Rumpsville
Rumpsville (rŭmps'vĭl') slang n. Sometimes Rumpville (rŭmp'vĭl') the name of a fictional place described as Hot Rod Heaven was originally coined in the CarTOONs comic “Saga of Rumpville” by Pete Millar. Later called Rumpsville in the same comic and in the Sport Illustrated cover article “The Car Cult From Rumpsville”.
Comic
The first edition of CarToons published by Petersen Publishing Company is entitled "The Saga of Rumpville". Written and illustrated by Pete Millar Hot Rodders decide to buy and move to Catalina Island to get away from the general public who saw drag racing and car enthusiasts as trouble. The Hot Rodders re-name Catalina Island "Rumpsville". While all the rodders were offshore the mainland’s autos and roadways fell into disrepair. Later the government pleads with the Hot Rodders to come back. After seeing how things had turned so bad without them they did moved back and everyone knew the Hot Rodders were an important and essential part of society.
Magazine
In the April 24, 1961 Sport Illustrated’s cover story “The Cult From Rumpsville” the term Rumpsville (or Rumpville) is used again when Le Roi Smith, editor of Hot Rod Magazine is interviewed and is quoted "It's where hot rodders could go and all the people would know about mechanical things. Hot rod heaven, that's Rumpsville. When you hop up an engine, it makes a noise like 'rump, rump!' That's where it comes from, man, like from Wildsville."
Other Publications
A reference to Rumpsville can be found in the book Rat Fink: The Art of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Last Gasp, 2003, ISBN 0867195452 by Douglas Nason, Greg Escalante, and Doug Harvey. The forward written by C.R. Stecyk III and Ren Messer and is entitled "Road to Rumpsville".
Webzine
Rumpsville the web site, first launched in 1995 is considered the first hot rod related web site. The web site is a collection of interviews and short articles about Art Himsl, Ed Roth, George Barris, Kenny Howard, Norm Grabowski, and Tom Kelly. The web site pays homage to Pete Millar the originater of the term by giving him the honor of being proclaimed the Mayor of Rumpsville. The web site continues to be updated and managed by it's original author W. Richard Reesman