris.

The Wacky Races featured a car made of stone driven by cavemen, a ‘30s sedan driven by mobsters, an airplane-turned-car driven by a pilot, a military tank driven by a general, and even a distillery on wheels driven by a moonshiner. Some of contestants were Big Gruesome, and Li’l Gruesome know as the Gruesome Twosome. They piloted the Creepy Coupe which was a rolling haunted house. It hosted all manner of monsters that they could call upon for help. The kinds of fantastic cars featured in Wacky Races wouldn’t necessarily have made sense in any other time, but they perfectly captured the anything goes spirit of the ‘60s.

There was a certain appeal to what I called the goth hot rod aesthetic. It was as intimidating as a custom car build could get. The hot rod had long been a canvas for artists of every kind. Some would paint pinstripes, or airbrush flames all over their rides. Some would make cartoons of monsters driving hot rods, or build models of skeletons racing dragsters. Some would hand build fiberglass bodies over a rolling chassis. Ed Roth managed to do all of the above. He was the leader of a movement that had no parallel. Certain paint schemes, or body mods told a story. They reflected the personality of the builder. These things let other people on the road know how badass their ride was. There was the extreme end of kustom kulture. One that went well beyond a massive engine or paint scheme. The most heavy metal thing a person could do was turn a hearse into a hot rod. Changing a car that was previously used to carry dead people into a street racing machine was beyond macabre. It was apparent in the Boothill Express, and every modern hearse-turned-rod ever made. This connection between hot rods, and the undead had been coloring the mainstream for generations. It would eventually influence car designs in video games.

Carmageddon was one of my favorite games of all time. It was a vehicle combat game from the mid-‘90s that didn’t use guns. Instead the cars destroyed each other in collisions. That was when they weren’t running over pedestrians. There was a number of memorable cars, trucks, tanks, and monsters that had been featured in the series. One that was highlighted in the original title, and early ads was a fan favorite called the Stiff Shifter. It was a hot rod hearse driven by the Brother’s Grimm. It had coffin in the trunk, and the owners were rumored to have a connection to the underworld. The full story of the Brother’s Grimm hunting for souls, and summoning demons was explained in the official comic which was available to people that contributed to the Kickstarter campaign. It was my little brother’s favorite ride in the game, and one that I certainly enjoyed racing with as well. It wouldn’t be the only game influenced by the wicked designs of hot rods, and show rods.

The 2009 game Brütal Legend by Double Fine was a love letter to everything rock & roll, specifically heavy metal music. It called out 50+ years of history, and culture. It presented the type of world that Ed Roth would have dreamed up; filled with avatars of metal icons like Rob Halford (Judas Priest), Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmister (Motörhead), Glenn Danzig, Lita Ford, Metallica, KISS, and more. Director Tim Schafer was known for his sharp writing, engaging stories, and funny games. These included Maniac Mansion 2: Day of the Tentacle, Psychonauts, Grim Fandango, and Full Throttle. Each one was a refreshing change of pace from the standard genres. Brütal Legend had one of the greatest aesthetics, and world building of any action-meets-RTS game. There was nothing like it before, or after. The good guys, bad guys, magics, vehicles, and character designs pulled together several generations of heavy metal influences. The team at Double Fine somehow made it all work together, and put it in a package that was severely underrated. The iconic rides reminded me of the darkest monster trucks I had ever seen.

There had been a few hearse-bodied monster trucks in the community. Some going back almost to the birth of the sport. The oldest I think was called the Undertaker. It had a 1955 Cadillac Hearse body that was built by Tom Zachery and Robert Moore. I first saw it in an old monster truck poster magazine. Based on its construction it looked like a first generation monster truck. This meant that it was on a stiff frame with traditional shock absorbers. These were prone to breaking if pushed too hard in competition. Then there was Cardiac Arrest, which was built by Rick Rabb from a 1961 Cadillac Hearse. The construction of this one was closer to a second generation truck, which meant it had a greater range of travel on its suspension. This made it less likely to break in racing. This truck was sold to a Canadian. It was fixed up as the Soul Collector, and turned into a ride truck from the last news I was able to find on it. They all demonstrated that the goth hot rod worked whether they were slammed to the ground, or riding on monster truck tires. That was one of the reasons why the Bone Shaker looked so good as a monster truck. This dark aesthetic also reminded me of the early version of the Grave Digger.

Dennis Anderson like many of the early monster builders started with a work truck. He strengthened the chassis, built a new motor, added a better suspension, and more over the years. Replacing mechanical parts like transmissions, and axles with military equipment so they could take severe abuse. The tires got taller, but still narrow so that he could conquer the mud. Then one day his truck got big enough to run in monster truck competition. The 1950 Chevrolet Panel Van that it was built from was both beautiful, and brutal. No other driver had anything that looked remotely as tough. A lot if it had to do with its paint scheme. The van was all black with green flames on the front, and an airbrushed ghostly skull cloud hovering over a cemetery. A haunted house was shrouded in the mist. The chrome grille with some patina, red headlights, and gold rims gave the truck contrasting colors. It helped frame its tough appearance. Everything about the early Grave Digger embraced the spirit of do-it-yourself. That was the backbone of hot rodding. Monster trucks were essentially hot rods for off road enthusiasts. The baddest monster trucks embraced their brutal side. They didn’t aways have to look bright, and polished like a show truck. They were allowed to be rough around the edges. To show their working man roots. The important thing was that they got the job done.

By comparison the recent builds by Feld Entertainment were more uniform, almost cookie-cutter. The trucks featured in the Monster Jam shows had steel tube chassis made by one of a handful of fabricators, often painted with a bright complimentary color. The interchangeable fiberglass bodies had colorful graphics. Not the toned down, hand painted metal bodies of the old school trucks. The new frames were covered with sponsor stickers similar to NASCAR. The Feld monsters looked like they were searching for corporate branding opportunities rather than cars to flatten. Feld made sure that their trucks offered a family-friendly look, whereas the original Grave Digger looked like it was about to beat you up, and take your lunch money. This was what I felt was missing in the modern format, and most new builds. It wouldn’t hurt to see them return to their roots, and maybe put a coffin in the bed. That’s what I think anyhow. Do you think the macabre and motorsports work together? I mean would a goth NASCAR design work? Tell me in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!