Nation Of Go

Growing up the son of a florist, hot rod builder Ken Fenical earned his nickname early. Back then kids started calling him Posies and the name stuck. “It’s P-O-S-I-E-S,” he explained, “no possession. Or possession after the s.” He wants to be clear that it’s not Posie or Posie’s, it’s Posies of Posies Rods & Customs. And that’s exactly how it reads in the guidebook for the 2009 Posies Driven Dirty Tour.

For the fourth year, Posies and a group of fellow hot rodders are driving across country to Scottsdale, AZ, to display their cars dirty on the SEMA show floor. It’s good PR for Posies, who manufactures a popular line of leaf springs for hot rod builders. The half-continent of road grime and bugs are meant to prove that Posies builds his cars and springs to drive, not just to show.

We caught up with Posies at his Hummelstown, PA, shop where a few locals had gathered for a picnic. It’s no wonder car guys and gals like to drop by for a visit, Posies is quite the character: a fast-talker with a charming, self-deprecating wit. Struggling to recall a particular story from the past, he bought a little time with a joke at his own expense. “You’ll have to forgive me,” he remarked, “I spent the best six years of my life in tenth grade.”



Jokes aside, Posies’ cars are about serious performance. His ride for this year’s Driven Dirty Tour is a Jaguar XJ with a stroker 383 Chevy motor. His friends showed up with all kinds of fun rides, too. There was a rusted hot rod pickup that would have been right at home at the Austin Speed Shop. Posies showed us his ’32 Ford Euroliner, styled after an early Bentley. There was a high-performance Chevelle. And Jay Kennedy brought a 1976 Porsche 911 that he used to compete in hill-climb events for two seasons.







After lunch, several of the cars hit the streets of Hummelstown for a good old-fashioned Main Street cruise. With its original small-town charm still intact, it was easy to imagine Hummelstown just as it had been 45 years ago – when the 15-year-old son of the local florist built his first ’32 Ford. And began the long hot-rodding tradition that lives on at Posies’ shop today.