With the recent airing again of American Hot Rod on Velocity I decided to browse through some of the thousands of photographs I have taken over the years to reminisce. I came across some photos I took at the unveiling of the Ghetto Princess and I thought I’d share the photos and the story.

It was decided that we’d unveil the Ghetto Princess at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside California. Anyone who has ever had a loved one that was in the Marines and spent anytime on the west coast has heard of Camp Pendleton. It’s one of the major military bases on the west coast. The plan was to unveil the car for a group of Marines that were returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. I was excited at the chance to go along with the crew and share such a special event with my family. We rented a big bus to accommodate everyone and loaded up early in the am to make the hour trip south. The weather was beautiful and we arrived at Camp Pendleton some time around 10am. They had an area designated where we were going to unveil the car. It was complete with bleachers for the troops and the whole area surrounding where the car and bike would be displayed was flanked by really big military vehicles with really big guns mounted. While we were waiting to bring the car and bike out they allowed us to climb all over all the vehicles and man the machine guns. Everyone was very friendly and I was really excited to talk to the Marines and show my appreciation for the job they do for our country. While I was manning one of the .50 caliber machine guns I noticed some commotion going on over by the troops sitting on the bleachers. I guess Lee had challenged one of the Marines to a push up contest. Lee obviously lost and decided to lose in typical Lee fashion with a little comedy routine.

My dad and Duane ended up driving the car and bike into the area in front of all the Military vehicles. My dad got up in front of everyone and told them the story behind the car and introduced the owner, Rocky Walker, and the rest of the crew. Then all the troops got to get an up close look at both the car and bike. It was a great site to see these guys that have just come back from the war get to see the car and get a sense of true Americana and Hot Rodding. While in the scheme of life Hot Rodding is a bonus it’s because of guys like those Marines and everyone else in the armed forces that protect our freedoms so we can enjoy such things. Great times and great memories.