There’s been a strange phenomena occurring all around Whidbey this week — the men are missing.
There have also been reports of housewives mumbling about a need to buff chrome and double-check the sparkle of dashboards.
Loved ones have searched high and low for their husbands, wives, uncles and aunts.
Luckily, all of these missing persons have a common denominator that aids in their recovery: all suffer from hotrod mania or car nutitis.
This immediately leads the search party in one direction — the garage.
“I’ve spent a lot of time out here lately,” explained Ed Hammond, Sr., of his recent, uncontrollable need to polish up his Corvette yellow 1967 Buick Electra 225 convertible.
No explanation needed, Ed.
The sixth annual Cruz’n the Harbor car show is Saturday. Everyone’s prepping their ride for the show that drew close to 250 cars and trucks last year. Entrants came as far south as Puyallup, as far north as Canada and everywhere in between for the show sponsored by the Whidbey Cruzers.
Jim Haddon is busy prepping his 1946 Hudson Pickup and hoping the weather holds out. You see, baby doesn’t get out in the rain and Haddon has yet to find a truck-sized umbrella.
The truck was originally owned by Frank Sandel, a friend of Haddon’s family he affectionately calls “Uncle Frank.”
“It’s really a family car even though he wasn’t really family,” he said.
Sandel purchased the truck in 1946 straight from a Hudson dealership in Seattle for $1,522. The truck saw limited mileage as Sandel’s hunting road trip vehicle. The odometer read only 7,200 miles when Sandel asked Haddon in 1975 if he wanted the vehicle to help “keep it in the family.”
“He gave me an incredible deal,” Haddon said.
Haddon bought the truck — with original engine and only one paint job to restore the original paint — for $1,500. He drove it stock until 1996 when he decided to completely strip the truck and prep it for restoration in a radical direction.
“I built it as a show truck, inside out, top to bottom,” Haddon said.
The truck was disassembled down to its last nut and bolt. Every inch of paint was stripped for this frame-off restoration. With the help of Rob Shippy of Longview (where Haddon lived at the time), Haddon shortened the bed by 22 inches and the frame by 14 inches.
“Hudsons have very unique lines to them,” Haddon said. “Any work I did was to help accentuate what I thought was an already great truck.”
The original flat-head six engine with its weak 100 horsepower was removed. A big block Chevy engine now revs the truck to 500 horses. The bland bench seat and interior is now leather. Doors now have suicidal tendencies. And the Hudson truck is a vision thanks to its double pearl, teal blue paint job.
The modernized hotrod also includes power steering, four-wheel power brakes, air conditioning, a retro inspired illuminated instrument panel hidden under a concealed dashboard.
“It’s just relaxing going out to the garage for the evening,” Haddon said of the work.
The six-year project saw Haddon spending many nights in that garage, but it paid off. He now has a priceless beauty that has garnered awards in car shows such as the Portland Roadster show and Mild to Wild show held in Tacoma.
“It was fun rebuilding it and now it’s just fun to take to shows and meet people,” he said. “It’s often a lot of work: a couple of days to prep the truck, driving to the show, actually showing the car and then packing up. But it’s all worth it.”
Whether the ‘46 Hudson will make an appearance Saturday is still up in the air, or shall we say, the clouds.
“If it’s bad weather she’s not coming out,” he said.
But not to worry, Jim will still be there.
“It’s just such a fun show to go to whether you show or not,” Haddon said.
Cruz’n the Harbor event coordinator Larry Smith has been around this fun show even before it was Cruz’n the Harbor.
Smith — who is a founding member of the Cruzers — is the now retired owner of Smitty’s Paints. Ten years ago he and a number of his friends and customers began gathering at his former Goldie Road shop for an end of March potluck.
“Everyone brought their car and some food and had a day of fun,” Smith said.
Smitty’s Show and Shine, as it was called, soon outgrew its Goldie Road digs, and seven years ago the Cruzers took over sponsorship of the show but kept the name. For the last six the Cruzin’ the Harbor show has rung in the Pacific Northwest car show season by filling Pioneer Way with a gorgeous array of rides.
“It’s such a unique and diverse show,” Smith said. “Everyone’s invited and there’s a category for everyone.”
This year marks the 10th anniversary for the Whidbey Cruzers. The car club and its 140-plus members are represented by more than 200 different vehicles — ongoing projects, factory stock, street rods, foreign cars, classics, antiques, radical trucks like Haddon’s ‘46 Hudson and many more.
Hammond is the Cruzers’ president and has been with the club since 1998.
The group regularly gathers for friendship, fun and trading car tips and tricks. Cruzers can be seen at the Pizza Factory every Friday night, rain or shine.
“I went to school with a lot of these guys,” Haddon said. “It’s been nice being able to keep in touch and reminisce.”
Hammond understands the pull of cars and the draw to the club.
“It’s the nostalgia of it all. The times back then were a little slower,” he said. “And back in high school we couldn’t afford these cars, or to fix them up the way we wanted to, but now we can.”
Whether a classic, hot road, vintage or modern tuner car, Smith wants to encourage all car folks to enter or simply come down and appreciate.
“Some of the kids with the tuner cars are intimidated to come out because they don’t think that old-timers like me appreciate their work, but we really do,” Smith said. “This is really everyone’s car show.”
