Folks Of Interest What did your dad drive?

My dad had a 35 Ford phaeton that he got when he was 15, and later sold to a friend for $15. At the time I was born he was driving a 47 Plymouth convert, that is what I got toted home the hospital in. When I was a kid in the 60's, he had a 62 Corvair Spyder convert as a daily driver. Then he picked up a Deuce 4 door minus the engine. He found a flathead in a 48 pickup that he put in it. Then he bought a 51 Siata Daina convertible coupe with a shot motor and damaged front end for $200. This was an all aluminum, limited production Italian sports car. He bought a totaled 66 mustang fastback from the junkyard for parts for $300, pulled the 4 bange from the Siata, moved the firewall back 18", welded in frame rails to tie the front and rear subframes together, welded in the floor from the mustang, dropped in the 289/4 speed, and the mustang seats and carpet fit perfectly. Poor mans Cobra, it was very light and fast. Then he restored a 49 Plymouth convert, (that I still have). Then a bunch of corvairs in the 1980's on.

 

My dad drove a pickup truck. He was a farmer and didn't spend money on frivolous things. For most of my teens, he drove a 65 base Dodge D100 pickup with slant 6 and 3 on the tree. I did not get my car bug from my Dad.

On the other hand, my uncle was a Chrysler Plymouth dealer and I did get my car bug from hanging around the dealership in the 60's. That plus Hot Rod Magazine and Popular Science.

 

Mom sitting on the hood of dad's Shoebox. 1959


Dad sitting in his shoebox

 

Two of the several that we have photographic evidence of including my 56. Many other stories of other cars including a 55 Bel Air post which I surrrrre wish he would have kept!

 

Dad’s High School ride in the mid 30’s. 1913(?) Touring. Courted Mom in it...She must have liked it!

 

First car I can recall was a 1950 Chevrolet, not sure if it was a two for four door. I loved the back seat in that car, great for sleeping. Felt terrible when he traded it for a 1959 Pontiac (Canadian) Strato Chief. Very unlike my father it was a purple colour four door. One memory from that car was when he replaced the exhaust and the whole thing fell off. I had no idea he knew swear words like that!!

The last HAMB era car with a 64 Pontiac Laurentian which my poor mother managed to demolish.

Some great family memories. Thanks for sharing your stories

 

Dad had a 34 V-8 Ford before he had this (36, I think); He said it was the first car he owned that would run 100 mph. Said it would go a lot better than it would stop.
Second picture is kind of a joke, but he owned and rode horses til the day he died.

 

My dad's first ride. 1937(ish) John Deere Model B. Pic was around 1943.

1958 Plymouth Savoy. He had a '40 Ford earlier, but sadly there's no pictures of that. Mom's 50 Ford in the background.

 

My dad got a new ‘38 Chevy coupe for a high school graduation present.

 

In 1962, my stepdad had this 1958 300D, a former Bill Harrah car, which he taught me how to drive in.

 

Dad had a few cars from all over the place (although now that I think of it, I don't recall any Mopar). Think his first was a '54 Nash Metropolian, which when I saw it for the first time was so wild. He also I think had a Pontiac Parisianne, a Beaumont or two, and a '63 Corvette that may or may not have had the split window. Think he sold that one when I came along. Whoops.

 

When Dad was dating my Mom, he was driving a 1937 Ford Tudor Slantback. Mom had a picture with her sitting on one of the fenders and him standing beside her. The car looked to be in beautiful shape, I asked my Dad what he did with the car, he replied-sold it for $50.00, he said that thing was so ugly and he hated it. At that point I realized that any old car was going to be worth money.

 

For some reason I' ve wanted to avoid it.
Anyway here goes Father, every thing he could get his hands on.
There exists. somewhere, a photo of a hay wagon, loaded and carrying his Dad and some Uncles, pulled by a tractor, with eleven year old father driving.
Model Ts, Model As, Banger Chevy, 30s Chrysler, Desoto, 40s Plymouth,
In 45 he and my uncle founded te Abington Taxi Cab Co. they ran a 39 Buick and then three 46 Chevrolets.
Nash, any make he could get cheap to flip, 50s Studebaker, Rambler.
Ford dump body, 50 Willys Wagon several Model As, Pepsi Cola truck, 59 Rambler American
60s Mack tractor flatbed, Dodge Tractor Oiltanker, 57 3800 Chev Panel, UPS Tractor/trailer,
61 Dodge slant6 Lancer, Mustang 271 horse, 50 Dodge, 67 Ford SW and last 69 LTD Brougham
In that order.
Pops, my stepdad began 38 DeSoto, 46 Plymouth cpe, 53 Dodge, 51 Harley Servicar, 53 Ford,
56 Dodge, 65 Chevelle Wagon, 69 Impala, 71 Dodge, 84 E350, and last 85 Buick LeSabre.
They were both bad influences.

 

I didn't learn this until after I bought my 41 Plymouth. My grandad bought my dad a 41 business coupe when he went off to college. He ended up failing the draft physical and going home to work on the farm. In my memory, my dad always drove a Dodge pickup. The 65 D100 he had was a slant 6, three on the tree with AM radio. It was a farm truck and that is what I learned to drive in. Later, he bought a 4WD Dodge but my dad never drove or owned any cool cars during my life. I grew up dating in a Plymouth Fury station wagon. Sigh.

 

My great grandfather bought a 1964 Impala straight from the factory in 1964 and had it Delivered to Harken Chevrolet here in town. It was a radio delete car was a “three on the tree” and had a straight 6. Shown is a photo of the car in about 1971.

When he passed in late 1971 my grandfather inherited the car. It then went through numerous paint schemes and on many family vacations. It even pulled a 23 ft camper through the hills of Tennessee once. Shown in the photo below is the car in a light blue and white paint scheme with flames! Grandpa’s midlife crisis was probably to blame.

While grandpa did still drive the car to work and back, my dad also took it to college in the late 80’s and early 90s. By this point it was dark blue and white and so rusted out underneath that it had the optional and highly rare “floating rear end”. The Fran got to the point where it was unsafe to drive so grandpa drove it back to his field and shut it off.

Fast forward about 25 years to 2014. I decided to restore the car with help from my grandfather and dad at the age of 9.

By 2020 the car was completed and ready to carry me back and forth to high school in its original paint scheme. It retains a straight 6 albeit it a later model 250 and the original transmission. The car is now pushing 270,000 miles.

So to sum up, the car my dad drove, was the car that his dad drove, which was also the car that his dad drove. Just wait till I pass it on to my kids!

 

My father thought cars were to get you to work and back, period. He bought the
cheapest 4 door whatevers he could find. My Mom decided to get her own car
and bought a 62 Corvair convertible. After that until she retired, it was V8 powered
Chevelle or Malibu hardtops. Guess who I used to talk cars with??

 

When I was a kid my dad had a new, black 57 Ford Fairlane. I can still hear the V8 rumble and the sight of the three-on-the-tree shifter. I spent a lot of time riding in his lap, steering and shifting (with some help from Dad)!

 

You drove a hot rod Lincoln, didn’t you. He he.

 

During The War Dad bought a '39 Ford. After the war he put a new crate motor in it & a truck clutch, Mom said it was either in gear or out. That was long before I was around. When I was little Mom had a '65 Galaxie, last new car they bought. Dad had a '60 Ford & a '59 Willys Jeep station wagon for hunting. Everything else was too new for here.

 

1955, '56, '57, my dad drove the 1932 2dr in my avatar that he's "barnstorming" on.

My mom and dad would tell the story about my dad (with mom... and me in the "oven") attempting to pass a big truck on a two-lane road in the old Ford. When they were almost past the truck, the driver started moving to the left to pass the vehicle in front of him! Mom and dad and I and the sedan were now heading down the shoulder of the road and in danger of going into the ditch! My dad's car didn't have a horn, but it had dual straight pipes. He pushed in the clutch and revved the shit out of the engine. My mom said that the truck driver looked over with a surprised look on his face and quickly got back over. And Mom and Dad and as-yet unborn Rickybop were saved.

... not to mention a perfectly good 1932 Ford!

 

A 1950 Olds 88 but the one I rember most a 1956 Ford custom 2 door post didn't even have a passenger sun visor or arm rest but did have a 312 and overdrive

 

My Dad's FIRST car was the '32 Ford 5wd Coupe he purchased when he was just 17 (almost 18) years old:

1954 (Beach, North Dakota): Purchased car (less 4-banger engine) from original owner for $40


1955 (Beach, North Dakota): The beginnings of a HOT ROD ... channeled (6" in front, 8" in rear) ... 331ci Chrysler HEMI


1957 (North Dakota): Chopped 2.5" ... chrome accessories ... Lancer hub caps ...
Black & White tuck 'n roll upholstery (by "C.A. HALL Auto Tops" shop in Oakland, CA)


September 1958 (Oklahoma City, OK): At the ’58 Nats, the car ran in the “B ALTERED COUPE” class ...
It wasn’t the coupe’s best performance … could only muster a 13.40 ET with a top speed of 107 MPH.


1963 (Fremont, CA): New "driver" (me @ age 2).​

Dad passed away in 1990 ... but to this day, his FIRST car remains in the family (i.e., I'm the current caretaker of his "HEMI32" Coupe).

 

looks like a 1948 Chevrolet

 

What did my dad drive?

A hard bargain.

 

No photos but my first distinct memory is sitting in the back of Dad's '64 1/2 Mustang convertible next to the driveway at the house I'm in right now. I would have been about three.

He had '50 Mercs, and a Sunliner, and everybody had a Bug, and many others I'm sure.

 

Having owned Buicks for most of my adult life, I think your Dad knew a good car when he saw one!

 

'63 Galaxie 500, '68 VW bug, '73 Satellite Sebring, '74 Duster, '76 Ford Granada...probably others, but those are the ones I remember...

 

Look at this, wow man

 

My dad put the car bug in me
as a child growing up in the sixties, I spent a lot of time with him
I was his helper, as he did home improvements, Windows, siding and such

Worked with him on weekends and every summer

He had a 1961 Willys wagon two wheel drive w/OD he used for work
we would pull the seats for work then put them back in for the family on weekends.

I fondly remember every late summer when we were done working on the way he would stop at all the new car dealers to see the new cars for next year.
that was really kool

Then there was the 1957 White Eldorado convertible with “polished aluminum wheels” in a used car lot, it was his dream car
Mom put the kibosh on that one!

in the 70s when he could no longer buy new Willys wagons he became a Dodge man
he gave the Willys to me,
I drove it through high school, wish I still had it