5 years ago I found a weird looking board on Ebay. The wacky truck configuration and the fact that it was a promotional board for an auto parts manufacturer made me save the pictures. I just recently found an ad for Hooker Headers in the May, 1976 issue of Hot Rod that had a order form for the Hooker Headers skateboard, and amazingly enough, I was able to find those old pictures among the flotsam on my hard drive. It’s got a metal plate between the trucks, similar to the Flex-trol, but it also adds the ability to change your wheelbase on the fly. Hooker was positioning this as the “ultimate suspension system” for skateboards. Was it a way to build brand loyalty for kids to young to drive yet? I can’t imagine they had a longterm business model that involved skateboarding. Still, it was too expensive of a setup (manufacturing wise) to be purely promotional, especially considering that they offered three boards in two colors as well as the suspension system in two different configurations. Maybe someone at Hooker had a kid who skated. The brand is still around but it looks like it has been absorbed by Holley. You have to wonder if drag racer Bill Jenkins was pleased with having to share his ad space with a child’s toy. He received the nickname “The Grump” from his comrades on the track due to his no-nonsense attitude and general avoidance of chit-chatting with fellow racers.

UPDATE: Thanks to reader zeno01 and some scans from Matthijs we have a little more info on the origins of this board. See the Concrete Wave interview with Steve Alba after the advert.

UPDATE: Reader pics of a Hooker skateboard here.

Happy New Year from Skate and Annoy! Thanks to all our contributors, readers and tipsters. We’re working on improvements and additions to the site for a better S&A in 2014. Good health, good fortune and a Dog Cheeze for everyone in 2014! Now go out and skate!

Vintage 80’s Grin and Bear It comic, courtesy of Paul Graf. Too bad the skateboard is mostly out of frame.

Take off that duct tape and give the crocodile a fighting chance! Apparently, this is how Yemeni teenagers kill time.

Did you get one of these for x-mas? If so, you are one happy, radical dude.

From Skidmark Magazine via Simon Woodstock. Eight wheels and a big foot!

Check out some X-mas themed posts from previous years and enjoy the holidays!

Nothing says “Ovaltine” like a skateboard, ruler and a small mystery box, at least in Japan. Actually I’m guessing that is Japanese, so readers, help me out here please. It seems the only sport not being enjoyed by the cartoon Ovaltine kids is skateboarding. No date on the package.

I don’t suppose this skateboarder cookie cutter is limited to Christmas, but it looks like a gingerbread style cutter, and that’s what I associate gingerbread with. The embossed text says “© 1989 Lk Mfg Corp Product No 8876” I’m thinking they decided to add a skateboarder to their product line and used some late 70’s or very early 80’s photo as a reference.