Men’s car clubs have been around since speed demons first began souping up their wheels in the 1940s. One part boy gang, one part garage crew, car clubs provide an extended support system for like-minded car enthusiasts who gather to work on their cars, hang out, and cruise. In other words, they’re not so different from your grandmother’s knitting club--only louder, dirtier, and faster.
Some of the clubs, like the Poor Boys (who’ve been around in various incarnations since the 1940s) have members all over the country, but a car club doesn’t have to be big to get the job done.
No Boys Allowed
Traditionally, car clubs are a guy thing--probably because guys have traditionally been more involved in do-it-yourself auto work than women. But these days, more than one third of all women car owners are do-it-yourselfers, and the number of women’s car and motorcycle clubs is on the rise.
San Francisco is home to the Devil Dolls, a take-no-prisoners gang of biker beauties who strike fear in the hearts of men when they cruise the streets on their American-made iron. The Devil Dolls have capitalized on their hellacious bad-girl appeal with a club pinup calendar and merchandise sold on their website. In fact, they’ve even garnered the respect of the Hell’s Angels, who officially endorse them. You think the mechanic calls them "baby"?
On the sweeter side falls the Vespa scooter club, the Screaming Mimis, a national gang of mod enthusiasts for the zippy, Italian-made vintage bikes.
Women’s hot-rod clubs include the Cherry Bombs, based in San Francisco. A little farther south, San Luis Obispo is the stomping ground of the Lady Lux, a three-member crew of very dedicated hot-rod ladies.
We Rely on Ourselves
"We’re all into cars because we like them, not because our boyfriends are," says Shelley Barnes, a member of the Lady Lux and proud owner of a 1941 Dodge Luxury Liner coupe. "For the most part, we try to work on our cars whenever possible. All of us are pretty independent and for that reason we like to be able to rely on ourselves to fix shit, instead of waiting for a guy to come help us."
Co-founder Christine Rogers, who has done all her own work on her award-winning 1954 chopped five-window Chevy truck, agrees. "Our club wasn’t just formed because we were girls; we were already friends. But we’re keeping it an all-girl club ? it’s hard to find girls who are really into cars, and not just because their boyfriends or husbands are into cars."
Rogers’s next project is to build herself a Model A coupe to add to the Lux fleet, which currently includes Jenny Foster’s 1954 two-door Nash Statesman, 2 teardrop trailers (a ’53 Rainbow and a ’58 Shasta) dubbed the Lux Lounges, Shelley and Christine’s vintage scooters, and 4 vintage bicycles.
Membership Has Its Benefits
Even if you don’t consider yourself much of a greaser, there’s a lot to be said for the kind of support network a car club can provide. Need a jump-start or a ride to the auto-parts store? Looking for a little solidarity when you take your car to the mechanic? Your car-club sisters are ready and waiting for the call. And if you’re tackling a new do-it-yourself repair, it’s invaluable to have a fellow member who’s been through it all before.
The camaraderie doesn’t end in the garage, though. Car clubs throw parties, print up T-shirts, and take trips together. Picture yourself as part of a rowdy gang of greaser girls on a car-club pub-crawl or a Saturday-night cruise in your matching Pink Ladies-style jackets. The appeal of a girl gang is stronger than you think. Take it from Shelley Barnes of the Lady Lux. "What’s really important is that we have fun," she says. "And boy, do we. Just ask around!"
Links
http://www.devildolls.com/
Check out this site for member photos, merchandise, and other info about a bunch of very scary babes.
http://www.greasergrrls.com/
This site is practically an online car club for chicks into cars, with plenty of information, photos, and cool articles.
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