W e have been big fans of Charlie and Janie Bryson for a long time, especially since I had the opportunity to start working with the couple back in 2004. Charlie is the kind of guy who is always where he says he’s going to be, doing what it is he said he was going to be doing. Charlie isn’t the kind of guy that toots his own horn, he just quietly does the right thing every time. One of my favorite things when interviewing Charlie was how grateful he was for all the help he got when his car broke down on the way to an event a couple of years ago. Once it became obvious that a fix was- n’t imminent, he got his car stashed safely away, someone loaned him a car to get him and Janie to the event, and he got his street rod home in no time. It’s exactly the kind of things that I have seen
Charlie and Janie do for others so many times over the years, but he was truly touched to have gotten the help. Charlie isn’t the kind of guy that’s easy to interview, but hopefully I captured the best view I could. Like a lot of burgeoning rodders, Charlie started out helping his dad work on cars and just tinkering with what he drove every day. Charlie met his wife Janie at a young age and was drafted right out of high school. The young couple got married in 1969 and by 1970, Charlie was in NCO school for sergeants and then on his way to Vietnam. The couple did a variety of things when Charlie got out of the service, but working with his dad at a body shop kept him into cars and by 1976 he decided it was time to get a street rod thanks to his friends in
64 MAY 2026
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