View attachment 5981012 I was thinking about my ‘62 Mercury today. I inherited this car when my grandfather passed away down in Tucson back in ‘86, and I was the only one in the family who is into old cars at the time, so it went to me. I remember driving from Chicago down to visit him a few times when I was a kid back in the 70’s and I would always ask him, even though I wasn’t driving age yet, that he sell the ‘62 Meteor to me if he ever got a new car. Baby Blue wouldn’t have been my first choice, but it being a 2 door, with buckets and counsel, made up for it I guess. Anyway today I was thinking back in ‘86 this car would have only been 24 years old at the time. Hmmmm… that doesn’t really seem too old, but looked old and outdated at the time compared to new vehicles. I see 24 year old cars around me being driven every day, and they don’t look much different than a 2024 model to me. Also the fact that I have owned the car for 38 years as compared to the 24 years my grandfather owned it. Yup, feeling old! I have 5 sons, and the oldest 4 are definitely “car guys “, the youngest too young to know at this point. But I’m confident that great grandfathers car will be well taken care of in the future. I have the original 260 V8 on the engine stand in the shop right now for a freshening up, and my oldest jokes that I do a good job on the rebuild, as he will be driving it when I’m done.
"Feelings, nothing more than Feelings" - great to reflect on the past, and know that there is a future for your dreams through your kids.
I've been feeling old since my mid twenties when my oldest nephew took a liking to the car I was driving at the time (and still have) as a toddler and started talking about how he'd drive it one day. Long since decided that if I haven't given it to him by the time I keel over it'll get left to him lol
Great history and story. Having a Meteor is rare, having one with buckets and a console is more rare, and having the family history is priceless. My Cyclone has been with me for close to 56 years, not sure of it’s future when I’m gone, no kids.
My dads fathers car '39 Chevy Master Delux more door Grandad bought it new...dad learned to drive on it and it was promised to me by grandad picked it up in 1972 and the odometer has been over twice now
Pick your favorite son, and your least favorite son, and give them 2 of the cars. Let the other 3 duke it out...
In case you want to get even more nostalgic, this is the road to the Senior Center in Tucson..........
Here’s one a good friend found about 100 miles from him. He’s had it now about 2 years and not looking to let it go. A Meteor is like that red headed step child no one talks about.
Beautiful! I bet he doesn’t realize how hard it is to get parts for these. SOME cross over to the Fairlane, but most don’t. I’ve been looking for headlight buckets and a couple stainless exterior pieces , ect that are really hard to find.
I put another couple hours in on the engine today too. Gotta get this done and running so I can get my winter projects done on my other cars.
You’re fortunate to have elders in your family pass their cars down to you. My maternal grandfather died before I was born, and my paternal grandfather never owned a car, and never even learned to drive. Only one of my uncles had a car that I would have loved to have, but he sold it before I knew he was going to get rid of it. Nobody else in the family kept anything, always trading it off. I will inherit my dad’s pickup though, a 1994 Ranger he bought new. I’ll keep it only because it was his, it’s nothing special.
I really liked my grandmother's nice 37 Packard back when I was a kid and I was pissed after a visit... she had sold the car for $200 in 1962. when she did passed on in 1969 I had no interest in her clean 55 Ford Mordor sedan.
Ready to hit 79 and every morning I go by this salvage yard where my high school car a 53 Chevrolet Bel Air 2 door hardtop has been sitting since about 68-69? Over the years I have watched it get robbed of it's rare parts and physically deteriorate into disrepair to where it's almost unrestorable? I tried to buy it over the years but was told repeatedly (It's Not For Sale) It brings back memories but also make me feel as old as I am. Sad
My 61 Belair was Dads car and I inherited it when he passed in 2000, which means I’ve had it almost as long as he had it but he put way more miles on it. The car means so much to me cause of the memories and I will never part with it, ever. But no kids or relatives that are interested in cars mean I don’t know what will happen when I go. I guess I won’t be in a position to care.
I got a few junkyard recommendations that I have been to that may have your bits you are looking for in the past that have literally acres upon acres of classic vehicles. The first one is in central Cali and they ship for sure if I had to guess they are 70 to 90 acres of absolute old car chaos. It is 250 miles from me but if I happen to be going that way I will leave early or plan to stop there and make a half a day trip out of it all by itself. https://www.turnersautowrecking.com/ (needless to say it's called Turner's Auto wrecking in Fresno California) The next one I have been to only once. I bought my neighbor a rear window for his 68 Ford Torino GT It was probably 115° the day I went there but it was a great fun hot junkyard in the Az desert. https://www.dvap.com/ (in case the link is corrupt or something it's called desert valley Auto parts). The next junkyard is how you know I am a serious gearhead I saw it while on the interstate 70 and I turned around and went back for it and spent half a day drudging through snow with converse on to look at thousands of junk classic era cars. I ended up being a day late to my buddy's house in eastern Wyoming because of this place http://www.dwightsautowrecking.com/ (it is called Dwight's Auto wrecking it is in Sigurd Utah). The next one unfortunately I only had about a half hour to wander around, which needless to say a was not near long enough, just click on Google maps and use the satellite view and you'll see what I mean by "it wasn't long enough" but it is a place in Idaho called L&L Classic Auto it is in Idaho http://m.llclassicauto.com/?url=http://www.llclassicauto.com/#2804 this place is huge the other junk yards are giant but this place is probably close to twice the size of them I don't know a car count wise how much bigger it is but you could probably spend a full day at any of these wrecking yards that I just gave you the addresses to. Anyways I believe all of them ship but I'm not positive on that but hopefully this will help you and anyone else that is looking for oddball car stuff. I am the king of the oddball cars and I got serious in HS with the old stuff when Rod & Custom magazine was doing the dare to be different movement in the early to mid 1990s and I've always stuck to the principal of doing oddball cars because they stand out at a car show (compared to a 57 Chevy or a Mustang or a 59 Cadillac or something) so all of these junk yards have became great resources.
That is a very nice Chebby. Only around the clock twice... probably still has the factory GM hone marks in the cylinders . Made back when things were built to last or be repaired. Great to see one like this being driven as it should. Cheers, Harv
I know the ranger is not HAMB friendly so I will keep it short but it's a great truck my personal opinion it is the best of all the real minis. I always wanted to take a short bed banger stick Ranger (single cab) complete chassis (including the engine and trans) and put it underneath a 40 or 41 Ford pickup since they are about the same wheelbase and width and being a 40 ford body you could get all the parts for it, you would basically have a reliable and cool looking daily mini truck that gets stellar mileage that you could do junkyard runs in and still get into car shows. Just keep it quiet and never pop the hood in public lol.
I inherited my Dads 1956 Chevy pickup. He acquired it a year before i was born in 1959. It was the company truck when he went to work for a company in 1957. He worked there till he passed at the age of 83. And drove her to work nearly every day! [
Hello, Yesterday, when I was finishing the tractor story, I got a little nostalgic. My wife and I have always been on a full “together” mode since our days in college during 1966 to this day. Now, our son’s daughter will be a sophomore in college this coming fall semester. So, with the passing of time, we were both in a good spot remembering those times during his teenage years. The other thing was being amazed that his daughter was with us almost daily from 6 months to the high school years. Now, she is a ever inquisitive, college student making her own tracks to her possible future. When our son turned 15.5, we started looking for his own car. He was a great student, did little to study, but got great grades and was an outstanding artist, writer to boot. So, we thought he was going to be able to sit around in an ocean + harbor view condo later on in life. He could be writing novels, drawing his own characters and art work for his future job. A nice cushy job, we would all like to have, especially overlooking the Newport Beach Harbor just below and the ocean just one street away. He got great grades and was an excellent artist + prolific writer. So, we thought that was a direction he could pursue in college and beyond. No formal training, except for high school art classes and those required English and Advanced English classes. Now, as he is now an “older guy,” our thoughts are of our granddaughter, just now finishing up her first year of college. So, that really makes us “old folks…” But, those early years of his understanding of automotives may have fallen on deaf ears or involvement, at least he listened to what we were giving him for advice on his first car purchase. What would have happened if we had purchased the smaller, best insurance cost for a teenage driver compact level car? It would have saved us some money, but eventually, it worked out with the sedan we bought. We always think about the car we would have had: an 18k miles Mercury Comet just right for our son. @themoose version with ideas from me… thanks… A light blue 1962 Mercury Comet was sitting by the side of a road in our neighborhood. The sign said original owner, low miles, and it had a dent in the rear bumper. It was this light silver blue, completely stock and it was local. When I called the number, the man answered and said that his wife had owned it since 1962. It had 18k original miles. (30 years for the same owner) It was his wife’s car and she drove it to the store, shopping, etc. Wait, 18k miles divided by 30 years was 600 miles a year. Was that possible? The Comet was pristine except for that dent in the chrome bumper. But 600 total miles per year? (little old lady from Pasade….OC) It was similar 6 years later, when we sold my own mom’s Chevrolet sedan with 15k miles. The car was getting too large for her to handle, plus, she wanted a smaller 4 door sedan like her friends had. So, yes, there are low mileage cars still around. Jnaki That Comet had no visible oil leaks, easy to drive, it was very clean, even with a familiar “old lady” smell once the door was opened. Our plan was to leave it stock looking with the exception for new tires, and rims. I wanted to lower it for better road hugging, put on Moon Discs with blackwalls and tint the windows to give it some teenage attitude. My wife laughed at that one… my son appreciated my old hot rod/custom car accessory packaging, if we got the car. There were a few dents in each of the passenger side rims from parking hits on curbs, etc. Otherwise, it looked bulletproof, even with those cool small fins in the rear. We were all excited, but at the last minute, the man said he was going to give the stock looking Comet to his granddaughter in Arizona. Booooo… Note: But, practicality, meaning money/new car was an issue. He did not care what kind of car he got as his bank account had “car money” saved for years. The choices were old hot rod cars like a 55-57 Chevys, but our insurance agent told us that those cars for teenagers were some of the highest cost per car/per teenager in the industry. We asked what was the lowest… the answer was a two wheel drive pick-up truck…or a compact car. My son ended up with a different, low mileage, 4 speed, high performance car that met the discount insurance standard. Great mileage getter, a compact car and horsepower to boot. But, the separate insurance still got a big discount for the compact car. The small sedan lasted through college and after he got married and had plenty of mileage on the teenage car, he sold it to a close friend in need for $1.00. Where is it today? When last seen it was headed for Northern California still chugging along with almost 100k miles on it, we presume… YRMV Our granddaughter also has her own car, but fell into the lowest teenage insurance category with a small compact versus a large M-1 Abrams tank. our version of a protective rear view mirror image… YIKES!
Thanks for the story and pictures jnaki. I forgot about this thread. The Mercury I posted about is back on the road after the engine rebuild. I’m just getting all the other small repairs and maintenance done on it at this point. My wife, son and I are going on a run with some others from the H.A.M.B. next weekend (Wisconsin Hot Rod 100)Should be putting a minimum of 450 miles on my grandfather’s car next weekend! I won’t be winning any awards, and some people scratch their head why I love this old car, but I anticipate a great time!
Well, no matter how old you feel, there seems there is always someone older than you. I lost a friend last September, he wasn't a car guy, but he did storm the beaches at Normandie. He was 96 years old and in good health until the end. My son is into cars and has the original Plymouth Barracuda I bought new plus another we both restored. He will get my '57 when I'm gone. It has been in my possession since 1964. So the car's age and my year of ownership are all within the HAMB requirements. Nice story about your car. That's a cool car and deserves to be put back on the road.
[QUOTE="Atomic Reverend Alexander, https://www.dvap.com/ (in case the link is corrupt or something it's called desert valley Auto parts). It's been 10 years or so, but their south yard (an hour south of Phoenix?)had a really nice...."why the hell is this here"? Meteor on the top of a pile. At the time, I didn't know what it was, but sure liked it.especially the roof.
The Jalopy Journal
