This is a story about Vern Holmes. He has been in to hotrodding his entire life, and has a garage full of hot rods. Among them is the Kenz and Leslie deuce roadster.
Bill Kenz and Roy Leslie used this to drag race when drags were just starting up. It was the car to beat around here. They sidelined it from drag racing when they changed to a dragster. The roadster was delegated to be their push car at Bonneville when they ran their streamliner. The roadster had a full house 304" flathead running alky with 10% nitro. This was needed in an attempt to push start their dual engine streamliner. The roadster needed more power than the flathead made. They replaced the flathead with a fuel injected OHV Lincoln . It helped. But traction on the salt isn't all that great and more power was needed to get the streamliner up to 90 mph to fire the two engines (I think that's the right speed). (90 mph is where they'd turn on the mags to fire the two flatheads (later they ran three flatheads). Bill Kenz used three hopped up cars to push it. ... the roadster was up against the streamliner. Against the back of the roadster was a full house '47 coupe who pushed the roadster. And against his rear bumper was another full race flathead (usually a pickup, but there were other cars used at times). They'd always be clear back to the extreme rear of the start line pit........ they needed every bit of room to get the streamliner up to starting speed. They'd start pushing the heavy streamliner using their "Congo Line" as Bill called it. This much power was needed since the streamliner engines would begin windmilling the minute they started pushing to check for hydaulic locks and to circulate oil etc. It also solved their clutch problem... they would tear up the special built Sheiffer clutches on EACH run! Around 55 mph the rearmost push car would be running out of power....... and would peel off the Co n go Line. Around 70 mph the second car would be running out of power and would peel off. This left just the roadster pushing the streamliner. Cal Kennedy always drove the roadster. He remembers he couldn't floor it even at that speed since the rear tires would break loose severly and go sideways! Not a fun thing to happen. By this time the streamliner was getting fairly close to the timing traps. Somewhere near 90 mph the rear windmilling engine would get it's mag turned on. Cal said the roadster would instantly begin accelerating harder. A few seconds later the front engine mag would be turned on. Cal said the rear of the streamliner instantly got very narrow... and quickly disappeared! The roadster by this time was doing about 115 mph thanks to the acceleration surge when the streamliner lit. The first time Cal pushed using the roadster he backed off the throttle to slow down. He said he was under compression a very long time. He was sure he had slowed almost to a stop.... and he turned to get over to the return road. Only thing was he was still running in the 100 mph area!!! The roadster had a good time spinning several 360's before sliding to a stop. Cal said he nearly filled is britches! There was nothing in the flat expanse of white salt which could be used as a reference to determine speed... everything was flat and white......with nothing else. And the roadster didn't have a functioning speedometer. From then on Cal would look over the side of the roadster door at the surface of the salt. When he could see grains of salt, he'd begin his turn!
Vern Holmes lived across the street from Chuck Kirgan’s Phillips “66" station during his high school days in the late 40's. Kirgan’s “66" was the center of DTA activities which was considered by many to be the club in Colorado . Like all high school kids of that period, Vern was interested in hot rods and car clubs. Seeing all the rods and customs that hung out at Kirgan’s station was about as good as it could get.
Vern graduated from East High School in June of 1950. He joined the Denver Timing Association after completing his military stint in 1954. He served as the DTA president in the early sixties. But I’m getting ahead of this story....
Vern joined the Navy right after graduation in 1950. He ended up being stationed in Norfolk , Virginia. It was there he fell in with some stock car racers who ran at the Richmond , Virginia Beach, and Martinsville tracks. During this time he bought a cherry, and complete, ‘34 Ford 3 window coupe. He promptly striped off the fenders and running boards to lighten it and to make his first hot rod. He chopped the top and channeled the body the width of the frame. He replaced the stock ‘34 flathead engine with a bored out Merc flathead he obtained from the stock car group. It displaced 256 cubes, had Ede lbrock heads and a dual intake manifold with two Stromberg 97 carbs. It ran a Clay Smith 3/4 race cam.
He had a 30 day leave scheduled not far away. He worked frantically on the coupe to provide transportation to and from home.... and something to show off in Denver while on leave. Two days before he was to leave it was ready for its initial road test. Plans were to run the flathead Merc and rod on the streets of Norfolk to find any bugs and to fix them. Sounds like a good solid plan doesn’t it? Well, one problem cropped up right off.
As was the practice, he set the engine up on the tight side..... “just a leetle bit too snug”!! The tired flathead 6 volt starter wouldn’t begin to turn the engine over. Remember this was well before the advent of 12V batteries in cars. Everything used a 6V lead acid battery in those days. But this shouldn’t be any type of a problem to a hot rodder..... right? After all, flatheads would easily start with just a slight push. And we all know from our own personal experience a tight engine will loosen up after only a few miles of driving. Which will then start on the 6 volt starter. So it wasn’t a problem after all. Yeah, right! Then another problem surfaced. Vern hadn’t had time to get the drivers side door window in. But the weather was balmy and, with any luck, it wouldn’t be needed for the trip.
Vern, and a Navy buddy named Dave who was also going on leae, loaded the coupe up and started out for home. Can you picture this scene? A fenderless chopped and channeled coupe with a huge parachute bag roped down on the roof and a big tool box on the floor of the passenger side (which is where Dave was to sit). Talk about “Sooners” and “The Grapes of Wrath”! Dave had to bend his legs over and/or around the tool box the entire way to Springfield , Missouri (normally a two days trip at that time). Along the way, another problem soon let it self be known in a very painful area and way. Vern hadn’t had time to get a seat made and installed. So they simply sat on a piece of foam rubber plopped down on the plywood floor. Their backs leaned against their sea bags. The combination of all this deluxe(?) seating positioned their legs straight out in front of them! As we all know, foam rubber does not have any permanent support and crushes completely which makes ones butt feel like it’s sitting on a very unforgiving board in an exceedingly short period of time. After only a couple of hours of bouncing down the two lane roads (long before interstates) with the Ford’s buggy spring suspension, heavy duty pain set in to both their legs and butt. Can’t you just picture the two of them trying to get out of the coupe’s cramped quarters? And then trying to straighten and stand upright at gas stops etc.? Vern admits they had a “few” problems crop up along the way... like the headlights would loosen up about twice in each state. This would permit the headlights to jiggle around until they pointed perpendicular away from the direction of travel.... thereby directly lighting up the side of the road and woods but not lighting the lanes in the road! They would stop, get out the tools, adjust the lights, tighten them, put the tools away, and take off again. Vern does admit the coupe got lighter in each state as things broke, fell off, or just plain disappeared!
Did I mention the weather? The balmy southern weather changed in Kentucky and they soon found themselves in a huge rain storm most of the way across the state! The fenderless tires made rooster tails of water about 50' in the air! Vern said the wheels acted more like boat paddle wheels than car tires. Also, every time Vern turned the front wheels for a left hand curve or turn, a solid wall of roadwater (it’s not the cleanest stuff around you know) would be aimed by the driver side front wheel to dump through the windowless left door. The incoming wall of water would soak Vern, Dave, and the entire interior of the coupe every time. Remember they were wearing their dress blues too! Talk about grunge!
By the time Dave got out of the coupe in Springfield Missouri they were no longer buddies. Dave was way beyond boiling over mad. He used his extensive knowledge of four letter Navy words telling Vern he hated his hot rod and never wanted to see it, or Vern, ever… Ever, EVER, EVER again!
But being the kind person he is, Vern ignored this outburst and even extended Dave an invitation for a return ride back to the base at the end of their leaves. Dave just slammed the door as hard as he could and stomped off without answering. Vern said it was several months after returning from leave before Dave would even speak to him!
Vern continued driving homeward until he couldn’t stay awake any longer. He was now in Kansas in the middle of the night. His tired eyes detected a nice long downhill in the rod’s headlights. Super.... this would be ideal to roll-start the rod the next morning since the starter still refused to turn over the engine. He parked the rod on the side of the two lane road near the top of the long downhill. He dropped his head down on his sea bag, and was fast asleep in only seconds.
The sun pouring in finally got hot enough to wake him. That and a noise like an engine with a bad miss. Strange! He struggled getting out of the cramped coupe. He finally managed to get his cramped legs straightened enough to stand upright.. almost resembling a human being. He surveyed his surroundings as he lit up a cigarette. The road ahead and behind him was flat as the top of a pool table!!!!! The running engine with a miss he’d heard was a tractor plowing the adjoining field. Vern took a couple of deep drags to help eradicate the sleep cob webs in his brain. He snuffed out the cigarette. He tried to push start the coupe. No luck. Oh he could get it rolling alright, barely that is, by himself. But not near fast enough to get turned around enough to get in the rear hinged suicide door, shove in the clutch, find second gear and then try bump starting it. After several failed attempts he could hardly catch his breath. What else was there to do, but light up another cigarette? He lit up and sat on a front tire to figure out Plan B. Trouble was, there wasn’t any such thing as a Plan B.
The farmer who had been plowing the field had watched his futile pushing efforts. He stopped the tractor to watch what Vern would do next. Nothing was happening. The farmer got off the tractor, unhooked his plow, and got back on the tractor. He made a “U” turn in the field and followed the fence line to an opening. Where he turned out onto the two lane blacktop road. When he got to the coupe, he turned around and backed up to the dead coupe (or was it Vern that was near death from all the pushing?). He got off the tractor and, without saying a single word, handed Vern the end of a chain that was attached to the tractor. Vern looped it around the front axle and got in the coupe. The farmer took up the slack and began pulling the dead hotrod. The coupe had only gone about 10' before Vern dropped the clutch...... the flathead engine fired right up. The farmer stopped and looked back at Vern.... he just sat and watched Vern. The flathead soon settled down to the un-even thump of a well-tuned hopped up mill. Vern got out, unhooked the chain, carried the pile of chain back to the tractor and handed it to the farmer. He thanked the farmer. The farmer didn’t nod or say a single word. He simply put the tractor in gear and drove back to plowing! The farmer had not spoken a single word during the entire time!
Vern got back in the cramped quarters of the coupe and took off. He was anxious to get home. His legs and butt were hurting so much by the time he got to Denver that he parked (abandoned?) the coupe and didn’t drive it all the time he was home!!! He drove his parents Hudson instead.
He dreaded the return trip to Norfolk before he even got to Denver ! When he finally couldn’t delay any longer, he “borrowed” some pillows from his mom to sit on. The drive back was a more pleasant than the trip home he recalls. Another thing he did while in Denver , he repaired the starter. The coupe would now start without needing pushing! Talk about up-town!
When he got back to Norfolk , he concentrated on a ‘39 convertible he had started constructing. He leaded in the rumble seat, dechromed the car, chopped it, molded in the running boards, and had a white Carson type top made for it. For the mill he used a 1949 Olds engine. It displaced 303 cubic inches. It too had the blessings of the local stock car guys. It ran a ‘39 Ford trans and rear end. He painted it MoPar Pepper Red. When it was finished and had passed it’s road test, he sold the ‘34 coupe.... vowing to never both chop and channel a car again!!!
The ‘39 was a hauler and beat nearly every bootlegger’s flathead powered car for a quarter mile around Norfolk . Vern said when he returned sometime later, all the bootleggers were running Olds engines in their cars.
Vern finally admitted he would make some local deliveries of bootleg to pick up some extra money for his cars. Quite a big risk for little money since they would impound your car on the spot if they found as little as one ounce of bootleg in your car! Vern said he’d get $5 for delivering a 4 gallon case of bootleg. He never was stopped by the local law enforcement agency. He did it for part of one summer... there were just too many road blocks to suit him.
An interesting side note. During his time in Virginia he came across and purchased several cars.... like a ‘32 five window coupe which was complete and running, a ‘34 five window coupe which was complete and running, and a gutted ‘34 three window coupe on a stock chassis. When he got discharged from the Navy, he pushed them all out of his rented garage, across the alley, and onto a vacant lot. Then he simply drove off! He often wonders what ever happened to them.
When Vern returned home in 1954, he teamed up with fellow DTA members Ron Smith and Floyd Best to buy a ‘32 five window coupe to drag race. They built it during the ‘54-’55 winter. It had a stock displacement 239 inch flathead with Edelbrock heads, Navarro 3 carb manifold, ported, relieved, Winfield SU-1A cam, and an H&C ignition. They ran about 90% nitro in it. I say about, because they used a measuring cup to proportion the mixture which is far from being accurate. They ran against the likes of Bob Janowski and other fast rods at the surrounding drag strips. They were awarded the prestigious “Most Consistent Winning Edelbrock Equipped Coupe” award by Bill Kenz of Kenz & Leslie fame. They “flat towed” (no trailer) the fuel coupe from Denver to the first nationals at Great Bend , Kansas in 1955 where they won their class. They set a national drag record for their class which won them a Harmon & Collins roller cam for an Olds V8. Guess where Vern thought it should be used!
Upon returning to Denver , Vern picked up a later model Olds engine which displaced 324 inches for his ’39. He used the H&C roller cam they’d won and topped the engine with three 2 barrel Rochester 2GC carbs. Like most of Vern’s cars, it too was a strong runner. In 1960, he got the drag racing bug again and sold the ‘39 convertible in order to purchase a lighter rod to drag race. The car was Kenz & Leslies ‘32 roadster. This had been used to push start the Kenz & Leslie Streamliner at Bonneville and had been used in drag competition. He still has the famous roadster today, but has put it back on the street. When he bought it, it had the rear flathead engine from the Kenz & Leslie streamliner. It was 3-7/16" by 4-1/8" for a total of 305 inches. It had four Stromberg fueler carbs with the famous Isky 404 cam. Vern ran it at Julesburg, Castle Rock (CDR), Pueblo , and Cheyenne . Nitro was the fuel of choice most of the time. It held records at many of these strips at one time or another.
In 1964 he decided to change engines. He replaced the flathead with an OHV Chev. The 283" engine was stroked to increase displacement to 304". It ran a Duntov 20/20 cam with two 4 barrel WCFB carbs. It was ported and polished and made good horsepower. But it didn’t last long before blowing up. He rebuilt it and ran it a couple of more times on Tower Road in Aurora . Then he decided to sell the deuce roadster. And herein lies the final story for this article.....
Fellow DTA member Don Davis came to look it over. He brought a friend with him. Finally after they had examined the roadster quite carefully from top to bottom, Don told Vern he was interested in buying the roadster and asked the price. When Vern said $1500. Don burst out laughing and said “No ‘32 roadster will ever be worth that much money!” and left. Wonder if Don still thinks no ‘32 roadster is worth $1500?
Vern was unable to find a buyer and decided to put it back on the street in 1965. He used a different OHV Chev V8 but stayed with the early Ford trans and rear end. Naturally the Chev mill has been warmed over considerably. It was during 1965 that Vern hooked up with Frank Liston, Gary McClellan, Jack Richards, and Jack Stamper in founding the Denver Roadster Club. This club remains active today and has about 33 members.
In 1968 Vern entered his roadster in the Tri-State show. He won Best Open in a very competitive class.
In 1999 he decided a complete re-do of the roadster was in order. The body was removed and sent to fellow DTA members Stan and Steve Wagner in Colorado Springs for a complete body and fender massage. Over the super straight body, they applied a deep and flawless black paint job. Fellow DTA member, Jay of P-J Upholstery, did the entire interior in a tan colored leather. Another outstanding job by Jay. Vern went through the chassis and had Romeys shop freshened up the Chevy mill as long as it was out. Vern, Stan, Steve, and Jay barely got the roadster finished in time for the Graybeards 2001 show in November. The roadster won 3rd place in the Street Roadster class.
He now has a new project. In 2000 he came across an old timey ‘32 three window coupe complete with fenders, running boards, and a fresh 8BA stock flathead. Vern is planning to run it at Bandimere someday just for fun. I told him to make sure their 8 day clock is wound tight! He also has a few other interesting cars. But those are stories for other articles.