This is high-speed country rockabilly with a fair bit of horn honking thrown in. I stopped listening to it after a bit. I might be biased against this song, as I grew up listening to Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen's version of it from 1972, which I prefer.
Charlie Ryan (1915-2008) was from Polson, Montana, and moved to Spokane, Washington, in 1943. He wrote "Hot Rod Lincoln" as an answer record to Arkie Shibley's "Hot Rod Race". He recorded his first version of the song in 1955; the two versions are similar, but the older one is a little slower, a bit more lo-fi, and features a lot more horn honking.
Ryan's 1960 re-recording of "Hot Rod Lincoln" reached #33 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was released at the same time as Johnny Bond's version, which reached #26; the two appeared on the CHUM chart together. (Bond had another charted hit, so he doesn't qualify as a one-hit wonder.)
Ryan went on to release albums in 1961 and 1963 titled Hot Rod Lincoln and Hot Rod Lincoln Drags Again! but didn't experience any further success.
Created October 28, 2026.