Blackie Gejeian Collection
Written by Keith Fudge

Recently, Dennis Gage had the privilege of visiting with a true hot rod legend:  Blackie Gejeian.  Back in the day, Blackie was considered a master of his craft in building street rods, particularly roadsters.  Today, his work continues to influence many of the younger street rod builders across the country.  When Dennis arrived, Blackie told him that he was excited that street rodding was making a comeback.  “History is coming back” he told Dennis.  “A new generation of rat rodders is bringing back history.”  In fact, as Dennis looked around, it was as if he were standing in the middle of a hot rod museum!  Blackie Gejeian has one of the greatest collections of hot rod roadsters in the world including five cars that have won the prestigious title of World’s Most Beautiful Roadster.  Dennis literally couldn’t believe his eyes as he was surrounded by these rare and historic vehicles.  Blackie then gave us a tour of the cars, telling interesting facts and stories about each of them.

The first car that Blackie described is the “Mod Rod” roadster that carries some TV history with it.  Built by Art Himsi and Mike Haas, this wild car was built for the 1960’s television show, The Mod Squad.  Made from a fiberglass mold (one of the first Blackie told us), this beauty has a wild paint job!  With blue paint adorning one side of the car, and red covering the other side, this rad rod is out of this world and has murals depicting flying saucers to prove it!  Blackie said that this car has been on the road being displayed at shows for the last five years and has logged more miles being hauled than any other show car!  Next, Blackie showed Dennis his famous “Ala Cart.”  This stunning car was made at George Barris’s shop and painted by Junior Conway in 1959.  Next, we saw the car that he says “means everything to him.”  The Shiskabob Special won the title of World’s Most Beautiful Roadster in 1955 and was the first hot rod car to be judged at Pebble Beach.  Featuring a Ford Flathead V-8, this car is as fast as it looks!  Blackie also told a great story about this car being judged at Pebble Beach.  The judges had him turn on his headlights.  When he did, one judge noted that the tail lights weren’t working.  Blackie said that he reached in and flipped another switch so the tail lights would come on.  When they asked him why there were two switches, he told them that back when they would race, they would turn off their tail lights so that the police couldn’t get their license plate numbers!  Another car of Blackie’s that has captured the title of World’s Most Beautiful Roadster is the “T for Two” built by Dick Williams.  This car was built in 1952 and was the winner of the award in 1953.  Powered by a legendary Ford Flathead, this roadster features a tubular frame which Blackie says makes it one of the first, if not the first, tubular frame roadsters ever produced.  The hits just kept on coming as Blackie showed us another title and show winner in the form of Dan Wood’s 1927 T Roadster which was the first of its kind featuring an independent Jaguar rear end.  Dan once told Blackie that he had built 150 roadsters, and this car was the finest that he ever built.  Featuring plenty of 24K gold plating, this car surely is a head-turner!  Next, it was back to another car built by the legendary George Barris.  Blackie told Dennis that to his knowledge, George Barris only built four roadsters.  He actually owns two of them!  This beauty is powered by a big block Chevy and is simply an incredible vehicle.  The last car that Blackie showed to Dennis was the 1977 winner of the World’s Most Beautiful Roadster award.  “The Candy Man” was the highest point car in the United States for that year.  It features an incredible paint job and phenomenal engraving work on the engine—even the bolt heads are engraved.  Blackie said that the car is still original, just as it was in 1977.

Well, you know Dennis, all this looking and no driving got the best of him.  So soon he was off in one of Blackie’s prized roadsters!  Blackie’s son also took a cruise with Dennis, driving the famous Shiskabob Special.  To witness these legendary cars on the road turned back the hands of time to a simpler era when hot rods, drive-ins, and drag strips were all the rage!

What a great trip through hot rod history with one of the legends who helped create it, Blackie Gejeian!  Dennis and the crew had a fantastic time in Fresno, and hopefully we’ll see Blackie again somewhere on the road.  Special thanks go out to Blackie Gejeian for sharing his collection of great cars with us.  That’s it from beautiful Fresno, California.  So until our next visit, remember: “Honor the timeless classics.  Happy Motoring!”