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Summary
of Purpose and Background of Michigan Hot Rod Association's Rod Repair
Shop
The
Michigan Hot Rod Association's (MHRA) founding in 1951 was based on the
need of the youth in Southeast Michigan
to have a safe and organized place to race their hot rods on a drag
strip. MHRA founded the Detroit Autorama Hot Rod Show
in 1953, and has held the Autorama for over 55 years. With the profit
from the initial Autorama Hot Rod Shows, the MHRA
constructed and opened their member owned drag strip in New Baltimore,
Michigan in 1957, and operated it for many years.
As the private sector opened drag strips
in the area and the members of MHRA became very active in the new
Street Rod
activity that was growing in the mid 60's, MHRA looked for an activity
to support the growth of the Street Rodding Sport. In
the late 60's and early 70's, MHRA held Rod Tours that were weekend
trips that used Street Rods to tour to a distant city for a
weekend of fun. A repair vehicle followed the touring group.
In 1972 the National Street Rod
Association (NSRA) held their 3rd annual National event at the Michigan
State Fair Grounds
in
Detroit. To accommodate the out of town participants, the MHRA set up a
facility at the State Fair Grounds to clean up the cars
after their
trip to Detroit and to supply equipment and workers for an emergency
repair shop at no cost to the participant. The idea
to provide emergency repair services was vital to the participant who
had traveled far and away from home to the event. In these
early
days, most of the cars were made by their owners in their home garages
and it was not uncommon for parts to break on trips.
Since
the nationwide Street Rod activity visited a different big city each
summer for their National events, the MHRA decided
to construct a Rod Repair Shop Trailer to be towed and operated by
volunteers from the membership of the MHRA at these out of
town events. In 1973, the first Rod Repair trailer went from Detroit to
Tulsa, Oklahoma for NSRA's national event. The emergency
repair services were still provided at no cost to the participants
since MHRA used money from the Detroit Autorama Hot Rod
Show to pay the expenses.
As the requests for the Rod Repair Shop Trailer increased, so did the
content of tools and equipment that went to the events.
The original 3000 pound trailer, from 1973, was replaced with a new
9000 pound trailer of custom design in 1985. The Rod Shop
trailer
can provide on event site support to fix any basic system of a car to
make it safe and operational again. The Rod Shop Trailer
has been taken all over the USA to automotive events for the past 36
years. Currently, the Rod Repair Shop Trailer and Crew go
out of town five times each summer to NSRA events in Knoxville,
Tennessee; York, Pennsylvania; Louisville, Kentucky;
Kalamazoo, Michigan and to the Minnesota Street Rod Association's
(MSRA) "Back to the Fifties" - in St.Paul, Minnesota (5000
miles of travel).
The seasonal operation expenses are offset by donations of sponsors,
street rodders, and the various Associations that we serve.
Capital equipment (tools, trailer, and tow vehicle) is provided by the
Michigan Hot Rod Association.
Max W. Lunsford
MHRA Rod Repair Shop Committee
July, 2007 |
