The Story of the Hot Rod Lincoln

Hot Rod Lincoln | Charlie Ryan
Released 1955 - re recorded 1959



Charlie Ryan was born in Graceville, Minnesota, in Dec. 1915.
He grew up in Poison, Montana and moved to Spokane WA, when he was 28.
Ryan was a US Army soldier in the Korean War, and worked as a musician and songwriter after the conflict.
Touring with such artists as Jimmy Reeves, and Johnny Horton, Ryan learned the ropes of the music business.

In 1955 he hit with "Hot Rod Lincoln" a continuation of the story of the "Hot Rod Race" by Arkie Shibley.
That song was about a race between a Ford and a Mercury then overtaken by a Hot Rod Model A.
Ryan's new song tells a story from that 3rd driver's point of view,

"Have you heard this story of the Hot Rod race, when Fords and Lincolns was settin' the pace
That story is true, I'm here to say, I was drivin' that Model A"

He pulls out of San Pedro and heads towards Grapevine Hill, a Cadillac passes him by, and the race is on.
First released on Souvenir Records under the name "Charley Ryan and The Livingston Bros",
when it failed to chart, Charlie went back in '59 and recorded it again, this time for Star Records.
The revised recording under a new name, "Charlie Ryan and The Timberline Riders", improved the production.
It charted (no. 23) in August 1960, after another version hit the country charts that same month, by Johnny Bond.

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The Car

Charlie was an avid Hot Rod racer and actually built the car he wrote about from a 1948 12-cylinder Lincoln chassis,
with a Ford Model A body fitted to it. The picture above is the "Hot Rod Lincoln"
Below is a link to some other pictures inside the car. The fully restored classic sold at auction in 2013, for $97,000



www.rodauthority.com/news/the-real-hot-rod-lincoln-alive-and-well-serving-a-charitible-cause/