Rod Hawks drop racing but continue showing classics

MARENGO — It seems appropriate to highlight the Rod Hawks at this time of year when car shows are being held all around the area.

The participants enjoy sharing their expertise and their love of cars as was evident July 3 when the 16th annual car show in Marengo brought in about 150 entries.

Before the 1950s, all manufactured cars were painted black. It was much cheaper to make them uniform in color. Around 1950 the first cars of different color were made available. Soon two-toned cars came out and became very popular with the teenagers of the day.

As those cars began appearing in Marengo, young men, eager to show the power and classy look of their cars, were allegedly drag racing on the gravel roads south of Marengo.

This prompted a discussion at a Chamber of Commerce meeting in February of 1956 about banning such activities or constructing a drag-racing track.

There is no further mention in the news accounts, and there was no need to create a track since the oval track at the Marengo Memorial Park in the east end of town had been used for car races for many years.

As early as September of 1950, Hot Rod races were being scheduled for Sunday afternoons on that dirt track. These were sponsored by the Central Iowa Hot Rod Association, Inc. under the auspices of the local American Legion Post which owned the track property.

The area was eventually used by the Marengo Community School District for its football events and was ultimately sold to the Iowa County Fair Board.

The hot rod era began on the west coast and swept across the country in the mid-50s. The Rod Hawks of Marengo were founded in 1956. Records indicate that the original membership was about five, but by the late 1950s, that increased to about a dozen.

The members were young men (some having been recently licensed to drive) who were interested in cars and wanted to customize cars of their own. That often meant taking an old (perhaps even abandoned) car and adapting it with a different engine.

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It was great sport to “lay the drag strip,” cruise up and down Court Avenue before heading north over the old river bridge (now gone).

Early Rod Hawk members recall a significant drop-off at each end of that bridge which made for a “real thrill” at 50 miles per hour.

Once the Court Avenue Bridge was abandoned and the new bridge and road opened in the fall of 1956 — first known as Highway 411 — the cars could enjoy a paved surface.

On the extension of Eastern Avenue north across the river, now dubbed V66 or M Avenue, the cars could speed north “far enough from town but close enough to town” to be convenient.

Marengo residents awoke one morning in the late 1950s to find a quarter-mile drag strip, complete with start and finish lines, painted on the new road surface north of the bridge, along with a strip to remind the drivers that safety was a concern and slowing down was in order as they headed south into town.

Original Rod Hawk members Dick Rotter and his brother, Bob, admitted to painting those lines using a 50-foot tape measure they borrowed from their mother, Ruth.

The Rotter boys reported that their interest in this hot rod craze had been whetted by looking at “Hot Rod” magazines provided by an uncle. Dick Rotter became the first president of the group which included Morey Willis, George Kinzenbaw, Francis Schutterle, Warren “Tex” Miller, and Kenny Adams.

Soon after, they were joined by five Williamsburg boys: Floyd Meyer, David Maschmann, Harlan Doty, Bill Behrens and David Dietrich.

In order to become a member of the Rod Hawks club in Marengo one had to have three modifications done to his car: perhaps lowering the body, modifying the trunk or hood or engine.

A small membership fee was required of members, and that provided plaques for the group. One of the original members designed a plaque: a picture of a hawk grasping a connecting rod and a piston with the inscription “Marengo Rod Hawks.”

These plaques were fastened to the backs of members’ cars until theft became an issue, forcing the men to place the plaques inside the back window.

Customizing cars and racing them were the main interests of the Rod Hawks.

Dietrich and Meyer explained to Allen Sieve in an interview in the 1990s that their parents thought their interest in hot rodding was “foolishness.”

The group promoted safety and sportsmanship. Each member carried courtesy cards which were given to motorists they assisted. The organizations’ bylaws called for members to drive in a safe, responsible manner and not to show off or do anything to cast a bad light on the club.

Dick Rotter recalled that they tried to do things right, even while “having fun.”

The late Floyd Meyer noted that his father would check the mileage before he left home and when he returned. “I found ways to alter those readings,” he said.

The club met in informal gatherings to discuss automotive interests. Their meetings were usually brief, but minutes were kept.

Early meetings were held in the Rotter home. Later the club met at a vacated schoolhouse in rural Sumner Township, south of Marengo, where they kept their own pop machine, a couch, chairs, and hot rod magazines.

In June of 1964, a violent windstorm — perhaps a tornado — ripped through the area and demolished the schoolhouse. At that time, Paul Dusterhoft, of Victor, was president of the Rod Hawks.

The loss of their meeting place and the fact that many of the former Rod Hawks were now married diminished the club.

The club continued to meet in members’ garages or homes or businesses.

During the early 1960s, they sponsored teen dances at the 4-H Building on the fairgrounds, bringing in groups such as the Legends, the Rock ‘n Flames and the New Marauders.

In October of 1965, an ad ran for a teen dance with an admission of 75 cents. The Rod Hawks hoped to raise enough money to pay the band and have a little profit for their group.

Eventually those events were moved to the American Legion Hall.

Two of the members of the ‘70s Rod Hawks went on to run auto body shops — the late James Furman and Don Hilsman.

Manufactured cars were now well-equipped so installing a bigger engine was not necessary. One could modify hubcaps, fender skirts, bumpers and other details.

Races were rare and were held away from populated areas. The members were more interested in showing their cars.

An original Rod Hawk said he had no idea how many miles he got per gallon. “I never thought about it …. [I] was mostly concerned about how much power the car had.

“Gasoline sold for 26 to 28 cents per gallon. The car was the major concern. Girls came in second, and a car’s owner would vacuum his car every other day.”

In those days, one could drive around “all night for three dollars.”

A notebook assembled by the late Linda Slaymaker Kanke and located by Michael McBride listed membership qualifications for the Rod Hawks, though the date is not noted.

1. Applicant must be at least sixteen years of age with no set maximum age limit.

2. He must be an experienced and capable driver of a motor vehicle and have with him at all times a valid and bona fide Iowa Drivers License.

3. Applicant must show proper ownership of his car or file a notarized written consent to drive his parents’ car in a competitive manner at any A.T.A.A. Drag Strip.

4. Applicant must promote interest in various types of hot rod activities, and be interested in design, operation, and/or safe use of a motor vehicle.

5. His personal character and reputation as well as his driving reputation must meet with association strictest approval and specs, assuring to the fact that he be a definite credit to the association.

6. He must be of good moral and social standing in his community.

7. Applicant must have three engine or body modifications and must be able to prove he has them.

8. Any person applying for membership shall fill out an Application Form, filling in all info.

Membership will then be either approved or disapproved by the club secretary before the application will be voted on by the present members at the next regular meeting. It must carry at least a 90% vote of the members present.

In the agreement document the applicant confirms that he fully realizes a car is not an experimental plaything but is an intricate and expensive machine that has the power to kill and injure He promises not to use it as a means of showing off.

He will obey all signs, traffic lines, signal lights, rules, regulations, and laws and not drive the car in excess of speed limits or race with others on open highways or street.

Interest in the Rod Hawks was revived in the 1980s with leadership from Todd Ballard and Reggie Mattison. Membership built to about 35 in the 1990s.

In 1990, the late Floyd Meyer, noted that he had helped a friend weld a 1970-era Mustang II front frame to a 1937 Chevy street rod. “That’s basically what hot-rodding was: putting something together that was not meant to be together.”

[Information for this article was provided by local classic car enthusiasts and former members of the club, a series of articles in the Iowa Valley High School newspaper by Dave Wanamaker in March of 1976 and an article by Allen Sieve in the Pioneer Republican from June of 1990.]