History Early cars- how it all began for me

This may be slightly off-topic, but it is relivant twards the end. If it does not belong here, please delete it.

I grew up around cars, I think that is the main or possible soul reason that I am so indulged in old cars today. Only the cars I grew up around were not hot rods, street rods, muscle cars or even stock 50's cars. They were Model T's.
My Dad found a 1923 Touring car one day. It was rough. He bought it with the full intent on building a T bucket out of it. This was the early 80's, I was just born, and my Dad was younger than I am now. He got the car home and his Dad (Gramps) went over to the house to check it out. Gramps worked at an engine rebuild shop his whole life, but was never really into cars. Gramps was ironicly born in 1923, same as this sorry T. His first car was a Model T, although I do not know the year. Gramps started telling him stories, showing him how the cars worked, what a great design they were and such. My Dad really got into it, and decided to restore it.
Work began and I turned from infant to little kid. I do slightly remeber My Dad bulding that ol T in his garage. As he restored it, he learned about them from older T guys, and by looking at restored T's to figure out what went were, and how they worked. Gramps found a key to his orriginal T and gave it to my Dad. That is now the key to the car.







Thats me in the front seat





He joined the Model T club, was even president a couple years. We drove that car up to Canada once, had all of or stuff tied to the running board. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillys That car was a car I grew up in. My friends new my Dad as "the guy with the Model T".





Somewere after the Touring was done, he decided to build a depo-hach. He rebuilt a T chassis and built the body. I do remember playing on this car as a kid. All the kids in the pictures are me.







He also got into Model A's. He had a sedan and a coupe, I don't really remember those as he did not have them long. But he did own a 31 slantwindow 4 door that was our "all weather car". It was an old orriginal and we drove it everywere. I remeber around Christmas he strung up lights and decorations and My mom, Dad, Brother, Sister and I would drive the car around looking at Christmas lights. He sold it a few years ago and wished he had this car today.






The reason to this post is this: I always grew up around old cars. Stock Model T's and Model A's. I belive this is one reason why I have such a soft spot for old non-restored cars, orriginal cars and such. I love chopped highboys, but also built my Coupe more on the mild side. I just can't get enough of cars like that. The way they were. I guess it really is in my blood. My dad still has the touring, it lives in a shed and it gets driven every now and then. The Depo-hach is completly torn apart and stored...I am thinking of buying the running chassis to put MY 23 touring body on and building a very early "GOW JOB" Model T.
My Dad now has a lot of cars- T's, A's, and a lot of early V8 cars. He is still mostly a "stocker" kinnda guy, but also likes the hopped up stuff as well.

 

So cool, Chris. The pictures are fantastic. It completely fits here in my opinion.

 

Chris, Your Dad is an outstanding chap!You're very LUCKY having a Dad that cool, he gave you the right start in life and instilled the passion in your blood at an early age.
Great Man, just great.
I also think that this thread is in the right place.

Nick.

 

Interesting thread.
My grandpa was born in 1902 and he always said his first car was a 1917 Model T Roadster which he gave fifty bucks for. He ended up letting his father drive the T and he turned it upside down and busted the windshield out so grandpa ended up selling the car.
I wonder if any of it's components are still around or if they bit the dust in the infamous WWII era scrapdrives which spelled the end for so many early rides.
Wp

 

he,s proud of you I bet,thanks for sharing

 

Good stuff Chris! I was great talking cars and dads with you yesterday.

 

Chris- Really cool background story. Mine is very similar so I can relate to having a passion for original early cars. I have to imagine that there is a lot of guys on this site that have restored cars and are also into rods. That could be a post of it's own! I'm currently doing an original 31' roadster and a chopped 30' coupe with a flathead at the same time (slowly).

 

You too, good luck with your banger project

 

GREAT story. I dig reading stories like this. Isn't it amazing how many of us have been lifelong carguys? whether we liked it or not. I remember getting sooo mad at Dad for spending too much time building Cars then playing in the dirt with me. Then, when I tired of little HotWheels, I was the one that never saw daylight. Always in the garage or in someone else's. Now my Dad plays in the dirt(gardening). what a switch! We laugh about it all the time. Thanks..Chris

 

I think its really cool to have young folks like yourself primed, trained, and influenced by great guys like your dad to "take over" and continue to carry the traditional torch as us geezers fade slowly from the scene. It is really comforting to know that you and your brothers in kind will "be there" when we're gone. Thanks for a great post.

 

Thanks Chris, really nice to see the before and after photos of the '23 T Touring. My Grandfather bought a twin to it new, and about 6 months ago I found the key to it.

 

Yeah, my brother is just as into it as I am. My Dad is one of those guys who knows a little something about everything, so no matter what were working on, he always has a solution if we run into a problem. Comes in handy with old cars

 

You are a cool guy with a cool Dad......Priceless!!!

 

Great read Chris. So your dads to blame for yer addiction eh! hehe
Hats off to yer folks for raising you right, I'm trying to do the same with my kids. Its over already, their sick with what we got!
My dad always told me stories of a '60 Starliner he had bought new, saying he was racing it all over the place. It was set in my mind as a kid that I would get one someday. Well I got one finally just before x-mas, gonna do a number on it for my dad. He'll be stoked when I take him for a cruise in it in a few months.
Dads rule!!

-Shiny

 

My dad is the reason for my hotrod sickness and my son is showing signs too

 

Great to have the pictures to with the story. You are lucky to grow up like that.

 

Great thread!! Along with pix & story!!----------Could have been a ditto story years ago with my son & me!! (1962).-----------Don

 

Thanks everyone for the kind comments. It's wierd to think what my ol man started the day he drug that T home. He had no idea the impact it would have on his or his familys life. I have met the greatest people in the world through ol cars.

 

ok I have no idea about Ts at all. What kind of brakes do they have, I was staring at your pics and can't figure it out.

Great story man, very on topic, very much hot rod related, because if your dad wasnt into them and say was into piano, well maybe you wouldve been the 21st century Bach instead.

thanks for sharing man

 

PoPo,
They have one brake...in the transmission. The thing everyone knew about T's was if you were going up or down a hill and heard a big BANG (tranny blew), put er in the ditch or bail off cuz you aint stoppin!!!

 

k thanks man. I have never rode in a T. and guess i'll keep it that way.

 

your dad is cool

"man I was really looking forward to applebee's"

 

Naw, everyone should ride in one at least once. They are so wierd to drive...yet so simple.
When I went to prom I had my Dad drive my date and I in the T, he was dressed all 20's looking. Everyone was in limmos and such, and here we pull up in the T

 

Everyone should get a ride in a stone stock T, better yet drive one! My daughter was sitting in my 1912 one day when she was 6 years old, and said "Dad, my feet can reach the pedals!". That ment she was old enough to drive in my book so I fired it up backed it into the road pointed twords Grandma's and off she went in low speed all the way down the road. No danger at all on a level road, with the planetary transmission you have to hold your foot to the floor with the clutch pedal, take your foot off and it stops moving. This drive of hers impressed two boys along the way. I never knew it but they were giving her a hard time about still having training wheels on her bike. I think the drive was a confidence builder since the training wheels came off the next week. Scuba diving, skydiving, bungee cord jumping would follow in college. She was sandrail driving just this past weekend in Arizona, and it all comes back to that T drive.

 

Chris it was good meeting you this weekend, appreciate you hauling that stuff over for me. Did your buddy survive the hauling of that tranny across the swap meet

 

HA! That was my Brother (hotrod-40) and yes, he survied enough to help me carry more junk out later that day Good to meet you!

 

Chris,

Thanks for the very cool story. There has to be some correlation between growing up in Spokane and developing a life long passion about cars from an early age. Maybe it's in the water? or the fact there is such a thriving car community in the area? Either way I wouldn't trade my childhood growing up in Spokane for anything in the world. Those old photos make me want to dig through the old shoe boxes full of photos of me growing up around cars. Here's one off my MySpace page of my dad and me at a swap meet when I was like five or six.

 

Great story! And your Dad is the best! You are so lucky to have pics of the whole thing too. I have several original V-8 cars and I really enjoy seeing how they were when they were fresh off the showroom floor. Those cars really take me back in time and I wish they could tell me the story of their every mile and the people who owned them. Thanks for sharing!

 

This picture rules.

Chris, this your best thread to date. It really puts it into words.

I mostly heard stories from my dad about hotrods from his past. A few stories from my grampa too, all about model Ts. I'm kind of bummed that since I've started building ol'time hotrods and learning about them. My pa's 1700 miles away (with parts I've bought in his back yard) and that g'pa has gone to better place. There stories and passion for messing with things bicycles, models, minibike, dunebuggies,...planted the seed.
I'm a Mathis what can I say.

 

Payne, Looks like a 32 chassis, 32 roadster and 33/34 roadster?? Man, your Dad was cool. I only talked to him a couple times, but my Grandpa actually knew him pretty well from the machine shop days.
That must not be the Spokane swap meet, your both in jackets!! Spokane is always flippin HOT!!