In the early days of postwar dry-lakes racing, open roadsters were considered “real Hot Rods,” but coupes, along with two- and four-door sedans, were excluded from Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) high-speed competition. Bob and Dick Pierson, members of the Coupes Hot Rod club in Inglewood, California, were instrumental in changing that attitude. They competed at the dry lakes in events sanctioned by an SCTA rival, the Russetta Timing Association (RTA), where coupes were allowed to race. The Pierson Brothers’ severely chopped 1934 Ford 3-Window Coupe—powered by an Edelbrock-sponsored, Bobby Meeks- built, full-race Mercury flathead V-8—topped 142 MPH in 1949 and starred on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine in April 1950. Invited by a skeptical SCTA to run at El Mirage, the Pierson’s ran even faster and soon topped 150 MPH. For a brief time, that coupe was the fastest closed car in America. Not everyone was impressed. “We didn’t think coupes were real Hot Rods,” Alex Xydias, founder of SoCal Speed Shop and an SCTA Board Member at the time, said. “We were very conservative guys and these closed cars didn’t fit our pattern. At first, we didn’t even believe the (speed) numbers. Of course, when the Piersons started going fast (and were officially clocked at record speeds), we had to give in.” It’s hard today to comprehend what the fuss over coupe versus roadster was all about. “Lakes cars could only be roadsters, modifieds, lakesters and streamliners,” the late Bobby Meeks, Edelbrock’s engine-building whiz, once explained. “But a lot of guys owned coupes and sedans, and they needed a place to run, too. The old Western Timing Association (WTA) would take anything. And then there was the Russetta Timing Association which welcomed coupes. We were equal to the SCTA in many ways, especially after the SCTA guys saw the light.” After the Piersons made their point, closed coupes were hot, especially 1932 Ford 3-window and 5-window variants. RTA President Lou Baney had one of the first record-setting ’32 5-windows. Fran Hernandez’ hot 1932 3-window was one of only two coupes to make the cover of Hot Rod in the magazine’s first 27 issues. Soon, a few hardtops were prominently featured, including a slick pair of chopped, channeled and fenderless 5-window coupes owned by Lynn Yakel and Don Williams that set mouths to watering all across the country. Yakel’s severely lowered, flathead-powered example had been perfectly reproportioned, and it turned nearly 130 MPH at the lakes. With its 315 CI, four-carb flathead stroker, Van
