A kind Hooptyreader (and the caretaker of a great auto project blog - http://gastiresoil.blogsome.com/) sent me a superb shop-warming present! The 1966 Speed and Custom Equipment Directory! Absolutely period correct for Hooptyrides, Inc! This will be my new indispensible atlas! If I find myself in Brookfield, Wisconsin, I will be on the lookout for Schlieper's Speed on Barker Road. Evansville, Indiana? You will find me at 1324 Hwy 41, sniffing around for Moon's Custom Auto. One day, I will find the magneto intake manifold paradise in the form of an old cobwebby speedshop with new Hilborn, Stewart Warner and Sun boxes on the shelves... Perhaps, Pee Gee Speed in Brooklyn...
As the proud owner of a seriously dingy hot rod shop, I can understand the starry eyed view of your shop looking like Camelot. Despite the modest demeanor of the Triangle Speed Shop, I know that outward appearance does not tell the tale of the magic going on inside.
And it must have been a mighty proud day for Ed 'The Camfather" Iskenderian when he opened his city block, four building, 50,000 square foot headquarters.
Impko is perhaps the most appropriate name ever given to a consumer products company. It sounds like what it is - decals for bratty kids. A year or so ago, I called the Hackensack Chamber of Commerce to see if there were any old timers that knew what became of the Impko company, founders, family or, especially, old stock. I pictured attics full of ghoulish frankenstein and Roth decals, but it didn't pan out.
