Vern Holmes

This months Denver Timing Association newsletter features member Vern Holmes.

He lived across the street from Chuck Kirgan's Phillips "66" station during his high school days in the late 40's. Kirgan's "66" was the center of DTA activities which was considered by many to be the club in Colorado. Like all high school kids of that period, Vern was interested in hot rods and car clubs. Seeing all the rods and customs that hung out at Kirgan's station was about as good as it could get.

Vern graduated from East High School in June of 1950. He joined the Denver Timing Association after completing his military stint in 1954. He served as the DTA president in the early sixties. But I'm getting ahead of this story....

Vern joined the Navy in 1950 and ended up being stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. It was there he fell in with some stock car racers who ran at the Richmond, Virginia Beach, and Martinsville tracks. During this time he bought a cherry, and complete, '34 Ford 3 window coupe. He promptly striped off the fenders and running boards to lighten it. He chopped the top and channeled the body the width of the frame. He jerked out the stock '34 flathead engine with a bored out Merc flathead. It displaced 256 cubes and ran Edelbrock heads and dual intake manifold with two Stromberg 97 carbs. He ran a Clay Smith 3/4 race cam.

He had a 30 day leave scheduled and worked frantically on the coupe so he'd have transportation home and something to show off in Denver while on leave. Two days before he was to leave he had it ready for a road test. Plans were to run the flathead Merc and rod on the streets of Norfolk to get any bugs fixed. Sounds like a good solid plan doesn't it? Well, one problem cropped up right off. Seemed he'd set the engine up a "leetle bit too snug"! The tired flathead starter wouldn't begin to turn the engine over. Remember this was well before 12V batteries. Everything used a 6V lead acid battery. But this wasn't a problem to a hot rodder..... right? After all, flatheads would easily start with just a slight push. And we all know from personal experience a tight engine will loosen up after just a few miles of driving. Which will then start on the 6 volt starter. So it wasn't a problem after all. Another problem surfaced. Vern hadn't had time to get the drivers side door window in. But the weather was balmy and it wouldn't be needed for the trip.

Vern, and a Navy buddy named Dave, loaded the coupe up and started for home. Now picture this... a fenderless chopped and channeled coupe with a huge parachute bag roped down on the coups roof and a big tool box on the floor of the passenger side (which is where Dave was to sit). Talk about "Sooners" and "The Grapes of Wrath"! Dave had to bend his legs over and/or around the tool box all the way to Springfield, Missouri (normally a two days trip). Another problem soon let itself be known in a very painful area and way. Vern hadn't had time to get a seat made. So he and Dave simply sat on a piece of foam rubber plopped down on the floor which was plywood. They leaned their backs against their sea bags. The combination of all this deluxe seating positioned their legs straight out in front of them! As we all know, foam rubber does not have any permanent support and crushes completely which makes ones butt feel like it's sitting on an unforgiving board in a very short period of time. After only a couple of hours of bouncing down the two lane roads(long before interstates) with the Ford's buggy spring suspension, heavy duty pain set in to both their legs and butt. Can't you just picture the two of them trying to get out of the coupe's cramped quarters? And then trying to straighten and stand upright at gas stops etc.? Vern admits they had a "few" problems crop up along the way... like the headlights would loosen up about twice in each state. This would permit the headlights to jiggle around until they pointed perpendicular away from the direction of travel.... thereby directly lighting up the side of the road and woods and not lighting the lanes in the road! They would stop, get out the tools, adjust the lights, tighten them, put the tools away, and take off again. Vern admitted the little coupe got lighter in each state as things broke, fell off, or just plain disappeared!

And then there was the weather. The balmy southern weather changed in Kentucky and they soon found themselves in a huge rain storm most of the way across the state. The fenderless tires made rooster tails of water about 50' in the air! Vern said the wheels acted more like boat paddle wheels than tires on a car! Also, every time Vern turned the front wheels for a left hand curve or turn, a solid wall of roadwater (it's not the cleanest stuff around you know) would be directed accurately by the driver side front wheel to dump through the windowless left door. The incoming wall of water would soak Vern, Dave, and the entire interior of the coupe every time. Remember they were wearing their dress blues too! Talk about grunge!

By the time Dave got out of the coupe in Springfield Missouri they were no longer buddies. Dave was way beyond boiling over mad. He used his extensive knowledge of four letter Navy words telling Vern he hated his hot rod and never wanted to see it, or Vern, ever again.

But being the kind person he is, Vern ignored this outburst and extended an invitation for a return ride back to the base at the end of their leaves. Dave just slammed the door as hard as he could and stomped off without answering. Vern said it was several months after they returned from leave before Dave would even speak to him!

Vern continued driving homeward until he couldn't see clearly anymore due to lack of sleep. He was now in Kansas in the middle of the night. He detected a nice long downhill in the rod's headlights. Super.... this would be ideal to roll-start the rod the next morning since the starter still refused to turn over the engine. He parked the rod on the side of the two lane road near the top of the long hill. He dropped his head down on his sea bag, and promptly fell asleep.

The sun pouring in finally got him hot enough to wake up. That and a noise like an engine with a miss. He struggled getting out of the cramped coupe. He finally managed to get his cramped legs straightened enough to stand upright somewhat like a human being. He surveyed things as he lit up a cigarette. The road ahead and behind him was flat as a the top of a pool table!!!!! The running engine with a miss was a tractor plowing the adjoining field. Vern took a couple of drags to smoke out the cob webs in his brain. He snuffed out the cigarette. He tried to push start the coupe. No luck. Oh he could get it rolling, barely, by himself. But not near fast enough to get it to bump start it. After several failed attempts he could hardly catch his breath. Time for another cigarette? He lit up and sat on a front tire to figure out Plan B. There wasn't any Plan B.

The farmer had watched his futile pushing efforts and had stopped plowing to watch what he'd do next. Nothing was happening. After unhooking his plow, the farmer made a "U" turn in the field. He drove down the fence line to an opening where he turned out onto the two lane blacktop. When he got to the coupe, he backed up to the dead coupe (or was it Vern that was near death from all the pushing?). He got off the tractor and, without saying a word, handed Vern the end of a chain on the tractor. Vern hooked it the hook to the front axle and got in the coupe. The farmer started pulling the rod down the road. The coupe went about 10' before Vern dropped the clutch and the engine fired. The farmer stopped and looked back at Vern. The flathead soon settled down to the un-even thump of a hopped up mill. Vern got out and unhooked the chain from his hot rod. He carried the pile of chain back to the tractor and handed it to the farmer. He thanked the farmer. The farmer didn't even nod but put the tractor in gear and went back to his plowing! The farmer had not spoken a single word during the entire time!

Vern got back in the cramped quarters of the coupe and took off. He was anxious to get home. His legs and butt were hurting so much by the time he got to Denver that he parked the coupe and didn't drive it all the time he was home!!! He borrowed his folks Hudson instead.
He began dreading the return trip to Norfolk before he even got to Denver! When he did start back to Norfolk, he ripped off some pillows from his mom to sit on. The drive back was a more pleasant than the trip home he reports. Another thing he did while in Denver, he repaired the starter. The coupe would now start without needing pushing.

When he got back to Norfolk, he concentrated on a '39 convertible he had under construction. He leaded in the rumble seat, dechromed the car, chopped it, molded in the running boards, and had a white Carson type top made for it. For the mill he used a 1949 Olds engine which displaced 303 cubic inches. It ran a '39 Ford trans and rear end. He painted it MoPar Pepper Red. When it was finished and had passed it's road test, he sold the '34 coupe.... vowing to never both chop and channel a car again!!!

The '39 was a hauler and beat nearly every bootlegger's flathead powered car for a quarter mile around Norfolk. Vern said when he returned a year later, all the bootleggers were running Olds engines in their cars.

Vern finally admitted he would make some local deliveries of bootleg to pick up some extra money for his cars. Quite a big risk for little money since they would impound your car on the spot if they found as little as one ounce of bootleg in your car! Vern said he'd get $5 for delivering one 4 gallon case of bootleg. He never was stopped by the local law enforcement agency. He did it for part of one summer... there were just too many road blocks to suit him.

An interesting side note. During his time in Virginia he came across and purchased several cars.... like a '32 five window coupe which was complete and running, a '34 five window coupe which was complete and running, and a gutted '34 three window coupe on a stock chassis. When he got discharged from the Navy, he pushed them all out of his rented garage, across the alley, and onto a vacant lot. Then he simply drove off! He often wonders what ever happened to them.

When Vern returned home in 1954, he teamed up with fellow DTA members Ron Smith and Floyd Best and bought a '32 five window coupe to race. They built it over the '54-'55 winter. It had a stock displacement 239 inch flathead with Edelbrock heads, Navarro 3 carb manifold, ported, relieved, Winfield SU-1A cam, and an H&C ignition. They ran about 90% nitro in it. I say about, because they used a measuring cup to proportion the mixture which is far from being accurate. They ran against the likes of Bob Janowski and other fast rods in the surrounding drag strips. They were awarded the prestigious "Most Consistent Winning Edelbrock Equipped Coupe" award by Bill Kenz of the Kenz & Leslie fame. They "flat towed" (no trailer) the fuel coupe from Denver to the first nationals at Great Bend, Kansas in 1955. They were their class eliminator. They set a national speed record for their class which won them a Harmon & Collins roller cam for an Olds V8.

Upon returning to Denver, Vern picked up a later model Olds engine which displaced 324 inches for his '39. He used the H&C roller cam they'd won and topped the engine with three 2 barrel Rochester 2GC carbs. Like most of Vern's cars, it too was a strong runner. In 1960, he got the drag racing bug again and sold the '39 convertible in order to purchase a car to drag race. The car was Kenz & Leslies '32 roadster. This was used to push start the Kenz & Leslie Streamliner at Bonneville as well as used in drag competition. He still has the famous roadster today, but has put it back on the street. When he bought it, it had the rear flathead engine that was in their streamliner. It was 3-7/16" by 4-1/8" for a total of 305 inches. It had four Stromberg fueler carbs with the famous Isky 404 cam. Vern ran it at Julesburg, Castle Rock (CDR), Pueblo, and Cheyenne. Nitro was the fuel of choice most of the time. It held records at most of these strips at one time or another.

In 1964 he replaced the flathead with an OHV Chev. The 283" engine was stroked to increase displacement to 304". It ran a Duntov 20/20 cam with two 4 barrel WCFB carbs. It was ported and polished and made good horsepower. But it didn't last long before blowing up. He rebuilt it and ran it a couple of more times on Tower Road in Aurora. Then he decided to sell the roadster. And herein lies the final story for this article.....

Fellow DTA member Don Davis came to look it over. He brought a friend with him. Finally after they had examined the roadster quite carefully from top to bottom, Don told Vern he was interested in buying the roadster and asked the price. When Vern said $1500 Don burst out laughing and said "No '32 roadster will ever be worth that much money!" and left. Wonder if Don still thinks there isn't a '32 roadster worth $1500? I doubt it since I know he paid $24,000 for a deuce roadster in 1995.

Vern didn't find a buyer for the '32 and decided to put it back on the street in 1965. He used a different OHV Chev V8 but stayed with the early Ford trans and rear end. Naturally the Chev mill has been warmed over considerably. It was during 1965 that Vern hooked up with Frank Liston, Gary McClellan, Jack Richards, and Jack Stamper in founding the Denver Roadster Club. This club is still active today and has about 33 members.

In 1968 Vern entered his roadster in the Tri-State show. He won Best Open in the competetive show.

Then in 1999 he decided a complete re-do of the roadster was in order. The body was removed and sent to fellow DTA members Stan and Steve Wagner in Colorado Springs for a complete body and fender massage. Over the super straight body, they applied a deep and flawless black paint job. Another DTA member, Jay of P-J Upholstery, did the entire interior in a tan colored leather. Another outstanding job by Jay. Vern went through the chassis and had Romeys shop freshened up the engine as long as it was out. Vern, Stan, Steve, and Jay barely got it finished in time for the Graybeards 2001 show in November. The roadster won 3rd place in the Street Roadster class.

He now has a new project. Last year he came across an old timey '32 three window coupe complete with fenders, running boards, and a running 8BA flathead. Vern is planning to run it at Bandimere someday just for fun. I told him to make sure their 8 day clock is wound tight! He also has a few other interesting cars. But those are stories for another time.

......rumble seat