In this, our fourth Hot Rod Legends Series episode, we take an in-depth look at the racing years of Alex Xydias and the So-Cal Speed Shop Team. From the opening of his Speed Shop to his first dry lakes experiences to entering the big time at Daytona with his So-Cal streamliner and his record-setting runs on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Alex walks you through his personal journey from hardship to great achievement.
Within weeks of his return from the second World War, Alex Xydias was opening his now-legendary So-Cal Speed Shop. Although it earned a great reputation almost immediately, Alex knew that merely selling speed equipment and doing the odd job here and there for area hot rodders was not going to be enough to fully establish the So-Cal brand. He had to go racing. So, with the help of his friend and early bellytank developer, Bill Burke, Alex dove headfirst into the use of streamlining as a competitive edge on the dry lakes of southern California.
Using a cut-down Model T frame as a chassis, Alex’s first bellytank would show itself to be highly competitive while looking good doing it. This would become something of a trait for Alex and “So-Cal” and would help to earn him the attention he was after. Soon Alex’s drive to step So-Cal to the next level would have him working with his friends Dean Bachelor and Neal Emory to come up with a fully enclosed streamliner that could take on the nation’s best at both Daytona and the Bonneville Salt Flats. Now Alex would be playing on the same field as the great international land speed racers that he’d read about since his childhood. Although this would prove to be a trying task, Alex’s dream of placing his So-Cal brand at the very top would eventually be realized as he broke old records and established new ones in both his So-Cal Streamliner and Bellytank.
