1. Why Hot Rod and Customs?
It's a creative release more than anything else I guess. I love pretty
much all cars, but traditional rods and customs make the most out of my
sense of form and function. The really early stuff is just so simple,
subtle, industrial... and in away, sinister... And those qualities are
the things that I find the most interesting.
2. Tell me about your first hot rod memory.
Easy. Sitting on the console of my dad's seriously hot rodded (twin
turbo) Corvette. I was around three or four at the time and I'd put both
hands around the chrome ball shifter. My dad would yell, "shift!" and I
would grab a gear as hard as I could. Tardel says I'm still a hard
shifter... I guess I really am.
3. What made you start the Jalopy Journal?
I had just gotten back from Europe and was in the middle of ending my
racing career. I wanted to build something that felt as natural and as
raw as a race car. I started reading Dean Batchelor books and one thing
just lead to another. I fell in love with those old cars in that book
and had to build one. Only thing was, I didn't know the first thing
about them. At the time, I lived in Oklahoma and there just wasn't much
of a traditional scene there. I'd go to the NSRA nats in Oklahoma City
and leave disappointed. I started The Jalopy Journal as an avenue to
learn more than anything else. It was an outreach.
4. When and why did the HAMB come along?
The H.A.M.B. started in 1996. A bunch of guys started bugging me about
adding a message board to The Jalopy Journal. I didn't like the idea and
didn't really buy into forums. Eventually, I relented and put up a link
to the "Hokey Ass Message Board" that everyone kept calling for. I still
can't stand the name... but hey, it stuck.
5. When did you realize that the HAMB was growing?
I don't know that I've come to that realization yet. I honestly see The
Jalopy Journal and the H.A.M.B. as the very beginning stages of
something that is going to be... more... There are so many things that
the internet in combination with a healthy community can accomplish and
I don't think we have even begun to capitalize off of much of it. Point
being, we are still a small (but thriving) community. In time and given
the resources, we are going to do some pretty amazing things.
6. Why traditional? Why not billet?
I like looking at some contemporary cars and I think there are some
great ideas to use as inspiration there, but I've always tended to tip
my hat towards history. I just think there is so much more to a car if
it can be tied to the past... My biggest passion is for late 40's/early
50's hot rods and customs. You can look at one that's done right and
feel the soul that comes from it. Sounds hippy, I know... But these cars
just do it for me. A traditional hot rod or custom is a car, a history
lesson, a mechanical study, and so much more. They are art.
7. What do you drive?
I have a '38 Ford coupe that I built while in college and recently, my
best pal Keith Tardel presented me with my dream car - a very
traditional '30 coupe on deuce rails.
8. What is the best thing about the HAMB?
I think I'm most proud of the dynamic. Literally, you get in what you
put out... And I see so many people put so much into the community and
get just as much back. I love that. One thing I've learned in the past
11 or so years is that most folks are just really good people with good
intentions.
9. What is the worst thing about the HAMB?
Being public. I'm not an outgoing person... I'm shy... reserved... And
because of the H.A.M.B., my name gets out there quite a bit. Sometimes
I'm not very comfortable with that.
10. Rat Rod. Go.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=297
It's really a definition thing, right? To me, a rat rod is a car that is
thrown together with parts in hand. It's cheap, fun, and done quickly.
On the other hand, a traditional car takes more time, dedication, and
sacrifice to build. They are detailed and thoughtful... You can almost
see the pain the builder endured to get it done.
I have no problem at all with rat rods. It's just not a genre I'm all
that interested in.
11. What drives you as a person, what makes you get up in the morning?
Easy... My wife and little girl. Just about everything I do, I do for
them. As any H.A.M.B. Drags attendant will tell you, Marcie is the best
hot rod wife in the world. And Presley? Cooler than any hot rod in the
world. She's so rad...
12. How much time do you spend working with the HAMB?
Some weeks I can get by with 30 or so hours, but other weeks get pretty gnarly... I'd guess I am averaging 50 hours a week right now on top of
my daily job. Running the joint would be absolutely impossible without
all the guys that donate their time to help moderate. I don't think most
folks realize how much these guys do. Just the classified section alone
is enough work for three or four guys to do full-time.
13. If you could have world peace or the coolest hot rod which would it be?
It's sick that I had to actually think about this one for a while...
World Peace.
14. What do you think of the reality-tv hot rod show?
(http://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=51)
I don't watch them enough to really have an educated response here. I
think it's made a lot of folks a ton of money... and good for them, but
at the same time it has been kind of embarrassing to watch as folks try
their hardest to cash in after the initial wave. I can't blame them, but
I also can't bare to watch sometimes.
15. When did the Jockey Journal come along?
Two years ago... Jason Kidd runs that site and I just kind of support
him and pay the bills. That site has been tough for me as I don't know
the folks or the genre as well, but we are starting to figure it out a
little better. It's a lot like The Jalopy Journal was 6 or 7 years ago.
16. How did the HAMB drags come about? And what is it's future?
One of our members (Sam) had the idea and I just took it and ran. I
think the first year we were expecting maybe 30 cars and 80 showed up. I
think we had close to 200 cars at our last one. It's been crazy... So
much fun though. In my estimation, the H.A.M.B. Drags is really the last
place a guy can go to see a close representation of how the early drags
really were. It's heads up, run-what-ya-brung, good old fashion
racing... A bunch of pals trying to go fast... It's really hard to
explain to someone that hasn't attended. It's not like any other drag
race in the country.
We are working really hard to get more drag race events in... I'm hoping
to have an east and west coast HAMB drags in 2008, to support the HAMB
Drag Nationals in Missouri (August 25).
17. The biggest misconception about Ryan Cochran?
I think people tend to give me more credit than I deserve. The Jalopy
Journal/H.A.M.B. was really built by the great folks that put so much
time and energy into meaningful content through the years. There would
be no site if it wasn't for those people. I just put some code together
man... There are just so many people that have done so much for this
thing, that I can't even begin to make a list.
18. Why should I be a member of the HAMB Alliance?
The Alliance came about after years of consulting with some of the media
industry's smartest and most well liked folks. The late Steve
Hendrickson really made the final pull... One of the last things he told
me before he past was that it was better to regret what you did do
rather than what you didn't. Five or six days after he left, I launched
the Alliance.
The idea was to find a revenue source for The Jalopy Journal/H.A.M.B.
that didn't compromise our content or our mission. I wanted to find a
way to do what I love for a living while giving people more than their
money's worth. Value is pretty hard to come by in this day and age and I
wasn't about to sell something that didn't return it in bulk.
The Alliance is mostly a way for our community to pool together their
power and use it to get great deals from vendors who REALLY support our
cause. I haven't quit my day job yet, but I am really proud of how well
it has worked out for everyone...
19. Here Lies Ryan Cochran___________________? You finish.
A Sooner born. A Sooner bred. And when he died, he was a Sooner dead.
www.jalopyjournal.com
