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Home > Articles > Historicar Society > How I Became a Car Nut by Greg Tedder
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An inspiring remembrance from the modern era's
finest automotive silk screen artist.....
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| How I Became a Car Nut |
By Greg Tedder |
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I became infected with "car fever" at about the age of five. It all started in the early fifties when my uncle took me to a midget auto race one night in Culver City, California. I could hear the high pitched roar of those Offy's and Ford V-8 60's blocks away and once inside the gate it hit me... THAT SMELL!. Those sweet acrid fumes of castor oil and gasoline wafting through the air mixed in with the added aroma of fresh popcorn and sweet cigar smoke. Hell, I was a goner right then and there!
In front of the grandstand entrance there was a little souvenir stand about the size of a One Hour Photomat. They were selling a few little decals, felt patches to sew on your jacket and the usual memorabilia of the day. But up on the wall behind the guy taking the money, was a line of the most beautiful shiny tether car midgets. They were in all colors with real piston driven engines. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I could of stood and starred at the tether car display all night long and been perfectly happy not to take another step. But in those days those little $25 and $30 tether cars may as well been a million dollars each. I would have to wait another day for one of those beauties. (one in good condition today can cost between $300 to $600 smackers).
 The midgets were still warming up and on the way to the grandstands and no more than about 30ft. away, you could see just the drivers heads tear-ass past you with their Cromwell helmets and WWll pilots goggles on. Some of the drivers had scarves and bandannas covering their nose and mouth and I have to tell you that at this point my "kidbrain" was about to explode from sensory overload.
Once we got in our seats I got my very first look at a real Honest-to-God racecar: The MIGHTY MIDGET. For those of you who weren't around in those days you have to understand that these cars were not a bunch of dirty little "doodle bugs" thrown together with spit and nails. No, they were all beautifully painted and most of them sported chromed exhaust pipes, nerf bars, and polished wheels. Some even had chrome plated frames. And here's another thing I remember well, many of the push trucks were just as flashy and beautiful as the race cars. The cool thing for the push trucks back then was to have as many colored running lights and giant chromed air horns mounted on roofs and fenders as possible just like the BIG trucks.
When the races started I saw a half dozen cars roar past the flagman standing on the side of the track and seeing them all get sideways just before that first turn will be a Kodak Memory that will never leave me as long as I live and breath. Engines screaming, dirt and dust flying, drivers throwing their beautiful race cars into violent slides was an unbelievable sight. You could have your Barnum and Bailey Circus with the clowns and trapeze flyers but I knew then that this is where I wanted to be!. My uncle took me to many other races at Culver City Speedway but the magic of that first night at the races is the one that has stayed with me.
It was the magic of that first race that inspired me to pick up pencil and crayons and try to re-capture those images. I became obsessed.
Problem was, I could never seem to get my little five-year-old hand to draw what was running around in my little five-year old brain. So I just kept on drawing and drawing and....well you get the picture. But you know what, to this day and no matter how hard I tried, I could never put down on paper what will always be one of the best memories of my life. I'm just glad my uncle didn't take me to a rodeo! |
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| About the artist: Greg Tedder has been at the forefront of automotive silk screen design for over two decades. His award winning designs feature the finest in composition, detail and use of color and are without equal in the industry. Motorburg is honored to have Greg as an associate artist & citizen and to offer his gallery of products in our Shopping Mall. |
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