Hello, What a difference, the old versus new. In So Cal, there are plenty of contrasts in vehicles. Some want the newest thing to hit the showrooms, the cars and coffee events and spend a ton of money in the process. Some like to own their old reliable 60's sedans since the 1990 season, even as used cars. They are old hot rod/cruiser guys that like to keep what feels good on the road showing some style in the process. A brother from another mother... I found out that it has its 2nd 289 OHV in this Canadian version of a 1962 Mercury Meteor model. The Meteor has been owned since 1991. It was purchased originally for his daughter as a daily driver. But in time, the owner has used it as his vintage surf car. Including a nice looking twin fin cruiser surfboard for the So Cal waves. Twin fins had their era on the waves back a decade or two, ago and took a lot of power to keep the forward motion down-the-line action going. But, to make a cutback, the second fin did its intended job and made the sweeping turns stay locked in place without spinning out. These days, it is just another way to enjoy riding any type of wave. The tri fin has such a strong foothold that any other form just does not have a chance to make a resurgence or push out the “king” for these times. If two fins did the nice cutback, roundhouse turn, adding the third deeper center fin made it much smoother and secure in the radical moves. Jnaki Old, but, new...
Don't know if this has been posted or not. A friend just sent it too me so I thought I'd share. Credit to unknown photographer.
Surfing is like Hot Rodding... It is an attitude , a way of life and we do what ever we have to do to get to the beach or build our cars. Some have more money then others but others didnt necessarily have more fun then we had. Growing up around Santa Monica beaches that had Hokey Assed 1-2 footers, BOOGIE boards were a little more fun riding the wash then just getting baked and burned. Great thread!
Hello, In our So Cal coastal area, there plenty of wooden car restoration shops. The most famous is about an hour away up the coast in Long Beach/Signal Hill. So, for those woodies we see cruising around on a nice sunny day, it just adds to the aura of the “good old times…” along the coast. When we used to surf along this Orange County coastline, there were only a few woodies and they were usually hanging on for dear life. Not like today’s fully restored wood and updated, running drivelines. They saw daily action in all sorts of weather and weren’t always the best for security. So, normal station wagons and others that were able to lock, then leave to go surfing were the cars/wagons of choice. These days, it is a form of restoration, hot rodding and those old surfboards that will never see the ocean waves sitting on top or through the tailgate while on a drive. It can be on the coast or 1000s of miles inland, those old station wagons have a following. Back in the early 60s, we all laughed at a surf park in Arizona, but we came to be friends with some surfers from Arizona… It is only a 5 hour drive to San Diego from Phoenix, and a three hour drive from Yuma. Another point of view is that a possible future pro champion may come from a 4 hour drive to the coast from Leemore, California’s premier surf park, in the future… and it is fresh water surfing, too. The pro surfer owners could afford to buy quite a few restored woody wagons with their portfolios proliferating like bunnies. Jnaki My wife saw this old 1938 Ford woody from the drive that we were on for that one day. It was driving along toward some industrial offices and it was in great shape. We assumed it was the owner of the business in the large parking lot. We had our own business to take care of down the street and lost sight of the woody in the lot. But, on the way back to the main drag, we saw the woody parked in a relatively empty lot. Now, our suspicions were getting closer. The work from home pandemic applies to most companies and perhaps this was the case for an empty lot, or relatively empty lot. But, the woody stood out among the remaining cars. Perhaps it was the owner of the business doing some necessary "catch up" work. And finally, work at the company building without anyone around to bother the job(s) in progress... YRMV At any rate, this 38 Ford Woody is a nicely finished old hot rod build.
Hello, If anyone lives in a coastal environment, one is bound to see a woody wagon or two. In the old days, not many were seen at the hot beach surf spots. Lack of secure locks and easily broken into were the keys to not too many owners driving them to the beach, let alone sitting on a street for hours, while surfing. So, why the popularity of woody wagons all over the USA? The Beach Boys, the Hang Ten Culture, Surf Movies and such all played a part of building the straggly surfers into the next level of acceptance as a lifestyle. As the years rolled by, there was a clothing culture that played right into the casual lifestyle of surfers, especially on the West coast. So it was a no brainer to see a teen wearing a Hang Ten Shirt in Iowa. So the same application of woody wagons would be the same. Now, the lines are blurred, there are millionaire surfers, fresh water surf parks 100s of miles inland from the ocean and a culture built into the So Cal high schools with surf teams in competition, as Varsity athletes. So, where does that leave woody wagons? Not too many teenagers can afford a fixed up woody wagon. That leaves the 30 something and older folks with spendable income to build or buy a woody for the association of that lifestyle. Jnaki My wife and I were in a different area of a coastal city and spotted what we thought was a 36 to 38 Ford woody under wraps. Then over the weeks later, when traveling down the same street, during the break in a series of powerful storms, wind, rain and whatever else came in from the ocean, we got a surprise waiting for us. 1935 woody wagon Flathead motor from a search information find... The strong winds showed us what was really under wraps. A 1935 woody wagon with quite a history in its past. Another classic woody that would (pun intended) highlight someone’s garage, but would not be one of those daily drivers to a secluded surf spot or even in an overnight parking location… we all like a little security if you please… YRMV
Hello, The Endless Summer Movie came out in 1965 and it was an instant hit. Who wouldn’t want to tour the world looking for that endless wave during the hot summer seasons… Before this movie came out, we had gone to plenty of early movies in high school/college auditoriums and they all played their part. They allowed us to dream about a future for us in the surfing world. Sponsorships were mandatory if anyone was going to represent a brand or two. That was all good as the merchandise usually were from the board makers and surf shops. Securing that pot of gold was a goal I had from the second year of surfing for me. I was a flopping mess in the first weeks of trying to surf. My brother could already surf and I was not going to stay home, when he was able to take a road trip to Orange County for some cool waves. So, I vowed to get better. Then it struck me as I was able to make some turns and get a little stylish. My progress was due to the long hours in some good surf to just do what it took to get better. I did get in the water very early along with my brother, but he got out to rest, while I kept paddling back out to catch more waves. By lunch time, I was ready for a nap and good food. Jnaki Within two years, I was good enough to be asked to enter a surf contest at Huntington Beach pier. It was a big contest and very presentable to surf shops and board makers. But, I was getting into private sessions as many times as I could, so as the huge contest was going on, we drove 40 miles south to Camp Pendleton’s fairly empty beaches for our own surf session. Orange County has always been a destination place from the beginning. As the years moved on, it too, became a place that others wanted to surf and now the race was on to do something to enhance the surfing spirit. High school was getting to the end and I needed to do something other than go to college, the military or an 8-5 job. The surf movies played a big part of swaying me to stay in So Cal. There were always waves somewhere along the coast and it was not just “ankle biters” but good ridable waves. The culture was drawing me to that way of thinking. We loved touring the northern coastline during the winter season as well as making the longer trek South of the border to unchartered surf spots. Hawaii was always the final destination, but too costly to go over there. The surf movies were calling me to make a change and our drag racing adventures were coming to a close. So, while I was thinking of ways to tour across the country coast lines, surfing the waves, Europe and elsewhere was also calling me… Barriers popped up constantly, like money and support, so I settled down to move on in life. By the time the Endless Summer came to the public view, it was hard to resist trying to get a move on with my original goal. Lucky Robert August. He and his dad “Blackie,” were part of our Baja, Mexico group and we constantly surfed in places together. No competition, but just fun times in the waves. Note: Recently, the resurgence of Bruce Brown’s famous Endless Summer movie made dent in a lot of people, not just in the So Cal coastal areas. But, all over the USA and possibly the world. The theme sounds were engrained into our collective minds. So, if something was harping on us, the pleasant sound of “The Sandals” theme song to an Endless Summer movie, was just made to make sense of life in general and gave us all a feeling that everything was going to be alright. The Sandals… Endless Summer theme The Sandals and their 50s Ford Sedan DIGITALLY REMASTERED
Endless Summer is a great movie, watched it a few times. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, it is currently available on Amazon Prime Video, free if your a subscriber.
Hello, In the world of fantasy TV programs, anything is possible. A pier in Oklahoma? With waist high waves crashing on a shoreline with cliffs and small mountains in the background? This must have been the first wave pool created for the world, in OKC and it was only 1962. We thought the wave pool in Arizona was the first one, later in 1967, but this was a hidden gem. Ha! People see what they see on TV shows as real, whether or not it actually is real in movie or TV. It was all fantasy tied in with reality. Where else were they going to film waves, a pier and tall cliffs with easy to block off for some private movie sets? Route 66, very popular on TV and real in our universe as a cross country open road adventure location(s). Familiarity with paddling inside those pilings and outside on calm days gave us a direct route to the peaks and wall of waves heading into the tall structure. We did not “shoot the pier” from this side until much later. For some reason, the North side was easier to line up the wave track and go right through the tall pilings. If the waves crashing on both sides on a large swell, we found out that as scary as it is with the oncoming waves, the direct center opening of the pilings was a relatively safe place to paddle out to the waiting area. Why? When the waves came into the pilings from both sides, the pilings helped slow down the waves and were blocking poles creating an opening in the middle to paddle out. Once the fear of getting shoved back into the crusty piling was learned, it was all power paddling to the outside area. At the Northern end of Huntington Beach are the oil derrick fields across from "The Cliffs." Huntington Beach “Cliffs” in 1962 Upon approaching Huntington Beach from Seal Beach going south down PCH, the cliffs were part of a wonderful drive and parking along the open road area was easy pickings to match the peak waves locations. But, now, the paved parking spot prevents any parking other than in specific parking lots. hand held surf rack in a Corvette… A private beachfront road for the Corvette… (Lifeguard use only in real time) After dropping off the surfboard and third guy, they backed up 1000 ft to drive over the same spot again, as folks think there are two piers in the long white sand beach in “coastal Oklahoma.” Jnaki At the time this program was shown, everyone in the local surfing circles had a great laugh and associated with the surfing scenes. Route 66 was the main cross country theme of the TV show. But, we all knew and drove on the main So Cal Coast Highway to get to those prime waves. A surprise was the inclusion of what certainly looked like So Cal surf legend, Corky Carroll in a Hollywood “poof” style hairdo. Note: In the later portion of the movie, some surfing scenes were taken at San Onofre Beach with the rolling waves, good for filming action. Since the surf at San Onofre was not open to the public as the surf club beach was private, the scenes could take water preference. Huntington Beach is a public beach and it was hard to keep surfers out of the background scenes. A 1961 typical summer surf day at the Pier: On another day, with different coastal weather during 1962, real surfers in great waves at Huntington Beach Pier, North side. Note: Are there waves in Oklahoma? Is there a nice long pier? The only area with water my wife and I saw in OKC was Lake Hefner and we were going to go sailing, not surfing... So, there is that! But, back in 1961-62, for us young teens, that Route 66 TV series was a good one and the inclusion of surfing was a surprise at the time. “Catch a wave and you are sitting on top of the world…”
Hello, My wife and I were used to going all over So Cal and our long road trips into northern California many times. But, primarily, So Cal had its attractions. One of the major attractions was going to a local drive-in movie theater(s.) When I was a teenager in Long Beach, there were 4 major drive-in theaters in the 4 quadrant areas of Long Beach/Lakewood areas. They were quite popular for everyone. But, once we moved out to Orange County later on, the theaters were in different cities and travel to each one was a good planning adventure, when time allowed it to happen, rain or shine... Some costs were higher than others, but that was due to first run movies vs older movies at the discount drive in theaters that were in other cities. The El Camino gave us privacy and a nice platform from the cab. Once we tried turning the El Camino bed to the front and leaning against the rear window to view the real “open air movie.” The air mattress worked ok, but comfortable adjustable beach chairs was the choice for both of us. It was one of those hot summer nights and no moisture to fall on us. We also had the 327 powered ford sedan delivery. It offered more privacy, more space for additional coolers, chairs and of course being a cool hot rod in a drive in environment. The closest one to our apartment was driving back into Long Beach for the Circle Drive-in Theater or continue into Huntington Beach to the Hi-Way 39 Drive-In on Beach Blvd. We opted for the Hi-Way 39 one. It was still a distance away, but it showed things we could not get on TV or the real long drives into Hollywood/LA to see the first run movies. There was a discount drive-in a little closer, but the ambience was not so great and the movies were not always first run for the OC. Let alone in any nearby county. Jnaki Since we still had our 327 powered 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, we thought it would be comfortable enough to last two movies. Yes, we watched two movies… no funny business, as it was saved money spent for large screen movies. But we decided it was difficult to see through the smaller front windshield of the sedan delivery. So, we turned the sedan delivery facing backward and opened the rear door. We tied it to the side so, it would not slam shut accidently. Now, the big screen looked as if it was right in front of us just steps away. similar open rear door for "open air" viewing... We always carried folding beach chairs, so we had seats if we wanted upright seating. But for the first time, it was a mattress leaned up against a cooler in the shape of a slope for laying back and viewing the large screen comfortably. Now, that was comfort, big uninterrupted sight lines and total privacy if we needed it. No one actually looked our way, but since our door was opened, it was open viewing time. Luckily, it was summer and the night air was warm. Comparing the two modes of drive-in movie viewing, the El Camino was first, so that was fun. The 327 powered 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery offered total privacy and the comforts of being indoors, so to speak, for comfortable viewing. Coolers full of stuff to drink/eat was our way of spending time together and not have to buy snack bar food. For us, it was every penny counted... YRMV
Boards on cars always look cool!! My non HAMB daily driver (1982 Grand Wagon) looks killer with a board on top.
Johnny Gray owned the Ford pickup we carried our boards in... he is the shorter guy.... guy with sunglasses is Tony Alagahni....
Hello, We have seen this old photo of the 34 custom Ford Sedan with the young Huntington Beach locals on top. I have located this color version of the photo and it looks as good as if it was taken three days ago. Except that the Golden Bear venue across the street is no longer there. It is unfortunate for those that used to frequent this very popular pier location. But, a lot of people call it progress. Those huge buildings across the street and along PCH just make it look unreal and awful. Jnaki Gone are the days of a small hamburger stand on the inland side of PCH or standing in line along PCH to get into the popular Golden Bear for a dinner show or two. There were lots of very loud rock and roll performers, like Janis Joplin in a group called Big Brother and the Holding Company. Singing at your dinner table and standing 3 feet away is a dinner/concert not to be forgotten. As far as surfboards, the average size was 9 feet with some boards going into the 12 foot range. One of the best and currently most sought after was a 11 foot 4 inch three stringer surfboard shaped by Phil Edwards. YRMV A typical summer day at the Huntington Beach Pier in 1961...
Hello, At our high school, there were a few surfers. We all knew each other when we saw the other down at the local surf spots from Seal Beach to Dana Point. It was fun as the farther away one is from home, the sight of a friendly face is always great confidence builder. We all used our own cars to get to the different surf spots. The High School had a good reputation for sports teams and the student body was very large for the times. The history was pretty good for the laurels of Long Beach kids. The 1949-52 Plymouth Station Wagon was popular as it was wide enough to sleep two comfortably and still had room for supplies for longer extended road trips. In the photo above, this one was parked outside of Dewey Weber’s Shop in Hermosa Beach, located in the Los Angeles South Bay coastline. My brother liked the station wagon and if we could have found a clean one, it would have been his daily driver. We had driven up to Dewey Weber’s shop to order a new surfboard. My brother was also in the market for a new lighter weight surfboard and the Weber shop had some very thin versions. The latest design back then was a thin, lighter weight longboard to be able to whip it around on a fast bottom turn and go across the wall to set up nose riding. It was a good idea and design, which sold a lot of boards. The 58 Impala was now sitting in the garage and our mom was the person driving it after we had the C&O Stick Hydro installed. I had my Flathead Ford Sedan Delivery and my brother was going through a series of cars, as if they tried their best to please him. For example, I did a story on a Jeep FC as an oddball choice of surf vehicles during this time period. Jnaki But my friends from high school always had their light green Plymouth Station Wagon at the local hot surf spots along the coast. If more friends went along, then the longboards had to be put on top. Station wagon wide set of 6 boards on top, side by side.
How about this rare Edsel Bermuda that is for sale here. . Bermuda is even etched in all four seat backs.
Hello, That girl is our age in 1961. Oh, the joys of being a teenager in the late 50s-early 60s! So, if she is still around, she is almost 80. A great athlete, so she might still be surfing. Ha! She was a high school surfer from Newport Harbor High School. She lived about several blocks from the high school campus. She liked the surf at the breaks in Newport, but during our time there, she was always at Huntington Beach pier, several miles up the coast. Back then, there weren’t as many girls surfing like there are today. Currently, almost every high school along the coast has a varsity surf team and part of the teams’ programs have a girls longboard and short board division. Those girls rip, just like the guys and their competition levels have gone up ten fold. Yes, the big surf contests had a girls/women’s divisions and the top noted surfers usually won. But some of the best surfers along the coast were in the hot surf spots, but did not compete. For example, she (the girl in the film) hung around with some of our friends from Newport. When they came to Huntington, she was right there in the middle of the action. We surfed together at the Huntington Beach Pier from 61-62 all summer. Went to several local surf movies. When we went inside, her friends from Newport always whistled and made a commotion that was funny. She was like a “star” and instantly recognizable. Plus, she liked my Flathead 40 Ford Sedan Delivery. “It was unusual” and looked cool with the surfboards sticking out of the back window. When we arrived, her friends made sure she got notoriety in the auditoriums. It was like being with a "star" and all that goes with being a part of the "scene." Cat calls, whistles and hoots! But, when the big name, championship surf contest arrived at the end of the summer, we piled into one of our station wagons, or vans and headed to Trestles to surf with about 5 other surfers. So, where were all of the surfers? At the Huntington Beach Pier following the championship action and crowds. The other spots along the coast were relatively empty. Dana Point inside cliffs, Killer Dana Cove breaks, Salt Creek and of course Trestles in Camp Pendleton. Everywhere we went, she was the most prominent surfer out in the water. Jnaki Plus, she was definitely, not bad to look at either. Yowza! In the waves of my surf movie, my friend is in front of her going towards the pier pilings on several waves. He got a calm voice to warn him of her coming down the wave. Later on, he got a ribbing from everyone, due to the fact that he rode almost every wave with her in front or usually behind. Shooting the pier was a “thing to do” and from the Northern side, it seemed easier than from the Southern side.
The Jalopy Journal
