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haven't you always
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Dipstick Lesbians and Dykes with Hot Rods rev inter
their second year, seek new members with clean cars
k
by
K aty D avidson
j
Unique garden gifts
and one-of-a-kind art
HOGAN & SANDERSON
CISTUS
D ESIG N N U RSERY
2707 SE Belmont St Portland, OR 97214 Fax 503 234 6609
What a set of headlights! Dinah, La Bamba and Muffy line up
ortlanders might typically reserve sunny
Sunday mornings for sleeping in, mowing
the lawn, then subjecting themselves to a
day’s worth of passive entertainment.
The Dipstick Lesbians and Dykes with Hot
Rods tend to toss such ideas toward the junkyard.
One morning, bright and early, I pulled up
to their North Portland meeting place in my
somewhat clunky, mostly filthy 1981 Volvo
sedan (mustard yellow). I spied a group of three
women hunkered on the front steps of a house,
donning sunglasses, smoking and seeming like
they shared a great secret.
“I think I broke your club’s rule by not
washing my car,” I said apologetically.
They chuckled and said it was no big deal.
The self-described core members of this
year-old social group are Rachel Koteles, Devi-
oune Mayin-Daviau and Margaret O ’Hartigan.
They all happen to live within a block of one
another, and they all happen to own cars that
were built before disco exploded.
Koteles’ baby is "La Bamba,” a 1959
Chevrolet Impala with a 1970 Corvette
engine, “as close to a race engine as you can
legally drive,” she crowed. The phrase chicas
malas (“bad girls” in Spanish) is painted on the
exterior behind the rear tire, and across the
rear shelf Koteles has stretched a Mexican flag.
Mayin-Daviau told me the Impala is a “cleav
age car,” a description denoting the rounded
trunk that protrudes like bulging breasts.
“She saved her from a bam," Mayin-Daviau
added with a tinge of envy.
Sure enough, Koteles admitted she snagged
the Impala from the safe arms of a stable. It
had broken down many years before, and the
original owner, instead of repairing the damage,
covered it up and let it sit. Then Koteles
bought it for $200 and has spent 18 years trans
forming it into the gentle beast it is today.
"Some people call it the Martian Ground
Chariot,” she said.
She added that she was originally turned on
to hot rods when her cousin, a Hell’s Angel,
used her family’s garage to work on his car
when she was 10 years old. “I’ve always been
around the hot rod community,” she said.
On the exterior, Mayin-
Daviau’s and O ’Hartigan’s
cars look as ax il as a drink
of water, but their engines
rev like any other
respectable hot rcxl.
Mayin-Daviau owns
and maintains "Dinah,” a
peacock-blue, four-door
1962 Chevrolet Bel Air.
Her latest car toy is a tissue
dispenser that swings out
from underneath the dash.
O ’Hartigan drives
“Muffy," a 1967 white Ford
Galaxy. She told me she
was originally drawn to the
Galaxy when she was
P
younger because her uncle owned one— “It’s
my all-time favorite car. I just react to the
lines,” she said.
O ’Hartigan gets a little grief for being the
only Ford owner of the group. Koteles and
Mayin-Daviau explained to me that letters in
Ford truly stand for “fix or repair daily,” and
“found on road dead”— all in good fun, of
course.
After admiring the inner workings of La
Bamba, Koteles fired up her space-shuttlelike
engine and the four of us pulled away for an
early morning cruise. I rode shotgun in La
Bamba, while Dinah and Muffy followed close
ly behind us.
The drive through the neighborhood was
smooth, and our showy caravan turned a few
heads. When we arrived at the freeway on-
ramp, however, we burst onto 1-5 like hood
lums running from the law. The Batmobile had
nothing on us.
<
Windows down, we bolted out to Delta
Park, then parked our cars so all the noses
pointed outward. Then we got out, basked in
the sun and blasted some golden oldies. Mayin-
Daviau said she likes to spin Diana Ross and
the Shirelles when she drives.
The women told me that people are too
intimidated to join the group because they
don’t think their cars are good enough. Koteles
said you can have any car and still join, as long
as you keep your car clean. Or, if you just feel
like cruising, you can always ride shotgun in
someone else’s hot rcxl.
“We’re always looking for seat covers,"
Mayin-Daviau added.
Summer is the cruising season, according to
the Dipstick Lesbians and Dykes with Hot
Rcxls. The women will caravan to the Sandy
Cruise-In on July 8, and hold a picnic at Sell-
wood Park on July 30.
■ For more information about the DIPSTICK LES
BIANS a n d D yk es w it h H o t R o d s , call
(503) 735-1184.
Devioune Mayin-Daviau points out
the inner workings of La Bamba
Email hol!yhO cksge@ earthlink net
22711 M V G l l l l HAN ROAD SAUVIF ISLAND
I HI DAY TO S U N D A Y 10 5 SOT.62l.22IT
Phone 503 872.86/2
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2236 NE Broadway
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249-5659
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107 SE Grand • 4 Blocks South of the Convention Center • 503-232-2000
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