News: 2010

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American Graffiti Star to Attend Cops & Rodders!
Where were you in '62?

Academy Award Nominee, Actress Candy Clark, will be our featured guest at the 2010 Cops and Rodders Car Show! Candy played the role of “Debbie Dunham” in the 1972 movie, American Graffiti, which was also nominated for an Academy Award in 1973. The movie claimed world wide appeal in 1972 and was the quintessential coming of age teen and car story and one of American Film Institute's top 100 movies of all time. Debbie (played by Candy Clark) was that kooky, fun loving girl, with the blonde hair, with a live free attitude and sex appeal. During the movie, she was Terry “The Toad's” friend for the evening as they went on a rollicking series of misadventures. Candy and Charles Martin Smith who played “Terry — the Toad — Fields” had a real on screen “chemistry,” that carried a large portion of the movie, and thus the recognition and Academy Award nomination of Candy for her role in the movie. It also spawned hope in a lot of teen boys at the time that there was a beautiful and romantic girl out there waiting to meet them. The cars featured in the movie are some of the all-time classic cars desired by the “Baby Boom” generation of today.

Candy has worked with many actors and actresses through the years including Diane Keaton, Elliot Gould, David Bowie, Buck Henry, Robert Mitchum, Jimmy Stewart, and in movies such as “Blue Thunder” about a police helicopter with Roy Scheider and Warren Oates and “At Close Range” with Sean Penn and Christopher Walken. We were very pleased that Candy agreed to come to our show this year. “I love police officers and what they do to help people and I love Tucson so I can't wait to come out to the show.” Candy will be at the show to share her stories about the making of the movie American Graffiti and her love of classic cars. Candy also went on to comment in a note,

“Here is a trailer of Graffiti that has Wolfman Jack narrating. He sure did have his own style. I remember listening to the Wolfman back when I was a kid in Ft. Worth. We always wondered who he was and where he was broadcasting from. Just like in Graffiti. American Graffiti really captured the era, like no other movie of that genre. Great film with a huge following. You can't get enough of Graffiti. At least I can't!”

If you get a chance watch the movie before you come out to the show. Candy will have a booth prominently located and displayed so that she can meet you and talk about the making of “American Graffiti.” Here is another great reason to come out to the show and to support the men and women who wear the badge in Tucson and put their lives on the line for all of us.

Remembering Jim Russell, Cops and Rodders Committee Member

One of very first committee members and participant in all of our shows, retired Tucson Fire Department Deputy Chief James R. Russell passed away on March 8, 2010 after a valiant fight against cancer. Jim was a native of Arizona and was born 7-3-34 in Douglas, AZ. Jim was hired on at the Tucson Fire Department in 1960 and rose through the ranks to become the second highest commander as the Deputy Chief, the position he held until 1990 when he retired. Jim was the 54th person assigned a Chief Officer title since the beginning of the Tucson Fire Department.

Jim was a founding member and long time board member of both the Rusty Bucket Volunteer Fire Brigade and the Old Pueblo Vintage Fire Brigade. Jim was instrumental in getting the City of Tucson 1928 Ahrens Fox restoration project initiated in 2006, and in 2005, Jim became a Founding Board Member and Restoration Director of Last Alarm Foundation's 1954 Mack Fire Engine Funeral Hearse Project, where Jim directed the meticulous details of the ongoing restoration project. This truck won first place in the under construction category in the Cops and Rodders show last year.

I spoke with Dwaine Jungen who was a good friends with Jim Russell. Dwaine, who owns Preferred Chasis Fabrication here in Tucson, said, “My relationship with Jim started out by being Jim's neighbor, I lived across the alley from him. Being 20 years old, single and unmarried, I was always involved in various "different" automotive projects. This sparked "interest" from the "older" neighbors. Over the years Jim and I got to know each other well and became close friends. 25+ years passed, I moved from the neighborhood, raised a family, started my own business.” Dwaine went on to say, “Then an old friendship resurfaced. Jim approached me to under take the 1954 Mack "L Model" Sedan Pumper restoration on for the Last Alarm Foundation.” Jim wanted this truck restored so that it could be used by the Last Alarm Foundation to transport Fire Fighters who had passed away as a way to honor those men and women who had served Tucson. Dwaine continued, “After much advising, quoting and conversation the old Mack came to my shop the end of September 2007. As it was received, it was heavily disassembled, hardly representing its original form. After two and a half years it has started to come back to shape and its new calling.”

Retired Deputy Chief Russell was the Last Alarm Foundation's Restoration Director and in a lot of ways the main driving force behind the Mack being brought back to serve the departed Firefighter and Law Enforcement Officers. His vision for the truck shaped the truck's character and personality. He was the first to be honored in a procession using the 1954 Mack.

Dwaine concluded, “The Last Alarm Foundation's 1954 Mack "L Model" will always be around to remind us of my friend, Jim, and all the deceased Firefighter and Law Enforcement public servants.” Dwaine brings out his Scorpion every year to the show, but this year I have asked him to also bring the “54 Mack” so that we can display it in honor of Retired Deputy Chief James Russell. So when you are at the show, please stop by and pay your respects to Jim and to honor our brave firefighters here in Tucson.

Jim provided a DVD for the first year's Cops and Rodders Show that will memorialize the beginning of a great event. We will always remember his enthusiasm for public service and being part of a team.

— Rich Harper, Show Director

Thanks to Our Title Sponsor:
Jim Click Automotive Team

Jim Click is known in Southern Arizona as the premiere car dealer. His business has grown over the years and so has his taste in cars. When Jim was a young man in Oklahoma, his father owned a Chevrolet dealership and Jim's favorite ride at that time was the famous Chevy 409. “I guess my favorite car story was in high school, I had a 1961 Chevy 409, yes, that's right ? a Chevy.” Now the 1961 Chevy 409, was made famous by drag racer Don Nicholson, also known as “Dyno Don” because he was one of the first to use a dynamometer on his cars. Jim went on to tell me, “I became involved in drag racing and I read an article in Automotive News about Don Nicholson and what he had done to his 409.” As history recorded, Don simply wiped out the competition at drag racing's very first, “Winternationals” in California in 1961. Don did it driving a Chevy Impala 409. Jim added, “I did the same thing and ended up winning races in Wichita Falls, Oklahoma City and Amarillo Texas.” The Chevy 409 was so popular among the kids that the Beach Boys recorded their famous song, “409” as part of the youth and car culture of the early 60s.

Eventually Jim and his family moved to Tucson in 1971 where they continued their involvement in the automotive business. That year, Jim Click Ford was born and Tucson has benefited from the Click penchant for excellent service and outstanding products. The Click family's association with the automotive industry spans three generations and the business has grown from one dealership in 1971 to nine in 2010. The founding principles of The Jim Click Automotive Team are anchored on family traditions, and they direct their continuing efforts toward being exemplary community citizens. In doing research for this article I learned that Jim's dealerships have earned a variety of consumer and national awards to include Time Magazine's Time Quality Dealer Award. Part of Jim's mission statement includes, “We believe that our employees are of the highest quality, and we commit ourselves to their welfare. We believe in treating our co-workers as family, with fairness, respect, understanding, and dignity.” Just recently I made a trip over to Jim's Chrysler-Jeep dealership on 701 W. Auto Mall Drive to pick up a small purchase item for my Jeep Liberty and the customer service was absolutely unbelievable.

Jim got back into vintage racing in 1991 in a Shelby GT-350 Mustang. A passionate road racer, Click knows there is a great deal of marketing muscle in all forms of motorsports, including the Grand-Am and Mustang Challenge road racing series in which he participates. You can catch Jim from time to time on the SPEED Channel in Grand-Am and Mustang Challenge racing events. Clearly this passion for auto racing grew from those early days in Oklahoma and over the years he has added to his collection of race cars. Jim will be bringing an assortment of his collection of race cars for display at this year's Cops and Rodders Car Show to be held Saturday, October 30, 2010 at Hi Corbett Field.

Over the years Jim and his company have given back to Tucson in many ways, For example, in 1999 Jim received a President's Award from Bill Clinton for his leadership in the development of LINKAGES, a non-profit organization that finds employment opportunities for the disabled. In 2005, the Jim Click Automotive Team donated $100,000 in scholarships to students pursuing automotive technology education at Pima Community College. During the past four years, Jim has provided loan vehicles to the Tucson Police Foundation/Tucson Police Department to be used out at the Tucson Police Driver's training track to teach student drivers how to drive more safely through the Safe Teen Accident Reduction Training (START) program. Each year, Jim says, “We are pleased to contribute in a variety of different ways. Our key community investment areas include: Persons with Disabilities Development, Community Educational, Childhood Development, At-Risk Youth (Boys and Girls Clubs), and other Community Development.” Jim went on to say, “However we do not limit to just these areas.”

Jim's partnership with the Tucson Police Foundation helped us to obtain critical investigative equipment for the Youth and Family Division at the Tucson Police Department. Jim has been an outstanding “Friend of the Force” a Tucson Police Foundation program, and we thank him for his sponsorship for this year's Cops and Rodders show.

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The 1946 Work Truck that became a Winner!

During World War II our nation's automakers were all involved in the production of vehicles for our military in an all out effort to defeat the Axis powers. As a result, civilian truck production was very limited, the Federal government permitting civilian production only for essential users. But in 1945 at the end of the war, companies including Chevrolet were again given permission to build civilian heavy-duty chassis cabs, medium and light duty pickup trucks with a variety of wheel bases. Chevrolet advertised their truck as “America's Most Popular Truck.” With all of the chrome on the grill and body, these trucks were often called, “Art Deco Models.”

Larry Snedden, who retired at 61, happened to come across one of these “Art Deco” trucks about two years before he retired just sitting along the road in Longview Washington. Larry was living in the state of Washington at the time and pleasantly discovered that this truck that he saw along the side of the road was a completely stock 46, all original and still ran good. Larry fell in love with the truck and purchased it from the owner and drove it home where he used it for a work truck for two years prior to starting to work on it as a hot rod.

Larry was going to restore it to original condition, when his wife bought a Teardrop trailer off of E-bay. She wanted Larry to tow her trailer with his forty six. The trailer sleeps two and the concept for it was born in the 1920's when Americans started hitting the roads to our national parks and forests. Larry explained to his wife that the truck didn't have enough power and that he would have to make a couple of changes in order to haul it. Four years later with a lot of help from friends, Larry had a truck that he thought would tow her trailer.

First Larry started by taking the body off of the frame, threw away the old frame and purchased a custom frame to sit it on. He thought if he was going to build a rod that it had to be done right the first time around. Larry then found a mustang two front end and installed it, along with a ford 9" rear end. He bought a new 350 Chevy crate motor and a used 700R4 transmission to put in his truck. Larry wasn't able to use the old fenders, so he bought 4 fiberglass fenders and installed those. He also found a set of original 37 ford head lights and molded them into the front fenders with fiberglass. The rear fenders that Larry purchased were 2"s wider than the stock fender, so he modified them with a ridge that would match up to the ridge he put on the front fenders. Larry was good friends with a retired automotive painter in Washington State who painted the truck for him. Larry always considered the truck as a labor of love but his wife's comment at the end was, "don't you think that you got a little carried away". But the truth is they are very proud of the truck and trailer tandem and they both love to show the truck along with the matching teardrop trailer at shows and events.

Larry had only shown the truck one season in Washington and one season here in the Tucson area. The first show that he entered his truck was a large show in Portland, Oregon where he took home a 4 foot high trophy for first place in his class. Since moving to Arizona, he says he has been lucky to win several trophies, but we know luck had nothing to do with it, Larry's truck is stunning to see. In 2009, Larry won Best of show at Globe, Best of show at Cops and Rodders, and a Top ten trophy at Rodders Days 2009.

Larry went on to comment, “We went to the Cops and Rodders show last year and had a really fun day. The group of people that put this show on did a fantastic job. We were very pleasantly surprised to win first place for our class and absolutely blown away when we won best of show. To all involved in putting on this show, my wife and I say thank you and keep up the fine job.”

Larry, congratulations again for your top selection at last year's Cops and Rodders show and we look forward to seeing your vehicle prominently displayed on this year's T-shirt.

(click photos to enlarge)

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