History I'm curious-How long you been at this??

When I was brought home from the hospital, my mother and I were picked up in a 64 chevyII four door, when I was two months old, my dad took me to the local dragstrip, I got my first car at age 12, and I hav'nt slowed down in 27 years and I'm 39 now! I love this stuff, I'm an automotive painter and I work on late model cars all day long and I come home everyday and work on my old model stuff nearly everyday!(The day's that I dont work on anything after work, I don't feel right! If that tells you anything!) I learn something new just about everyday! Thanks for this thread, Stretch.

 

Dad used to take me to the *Carpinteria Thunder Bowl when I was a little guy in second grade.

I was the only kid in the whole darned school with a black and yellow lettermans jacket complete with Thunder Bowl and Lady Luck patch sewn on.

The sexy Lady Luck patch used to bug my 2nd grade teacher, but she was smart and didn't say anything.

Came home from the maternity home in a 32 Ford Phaeton.
Sister came home from the same place in a chopped 36 Ford five window . . . probably one of the first chopped cars in California.

*Carpinteria is SoCal beach community south of Santa Barbara on Hwy 101.

 

I had older brothers that gave me the bug. There were always 49 through 51,, Mercs everywhere,, I used the hoods for sleds in the winter.. Bought my first car at age 12 for $12.50,,, A ,,42 Ford 2 door sedan... My parents didn't have a clue until I drove it home... All-was had rods ever since... I'm 59,,,

 

Im 30 and got started with my first car about 5 years ago...

 

im 21 got my start with models at age 5 never used the directions i had asthma and missed alot of school so choppin up model cars was a way of life,slot cars ,ho's,hot wheels,stock car races ,and drag racing and my dad saying he could pop wheelies in his 50 chevy work truck were all insration!built my first mini bike in 2nd or third grade (motor & the bike)then it was go carts,stingrays.then chopper bikes with working springers.
had my first car when i was 14 and never looked back.

to be continued::::

 

Played with the usual hot wheels as a kid. Had the figure 8 track and the drag strip, actually still have them both. Would beg my mother at 12-14 years old to take me to the local cruz area in ElCajon. (2nd Avenue I think it was called) My Dad was overseas on board ship so it was my Mom and her girlfriends that would cruzn me around. At 14 I started dating a guy with a cool Mustang and he would take me cruzn.

Moved to Detroit on my 15th birthday and would only date boys with cool cars. At 16 I bought my own car with babysitting money, a '68 Camaro convertible and I've never looked back. I've never not had a cool convertible in my life.

16 was a very long time ago

C9's post reminded me to add I came home from the hospital in a '56 Oldsmobile

 

i've been at it this long...


35 years and counting.
turned 'PRO' in 1990, took a little break some years later, went back to full time mechanic work in '02, opened the shop in dec. 07

its just in the blood.

 

I'm 30 and i've loved old cars since i can remember. Going to the strret rod nationals to helping my dad scrape paint off of one of his 55 chevys. Been a long timeitseems we have been doing this but i can't think my dad enough. Times have changed a litttle though from me caring the light around the cars that he painted in a small one car garage to now i just painted his car and he was mixing paint for me. That was a heck of a fealing me painting my dads personal car that he's keeping and telling me that it looks great. so any way i've been at it for some time now and now we are own shop to build cars full time.

 

im 31 started messing with Nashs and Hudsons in about 1990. I thought I was a "Greaser"

 

Wheels were square and made out of rocks

 

R U sure you're 21? You don't look a day over 20

 

46 this year, grew up in CAR CRAZY 1960s California, first word was "car." Pedal cars and Tonkas first, then bike, then models at age 7 (dad taught me how), Motorific set in 1967, Aurora slots in 1969 (Golden Gate set, pre-AF/X), Rod & Custom addict starting with Feb '71 issue which I still have with Niekamp roadster on cover, Hot Wheels, more models (1,000s by now), neighbors built two '65 Falcons for drag racing in 1968 and one had a FE, dad was into British sports cars, bought first car from next-door neighbor (67 SS 350) and rodded, raced it at Sears Point grudge nights, cruised all over Bay Area hot spots. Bought every car mag and hundreds of books over the years and still have almost every one. Collect AMT, Revell, Monogram vintage car kits and even build one once in a while just for the hell of it.

Bought another '67 in '99, an RS/SS 396. Bought the '55 last year 'cause I always wanted that Revell '55 gasser kit in REAL LIFE. Want a '28-40 Ford someday. Love American Graffiti and love to learn hot rod/drag/custom history.

Great site here.

 

WOW, that pic looks like me and my sister from the same era!

 

I'm 45, been into hotrods since I was 4 or 5 years old. I have no idea where my fascination comes from as no one in my family was into cars at the time.
I got my first car at 14 ('35 Chevy Master Deluxe 2-door sedan) and haven't looked back.

 

I think around 1964 when I was 9 there was a 61 or 62 Corvette that used to go by my parents house on a trailer. The car was a used for drag racing and the name stuck with me. It was called Tiny Mite. I remember seeing stacks through the hood and a straight front axel. I really didn't know what it was at the time but I knew it was cool as hell ,so I ve been into hot rods since .

 

I'm 48,and was told I was crawling around on the floor making car sounds at 1 1/2 yrs old. I used to collect bottles to buy Car magazines and CARtoons,at the local liquor store in my wagon. A toy store in Hunington Park,caught on fire and my mom bought ALL the damaged ones for me,when I was about 9,and that's when I started building models.
First memory of a real car was riding in my older brother's Candy red,58 Impala. He used to take me to Lions Drag Strip all the time!
Spent many hours at Ed Roth's shop and home,around his cars and stuff,cause he and his wife were my Godparents. My mom used to drop me off at the Great Western Exibit hall in Commerce,and would sit in Ed's booth and roam around the show til they closed the doors,then sit outside and wait for my dad to pick me up. Got my first ride in a chopped,49 Mercury at 7,maybe 8yrs old. Somebody who Ed knew. He would put my Schwinn Stingray in the truck and take me home. I can remember it like it was yesterday!!!
Never had another hobby,besides cars. Never wanted another one!
First set of wheels,66 Chrysler Imperial,Crown Coupe. Til the tranny went out and my dad sold it! Then it was VW's for about 10years.

The pic on the right is my dad and my sister,1955. He always dressed like that,but usually had black boots on.
The pic on the left is with my sister and his 58 New Yorker,1965.

 

I started with model cars at 6, subscribed to R&C by 10. Dad worked in a Chev dealer and I hung around there every chance I could. Bought all the little books and big ones, and knew "everything" about hot rods by 12. I'm 59 now and still dragging this old stuff home as fast as I can.

 

I hope this is not inappropriate, but what's your brother up to these days? Still into cars?

 

I am 55. For me it was around 1960 . A guy my grandpops worked with in lawndale had a 58 Impla roman red, wide whites,bellflowers,on the ground, and that was all it took, My great uncles were all car guys bit older, Grand pops would take me to the Barris shop and I would watch thru the big window before they boarded it up. My grand pops ran around with bobby meeks the flat head king.
So when I had to move to oregon in 68 I was over the top. My uncle had a wrecking yard in rainier ore so I and my new cuz was the luckest guys alive. My uncle Hershel who owned the yard had a big influence on me and my life. He know longer remembers most of us due to his age.but thanks anyway.

 

I'll be 66 in September...still have my first Car Craft, Nov 1957. No one in my family worked or played with anything automotive. They still wonder what they did that made me turn out so "different".
Made my hobby my business, (several) sold my last, Rod 'n Race Fiberglass a year ago. Have had street rods, customs, a 1930 Rolls Royce Limo with a 440, drag cars, a '34 dirt track modified and now looking forward to completing the Fiat comp coupe and goin' fast a few more times before I can't see the end of the strip.

 

Im in my 50s and have been doing this since i was 15.

 

I was hooked the first time I ever saw a hot rod, probably at 4 or 5. Started building models soon after, with Dad's help at first. Dad also started giving me driving lessons by 10 or 11, out on country roads. Having that head start probably kept me from killing myself the first couple of years I drove legally because like most boys, I was kinda' wild. But at least I could handle a car pretty well. I've never had a serious accident or any at all in the last 30+ years. Dad also took me to my first dirt track race, first drag race, some road racing back in the first days of the Trans Am series and to the greatest race of all, the Indy 500.
I got my first car about '69 not long before I got my license. It was an $80 '56 Chevy, ran good, looked decent. I drag raced and later raced dirt track stockers Then I gave up the hardcore stuff to raise a couple of great kids who are now great adults and of whom I am damned proud. Now ol' grandpa is playing again. I occasionally autocross my old Vette or just blast it down the strip to get my jollies. I'm also building the Model A of my dreams and just taking it easy, making a few bucks working on cool stuff for other folks.

 

Well,it's like this...When his engagment broke off he moved to Chicago to get away from the family!!!!
Go figure!!!
I hear from him every now and them,but he never talks about cars.

 

Groucho, you are too much! Good question raised.
Age five I asked my old man why not make a car using many different pieces...so you could have just what you wanted. At eighteen I registered the avatar pic, and ran it for 18 years. Sold it, got responsible...then durn if twenty years later, I get the bug all over again! So time to begin building a rod for the years to come. The new '31 will be up to date, hopefully as much fun as the first one was.

 

I'm 61 and I don't remember not being interested in cars. I made my older sister take me down to the dealerships to see the new cars in '55. Nobody in my family was into cars, not even my dad, although he did have a thing for Buicks. I picked this car thing up by myself from the pages of Hot Rod and Rod & Custom in the late '50s. I built models and read every car magazine I could get my hands on. I used to have to sneak off to the stock car races with my buddy and his dad. My dad didn't approve of racing. At 17 I drag raced my first car, a stock '54 Chevy. It was slow as hell but I was racing! I joined the Navy because I knew sooner or later I'd end up in San Diego and, in those days SoCal was where it was at for drag racing and hot rodding. I built a '57 Chevy with a 350 and 4 - speed. Then I started doing race photography and over the next 25 years I photographed all kinds of motorsports all over the west.

Now I'm married to a woman who is more of a "car guy" than most guys. She's as into cars and hot rodding as I am and we're having a great time.

 

I'm 33 and Hot Rods have been part of my entire life. Dad was/is into cars and I would tag along as he went to shops and rod runs. I had Hotwheels when I was two, moved to plastic models and then had my 1st car at 15. Sad thing is I'm still buying the Hotwheels, models, and pedal cars.

Every other hobby I have somehow can be linked to cars: music, vintage furniture, pinups, etc, etc.

Finally, I work for a rental car company, so even at work I'm around cars.

 

just turned 54 the 19th.started with models about 8 or 9.had a paper route in jr high and part of high school, bought a 64 chevelle ss in 68 or 69,then a 67 nova ss,327 -4-speed 488 rear gears....thought i was bad ass with that car,but in reallity i ran out of gear it seemed like in about 75 feet.lots of muscle cars after that,then had to have an anglia in 73 and have had street rods ever since

 

This was my first gas powered ride, cir 1965, I was 13.
This was a Sutter Jr High project that my dad got involved with.
He worked as a machinest in aerospace so he would bring home all this cool stuff, stainless nuts and bolts etc.
This got me started and I'm still having a blast.

 

i,m 36 been into toys cars anything with wheels since i could walk mom and dad were farmers cars were just to get to point a to point b. but they are more to me.

 

I'm 31. Been in it since day one.