When I was in High School I met a friend of a friend for the first time and he said, " that's a nice 57 Chevy" I laughed and then politely corrected him. (I was driving a 61 Impala) Lately everytime I stop for gas somebody in their late 50s or early 60s asks me if it is a 61 or 62 Chevy. At least they are close. Reece
I hear ya, brother...the gal next door said my DUNE BUGGY looked just like the one in the ZZ Top video!!! I thought she was drunk...it don't even LOOK like a hot rod coupe...but then the shoe store chick climbs into a dune buggy at the end of the video. I wish I had a fuzzy guitar... ...or that shoe store chick!!
From old farts in socks and sandals you usually get "What was it before you ruined it". The correct answer is rusting in a field for 50 years because it was too far gone for any restorer to be interested.
dragging my newly aquired carcas of a '36 Plymouth Coupe home I hear some one say to whoever they were with "it's a little Deuce Coupe" I sang the next line to myself "you don't know what I got"
When I drove my '42 GMC around I either got the "We had one just like it, but it was blue, a Ford, and it was a 53" routine or an argument that no cars of trucks were made in '42 becuasse of the war. The best comment I ever got was at a stoplight. Guy leans out the window of his truck and says "Hey, nice Jimmy. Didn't Superman come home in one like that?" Uh, yeah... At least he got the make right - probably 'cuz it was on the hood side emblem.
Having your T bucket called a dune buggy must be universal, mine hasn't been on the road for a few years but it used to happen pretty regularly. I wonder if dune buggy dudes are on a board somewhere laughing about people calling their rides T buckets. I was towing my coupe to a race in rural Georgia on an open trailer in. Its a drag car, glass body, big slicks, flip up body and at the time it was black w/ flames. Stopped at a grocery store and a kid about 10 walks all around the car, just staring. Then he looks at me with an amazed expression and ask " Mister...is that a real car?" Didn't really know what to say except "yes". I guess he thought it was a hot wheels car on steroids. Anyway, it still cracks me up when I think about it.
Best line I have heard came from my father in law. When he first saw my Touring he asked/said "How can that be legal?!"
one night at the bar in my 64 corvette convertable. I would always park right in front of the door so the bouncer would keep an eye on it. this is a new your bar so you have to smoke outside. Im sitting on the back of the car with my feet on the bumper and drink in my hand. this chick walks around the car 4 times then ask me to get up so she could see the emblem to figure out what kind of car it is. I get up knowing there is no emblem. She asks what kind of car with a dumb look since she had me get up. before i could say corvette my friend tim tells her it is a corvair.
I always get the "It looks like the Munster's car" when I drive my A sedan. The oldtimers ask' Where are the fenders?" When I used to have the hood up on my shoebox ,with a flatty,Dad's explained to thier kiddies.'That's a hemi,beacuse the sparkplugs are in the center of the block" Kinda funny, kinda sad. The glazed over eyes,thier 'knowalage' about cars.Sparky
None of these stories are as bad as the people who dont even know the year/ make of their own car. When I used to drive tow truck I would get calls for a "Ford Camaro" or Pontiac Civic". One time I got a call to tow a '64 T-bird that ended up being an '84. It wasnt a typo or dispatch error, the customer actually thought it had been 35 years and not 15 since he bought the car.
I think most People just like to be part of "IT" what ever "IT" is. I was parked at Safeway waiting for my wife in my 50 Merc. A guy walks over and starts the conversation with "Where'd Ya find this thing". I got a Buddy that does paint. Ya know these things make good Customs with the Top Chopped. I got all kind of Friends that can help ya out with her. Ya know, ya really gotta lower this thing. My Wife gets back in and as we are pulling away I hear him ask another by stander what year do you think that Olds is Kid. Now I gotta admit the car could use some Paint, and no where on the car does it say Mercury. What struck me Odd was that while he was telling me I should lower the car he was down on one knee so he could talk to me through the open door glass. The Wizzard
Stopped at a redlight on a cruise night last summer when a middle aged woman pointed at my A roadster and said to her husband "Oh look at that, you can find cars exactly like that in old barns everywhere!". Nearly got outta the car and asked her if she could show me the nearest barn with a Cad powered A roadster, cause I'd be happy to buy it right away. On the other hand; I got pulled over by the cops on another cruise night last summer. One of the cops (maybe 55-60 years old) said "Wow a Model A, once upon a time you could find cars like this in old barns". Then he stared at the 390 with sixpack and added "But maybe not with an engine like that". "Nooo... probably not" I responded and drove off.
Somewhere around the mid-60s,we went to a race in Sacramento.I dont remember much about the race,but on the way home we stopped at a TasteeFreeze in Gult?(sp) Calif.It was hotter than hell,& there was a guy looking at the racecar on the open trailer.I remember my dad & our crew guy telling this fellow about the racecar."Yeah,,,it goes about 400 MPH,,we use rocket fuel,we just had a terrible fire at the track",,etc.I couldn't figure any of this out,until my mom told me he was handicapped & pulled me away.My dad bought the guy a burger or ice cream,and bullshitting him all the while.It seemed like he believed everything they were telling him,,,lol. My dad let him sit in it for awhile too. He was looking at this,,,,
The female doctor who lives next door told me she "loved " old cars when she first found out I was into that stuff. After she saw my coupe for the first time,she started refering to it as a "doodlebug." I later found out that a Packard touring car is her idea of an old car.
These are funny. Alot of them sound like the beginning of jokes. One encounter for me was when we painted the roof of my '64 Galaxie straight Chevy truck white. The following night we were cruising around on the south side and I stopped for some gas (my roof was shining hard BTW) and this super drunk cowboy staggers up to me and tells me how NICE my convertible is and then asked if I wanted to buy his belt buckle for a dollar. I would've but I didn't think he'd be able to hold up his pants.
Just got my A coupe on the road, pull in to the Quick trip for gas, old farmer in the stall next to me keeps eyeball the A, finally i sez, "well watta think" he stands there for a minute, sez, "sure ruined a good model A!" Had the 29 highboy at a car show last year, had the resistration deal on the windshield, 1929 Model A roadster...........Smart ass with youg son sez, your car? Ya i sez, To bad you don't know what year it is sez smart ass, I reply it could be a late 28 or a 29, He points to the fire wall and tells his kid see those numbers? This cars a 1934!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Damn never knew 29 and 34's looked so much alike.
haha, killer thread. there is some real funny ones on here already. i was actually thinking of a thread like this the other day because it seems that everyone in the world thinks that since my daily is a 65 chrysler that its gonna break down any second. i get "are you sure your car will make it there?", "man, im surprised your car started today". the truth is, the chrysler has been the most reliable machine ive owned and is maintained & cared for probably more than any other 'new' car on the road. most of the people who seem to talk shit drive modern crappers with bald tires, squeeling brakes, 200,000 miles on the spark plugs, 80,000 between oil changes. i should be the one asking them those dumbass questions. the popular misconceptions are "hey, sweet impala dude", "yo, hit dem switches!" sometimes im lucky enough to get a guessing gamer "let me guess, its a 60?61?62?63?......" or the good ole engine size game. people just throw any motor size out there, regardless of make "whatcha got in that, a 302? 350? 429?" its a 383 actually, probably the most common mopar motor ever built. or the inevitable "how many bodies can you fit in that trunk?" i always say "dont worry, theres room for one more." or the classic, "ohh, i bet thats not too good on gas" or "so, when are you gonna get a NEW car?" its not always a moronic encounter but sometimes they are too funny not to mention.
My '57 Plymouth 2dr wagon gets the Ghostbusters/ECTO-1 comments - from people that really should know better. What's funny to me is that since I was about six years old I knew what all these cars really were - and I'd go up and tell some old fart I liked his Model A; is it a '28 or '29? Or I'd ask the guy with the '56 Chevy if that's the original 265. The looks I used to get were priceless.
Heh...my neighbor always refers to my car as "Miss Daisy". Now my wife refers to it the same way.Argh! I guess I can forgive the usual question.."is it a kit?" from those not in the know. My elderly boss always tells me it looks great but I've ruined it and should put the fenders back on. I constantly overhear guys that should know better that my model A has the original engine! (2.3l 4 popper) A bunch of drunk frat boys screamed "...hey! 1956 is thataway...!" at me one night when I was driving home. heh
A guy at work always asks about my roadster. I tried to explain the difference between my 37 Chev coupe and a roadster but since he is in management he couldn't understand the difference. At least he's interested. When I was about 8 my dad explained the difference between a coupe, roadster, cabrolet, hardtop and sedan. So why the hell is a coupe or sedan now a post?
that's a great looking sedan.......you should put the fenders back on! shoot, you get that here too!!!
Yeh I've got a similar one. I pulled up at our village train station in Baveria, Germany in my '42 Lincoln Continental Coupe (200 built) and this old German guy comes up to me and said he used to have one of those way back. Like fuck grandpa! I didn't really know what to say to him - all I could say was, "what - a 1942 Continental!!!". His answer was the same. "Oh it can't be a '42, they didn't build any cars in 1942".
I got tired of trying to explain what my car is, and that it is, in fact, finished, so I just make stuff up. If they say it's a Ford, I say yeah, it's an export model and thats why theres no badges on it. Plus it's got a rare inline Hemi(flat 6) with spearamint roda, an offenhauser crank, and a rare german ultrasonic carburetor.
I had a restored 1932 Hupmobile straight 8 4dr sedan a few years back. At car shows there would always be some joker who would come up to me and say "my dad, uncle, friend, neighbor etc, had a car just like yours." It was just like yours.... except it was black.... and it was a 2dr.... and it was a 34 or 35.... and I think it might have been a 6 cylinder.... and I think maybe it was a Chev, But it was just like yours. They are all around us look out! Brian
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