Rumpsville (rŭmps'vĭl') slang n. also Rumpville (rŭmp'vĭl') The name of a fictional place described as Hot Rod Heaven. A term originally used in the CARtoons Magazine comic strip “Saga of Rumpville” by Pete Millar aka Arin Cee. The term Rumpsville was later re-defined in the Sports Illustrated Magazine cover article “The Car Cult From Rumpsville” when Le Roi Smith refers to Rumpsville as hot rod heaven.
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The first edition of CARtoons was published by Petersen Publishing Company and 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" and abandon the mainland. While all the Rodders are offshore the automobiles and roadways fall into disrepair. Later the government pleads with the Hot Rodders to return. After seeing how things had become so bad without their support the Rodders moved back and everyone knew the Hot Rodders were an essential part of society.
In the April 24, 1961 Sport Illustrated’s cover story “The Cult From Rumpsville” the term Rumpsville is used by Le Roi Smith, editor of Hot Rod Magazine 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."
A reference to Rumpsville can be found in the book Rat Fink: The Art of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Last Gasp Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0867195452 by Douglas Nason, Greg Escalante, and Doug Harvey. The forward written by C.R. Stecyk III and Ren Messer is entitled "Road to Rumpsville".
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 originator of the term by giving him the honor of being proclaimed the Mayor of Rumpsville.