Tulsa Roadsters
Persimmon Hollow
Tulsa Roadsters
Since 1965
It all started with a head full dreams. You know, the "visions of sugar plum" trick. Harold Barnes, stuck deep in Unc' Sams Navy, cruised the San Diego area in search of street rods, car shows, or anything even closely related. He was impressed with what he found. Mainly the L.A. Roadsters, a club established five years prior, in 1958. Harold decided to try a scaled down version of the L.A.Club after his discharge in 1964. So, in late '64', Harold started looking for members. It was a futile effort. It seems that something called a "muscle car" had been born and street rodding brethren were almost as rare as policemen that liked hot rods. But slowly, they showed up.
The first was Bob Brown, driving a light blue '27' T powered by Olds. Bob brought in the third member, a friend of his, Ray Coons who was building a '27' shortened pickup. A gent by the name of Larry Cline also came in with a pretty rough Chevy powered T. There still didn't seem to be enough interest for a club, but the foursome ran around together until the summer of '65' when Harold decided to try again with his dream club idea.
The first actual meeting was held at Mohawk Park in July, 1965. Due to the membership problem, everyone was an officer. Harold was elected President because his car had been on the street the longest. Ray Coons was the Vice President. Paul Haddock, who recently finished his 1915 full fendered Olds powered roadster, was elected Secretary. Jim O'Brian was the Treasurer. The design for the roadster plaques and shirts is credited to a Navy buddy of Harold's.
Tulsa Roadster History
(The Short Version)
We still use the same design to this day.
