9th Annual Romans Hot Rod Run, Australia.

The Romans Hot Rod Association Inc was founded in 1960 by Jeff Dellow and John Chignall. In 2010 they celebrated their 50th anniversary with many special hot rod runs to remember that heritage.
The Romans Breakfast - begun in the 80’s, has been incorporated into the Romans Kiama weekend rod run where breakfast is still provided for weekend entrants. This event is held in the second weekend in September and concludes with a show and shine at Black Beach Park, Kiama.
The history of the Romans club members supporting hot rod shows continues, with a club display at the Hot Rod and Custom Expo at Rosehill Gardens in 2014 and 2015.
The Romans are very proud to be the first club in NSW!
In the spring of 1959 two young men had met at St George Tech at Kogarah, while completing their Electrical Trades Certificates. One was Jeff Dellow, who had started to build a ’35 Ford coupe at his home at Bardwell Park, while the other, John Chignall was building a channelled ’32 Ford roadster at his garage in Ramsgate.
During the many late nights and weekends spent on their hot rods, Jeff and John discussed the idea of forming a Hot Rod Club. They eventually agreed on the name for the club which would become the Romans Hot Rod Association. Around that time, they were joined by other local hot rodders they had met who shared the same passion. They both asked a fellow rodder by the name of Ray Morris to design and draw the emblem for the club.
heir choice of the Romans, name came from the fact that Roman society was very strong, influential and innovative. The choice of the helmet in the club logo is obvious and the crossed flags symbolises winning in automotive circles. They then proceeded to design and produce Club courtesy cards which remained unchanged for many years. These read as follows: "A Hot Rod organisation formed to promote interest in various types of hot rod activities, and to create an attitude of good sportsmanship, good citizenship and safety among its members. The Foundation members of the Romans were: John Chignall, Jeff Dellow, Ray Morris, Lynn Arrowsmith, Dennis Jones, Eric Lightfoot, Terry Riley, Alan Abrahams, Alan Keed, Richard Brett, Robert Porter and Tony Barrington.
During the early years, Jeff Dellow had personal contacts with the L. A. Roadsters, and Bay Area Roadsters of San Francisco, which enabled swapping of colour slides and photos over many years, helping the Romans keep in touch with American trends and know-how. In later years, many prominent rodders from these clubs visited Sydney.
In the early 1960’s hot rod shows were becoming popular. The Romans became involved and by 1965 were the organisers running the Annual Hot Rod Show. As the first Hot Rod club in NSW, Romans had many firsts; Courtesy cards Roman club jackets Roman car plaques Regular newsletter - the Romans Scroll (still going strong) First Sydney hot rodders to travel to Victoria to meet up with other clubs Participants in Sydney’s first organised Hot Rod Show at Cremorne 31st March 1963 First organised club run to Minnamurra Falls, 1963 Participated in Sydney’s first hot rod drag meet at Castlereagh 28 March 1965 Organised first swap meet at Roselands November 1967 Participated in and helped organise first International Hot Rod show Roselands 1969 Romans were featured in first edition of Australian Hot Rod magazine May 1964 Foundation members of Australian Street Rod Federation Hot rodding in Australia in the 1960’s was raw with no speciality shops for brackets or parts, anything needed had to be made by the owner. There were lots of very talented young men and women turning their hands to hot rod construction, and although the American magazines provided a source of inspiration, builders still had that “good old Aussie ingenuity” and that was evident in the impressive hot rods appearing almost monthly. These days, the Aussie hot rod scene is easier to become part of, yet far more costly!