History How and when did you get into this hobby or business?

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See the "what were you driving in high school" thread.....this probably applies to a lot of us!

 

My dad owned a race shop/garage in Norcal in the late '50s and early '60s. he was an automotive machinist long before I was born in the mid '50s. I don't recall ever not having tools to play with.

I built my first car in '68 I was 14. Bought an older English sedan cheap, it needed an overhaul. But it had a factory tach and twin carbs so it must have been a hot rod. I also bought my first bike that year again an older English deal ( Norton Atlas).

I don't have any photos from back then. I never expected to be very important so I never bothered to do***ent my life. I was absolutely correct I am the least important person you will ever meet. Well that and money spent on a camera could be spent on other things, like cars and bikes.

 

Saw my first hot rod when I was in the back seat of my parents "new" 55 Buick, been there since the 1960. this picture is from 1965-66, my second Model A.

 

I can't remember when I was NOT interested in old cars. Maybe I am a reincarnated hot rodder from before the war.

 

I started wrenching in 1972 12 years old. Friends father had 1937 GMC pickup to tear into and rebuild. My buddy still has it.
There was of course driving the car around the farm and other ***orted mechanical endeavours. Yes it gets in the blood...

 

I was in college in a mid 70's trans am. Driving back to my apartment late from a girlfriend's home on a lonely country road. I got dusted by another kid in a '67 camaro who drove around me like I was standing still. We met up at a light in front of campus. I asked what he had in it. He said a 350ci Chevy. I said ? That's what I had? I knew nothing about cars. But I knew I wanted mine to go like that. Once it bit, it NEVER let go.

Cruising that same TA- but now modified -I was fresh out of college. Ran into a guy in a g***er styled '40 Dodge business coupe with a tunnel rammed 340 in my home town one night. We dragged outside of town. I won barely. We became best pals. Still wrenching and dragging. Now it's -mostly- legal though.

 

Hey 46 post more pics of that coupe you were working on. It looks quite radical. Did it ever get done?

 

As a child I heard a '48 Plymouth with steelpacks & a split manifold. Hooked for life ....

 

I guess this kind of ties in with the "first hot rod sighting" thread.
Pretty sure the spark that lit the fuse was in 1962 when I was 8 years old.
Visiting relatives with my folks in San Diego Ca. spotted a model A roadster p.u. going down the street, if I hadn't started putting model cars together yet, it was soon after this.
Then H.O. cars, mini bike, first car at 15, a 61 Impala, put a Hurst shifter in it and I guess I officially became a hot rodder then because I've been hooked ever since.

 

Humm built my first flathead in 60 and haven't looked back since been a fan of Henrys bent eight since I was a kid and am having more fun with it now than ever, they say " if you live long enough everything comes back in style" guess I've lived long enough to see flatheads go from nobody wants one to everybody has to have one.....................

 

Yep you can be cool twice if you stand still long enough, when it was cool the first time and then when it comes around again.

Probably won't ever work for me I am always a day or two behind every trend.

 

Ever since I bought my first Hotrod mag in about 1960. Started helping Dad and Grandpa work on their stuff about then.

 

I got bit in 1952 when I was in the 9th grade. I was in the corner candy store and found Hot Rod Magazine. I was hooked. By 1957 I had a 3-window '34 with 265 sbc. Here 'tis.

 

Bought my first car at 12 years of age in 1962, a 1932 Ford 5 window coupe,my dad was not amused! HRP

 

Bought my first car in 1962 when I was a high school senior. It was a Model A coupe because that was what I wanted. Many years later I realized that the last car my father owned before he died in 1949 was a Model A coupe. I was 5 years old at the time. Many years later I put these facts together and wondered if there was something in my sub conscience that has always made me like the Model A.

Charlie Stephens

 

it started for me looking at the " little pages". Then Dad got this '40 Merc in 1954 and my brother and I joined him under it. yes, look close it is held up by one bumper jack. By 1959 we were in our '32 phaeton. and yes both cars are still in the family.

 

I was born into the hobby. Gramps and Dad started restoring cars in 1953 and had been in the antique hobby for 20 years before I came along. I still have the 1910 Overland that was the Binger's first car bought in 1910! Here is a recent pic of the Overland and a pic of Dad before he started the restoration on his '30 Chevy about 1972. about a year before I came along. I know the restorations are OT but it was the foundation of my knowledge and skills. They translate over to Hot rodding very well. I began work on my special coupe banger project about 8 years ago. Dad has a little hot rod in him. I found some A speed parts stashed away in the garage. I am planning on using the Mallory dist, the intake manifold and Super Winfield head I found.

 

It started with Hot wheels and model cars, then I started hanging out with the old neighbor that restored model T's and some of the local hot rod guys, and then i got a car... But at 28 years of age, I'm not ready to change my ways.

Hot rodders are the best folks on earth.

 

I was brought home from the hospital in a model A pickup in 1967. Im thinking that had something to do with it.

 

The story of my involvement is rather inconsequential. You see, my parents purchased Hot Wheels cars for me when I was a child, an innocent enough gift but looking back now that orange track and metallic muscle cars sparked my entry level curiosity and perhaps my un-doing. Later, as a pre-teen, I experimented with some model car building, sometimes a****st friends. Before long I found myself alone in my room or hiding in the ba*****t gluing a 327 form a Camaro into a 36 three window coupe or using my dad's soldering iron to make a sedan delivery out of a 55 Nomad. I know what you going to say but I was messed up and steering toward trouble but I thought I could handle it. I was just experimenting with the stuff. I could control it, I could quit when I wanted. You know...that old chestnut.

I was finding it harder to get my thrill on so my older brother ritualistically allowed me to drive his 67 GT-A. There is nothing like driving a dual-quad, 390 ci mustang while a young lad, quite breath taking actually. By the time I turned sixteen I was a full fledged junky, turning lawn mowing tricks on a regular basis to afford my next fix at the local GI Joes or Radke speed shop. I got married in my early twenties to a French pros***ute named Chloe and thought I could give it all up for her - cold turkey. Soon I was jonesing out all over the place, looking through tool catalogs like an old man scratching a long-ago amputated limb, something had to give....I still miss her.

I married my current wife (# 2, or Gen 2) almost 20 years ago now, feels more like 30. While she does her best not to harp, she would appreciate if I sought some rehabilitation but she is satisfied al long as she gets to park in the garage. It's been 87 muscle cars, vette's, trucks, hot rods, street rods, bikes and boats. Countless cruise ins, road trips, car auctions, boy's nights, timing slips, roll backs and speeding tickets. I was one of the lucky ones, like Keith Richards and that fellow we elected president, I managed to survive the madness. What a strange trip it's been and it all started with a Mattel toy car with red-line tires.

Hey, did you hear we legalized marijuana in Washington state? What could be the harm with just trying it?

 

My dad gave/sold me a 1940 Ford pickup for $100 (paper route money earned) in 1973 that sat for 15 years and forgotten....I had to drag it out of the blackberry bushes behind the house, and my grandpa helped me finally get it running in the evenings....and gave me a toolbox and my 1st basic tools out of his own toolbox, plus an old handyman jack...I really thought I was the ''hot stuff'' in high school, dents and all....but, couldn't figure out why the girls weren't as enthusiastic as I was in my old truck...maybe the rusty floorboards and pavement moving underneath had something to do with it....

 

I didn't start working on any cars until I was in my 30's.. I'm still trying to make up for lost time...

 

when i was 8 me and my grand pa was going fishing driving real slow looking for a cut off to the lake. a cop pulled him over and gave him a ticket for holding up traffic. we went down the rd about 1/2 mile and turned around. when we p***ed the cop we were hauling *** in his 49 ford. my granny came and got me and bailed him out of jail. been hooked since

 

I was interested in hot rods since I was a small kid. I knew I wanted an old car at a young age. I didn't know anyone who built cars, and I knew I could pay anyone to build one for me. My only option was to learn. So I started learning and continue to learn every day.
I went to school and learned the basics, and then got a job at a shop. I built cars at shops for a couple years, but wasn't working on my own stuff. I decided I didn't want to make my hobby my job and I left for three years.
But, as it turns out, regular jobs ****, so I came back. Been doing it professionally ever since.
Been building professionally for about 10 years.

 

When in later grade school years I would go across the street to a neighbors house. He will building a 40 Ford pickup with a 50 flathead. I have been hooked ever since. In high school built a 50 Ford 2 dr with a 53 Olds with J-2 tripower and 4 sped Hydro. Got into chopped Harleys right after high school. Built my first rod, a 39 Deluxe Ford Coupe with 400 Pontiac, and later, my current ride a 48 Olds 98 convertible.

 

I guess this was the start! Me 1949! Still carry a gun Love them Roadsters

 

Hey 46 thanks for posting those. You where quite the modern artist there. Pretty well executed for a backyard build. The 60's yielded some wild, outlandish showcars/hotrods. Yours was no lesser than the wild stuff. You almost had it ready for surf-boards. Were you a big fan of the little pages...did you hit all the custom shows...what inspired you? I am always glad to have you senior rodders share your stuff Wild or Mild. Don't ever hold your incomplete or completed endeavors back...we may never see it to be inspired and that is a loss to the community. Thanks again.

 

Definitely born into it for me. In a nut shell........ spent practically every day of life in my late Uncles old Chevy dealership building ( built in 1961 ran till 1971). After Dad came home from Vietnam , He purchased the dealership property & it evolved into a full automotive machine shop, garage, & parts store. I've learned all I know & love about the hobby by working literally from age 10 & up in it daily & after hours since a kid in 70's & teen in the 80's. I grew up using pencil , paper, catalogs, rotary phones at work, spent years in every aspect of the operation & love it still. My Dad started his auto parts business in 1975 & became an independent jobber of Ozark Automotive Distributors aka "O'reilly's" but we are still a family independently owned business. In 1975 they had 8 stores, were & still are hard working guys whom I respect as friends & honest individuals. We grew to 5 stores & as time p***ed, retirement kicked in for many workers , health went south for Dad , I spent last 30 years working 6 days a week & after hours. I've seen a lot change & have scaled down to one large quality operation with my best staff. Fast forward 40 years now they & dad are all retired. Corporate America snuck in & wow 4800 ish stores they have & man have things changed. Counter help has got so hard to find that technology has had to be designed to let a walk in off the street kid with no experience be guided through the computers prompted questions. I'm an oddity being middle age yet school'd in old ways & adapting to new ones, a dinosaur surviving a****st corporate giants & what keeps me going strong is the love for the hobby & what I do & thankful for being heavily exposed to every aspect of a vehicle.
I'm thankful for the work ethic I've learned from Dad , Aged car buddies & my family. Ive been fortunate to learn from some crafty old dudes over the years , most sadly no longer with us. It turned into an obsession somewhere in my early teens & I wouldn't have it any other way. I still go to the shop to build cars every chance I get. I'm 44 now & most my car pals range from 35-90 years old! Each of 18 in our minds. Love it !!! Flux

 

December 1963 Mom bought me Hot- Rod magazine the rest is just a foggy memory. Don in the corn fields.