The Race of Gentlemen (TROG) has only been around since 2012, and it’s been held in various locations on both coasts, but it’s already achieved the status of an enduring icon. The formula is deceptively simple: racers are limited to pre-1935-model-year hot rods and pre-1947 motorcycles (tank shifters preferred). Engines are limited — four-bangers, flat-sixes and flathead V-8s are preferred — but somebody brought an Auburn V-12 this year. Old carburetors, steel wheels and other American-made parts only. There’s minimal safety stuff; roll bars are optional and old-fashioned open-face helmets are OK, and there are no formal classes. It’s really “run what ya brung.”
Building TROG
The loosely organized event is the brainchild of Meldon Van Riper Stultz III, himself an icon from Asbury Park, N.J., by way of Keyport. His Instagram handle is “YEOLEGHOST,” and he’s worth a follow. Mel’s piercing gunfighter eyes, heavy tatts, scraggly saltand-pepper beard and standard outfit of a battered and multi-pinned leather motorcycle jacket and rolled-cuff jeans all make him look like a cross between a pirate and a biker — and he’s a bit of both. Mel started as a member of the Rumblers, who are famous for their “Kustom Kills and Speed Thrills” New York City meet-ups, then resurrected the Oilers Car Club when the last dying member passed him the torch. Surveying the scene, not missing a beat, Mel usually wears a wry smile as if to say, “I’m having fun, I’m having you on and there’s nothing
