Cal, Nick & T-33

REBORN.

- Scotty Lachenauer

Eighty-two-year old Cal Kennedy was ready to live out his life at home, retired from the daily grind and enjoying his golden years after 55 years in the workforce. “I would tell people I was pretty much locked into my rocking chair,” he says. Well, he was prepared to live the quiet life at home, until Mike “Nick” Nicholas appeared in his life.

Nick grew up in the greater Denver area, born into a world of motorcycles and fast cars. His father, Bob “St. Nick” Nicholas, was a hot rodder who enjoyed sharing what he knew about vintage speed equipment with his son: parts like Ardun OHVs for flatheads, the super-rare Rajo heads for Model T bangers, and the cherished Wayne 12-ports for Chevy inline-sixes, the latter known as the “unicorn” power-adder of inline speed equipment.

When Nick had a family of his own, he decided he needed a project car to share his love of the hobby with his two young boys. So, in 2010, he scored a needy 5-inch-sectioned ’50 Ford, a car he thought was just unique enough to stand out at local car shows. Left in the trunk by the previous owner was the March 1954 issue of HOT ROD, bearing a similar Shoebox on the cover. Though the Ford was the featured story, there was an article inside that really grabbed Nick’s attention: a recap of the first Hot Rod Hill Climb that took place in nearby Georgetown, Colorado, in the late summer of 1953.

Nick was floored by the discovery, as he had no idea the race ever existed. He was drawn to the article and the history and read it over and over. It was a revelation he carried with him for the next two years, until finally a light bulb went off in his hot-rodinfested head. Why not recreate the event? It was feasible, but first he had to find out everything he could about the original event. “The Hill Climb was run nearly 60 years ago, so I wasn’t expecting much,” he says.