DILLEHAY STREET History

The story of Dillehay Street (at least our chapter) starts with Kirby’s Dad, Everett. In 1956 Everett completed his tour of duty for the U.S. Navy. He was stationed in San Diego with his wife Evona, pregnant with their first child (Kirby) and anxious to return to Kentucky. Close your eyes and you can see it: A low, black ‘49 Mercury packed so full the rear windows served no purpose. Glass packs bellowing a tune down Route 66 and behind the wheel is a young, dark haired, handsome man with a moustache. One arm hanging out the window and the other around a beautiful lady with long, red hair. Both are smiling and ready to face their new life, full of hope and excitement.

By 1962 Everett had purchased a piece of property on Dillehay Street, in the middle of Danville, KY. The street had a reputation as a place you didn’t want to be after dark. Everett got to know the rough boys and called them “Dillehay Rats”. After putting in his 8 hours at the Buick Garage, he would head straight for his shop on Dillehay; banging fenders and spraying cars after hours, until his business grew enough to open full-time. As Kirby got older, hanging out at the shop became the routine. Playing in the junk cars, collecting gear shift knobs and riding his Stingray. Watching his Dad build rods from the late 60’s through the 80’s rubbed off on him and somewhere along the way he learned to pinstripe and paint signs.

In 1976 Everett built on to the back of the shop after acquiring more land. Kirby then had a place to start painting and working on his own cars. Now, fast forward past many stories and top-of-the-line, national-award-winning street rods to the year 2002.

Richard Sanders purchases property and starts his own chapter of Dillehay Hot Rod history. (By this time, Dillehay Street has seen plenty of changes. Empty lots replaced houses and businessmen replaced the rough boys. But, most of the older buildings are still being used, so you can still get a sense of the way things used to be.) Predictably, Richard and Kirby become thick as thieves. Hours…days…weeks are spent discussing what they would like to build next. They wanted something unique and “road-trip-worthy”; a ride that fellow rodders would get a real kick out of. Next thing you know, Richard and Kirby both purchase Ford trucks. Richard’s a 1934 and Kirby’s a 1935. The more time they spent hunting down parts together, the more they brained stormed. A goal was set for a 1200 mile round-trip “shakedown” cruise in the spring of 2003 to Myrtle Beach. Two trucks with no paint, wide white wall tires, and loud pipes made the trip with no major problems.

That summer was interesting to say the least. After 3000+ miles, Kirby sold his flathead powered ’35 truck at the NSRA Nationals in Louisville to Billy F. Gibbons (of ZZ Top fame). Richard sold his ’34, 283, 3 deuce truck in Tennessee at the “Shades of the Past” Rod Run that September. Turning the money over and doing their part to keep rodding alive and well, the duo built several more “ol’skool” rides over the next 4 years. Every rod had a faded name painted on the doors in old company vehicle fashion by Kirby, stuff like Dillehay Garage, Speed Shop, Surf Shop, Drags, Pinstriper, etc. Those rods were sold coast to coast and the name ‘Dillehay’ started to be recognized and associated with good guys and kool looking, drivable hot rods.

Other rods were also built on the Street that summer and the following 2 years. Jevan Morse owns a window tinting business there and has turned out two sweet looking, fast 1934 trucks. Mark Brown owns a Body Shop and has a 1935 Dodge rat truck and an original restored 1937 two-door Desoto coupe. Loran Arth works for Mark and built a 1931 rat truck that has left melted rubber from one end of Dillehay to the other on several occasions. Jerry and Shirley Rogers built his and hers hot rods: a 1936 Dodge rat truck for him and a 1936 Plymouth four-door for her.

With the great response they were getting and “the Rat” logo going over so well, they thought why not market this stuff to support their habit? “Let’s throw a big party, call it a Hullabaloo and promote it through a website.” Dillehaystreet.com was born and the ideas keep coming.

Come see their newest rides (how long has it been since you’ve seen a wagon train?), hear the stories, and meet all the “Dillehay Rats” this year at the Hullabaloo on the street where it all began.