Chuck Davenport

Members of the Rum Runners of Riverside gathered for a club meeting in March of 1958. The hand-painted banner hanging behind them features the club’s signature rum-keg hot rod emblem. In the back row, centered beneath the “R” in the banner, stands Chuck Davenport. Photo courtesy of Kelly Galeazzi.

Chuck singing with a girl during the club meeting. Photo courtesy of Kelly Galeazzi.

C&M Auto Repair in Newport Beach, the shop owned and operated by Chuck. The photo was developed in November of 1960, showing the newly opened business bustling with customer cars. Davenport ran the shop for years, performing tune-ups, brake work, transmission service, and the engine swaps he was known for. Photo courtesy of Kelly Galeazzi.

Another photo from C&M Auto Repair developed in November of 1960. Photo courtesy of Kelly Galeazzi.

Chuck Davenport (June 25, 1938 – December 26, 2008) was an American mechanic, hot rodder, and member of the Rum Runners of Riverside Car Club in Southern California during the 1950s.

Early Life

Chuck was born on June 25, 1938. He grew up in Southern California during the height of postwar hot-rodding culture. From an early age, Davenport gravitated toward mechanical work and developed a reputation among friends and family as someone who could fix almost anything. According to his stepson, Kelly Galeazzi, “Engine swaps, transmission overhauls, brakes, tune-ups — you name it, he could do it.”

Hot Rodding and the Rum Runners

In the late 1950s, Davenport was a member of the Rum Runners of Riverside, a small California car club from Riverside. The club was active around 1958, and Chuck appears in a couple surviving photos from a March 1958 club meeting.

Los Angeles Trade–Technical College

In 1958 and [[[1959]], Davenport attended Los Angeles Trade–Technical College (LATTJC), one of the premier technical schools in the region. Trade Tech was a hub for aspiring mechanics, welders, and fabricators, and many early Southern California rodders and race mechanics passed through its programs.

His formal training at Trade Tech sharpened the natural ability he already had and helped shape his professional career in the years that followed.

C&M Auto Repair

By 1960, Davenport opened his own auto repair business, C&M Auto Repair, located in Newport Beach, California. The shop served the local community for many years, performing everything from routine service to engine swaps and performance work.

Running C&M allowed Davenport to turn his teenage passion into a lifelong profession.

Cars and Builds

Throughout his life, Davenport owned and built numerous vehicles that reflected his mechanical interests:

• 1966 Chevrolet El Camino – 396 c.i. engine with a Muncie 4-speed
• 1965 Chevrolet Nova, 2-door
• 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air, 4-door
• 1961 International Scout – converted to small-block Chevy power
• 1948 Willys CJ2A – fitted with a Chevy 327 and Muncie 4-speed in 1978. Chuck performed the swap with his father.

Later Years and Passing

Chuck Davenport passed away on December 26, 2008, from lung cancer. As his stepson noted, “Smoking was popular then,” reflecting the era in which Chuck grew up and lived most of his life.