Grady Hawkins is a Dodge man, always has been and probably always will be.
His driveway is dominated by a 2009 Charger (with the legendary Hemi engine), his wife, Doris, drives a Neon, and one side of his garage hosts a fully restored antique 1947 Dodge sedan that once belonged to his grandfather. But the crown jewel in this impressive collection of American automobile enthusiasm is the ’47 Dodge D-24 hot rod that sits menacingly beside Granddad’s old ride.
Ask Grady about the car’s mechanical pedigree and you’ll unleash a torrent of technical explanation.
The 360-cubic-inch engine, he will tell you, has been bored out to 6.0 liters. The engine was then blueprinted, decked, and balanced. It was equipped with an Eagle crankshaft and rods, MPP oil pan and pick up and Melling oil pump. Carburetion is provided by a dual plane Edelbrock intake manifold and 750cfm carburetor. Mounted behind the transmission is a Gear Vendor Under/Overdrive unit which converts the 3 speed transmission to 6 speeds. The 6th gear converts the 3.55 rear gear to a 2.76 overdrive. The rear end gear is an 8 and 3/4 Auburn limited slip (positraction) 3.55 gear.
The car is equipped with four-wheel disc power brakes and rack and pinion power steering. The exterior is completely restored original except for the cowl vent, which was replaced with a Vintage air conditioning and heater. The car was a complete frame-off restoration. The frame was black powder-coated and a Mustang 11 front end was mounted on a Fat Man sub frame and the body reinstalled with an infrared paint job. The interior remained with the original bench style seats and wood grain dash and window dressing. All the instruments were converted to modern 12 volt. The original Model 802 radio was converted to FM/AM with iPod and a remote 12-disc CD package.
What all that means to the non-gearhead is that this is a stunningly beautiful and very speedy automobile with a top end that would appeal to a former Air Force jet pilot, which is exactly what Grady is. A Vietnam veteran who once flew in the same squadron as the legendary Chuck Yeager, Grady has a fine appreciation for acceleration and well-tuned machines.
Grady knows every nook and cranny in his hot rod…even down to the original owner. “I know that Mr. J. Brewer owned the car in 1977. I assume he was the original owner as I have the original owner instruction manual. I located the car on a special website for D-24 cars and traveled to Tulsa Oklahoma to pick it up from storage. The car had 20,000 miles when I bought it.”
He started his romance with automobiles early. “I began working in a garage after school and summer vacation at age 14,” he says. “I saved money for two years to buy my first car at age 16 when I could get a driver license.” That first ride was a 1947 Chevy coupe that he regularly took drag racing at the Hendersonville-Asheville Airport and the Amboy Road strip in Asheville.
He doesn’t use his current hot rod for racing, but it doesn’t seem like it would take much for him to accept a challenge. The machine has won, literally, scores of trophies at car shows. The Hawkins garage is lined with them on three walls. Grady can point to any of them and tell you what happened at the competition in question. He has so many trophies, in fact, that he has begun recycling them as trophies for a local school math competition.
“Usually we make 25-30 shows and several cruise-ins and parades a year,” he says. “Recently we showed in the Concourse d’Elegance at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and won the Palmetto Award.”
Going to shows with friends and family is the best part of owning the car, he says. The worst part, he’ll tell you, is all the work involved in keeping it in winning condition.
“I really like to drive to the shows,” he says, “and wait to see if somebody tries to pass me.”