Shotgun! Junkyard Life set off on the mother-of-all round-trip, road trips during this year's 25th Hot Rod Power Tour. We crammed our gear into the much-too small for eight days on the road, heavily-modified, 1966 Chevrolet Impala. It's an LS-powered, All-Wheel-Drive beast. We planned to beat on the high-mile junkyard engine during high-speed blast at race tracks and on the backroads to junkyards. while trying to avoid speeding tickets between our destinations. Odds were good that we could at least get lost in the pack with thousands of fellow Hot Rod Power Tour participants should we get caught with our foot acting stupid.
Our first stop was H.L. Hodges Auto Parts in Monroe, Georgia. The yard is run by three sisters who are planning to close the business by the end of 2019. The sisters, Harreitte Hodges, Terri Hodges and Holly Couch, took over the business when their brother, Hugh Lamar Hodges, passed away 10 years ago.
Family-owned for many decades but the strain of maintaining a salvage yard and other careers has taken a toll. Many of the cars have been sold off or scrapped. Before the year is out the rest will be scrapped as well. We found plenty of cars and trucks worth saving. We plan to go back, before it's too late!
 |
| Lots of old iron at H.L Hodges in Monroe, Georgia. |
Load'em up
We hit the road again with Concord, North Carolina as the next destination. The weather forecast was great for ducks. We hit rain right off the bat but that didn't deter us. The 25th anniversary of the Hot Rod Power Tour awaited us at Lowes Motor Speedway.
Check-in, goodie bags then we grabbed dinner after a 700 mile day of driving. 13 hours spent riding and climbing in-and-out of the 1966 Impala that would be our home for many more hours during the next week.
Part 2: We head to Martinsville, Virginia.
Jody Potter
— Junkyard Life: The Story Beneath the Rust
1 comment:
Like reading about your trip.
Post a Comment