Willow Glen Resident

Cover Story

Photograph by Vicki Thompson

Underneath: American hot rod and classic car enthusiast Richard Cerra checks out a '57 Bel Air for ideas. He is restoring his own car. Car buffs meet every Thursday night at Mojo Burger in Willow Glen to talk cars.

It's Screamin'

Hot rodders hang out on Thursday nights at the Mojo Burger in Willow Glen

By Mayra Flores De Marcotte

They're smooth, they're shiny and they're vintage. Just don't make the mistake of calling these slices of Americana just cars--they're American hot rods.

"These are not just cars," says Willow Glen resident Larry Block. "These are something special."

Every Thursday night, a group of 40 to 60 cars are brought together for "Graffiti Night," or a "Cruise In" at the Mojo Burgers in Willow Glen.

The hot rod is an American car built pre-1948 that has either been restored to its original state or has been modified to race.

This dying breed of American engineering takes a few laps around the parking lot before each driver decides on a prime location.

Fords, Chevys and Mercurys are scatted throughout the lot, each a star to its owner.

While the owners grab a burger and tell the tale of their "baby's" beginnings to the moment of restoration, the glittering metallic blues, burnt oranges and pitch blacks shimmer in the late afternoon summer sun.

Block, a retired UPS driver and the man behind the event, has been involved with cars since he was 9 years old.

"I grew up on a ranch, and you had to know how to drive the tractor in order to help out," Block says.

His family owned Block's Turkey Farm in East San Jose. Block was No. 4 of 11 children.

When he got a little older, he was allowed to drive the family car out of the garage and to the front door for church.

"When no one was looking, I'd take the keys and sneak the car out for a late-night drive," he says. "Me and my dog Trixie would take a drive through East San Jose, and I'd pull the muffler plugs off."

The thing that sealed the deal for Block's interest in cars, however, came with the sound of loud, revving engines across the way.

"We lived near the San Jose Speedway and could hear the cars from our house," he says. "My first actual job was selling soda water at the speedway for a quarter apiece--Coke, root beer and orange."

The San Jose Speedway was a historical racetrack built in 1945. The raceway was three-eighths of a mile of banked clay in an oval shape and hosted races for sprint cars, dwarf cars and the destruction derby. It moved from its original location at Quimby and Tully roads to the Santa Clara Fair- grounds, where it continued to attract races until it was closed in 1999.

Block's "baby" is a rare1937 Ford four-door sedan in a two-tone deep olive and black he purchased in Reno nine years ago.

Her name is Blackie Carbon, a named borrowed from an old friend with a 1944 Ford.

Being named is how a hot rod surpasses the simple "car" status and becomes part of a family.

Campbell resident and Block's cousin Jerry Helwig has been working on cars for 50 years. He's even raced his 1940 Ford at the prestigious Bonneville Speedway on the Salt Flats--the NASCAR for hot rods.

His hot rod, a two-door chopped-top and sectioned Ford, catches the eye of hot rod enthusiasts and visiting residents alike.

The matte black with the vibrant orange and red flames is a staple for the American hot rods.

As for the "chopped" and "sectioned" aspects, Helwig explains that this means the top of the cabin was cut and shortened by about 3.5 inches and the body was shorted by 4 1/4 inches.

"All the work done to it was done in the '50s," he says. "All it means is someone put a lot of work into this car. It's a labor of love."

Helwig says the key to the restoration and modification of hot rods is keeping things nostalgic.

His first car was a gift from his older brother, Ed.

"It was a 1947 Ford," Helwig says. "My older brother was my mentor. He taught me everything I know."

Although his racing days are over, he says he enjoys working on his cars more now than when he was younger.

"I'm 65 years old and I've been doing this for 50 years," Helwig says. "You enjoy this while you're young, but back then, it was a way of life. You just did it. Now, you enjoy it even more. Whenever you have a spare nickel or buck, you put it into the car."

Helwig's sister, Branham resident Judi Barone, came out to enjoy the day with her older brother and Block, her cousin.

A hot rod enthusiast, she would go out to watch her brother race his Ford on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

"It used to be fun," Barone says. "Now you just say, I remember when. There's no fear when you are young. Now, you have age and wisdom. Now you just share with people who understand or want to understand how you feel about these cars."

Not just guys

Growing up, Barone was the only female sibling in the house. Her two brothers would be working on cars, racing them and cruising downtown, so she was sucked in.

Her first car was a 1946 powder blue Ford.

"My brother gave it to me after they had robbed all the parts from it," Barone says. "People would see me in the car on the streets and say to me, 'You must have brothers.' It wasn't my first choice for a car, but it was free."

Barone remembers her brothers penny-pinching to buy a certain accessory for their cars.

"They saved every nickel and dime to buy whitewall tires or a pair of fuzzy dice to hang from their rearview mirrors," she says. "Their world revolved around cars, going to the speedway and drag racing."

Passing time fixing and souping up cars also kept "the boys busy and out of trouble," she says.

They also learned an important lesson.

"We learned value, the money system," Barone says. "We earned it all. Nothing ever came free. Now we are very grateful."

Now, the three cousins enjoy their retirement by spending an afternoon or two tweaking their pristine automobiles and coming to weekly gatherings to talk shop with others who still find these hot rods thrilling.

"I can't tell you how valuable it all has been to me and my brother," Barone says. "Cars are a vehicle to meet people, real folk. Before you know it, complete strangers who have known each other for five minutes are exchanging e-mails and telephone numbers."

The camaraderie among the hot rod community is a big part of the season people come back every Thursday night.

"It's a tight-knit family," she says. "A lot of relationships start out with these cars. There are couples that met through their cars, enjoyed them and then sold them when they no longer could afford them or when they no longer had the time for them. Now, later in life they come to these events and see the cars and remember their own, and the memories that accompanied them."

Graffiti Night is held every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Mojo Burgers, 1411 Bird Ave. The cars park in the Willow Glen Village Shopping Center parking lot.

Larry Block, along with a handful of other hot rod owners, will be displaying cars during the San Jose Grand Prix weekend at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, 150 W. San Carlos St.