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Hilo Hot Rod Legends and
the Road Devils Connection
By
Danny
Sachs
Honolulu
Streets Magazine.
It was 1949, three years after the
first of two deadly tsunamis that hit the Big Island of Hawaii. KIPA
radio is playin' Big Band, Swing and The Bob Hope Show
while warm trades blow through coconut palms on days sometimes so
clear you could see the peak of Mauna Kea rising behind sleepy Hilo
town. In a quaint suburb just past Hilo Bay, 25 year old Harry
Keiichi Nishiyama is hard at work in his garage, customizing a 1939
Ford convertible.
When Harry finished, what rumbled out
of his shop was a chopped, channeled and sectioned cherry red custom
unlike any seen before in the state of Hawaii. Harry probably didn't
know it then but he was setting the stage for four young hot
rodders, from a list of 17, who would quietly carry his legacy
forward fifty years - only to be renewed again by a historic group
known as the Road Devils.
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Parts from
both, '39 and '40 Fords were used to create the custom.
(Click photos for bigger view) |
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It's not actually known when Harry
sold his '39, unfortunately that information went with him when he
sadly passed away in the beginning of 2009, but some accounts put it
around 1952. Then, it changed hands at least two more times before
making its way in 1955 to Robert "Papio" Kaluna.
By then rock-n-roll was on its way and
Hawaii was getting noticed. Movies starring Elvis Presley and Esther
Williams were being filmed on location. Papio recalls, "Those were
great times."
Papio was an avid hot rodder from the
start. At 14 he was already reading Hot Rod magazine, taking notes and saving for
his own custom ride. Around the time he purchased the '39, he could
be found hanging out with his friends, Joe Correa, Eddie Mattos and
Tony Rodrigues (to name a few) at Bell's Fountain, a Hilo Ice cream
and sandwich shop that was typical of the era.
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Photo taken
late 1957 early 1958 on Rainbow Drive. Joe Correa -
creator of Hawaii's Road Devils - sitting behind the
wheel of Papio's '39 Ford custom. |
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He'd cruise with Joe in the chopped
convertible down Kamehameha Avenue also known as Front Street, with
an occasional jaunt up Rainbow Drive. Joe said, "Back then you could
go 100 MPH down Front Street" without seeing a car on the road.
Papio knew from reading rod magazines
that he'd have to do something really unique to his '39 that would
get it noticed and land in the pages of Hot Rod. So, one day at
Bell's, or maybe it was at Rainbow Falls - no one really remembers
where exactly - he and Joe sketched a Road Devils design that
resembled one out of a JC Whitney catalog. He wanted it on the
backseat tonneau cover. "I might have seen it (the image) on one of
those car club plaques they used to sell," said Joe.
At that moment the Road Devils Hawaii
chapter was born. Papio quickly took the hand drawn draft that Joe
came up with and drove the '39 to Shikuma's Sign Shop to have the
insignia painted on the cover. While Papio went off to see Shikuma,
Joe began spinning ideas about organizing a close knit bunch to
become perhaps Hawaii's first real car club.
In early '58, and soon after the Road
Devils mark was branded on Papio's car, Papio snapped a couple of
photographs on Rainbow Drive, then mailed em’ to Hot Rod magazine.
By June of that same year it appeared in the Post Entry section:
CONTINUED
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June 1958 Hot Rod Magazine
HOT ONE FROM HILO
"Dear Sirs:
I have been a constant reader of yours for quite a few years and
have gained much knowledge through your mag. Inspired by your fine
magazine, I've come up with a '39 Ford convertible. Enclosed is my
custom job, channeled 6 inches and chopped 3 ½ inches. My custom is
running a '48 Merc full-house mill, bored out to 3-3/8, with a 4-1/8
stroke. A pair of Weiand 8:1 heads, Weber flywheel and Weiand
four-carb manifold are featured. Doors are operated electrically.
Car has a 24 coat Cherry Red paint job. Ran her through the strip
and I'm satisfied with her true 90's.
Robert Kaluna,
Hilo, Hawaii." |
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©2009 Honolulu Streets Magazine. This story and photos may not be
copied, published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed without the express written permission of
Honolulu
Streets Magazine.
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