1958 HOMER AND I WORKING ON OUR CARS, '34 CP & FLATHEAD

Hi, Dan Hostetter here. Welcome to my website. I suppose I should share a little something about myself. I grew up in Southern California during the 50's when magical things were happening, like Rock & Roll, surfing, and girls in bikinis. I loved it all, but it was hot rods that seduced my soul. Here I'm working alongside my Dad. That hot rod caused me to be called by my first name down at the traffic court.

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1964 1st Build

The car I really fell in love with was this '32 three window coupe. I first bought it in my junior year of high school, but had to sell it before getting it on the road when I left home for college. Fortunately, I flunked out early, came back home, found the coupe and bought it back. Here you see a Dodge Red Ram hemi engine being installed in 1963.

1965 '32 Red at the Beach

Once I got my coupe back on the road, we bonded and went everywhere together. It was then that I realized that the two of us had established a relationship that would last my entire life.

 

1980's Sunrise at Bonneville

One of my lifelong fantasies was to drive to the Bonneville Salt Flats, and in 1980 it happened. When I arrived it had rained the day before and the flats had been transformed into a scene of pure magic. After a day or two, the water was gone and I drove out onto the Salt. Shivers ran up my spine when  I heard the crunching of the salt under my coupe's tires. At that moment I knew that Bonneville was to become my second home.

Safety Patrol at B'Ville

Every year I would make the pilgrimage to Bonneville Speed Week. I volunteered in those first years as a safety patrol worker. I felt humble in that wide, majestic expanse of eternity.

Crewing for Fred

As time flew by, I became a crew member and good friend of Fred Lobello. He loved the old time 4 banger engines from the early 30's and built this lakester powered by one of them. That's me in the cockpit as Fred pushes the race car back to the pits. Note the race car number, 200. That will be important later.

Crewing for Burkdolls

Later on I began crewing for the Burkdoll family. Together we got Jim, wife Julie and son Benjamin into the 200 mph club. And through those years, it was my trusty deuce coupe that would push them off on their runs.

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Both Coupes On The Salt

I knew that someday I would "step up to the plate" and race my own car, but what car? I wanted to run my deuce coupe, but couldn't bear to lose it as my daily driver. Solution: clone it. The race car had the same Dodge Red Ram hemi, the same Muncie 4-speed and the same Corvair ft independent suspension. The only difference was the fiberglass body and the Ford 9" rear end, where my coupe had a Corvette independent rear.

Want to learn mmore about the Ford 9" Gear Change? Watch my video HERE.

El Mirage Pits

The plan was to run at both the Dry Lakes and Bonneville. At my first meet in 1998 at Muroc, the accomodations were rather sparse, to say the least. That little dome tent became home for the next 12 years.

Firesuit Help from Keith

Keith Gaeth, a fellow San Diego Roadster Club member, became my crew and all around buddy. Here, Keith is helping me into my driver's suit. Those fireproof gloves were tight.

Bob Higbee

Here I am at the starting line with chief starter Bob Higbee holding the door open for fresh air. Bob had been the chief starter for the SCTA for over half a century, one of our sports real icons.

Moment of Truth

The Moment of Truth arrived when I was belted in my roll cage, sweat running down into my eyes while my brain was screaming, "What in the hell are you doing here?" It was then that Bob Higbee signaled me to go and I couldn't think of anything else to do, so I put it in gear, stepped on the gas and started down the course. As 4th gear arrived, the finish line flew past and I began to slow down. When I stopped, I was 16 years old again, won the Oscar, caught the biggest wave and was on equal footing with Mario Andretti.

2 Coupes Heading to B'ville

Now it was time for the "big time", Bonneville Speed Week. Here I am in my faithful deuce coupe with clone in tow heading down the highway. Man-oh-man, that must have been a sight to passing traffic.

Want to learn how to do a One Piece Hood?  Watch the video HERE.

Interested in learning how to do a Cross Ram Intake? Watch the video HERE.

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Wendover Utah

A day or so later I arrived in Wendover, Utah, the home town for Speed Week. From there I got supplies, gassed up and then headed for my camping site, "Road's Bend". It was located next to the road that heads out onto the Salt Flats. Others came from all over the country, even Canada, to camp there. The whole group would gather around our large campfire at night and we became known as the "Road's End Gang".

B'Ville Flats Ed Shearers

This is my pit area that 1st year at Bonneville. That's Ed Shearer, a safety patrol volunteer, giving me advice on how to adjust my eight chromed megaphones. They really didn't help performance much; I just thought they looked cool.

Want to learn how to do Timed Headers? Watch my video HERE.

Sectional Racer

Each year I would modify the body to reduce its aerodynamic drag. By year 2000, its top was chopped and its body was sectioned almost 5". These aero modifications would continue through all the 12 years of racing.

Want to learn how to do a Bonnevile Top Chop? Watch my video HERE.

Want to learn how to do Sectioning of Early '30's Coupes?

Part 1 HERE
Part 2 HERE

Comparison

Here is a comparison between a stock body deuce coupe, my daily driver, and the chopped and sectioned race car. I just loved that look. The race car with its reduced size was able to break the 150 mph mark, but was unstable at that speed and needed streamlining.

New Streamlining

By 2004, the race car had evolved into a much more aerodynamic form and was again stable at speeds in excess of 160 mph.* My loyal crew, Keith Gaeth, had retired and fellow SDRV member Dan Brent was helping me out. [*The front end is obviously more streamlined, and check out that narrow top!]

Kamm Effect

In 2006, the whole rear area of the race car was changed to experiment with the Kamm Effect. I realize it is difficult for you to see the new forms in shadow, but the idea is to protect the atmospheric air pressure that is pushing on the back of the car from the onrush of air flowing past the sides and top.

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Limits of Evolution

In its last years of evolution, the race car had acquired a complete belly pan, streamlined sides and a canopy from an F-16 fighter jet. Do you notice the difference?

1998-2007

By using the same 250" Red Ram engine, the speeds had increased from 121 mph to 171 mph through aerodynamic change.

Time For A New Adventure

This drawing by Joe Henning from 1955 is my next adventure.
The story of this show car has yet to happen, and I hate to tell a good story without an ending.

My New Adventure

The future is unknown, a real adventure.
I'll let you know how it all turned out.
Here's hoping you have an adventure like this --- until next time.
~Dan

 

Would you like to know more about this roadster? Read the full story from BangShift Magazine.

Read Here