North Country Hillbillys Newsletter
July 2025
By Hillbilly Patty
Be sure to visit our Hillbilly merchandise table and check out the latest apparel, hats, and miscellaneous items (magnets, decals, stickers, can koozies, mugs, and more). Quality items at reasonable prices. Come check it out. Proceeds go to help us put on a FREE car show and support our local community.
Thank you for your support!
From Mr. Hillbilly Ralph
Redline Hot Wheels first came out in 1968 by car designer Harry Bentley Bradley who designed what we know as the Sweet 16. The Sweet 16 are Beatnik Bandit, Custom Barracuda, Custom Camaro, Custom Corvette, Custom Cougar, Custom Eldorado, Custom Firebird, Custom Fleetside, Custom Mustang, Custom T-Bird, Custom Volkswagen, Deora, Ford J-car, Hot Heap, Python, and Silhouette.
Now when they first came out, Mattel was trying to come up with a car that could outdo Matchbox. At the time the Hot Wheels rolled like crap so Harry came up with the idea of using violin string which made them roll fast. The first car made was the Custom Corvette. Harry wanted the ‘Vette to be as realistic as possible and the wheels were like real mag wheels and they pitched the car to Harold (Matt) Matson, one of the founders of Mattel toys. When Harold saw the car tire he said, "Wow those are some hot wheels," and that’s how Hot Wheels got its name.
There are 3 different Redline wheels - the axle wheel, the bearing wheel, and cap wheels. Some original car colors were gold, aqua, hot pink, rose, purple, lime, olive, etc. Redlines were also made in the U.S. and Hong Kong, which they may look the same, but are different in ways. The “Holy Grail” of Redlines is the 1969 Pink Rear-Loading Beach Bomb, only a few were made. They had to change up the design of it because the car was top heavy. So, they came up with the side loading Beach Bomb. Some of the Redline Hot Wheels were designed after real cars, like the Deora, Hot Heap, Fleetside, etc. After about a year, Harry went back to designing real cars, then Larry Wood took over for the next 50 years.
The value of some Hot Wheels can be outstanding due to color of body, the interior, the glass, etc. Redline Hot Wheels ran from 1968 to 1977. In the mid-70’s they came out with Redlines known as Flying Colors. In ’77 Redlines came to an end, known as the end of an era, and Mattel changed over to blackwalls. Redlines today are highly collected, have grown in value, and can be worth thousands. Hot Wheels are still going strong today.
Kids of all ages are welcome to visit and play in the kids area (with adult supervision) at the annual NCH Car & Truck Show on Sept. 6. NCH staff will hand out Hot Wheels cars from 9 - 11 a.m. (one per child). There will also be temporary tattoos and coloring sheets! "Play at Your Own Risk" will be 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. The Hot Wheels race track is a popular favorite and will be set up all day for kids to enjoy. Let’s instill the love of cars in our little kiddos!
The Hillbillys recently took part in the Chisago County Fair parade in Rush City on July 12. Young and old kids along the parade route were able to enjoy some sweet treats courtesy of club members. Special thanks to Farmboy (Randy) Larson for organizing this fun afternoon!
From Hillbilly Patty
1 Cup Flour
¾ Cup Oatmeal
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon (or less)
1 Cup Brown Sugar
½ Cup Butter
4 Cups Diced Rhubarb
½ Cup Sugar
2 Tablespoons Corn Starch
1 Cup of Water
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
Directions:
Mix flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter until crumbly. Put half of mixture in the
bottom of 9 x 13 pan sprayed with PAM (cooking spray). Set remaining crunch aside. Combine
rhubarb, sugar, corn starch, water, and vanilla. Now cover crunch with rhubarb and other combined ingredients and pour in pan. Then add remaining crunch on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
From Hillbilly Rox
1 Teaspoon Paprika
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Oregano
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Corn Starch
2 Teaspoons Onion Powder
2-3 Teaspoons Chili Powder
Combine all ingredients, add this to 1 lb. browned hamburger and about 1 cup water in fry pan. Let simmer until taco meat is the thickness you desire. Serve with your favorite shells and toppings.
Taken from Haggerty
Contrary to general perception, most classic cars aren’t fragile flowers. In fact, many are anvil-tough, particularly American cars of the 1950s and 1960s, built with real Pennsylvania steel and very little plastic. But even these rolling bank vaults can be seriously screwed up by these five things:
- Non-use: This one is really is counterintuitive. When classic cars come to mind for many, the image of the trailer queen or museum piece looms large; in fact, most people think that these are the best cared-for cars. In actuality, they often turn out to be the most problematic cars when they are finally driven. Non-use is actually abuse — seals dry out and start to leak; gas gets stale and turns to varnish; batteries corrode when not removed; and tires get flat spots. Cars that are used and maintained on a regular basis, on the other hand, are often the happiest and most reliable old cars.
- Improper storage and rodents: This goes along with the above. Failure to drain fuel or use a stabilizer, not using jack stands, and making certain that anti-freeze is up to snuff all contribute to storage-related deterioration. But perhaps the most destructive force are rats and mice. The same rodents that wiped out half the population of Europe by carrying Bubonic plague, can really mess with your classic car. They chew upholstery and insulation to make nests (in which they pee, poop and reproduce, not necessarily in that order), and worst of all, they chew on wiring harnesses where it isn’t apparent until something smokes or catches fire from behind the dash. Check out these tips on how to keep mice away from your classic car.
- Road Salt: Most everyone who has taken chemistry knows that the reaction between Sodium Chloride and steel yields iron oxide, more commonly known as rust. But few people truly realize how quickly the damage is done. Just one drive on a wet salty road will give your classic an ugly coating of surface rust on anything on the underside that is not well protected, like suspension parts, exhaust and even the frame. A season or two that lets salty mud penetrate the nooks and crannies of your car will almost certainly cause visible rust to erupt. And don’t think you’re immune because your car is fiberglass, there’s plenty of steel to rot away under the pretty plastic panels of your 1972 Corvette. Conversely, getting caught in the rain every now and then isn’t death for your classic, as long as nothing like carpets or trunk mats get soaked and stay wet.
- Old Tires: Most vintage cars don’t see 15,000 miles of use each year and, often, totally unsafe tires can look deceptively sound. In addition to tread wear, age, dry rot, flat spots and UV exposure can render tires unsafe. About six or seven years should be tops in terms of tire life, regardless of how the tires may look. A blowout or a thrown tread can not only threaten your life, it can severely damage your car.
- Bad driving habits: The list of things that you can do to shorten the life of the major systems of a classic — from engine, transmission to differential — is long and beyond the scope of this article. But perhaps the most destructive thing you can do to a vintage car is to not let it warm up properly. Some start up a cold car and immediately zing it to the redline with the first shift. It’s painful to watch and even more painful to realize the harm that’s being done to the engine. Always drive gently until the car has reached normal operating temperature (usually around the mid-point of the temperature gauge).
Have safe travels!
