‘Hot Rod Granny’ wins burnout competitions in classic Cadillac
A Missouri woman wins burnout competitions at 79 after cross-country road trip with son
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Aging Untold) — Life is an adventure for Annie Koehler, 79, and one of those adventures led to the nickname “Annie the Hot Rod Granny.”
Mother-son road trip leads to racing fame
Her son, Jamie Hutchins, owns a racing engine shop in Bethalto, Missouri, where he built a 1957 Cadillac as a gift for his mother.
“My mom was always the coolest mom in the neighborhood,” he said.
Koehler liked the car the moment she saw it.
“She goes everywhere in it,” Hutchins said.
The mother-and-son pair took the 1957 Caddy on a cross-country road trip and traveled Route 66 to see historic places.
“Four thousand two hundred miles in nine days, windows down, 85-90 miles an hour and 400 gallons of gas,” Koehler said.
The trip took them all the way to Santa Monica, California.
“It was a long road trip, and it was a lot of fun,” Hutchins said.
Burnout competition champion
The story doesn’t end with the road trip.
Koehler took her Cadillac to burnout competitions and won her first and then a second, earning her the nickname “Annie the Hot Rod Granny.”
“When they see this white hair and that white car and this crazy old lady and they just go nuts,” Koehler said.
She plans to continue her adventures.
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