Legends in Hot Rodding – Blackie Gejeian’s AMBR Winning T-Roadster, the Shish Kabob Special
Mike “Blackie” Gejeian lived a life worthy of several people. He experienced the Great Depression, survived WWII, and became a ground-breaking hot rod builder, dry lakes standout, show promoter, NASCAR driver, and yes, even a farmer.
Gejeian hailed from just outside Fresno in central California’s San Joaquin Valley. The extended Gejeian family, all of Armenian descent, counted 17 – and they lived together on the family ranch. He served in the US Navy during the final days of World War Two. Upon his discharge, it was back to Fresno, where he had a modest goal: build the fastest hot rod in the California central valley.
His began with a stripped-down ’26 T roadster – no running boards, no fenders, no upholstery. More importantly, Gejeian painted the T black and dubbed the ride “Blackie.” The nickname stuck.
That roadster experienced an illustrious and incident-filled history, one that reached its apogee in 1955, when it earned the coveted America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award. Not bad for guy who once called himself King of the Rat Rodders.
Blackie started out with a ’34 Ford frame in which he dropped a hopped-up Flathead V8. He then rescued a 1926 Ford T body from a wrecking yard and turned it into what at the time was called a “California modified” roadster. That is, only the bucket, no pickup bed, no turtle deck. The fuel tank hung off the T-bucket’s backside. Knowing that a lightweight car was a fast car, Blackie whittled away at the roadster’s weight. He even eschewed any upholstery, relying on a navy blanket.
The ’26 roadster indeed earned the reputation as the fastest in the San Joaquin Valley. (Gene Winfield also laid claim to that title, but the two never met mano a mano to settle the matter.) In 1948, Blackie decided to take on El Mirage. He never got a chance to make a run. While in the staging queue for his first pass, a fellow racer lost control en route back to the pits and slammed into Blackie. The car was cut in half. And Blackie was lucky he wasn’t as well. Still, Blackie’s back was injured. Atop a makeshift plywood stretcher, he was hustled to the hospital.
The crash made Blackie re-think the dangers of racing, as did the deaths of two friends earlier at El Mirage. So, he decided to transform the roadster from speed demon to stylish hot rod.
He repaired the scissored ’34 Ford frame, including boxing the rails for additional strength. The once battered T-bucket body was spiffed up, with dents removed and the sheet metal smoothed. He then welded the body to the frame, providing a cleaner look.
His roadster’s metamorphosis got a boost when a buddy who just happened to own a chrome plating shop offered his services. What hot rodder could say “no?” Not Blackie, who proceeded to plate the entire undercarriage – front and rear suspension components, rearend, headers, nerf bars, etc. According to hot rod historians, Blackie created the first fully chromed hot rod undercarriage.
The refinements went beyond the roadster’s underside. The Flathead engine was cleaned up, detailed, and fitted with a four-carb intake in addition to other speed parts and dress-up pieces. White rolled and pleated upholstery was also a welcome upgrade from the old blanket seat cover.
The little roadster caused quite a sensation on the burgeoning California show circuit, scoring trophies throughout the state. The car, with its glistening chrome chassis, entertained fans at the 1953 Oakland Roadster Show, thanks to Blackie’s distinctive method of showing off the car, a method unique enough to win a truth for originality.
Here’s how it worked. With all the fluids drained out, Blackie and a few buddies would tip the car up and rest it on its side, exposing the chrome undercarriage. He would do so every other hour. This periodic rotation caused one wag to christen the car the Shish Kabob Special, you know, like turning a skewer of meat and veggies on the grill.
Two years later, Blackie cooked up a few more touches – a chrome transmission visible from inside the car, plus a full array of Stewart-Warner gauges peeking out from a ’32 Ford dash. In addition, to show off the chassis while it was right-side up, he slid a mirror – purloined out of a women’s restroom – under the car. According to legend that was the first time a looking glass had been repurposed to show off the underside of a hot rod.
And the presentation worked. These modifications convinced the 1955 Oakland Roadster Show judges that this time the Shish Kabob Special was indeed America’s Most Beautiful Roadster.
Later, Blackie’s accomplishments would include helping build the chassis on the famed George Barris Ala Kart roadster, another AMBR winner; and being an ace dirt-track chauffeur, he would capture five NASCAR championships. In 1958, Blackie founded the Fresno Autorama, a car show he promoted and organized for more than five decades.
America’s Greatest Generation created a great generation of hot rodders. Blackie and his black Shish Kebob roadster, both of which are now members of the Gazette’s Legends of Hot Rodding, are prime examples. Few would argue.
