2003 Review of The Rockabilly Rumble

Successful Road Agents 5th annual concludes!

"A National Event"      Rumble goes into the record books!
 

The 5th annual Road Agents Rockabilly Hot Rod & Custom show Rocked East
Hartford under sunny skies at the Elks Pavilion on Saturday. Friday's opening
day got soggy when mother nature reared her ugly head with a brief storm then
continuous rains throughout the day and evening. None of which had any effect
whatsoever on dampening the spirits of the hundreds who still attended in
droves to get into the hard drivin' sounds of nine different live crankin'
Rockabilly bands that came in from all over the country to perform under the pavilion
for the two day national event.  Speaking of hard drivin' sounds from all
over the country, over a hundred or so hard core vintage ground pounding, blown,
injected, multi-carbed, in-the-weeds in-yer-face Hot Rods turned out in the
rain, pounding out their own brand of orchestrated symphony for the troops that
only a fierce collection of high octane Olds, Buick, Caddy and Flathead can
provide through the varied assortment of open headers, Zoomies and Weedburners.
Truly a mind boggling experience! If that wasn't enough, fasten your old
harness and get ready for day two of this Hot Rod Experience!

Saturday's feature opened bright and early under clear blue sunny skies
as Mother Nature had a change of heart that promised temperatures in the 80's
and dry air resulting in another 200 more one-off Rods & Customs that lined
up at 6:00 am for the 9:00 am opening. A steady spectacle of primered, louvered
and hammered rods,. early original customs and rare lead sleds rolled onto the
grounds that were bulging at the seams with every type of hand built creation
from this motoring era represented. Caddy powered coupes, Hemi highboys,
Flathead track roadsters. Bonneville, 50's Drag Racing and dirt track were in
abundance. Only a few cars were turned away this year that didn't meet the Road
Agents strict criteria for pre '63 hot rods, gassers and the like. One hapless
clean-clothes corvette dude just couldn't grasp this concept when after being
turned away was told " If your car doesn't have a straight axle, injectors
poking through the hood and rock-hard slicks hanging out of the fenders, then go
home and polish it!"  The boys & girls of The Road Agents did a fabulous job
per usual. Rounding out this Hot Rod and music festival were the must see
vendors hustling their vintage wares, trick threads, old mags and pin striping
magic. The club scene was well in attendance too. Blowing all the way in from
Indianapolis was none other than the Road Rockets and from Mass, Blacktop
Butchers. All cars from all points made the trip under their own power. the only
trailered cars in existence were of course the various AA/ Altereds, Gassers and
short wheelbase fuelers. The Road Agents also encourage unfinished
"projects", A work in progress type of deal to showcase what's in store for next year.
Attendance at the two day event far exceeded organizer's
expectations. One show-goer said he had never seen such a variety of period cars
in one spot. Two guys exclaimed, "We're building two cars for next year's
show!" Positive feedback flowed all weekend from those who made the trek from all
over the U.S. and our friends to the north, the Canadians.

Organizers say plans are already underway for next year's show sure to be bigger and
better with new facilities and more attractions. So start making plans to attend
now! You know you want to.............Stay tuned to www.theroadagents.com
Don't touch that dial!