When you combine art and off-road, you wind up with Rory Ward. A fan since early days, Rory made connections that allowed him to combine his passions and thrive. Be sure to listen on your favorite podcast app.
5:37 – my dad would get Hot VWs magazine and I’d always look up the races, I missed being around that, even at 8-10 years old
18:29 – Ivan (Stewart) was the one that really got me going with the artwork.
21:54 – OMG, I don’t want to be a bellman for 30 years!
27:39 – I’ve got to thank Rob MacCachran, I did some shirts for him and he’s like I’ve got a business proposition for you.
35:58 – I’ve been really fortunate to race some historical race cars with some historical racers
40:29 – I built a four-seater in the 2000s and the artwork is what built it. I traded a lot of art for parts.
52:20 – My forte is the history, I can help with the history of off-road. I’m the self-proclaimed curator for all these off-road cars, and I absolutely love it.
Special thanks to 4low Magazine and Maxxis Tires for support and sponsorship of this podcast.
TRANSCRIPT
[00:01:39.560] – Big Rich Klein
This week’s guest on Conversations with Big Rich is a board member for the Off-Road Motor Sports Hall of Fame. But how did he get there? As an artist, a fireman, an off-road enthusiast, off-road racer, off-road race car restorer, and off-road history keeper, Rory Ward is Ormhof’s Self-proclaimed Race Car Curator. Hello, Rory. How are you doing today?
[00:02:06.600] – Rory Ward
I’m good. How are you?
[00:02:08.430] – Big Rich Klein
I’m doing surprisingly well. Well, good. Yeah. Let’s find out more about you, and it’s good to have you on here. We’ve been sitting on the board of directors together. I mean, I’ve only been on almost two years now. God, it’s gone very fast. But I know that you’ve been on longer than I have, so Well, thanks, Rich.
[00:02:32.520] – Rory Ward
Yeah, it’s a pleasure to be here. I appreciate you inviting me on.
[00:02:36.480] – Big Rich Klein
Let’s get started with the easiest question most times. Where were you born and raised?
[00:02:43.900] – Rory Ward
I was born I was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, and semi-raised there till I was about eight, and then moved up to Oregon for a couple of years, and then spent most of my life in Bullhead City, Arizona.
[00:02:59.240] – Big Rich Klein
And Your parents were working… What work were they doing where they went from Vegas to Oregon?
[00:03:10.070] – Rory Ward
Well, it was basically following my dad because he was a hotel manager, and he was one of the big wigs at the Sahara, the Aladdin, a couple of other of those big ones. Then they moved him up to Oregon to open up a couple of hotels. Then actually, when the Edgewater Casino in Laughlin, Nevada was being built, that’s why we moved to Bullhead because it was across the river from Laughlin, and they wanted him to open up that hotel casino.
[00:03:48.500] – Big Rich Klein
Okay, that makes sense then. Oregon to Bullhead. Where in Oregon were you?
[00:03:56.070] – Rory Ward
Just south of Portland, so in Tewaliton.
[00:03:59.970] – Big Rich Klein
Okay. All right. And those early years, school, all that stuff, was there… Do you remember if there was a transition period that was maybe difficult, or was it pretty easy going from Vegas to Oregon?
[00:04:20.740] – Rory Ward
As a kid, we had a… I had three siblings, so It wasn’t really that tough, I don’t think. You know what I mean? It’s not like I was an only child or anything like that. I think that might make it a little tougher. But no, I don’t really remember it being a big deal.
[00:04:43.600] – Big Rich Klein
Same thing How long were you guys in Oregon until you went to Bullhead?
[00:04:49.370] – Rory Ward
We were only up there a couple of years. My dad didn’t really care for the rain, but I loved it because coming from Las Vegas, we never got any rain. As a kid, the rain, we loved it.
[00:05:05.140] – Big Rich Klein
Yeah, I guess that was the biggest transition was going from dry to moist.
[00:05:11.420] – Rory Ward
Absolutely.
[00:05:12.860] – Big Rich Klein
Because I would imagine as a kid in Las Vegas, you never really got to play in mud puddles.
[00:05:20.280] – Rory Ward
No, not. No. Just basically just out in the desert for the most part.
[00:05:25.790] – Big Rich Klein
Right. And what activities did your family do Did they carry over from Vegas to Oregon and then Bullhead, or did things change? Do you remember?
[00:05:37.830] – Rory Ward
Well, in Vegas, that’s actually where the off-road bug hit, but not really as hard until we moved out of Vegas because I’m a second-generation racer, off-road racer. My dad used to race in the early ’70s to mid to late ’70s. Then that’s about when we… I think we moved in I’m like ’78, moved up to Oregon, and then we came back. We moved into Bullhead around early January of 1980. Just playing out in the desert a little bit and watching him race and not really paying attention to it as much. But when we went up to Oregon, I remember being away from it. My dad would keep getting Hot VWs magazines, and I’d always look up all the races in the magazines and figured, I miss that, even at 8 to 10 years old.
[00:06:38.800] – Big Rich Klein
Right. I can understand that. Yeah, Hot VWs was my go-to magazine. I had a 54 Bug growing when it was my first car?
[00:06:49.390] – Rory Ward
Yeah, mine was a ’68 Volkswagen. There you go. Baja Bug. READ MORE
