Folks Of Interest Family Tradition... A rerun of sorts...

Dad was not a hot rodder, car maintainer and did once own and daily drive a 71 ElCamino with a Pontiac 455 that was a former showcar till it was so rusted you could see through it. But what he did do that got me and somewhat my brother the bug was take us to the annual old car show at a local college. There I was caught hook, line and sinker for cars with fat fenders and the headlights out in pods.

 

Funny the only pic that I know of that I have of the Ol' Man is a shot from behind and probably not best suited for the HAMB.

Hank Jr mentioned ". . .carrying on an old family tradition." He was talking about music and intoxication but the sentiment is there. We use different instruments, our banjos are larger and our rhythm section louder but we make the music that we came up around none the less. I guess for some of us the acorn didn't roll very damned far from the oak.

 

Back in the late 40's to early 50's my dad was a racer who raced from Middletown ny to the Kingbridge Armory and he ventured down to Florida to race with the Greater Miami racing ***oc. When he wasn't racing he had a gas station in Port Chester NY where he was known for his skills.
He taught my brother so much and had an ear that could spot an untuned engine a mile away.
He p***ed his talents over to my brother an I,it was like being in school with the best teacher.
We both miss him terribly but his memory lives on with me in my business who restores cl***ic to exotics and my brother who is a tuner on the Pro Mod circuit .
This group is awesome and even though I'm new to it I'm enjoying reading the forums.
Great job

 

I like many here, grew up at dirt race tracks, Dad owned Midget race cars
From 48 till his p***ing 87, p***ed the gene on to me, He was also a huge fan of racing, we went to many races, all the races at Wi. State Fair track, the Modifieds ran 5/6 nights in Milwaukee area. I competed as a owner/driver for 21+ years into my 40's. I started out at 16, Street racing my 57 Chev, been a car crazy from day one, still enjoy the hobby and will till my end. I have 5 children, they were raised going to races and none of them are a car enthusiast much to my surprise, oldest boy had some interest for a few years, decided racing not his deal. Have 7 grandchildren, all stick and ball, sports, music, dance, no car interest at all. So.....I guess it's not genetic, last year, my oldest daughter wanted to go to Sprint car races with me that was my home track back in the day, my first time back since 91, last year I raced (we had fun).

by wicarnut posted Jan 20, 2014 at 5:27 PM

They all are successful, seem happy without the car crazy life I inherited ? and still choose.

 

I have to bring this one btt because it hits home for me with my dad, William. Now that I'm 50 and wish my sons had some of the opportunities and misopportunities I had, they could be in the same boat as me, and that's life.
I grew up with a hard working machinist farmer that started an orchard like his road builder father started his orchard in 1925. Dad worked second shift after work in our small farm that he started by buying land that wasn't the flattest in our area due to the creeks that feed the Embar*** River.
I worked with Dad in the fields with a hoe, a small tractor, a fruit picking sack, our farm garage, etc.
Dad was always ambitious and looked for better ways to make money and possibly not have to work in town. With that in mind, he started an orchard equipment dealership that carried the family through the mid 70's to about 1982. I traveled with him to many orchards and specialty fruit and vegetable crop growers in Illinos, Indiana, and a short trips into surrounding states to either help ***emble and complete a sale to a customer, or to a university horticulture department and grower's org meetings to display what we were dealers for.
Dad took me to the Charleston Speedway once, was cool. We went to a few races at Terre Haute to watch USAC sprint and midgets race a few times. He took me to a couple of small car shows where we grew up and talked about a Model A coupe that he beat around in the orchard when he was young. He always would stop to admire a pretty hotrod and never had in his budget to build one, and dreamed out loud with me.
Now that I look back, after I used his influence on myself, becoming a mechanic and a salesman, hearing stories from other guys my age, DAMN, I'm lucky to have had a great teacher in my dad, and not just him, and to have worked hard with him for so many hours and years. His dad was a friend, along with the grandfather that I worked beside, Norbert. His brother is a friend that I worked beside, John.
I guess in some respects, I built something like he dreamed about when I built my 29 A Tudor. I am damn sure proud he has ridden in my hotrod with me, as I live almost 500 miles away from where he is and is getting older fast.
Be careful what kind of tree the nut falls out of...........COVER!!!!!

 

Damn, reading this really makes me want to get a garage project finished and back on the road not just for me but for my kiddos, too.

 

My Dad was involved in banking and mortgages his whole working life. But he would tackle any job at home--electrical, plumbing, roofing, etc. He would also think nothing of tearing down the family 37 Ford for anything it needed. About every 3 months he would remove the heads and s****e the carbon. Oil changes, plugs, brakes, etc. never phased him. The neighbors would cringe to see him on the roof of our 3 floor home repairing a loose slate or gutter. He usually still had on his shirt and tie! My brothers and I caught the car bug early and to an extent we all still have it, me with the worst case by far. What we got from him was a sense of confidence, a "can do" mentality, a sense that some one made it , I can figure out how to fix it or modify it. He also loved a good adventure or a challenge. One time we spent the day putting new joists under a cottage I was renovating. We were heading home in my 356 Porsche on the Thruway. A kid in a modified VW kept pulling ahead and dropping back along side of us. My Dad said "what is that jerk doing?" I said, " Looking for a race". With no pause he replied, "well then give him one!" I don't think I ever enjoyed blowing away a compe***or as much as I did that day with my aging Dad as a coach!

 

Hello,
Will my son think of me as a car nut dad? He knows that I have always loved cars and fast, cool looking cars at that. The older he gets, the more he wants to hear stories about the exploits in drag racing and surf escapades. ("You were only 14?" Grandma let you go to Mexico at 16?...)

I am his “go to guy” when the conversation comes around to buying a car. But, as we know cars from a ways back, that always helps us in our new car buying sprees and his. Trying to convey the importance of specific stuff on cars just does not register with this newer generation and those that follow.

I always allowed my son to grow up as an individual without too much pushing from both parents. We felt that he could make his own decisions and if he needed guidance, we were there. He did have a ton of car influences and helped me in the garage when I was doing something to maintain our family cars. But, little car toys, R/C cars and Tonkas only go so far.

With the advent of computers in cars, the home mechanic was left out as far as we were concerned. My son’s generation just dropped off the car scene and our involvement only used our old car knowledge and choices for buying newer family cars. But, one thing he is proud of is that I can offer great information on cars, our history, and general knowledge. He has convinced me to write down as much as I can to archive it in our family files. I am sure he will get a kick out of reading this when I am gone…

Jnaki
His favorite car/truck memory is a story I told him when he asked how bridges can say “5 ton limit on a sign.” I had to use my old knowledge of a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon to give him a great answer, while laughing the whole time. Set the scene to paraphrase with a serious face: “…People drive trucks over the bridge loaded down with stuff. It weighs more each time until the last, overloaded truck collapses the bridge… Then, they put up the sign to warn others of the impending doom…”

My 5 year old son had a memory like no other and later on, repeated this to a room of adults that brought down the whole party !...My wife will never forget that I told him that story as it gets told at many family gatherings over the years. As in the cartoon, she told me: “If you don’t know the answer…then...”

That is one story (out of many) he never forgets and likes it that I gave him that fun at***ude about life in general… What a dad…Now, for my granddaughter...we tread lightly when she was little, but now that she is older (an individual... 11 going on 25) she, too, has no interest in cars, but has a great at***ude towards life and family.

 

Hello,

Our family or what is left of it, as I am now the last remaining person from 1946 start in Long Beach has plusses and minus factors. Plus, I am still around… minus, it gets harder to move as fast I once was and those teenage/20 something days of activities have now taken its toll on this old body.
from a Flathead sedan delivery to this: tnx, @themoose
to this: to this and beyond:

But, one thing still hangs around. Our son always knew from hanging around our cars since birth knew or knows that my history of cars goes a long way back. He is still impressed that it is still a thing in our current lives. We may not have an old hot rod like we used to at 16, 26 or 30, but the facts still remain. Cars have been a part of our lives and the long line up of them over the years has given us plenty of cause to remember those hectic times of repairs, break downs and early family worries.

He has known that our early family cars were reliable, but there were factors that were unforeseen and made our lives a little worrisome for the whole family adventures. Our own car(s) were daily drivers. But, for the safety and security of our family on a two week long camping road trip up the coast and across the state to the desert area, we had to borrow my mom’s sedan It was to make sure we were not going to get stuck somewhere in the curvy mountain roads, in our long vacation road trip.

Jnaki

So, since those times of hair raising adventures and a plethora of reliable cars purchased or made into reliable cars/station wagons, our son still asks us for information about his family’s purchases. “Let’s ask my dad for information and help…”

Then our extended family relationship gets a little history and a lot of security for our new generation of growing up in today’s hectic world. Plus, he is still impressed that as a teenager, my brother and I were so involved in drag racing and photography. Lifelong interests that are still around...


Back then, as young parents, we wanted our son to drive a “Sherman Tank” for safety and protection. Of course, we all laughed at that fact. But, it came out as a safety fact that through our many hours of driving preparation and learning the aspects of a car/driving experiences, he has grown up to be a safe and sane driver. The aspect of “never be in a hurry to get somewhere” has played a good part of being a safe and sane driver. During our driver education and constant hours behind the wheel when he was learning to drive.

The same thing was evident for our granddaughter’s first car. We gave selections for safety and reliability and the final choice was up to them. Now, she is a happy teenager with a spotless record for driving. Something must have clicked with the information p***ed on to our family members over the years… YRMV