My parents owened the Flower Shop and Greenhouses, on Cossell rd. Thats why everybody met at my house. I can't begain to tell of all the drags we had on that road, it's a wonder nobody got killed or hurt back then. Boy we were dumb but so much fun.
ever know a big guy named cogswell, i think thats how you spell it...he had some of the fastest cars...but i was alot younger then, didnt know alot of people..
I liked Al Green's. Their motto printed right on their T-shirts was "Al Green's Famous Food: Same day Service". I thought it was a joke till I went there with a buddy. Took 2+ hours to get 2 cokes! Glaciers were faster.
Yep Cogswell lived north of Michigan St and west of Tibbs. Here is a link to a neat essay about cruzin the pole <cite>www.***ociatedcontent.com/article/383206/my_drivein_cruising_summer_of<wbr>_1965.html - 57k - </cite> may take a copy paste to activate the link
The Pole is now a used van lot. I was there with about 10 years ago looking at a van. never knew the place has a ba*****t. Went down there and all of the resturant equipment is stored down there. What was the name of the drive-in on the north side of Indy? Was it called the Northwood, Northfield or something like that? It was either on North Meridan or maybe North Michigan Rd. My Mom used to be a carhop there in the mid to late fifties. My grandparents would take me to see her on the weekends in their 52 Ponitac coupe and then in their 57 Fairlane.
Perry Cogswell we were best of friends in the '60s, we would trade cars, one he had was a '53 Chevy with a small block, I had a '56 with a small block and 4 speed, we both would drive the hell out of each others cars. Went in the Army, got married lost track of everybody, sure do miss the old days.
We may have missed a ton of good times but we young guys didn't miss it all. Madison Avenue was still very happenin when I was in high school and so was Franklin. On weekends, we'd all drive down to Franklin and cruise the courthouse square revvin' and squeakin' until somebody gave the look. Then it was out to 31 or a country road to run em' off. We were doing that as late as 1989. I remember around 88, we were running to built 85 mustang GT's and the other car lost control and hit a tree head on. It was nasty. The driver hit the steering wheel so hard that he bent the wheel on both sides down to the column with his hands and he coughed up blood enough to be on the OUTSIDE rear window of the car. I pulled the p***engers teeth out of the dashboard for him. For you local guys, the p***enger was Big Jim from Cookie's body shop and the driver was his brother mike. I think Rusty Glidden was another of the local racers we ran. He had a white Saleen convertible that was no slouch. We typically ran in my cousin's 65 GTO with the 389 and 4-Speed. Rick and Terry Gregory had a monster Gold 77 Trans Am and a mean 79 Z28. I had a Red 68 Cougar GT-E (the 427 was blown when I bought it) so we were running a built 1971 429SCJ in it. That car was a monster too. It didn't get traction till around 65MPH. The drive-in on Southeastern Ave was called Dino's and it was there until the late 80's before it became some kind of outdoor patio furniture showroom.
Wasn't the car that Jimmy Hodges got killed in a 1965 Chevy with a 396 and a four speed that he had just bought that morning?
I think thats right, if I remember right--it was a high school graduation present, and the boys were runnin it down 56th street. Steve Sears and a guy they called chunky were in the car also. Hodges gave me my first "black eye" when we were kids. We got in a fight over a game of Marbles.--west siders will fight over anything! His was the first funeral that I ever went to for a friend, a sad day on the "west side"
The unoffical-official list of old Indy drive-in cruise spots. The Pole, Mug n Bun, Tee-Pee (south & North), Al Greens, Knobby's (keystone & Shadeland ),Blue Ribbon,Northwood,Chet's, Southwind, Southern Triangle, Steer-in,Hubbards, Ron-D-Vue, Jack n Jills,Merrill's Hi Decker, Steak n Shake (Lafeyette Road) Any Other Spots to add Dino's-added by GMC BUBBA Park-Eat-added by Speedwagen
"DINO'S" on Brookville road and 74 going into Wanamaker great place to race leve dinos and head down 74 toward cinci turn around and race back towards town.
The Steer-In is usually for sale but it survives still and has car shows in the summer time but they are always really small. We should invade it someday. The building for Dino's is still there too on Southeastern Ave.
Actually Barb and I eat dinner at the steer-in this summer , prety good place to eat.......... Almost as good as Texas Roadhouse.....
My buddy Hunch and I traveled to the east side one Saturday night to track down a reported bad runnin' big block ford that was rumored to haunt the Steer-In. Nothin like going to the other side of town to score another twenty bucks and gain some bragging rights, but on this Saturday night the big Ford was a NO SHOW. On the way back to the Pole we stopped at a Root Beer stand on Morris street where there was another rumored big block Ford that was owned by some cat from the valley they called "White OWL".Another wasted stop, so we decided to take our twenty bucks back to the Pole and had a couple of those cheeseburgers that they made with nasty cheese whiz, and waited till next Sat. There was talk about a gold 57 Chevy Wagon with a big block that was floating around, maybe it would be our next target.
i remember them days at supershops Madison Avenue, back then i had a quick maverick, and then my 64 fairlane, blue with blk tinted gl***, and a white tear drop hood...i remember a girl the had a hot 69 chevelle, thet had a plate on it that said if you can beat me you could eat me
This is the North Side Tee Pee adjacent to the Indian State Fair Grounds. It was another spot on the Saturday night cruise circuit. The Cop at this spot didn't care much for Hot Rodders or Bikers. I was "encouraged" to leave a couple of times.So back to the Pole we would GO. You gray beards remember what people thought of Hot Rodders--Hoodlums and the dreaded juvenile delinquents. What was society coming to!
It was all you old hooligans that ruined it for the younger bunch like my self(39 years young here)....keep the stories coming...
The "Barn" was always a good spot to chase chicks, but with 4:56 gears, we usually took a slow poke ride to make the trip South to the Barn. We did put together a caravan of drag cars from the Pole on a Saturday night and made the trip south to Whiteland to take on the Dillman's Ford super stock car, and any thing else they had--and they came with as many street g***ers as we had.--South Side Cats loved to race! Some how they got access to an air field in the area, and the race was on. It got so nutty that Cars were running both directions at the same time. I was riding shot gun in a 34 Dodge pick up with an Olds engine if I remember right. We were running against a 52 ford that was a street g***ser with the straight axle and a flip up dog house. and after he had gave us a run for the money---he flipped up the dog, and it was a stinkin 6 banger--made me a believer in inline motors. We all won some and lost some that night, but the Dillman Ford got to remain the king of the hilll for another Saturday night.
I believe Steve Dillman still has the same Ford, and still race's it. He just retired from the Fire Department not to long ago.
Before the Dillmans would run that Saturday night, they made a big deal out off setting the valve lash--That was the first time I saw a P&G vale gapping set up in action--heck in Haughville a set of feeler gages was NASA style equipment.
This is the Mug N Bun on west 10th Street Its still open, and it's still good stuff. This is one of the places you could go to as a new driver and practice your "drive in" parking skills. When you went to the Pole you wanted to be able to backer in smooth, with the cam loping (if you had one, if not pull a plug wire an try to simulate a lope) The first time I parked at the Mug N Bun with a learners permit, I was in an ole 6 cyl Chevy. I parked next to a 40 Ford coupe that had the Hood off. It was sporting a flattie with 3 strombergs. The tall lankey kid that drove the 40 was called Bilbee. He was not impressed by my ole chevy, but as the years went on we became life long friends.--and he still has the 40 Bilbee's Law keep your friends and your Rods too.
Even though I sold it back in August, I still have the Yantiss Econoline with the sbf that will supposedly pull the front wheels. He said the engine came out of Ed Martin's Comet. It's light blue. I dunno if anyone remembers it?
does anybody remember martins sunoco at 16th & arlington?....there was chevy II drag car that used to set out front called "popin fresh" it had the pilsbury doughboy on the side......................
I don't remember the Chevy II with the doughboy on the outside, but here is one of my old II's that had a doughboy inside. The Corvette Hood that was grafted on, and the deep sump pan gave away what was going on under the Hood. I had another one of these II's that was brush painted burgandy. It had black steel wheels with no hub cabs, and a missing front bumper. It was purposefully ugly (except for the 327, 4spd, 4:11 drive line) You could easily get a run in this ole SLEEPER. Here is how you did it. You get a parking spot at the Pole and wait till some pretty boy rolled in with his honey and shinny stocker.You would say what a nice car that was, and how much you liked it,--gosh if I had a ride like that, maybe I could get a date with a fox. I bet that thing runs--huh? (of course he would say yeah, the chick was listening....Then the sting--Man I would be willing to loose $20 just to see that baby run---Then when you fired up, you hope that the crackling of the headers doesn't scare em off.
this would have bee late 60's early 70's....it was my granpa's sunoco station.......i was just a kid.....there was always hot cars in and out of there grandma bought a new 70 442 w/ram air.....grandpa use to run the shiit out of it...remember him sitting in the driveway power braking it..hahaha probably why i still use bb olds motors today...anyway, back to the indy memories i remember al greens tried reopen back in the early 80's.....didnt last long....
1967 my uncle owned the Gulf at Keystone and Raymond street. Tons of racers in the neighborhood. Interstate 65 was just some new concrete and actually was closed at the time ( new) and ended at Thompson road. Great place to race. Seen the Emerson Bros anglia pogo car run down there one night. Some great times had by all.... Camaros, chevelles , road runners,novas, hemis, 63 fords and chevy impalas. Pretty good mix of tire smoke....
Where's Tom Culbertson ? I know he's lurking and he has some great stories to share about Indy. C'mon Tom, get outta hiding !
The Jalopy Journal
