History
Chrome Czars’ History
It all started on a lonely stretch of highway in 1961. Would you believe, the internet super-highway in 2001?
On November 1, 2001, tired of street rod and restoration snobs, Joe “Hellfish” Wislar posted a message on a Chicago rockabilly message board asking if anyone was interested in starting a car club. Mike “Magnet” Ferrari were good friends and had already talked about starting a club, so of course, Mike shot back with a quick “yes”. He was the only one. At the time, Mike and Joe had fairly stock cars, a 1962 Impala SS and a 1950 Fleetline DeLuxe, respectively.
The two guys decided to start their own club that would be based around a loose set of rules. First and foremost, members would be friends. Second, members would have an appreciation for old cars and motorcycles, traditional hot rods and customs, and hot rod culture. Third, beer would be involved.
The guys got together at a bowling alley and threw out ideas for names and logos. Ultimately, they settled of Joe’s suggestion of “Chrome Czars Motor Club” and a logo of a chrome skull with a Russian hat smoking a cigar, in front of a crossed wrench and camshaft. Thus the Chrome Czars were born.
Through connections at the Big C Jamboree, Chicago’s longest running rockabilly jam session, and other friends, the Czars put out feelers for other like-minded gearheads. They met, befriended, and inducted other guys this way in t he early years, including Brian “Memphis” Marra, Thom “Oilcan” Griffin, Tommy “RiverRat” Rivera, Tom “Cheap Date” Mulvenna, and Chad “Django” Hill. Brian, now a former member, used his tattoo skills to redesign the club logo. His design was used on the club’s first shirts.
Earliest incarnation of the Chrome Czars at a Cheaterama (Mike, Brian, Joe, and Thom)
The guys would frequently get together to wrench on each others’ cars, go to car shows, see bands, hit the junkyards, help retrieve new cars, build rocket cars, have the occassional Czar-B-Q, or just hang out.
(Joe, Mike, Brian)
(Thom, Brian, and Tommy)
Chad and Joe at a Cheaterama
There were always a lot of breakdowns!
The first Czar-B-Q!
Some pics of us.
Sometimes the bar would follow us!
Rocket cars!
In 2002, some of the Czars and members of the H.A.M.B. were bench rodding and discussing how tired they were of all the local car shows that welcomed all types of cars, from stockers to street rods to tuner cars, where everyone sat in lawn chairs listening to the Chipmunks and overplayed 50’s pop. They wanted to see cars the way they were built back in the heyday of hot rodding, back before digital gauges, back before cars were trailered to shows, back before the muscle car era, and hear live music that reflected the spirit of hot rodding. Joe, Mike, Andy Didio (Emperors/Marty & Sons Body Shop in Sycamore, IL), and a few others decided to start their own show. Didio offered his shop as a location, Wislar rounded up some bands, Ferrari got some food, and the Hunnert Car Pileup http://www.HunnertCarPileup.com was set! The guys laid out some strict entry criteria, assuring that only traditional hot rods and customs would attend, and vowed to stick to the rules.
Hunnert Car Pileup 2002 logo designed by Brian “Memphis” Marra
Naming the show the “Hunnert Car Pileup” reflected the guys’ cynicism that they’d be lucky to get 100 cars. The first Pileup surprised everyone when 80 traditional hot rods and customs show up from 5 states in the cold and drizzle.
The first show was small indeed!
Around this time, the club’s logo was redesigned by Chad for use on drag plates, club jackets and the newly created website featuring the “Czar Board” message board. The website allowed the Club and their friends to constantly keep up to date on shows, swaps and other events going on.
Chad also designed the logo for the 2nd Pileup and his design was so popular that he’s created every logo since! There were 200 cars at the 2nd Pileup which meant that the show had outgrown Marty & Sons’, so the Chrome Czars took over organizing the show and started looking for a bigger location.
HAMB photo from the 2nd Pileup
They found the historic Grundy County Speedway in Morris, IL. What better place to have a vintage car show than at a vintage race track! They were able to run the show with help from their friends, including other car clubs like the Voodoo Kings and Blacktop Barons [Link]. That first year in Morris drew around 400 traditional rods and customs, yet the show retained the small show feel it had at Marty’s! That year the Czars inducted its newest member, Steve “Jester” Garofalo.
More wrenching
Chad and Joe formed a band (Hot Rod Hucksters) with two Blacktop Barons, Sean and Kevin.
After the 2004 Pileup, 4 of the Czars (Thom, Tommy, Tom, and Brian) wanted to take the club in a different direction and decided split off and form a new club (Rattle Traps) with some other friends. The remaining Czars (Joe, Mike, Chad, and Steve) strengthened their bonds, and vowed to make the club stronger. Chad made some revisions to the logo to reflect the major change in the club.
In 2005, the Pileup doubled in size again to 800 cars. After the show, the Czars inducted their friends Craig “Kansas” Hebrlee and Kevin “Ray Gun” Tully. Kevin owns Hot Rod Chassis and Cycle http://www.hotrodchassisandcycle.com/ where he builds traditional hot rods, customs, bikes and race cars (and later enlisted Chad as a business partner).
Kevin “Raygun” Tully Craig “Kansas “Hebrlee
Mike, Joe, Kevin, Steve, Chad, Craig
Kevin, Steve, Mike, Chad, Joe, and Craig
The Czars decided to share some of their knowledge with the rodding community and started organizing a monthly winter tech series they called “Hot Rod 101”. The classes were meant to cover basic skills that everyone could master while building cars in their own garages without special tools. Topics ranged electrical and chassis basics, to sheet metal repair and fabrication, to upholstery. The classes were taught by Hot Rod Chassis and Cycle staff, Chrome Czars members, as well as guest lecturers, including the Zettle Brothers.
Joe’s wife, Elizabeth, demonstrating how to reupholster a ’48 Chevy bench seat
Things were looking really good in 2006 with a long road trip, another successful Pileup, and a new member. In the Spring, Joe, Chad, and Steve, along with friends in the Blacktop Barons and others hopped in their cars and drove to Austin, TX for the Lonestar Roundup (one of the inspirations for the Pileup).
Of course there were breakdowns!
The Pileup had leveled out to around 900 cars and the Czars inducted their newest member Josh “Lucky” Russell.
Josh and Craig at the Pileup ‘06
Hot Rod 101 continued with many classes focusing on what’s needed to build a hot rod from scratch starting with a cowl and using Kansas’ 60’s styled roadster pickup project as an example. In 2007, the guys decided they needed to spend more time working on their own projects and agreed to pass on the Hot Rod 101 torch to Kevin, Chad, and Hot Rod Chassis & Cycle crew.
In 2008, Django, Jester, and RayGun teamed up with the Blacktop Barons and a few other friends and drove down to Austin again.
For the past few years, the Chrome Czars have hosted an annual picnic for all their friends. It’s always a little cold, but there’s good food and beer!
Road trips sometimes have a few glitches, like this one on the way to the Kropdusters’ Rust Revival in Wayland, MO, but the guys always get there, and have fun and meet people along the way.
2008 marked the 7th Pileup and it surprised everyone with several records. It was the warmest Pileup (temps in the 80s), and there were more cars (1100) in the show, more spectators (over 13,000!), and the Czars were able to donate $25,000 to charity!
to be continued…
