It describes a drive north on US Route 99 (predecessor to Interstate 5) from San Pedro, Los Angeles, and over the Grapevine which soon becomes a hot rod race that ends with serious consequences.
Song details
The car race is described between two hot rod cars, the narrator's Ford Model A (with a Lincoln motor) and a Cadillac. The song says the Ford's "got 12 cylinders",[The Commander Cody version states “8 cylinders” not 12] overdrive, a four-barrel carburetor, 4.11:1 gear ratio, and safety tubes. The narrator ends up being arrested by the police for his high-speed driving and describes the exasperation of his father: "He said, 'Son, you're gonna drive me to drinkin' / If you don't quit drivin' that hot rod Lincoln!'"
Ryan's original rockabilly version of the song was released in 1955 through Souvenir Records under the artist name Charley Ryan and the Livingston Bros.[1] A second version was released in 1959 through Four Star Records, credited to Charlie Ryan and the Timberline Riders.[2] Ryan based the description of the eponymous car on his own hot rod, built from a 1948 12-cylinder Lincoln chassis shortened two feet, with a 1930 Ford Model A body fitted to it.[citation needed] Ryan raced his hot rod against a Cadillac sedan driven by a friend in Lewiston, Idaho, driving up the Spiral Highway (former U.S. Route 95 in Idaho) to the top of Lewiston Hill.[3] Some say he incorporated elements from this race in his lyrics to "Hot Rod Lincoln", but changed the setting to Grapevine Hill (a long, nearly straight grade up Grapevine Canyon to Tejon Pass, near the town of Gorman, California) to fit it within the narrative of "Hot Rod Race".[citation needed]
Johnny Bond version
Another version of "Hot Rod Lincoln" was recorded by country musician Johnny Bond and released in 1960 through Republic Records, with Bond's lyrics changing the hot rod's engine from a V12 to a V8[citation needed], among other changes. It reached number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1960.[4] Bond released a sequel in the same year called "X-15", set in 1997, about an air race in an X-15 plane.[5]
Commander Cody version
A 1971 version, by country rock band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen on their album Lost in the Ozone, became the most successful version of "Hot Rod Lincoln", reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 28 Adult Contemporary, No. 7 in Canada,[6] and was ranked No. 69 on the U.S. Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972.[7] The song peaked at number 45 in Australia.[8] This version maintained most of the lyrical changes from Johnny Bond's version but changed them further while maintaining the original story.
In addition to Johnny Bond and Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, many other artists have recorded "Hot Rod Lincoln" in the decades since its original release, including:
