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Great Looking Street Rod
Hot Rod Lincoln by Charlie Ryan (1955 and 1959)
Hot Rod Lincoln was recorded in 1955 as an answer to the song Hot Rod Race a 1951 hit by Arkie Shibley and his Mountain Dew Boys. Hot Rod Race tells the story of a late model Ford and Mercury racing along the highway, neither driver gaining an advantage, and staying neck and neck until they are both overtaken by a kid in a souped up Model A.
Hot Rod Lincoln was written by Charlie Ryan and W. S. Stevenson. It begins with a direct reference to Shibley's 1955 song Hot Rod Race, stating "You heard the story of the hot rod race that fatal day, when the Ford and the Mercury went out to play. Well, this is the inside story and I'm here to say, I'm the kid that was a-drivin' that Model A."
Charlie Ryan owned a real hot rod that was built with a 1948 12 cylinder Lincoln engine and chassis. The Chassis was shortened two feet and had a 1930 Ford Model A body fitted to it. Thus the song explains how in Hot Rod Race a kid in a Model A could have outrun a late model Ford and Mercury sedans.
The first 1955 release of Hot Rod Lincoln was recorded as Charlie Ryan and The Livingston Brothers. The 1959 version was recorded as Charlie Ryan and The Timberline Riders and is probably better known.
Hot Rod Lincoln by Johnny Bond (1960)
The 1960s version of Hot Rod Lincoln by Johnny Bond was a hit for Republic Records. However Bond's Hot Rod Lincoln "had eight cylinders and used them all", rather than the 12 cylinders equipped in Ryan's Model A.
Hot Rod Lincoln by Commander Cody (1972)
Commander Cody and The Lost Planet Airmen's version opens with the spoken lines, "My Pappy said: Son, you're going to drive me to drinkin' if you don't stop drivin' that hot rod Lincoln." and adopts parts of Johnny Bond's version, including the reference to eight cylinders.
