Art & Inspiration Street is Neat and Hot Rods were cheap.

Dad pulled his T bucket behind his 41 Cad to the Nationals in Tulsa? Maybe 76? Not sure.


A channeled Deuce Roadster he had in the mid-70s. This is St. Paul I think.

Dad drove his street legal sprint car to Columbus in 84, My mom followed in the 38 coupe with me and my sister.

 

You got it honest, Dan! Great pics. I was at the Nats South when it was in NC, I have a similar pic as the one Ron posted. Those 3 cars drew a crowd every day. Good times!

 

When my son was 12, he rode the rumble seat all the way to Tulsa & back, I think he is the only kid in the LAR club that did this back then! When it rained, wife would reach back & close the rumble lid, then after the rain she would pop it open again. Now at 91 yrs. I have given my roadster to him to enjoy as I did for 300,000 happy miles!!!

 

Dan Hay, your 2nd pic I do believe was Tulsa in 76. I think I have a pic that is about the same in an album somewhere in the house.

 

Here's some of my "semi-HAMB-freindly" threads:

• ANDY'S 3RD ANNUAL PICNIC - JULY 1969 ... PICS!!!
• 1973 & 1974 LODI MINI NATS
  
• ANDY'S 7TH ANNUAL HOT ROD PICNIC - AUGUST 1973 ... PICS!!!
• ANDY'S 8TH ANNUAL HOT ROD PICNIC - AUGUST 1974 ... PICS!!!
• ANDY'S 9TH ANNUAL PICNIC - AUGUST 1975 ... PICS!!!
• THE GASKILL '36 COUPE ... PICS FROM 1977
• ANDY'S 12TH ANNUAL PICNIC - JULY 30, 1978 ... PICS!!!

 

Dan - "Fixed It" for you:

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Thanks for sharing this stuff. I was a boy when that was going on, would've loved to have been part of it all, but that was worlds away from where I was at the time.

 

My, wife and I took our little camper to Nats East, Nats South, and other events in the 80's. A farmer had taken an old 36 Dodge or Plymouth delivery cut it in half to make a sawmill. He abandoned the rear half. So when I found the rear it was sitting on a rock ledge. I asked if I could have it.. He said sure, just take it for { FREE }. I then took some wood from my grandfathers old chicken coop, and made the front for it. I got the jack, and tongue off an old house trailer. On each side I painted, { Home Sweet Home } and on the rear door I put { Street Is Neat, and Camping is Cheap }. It had a full size bed, and a old kerosene lamp. We would park near the host motel, and use their restrooms to brush our teeth etc. Could make a delivery out of a 4 door? I still have it. He's a couple pictures that I have. The bottom one is at the Nats East in Timonium Md. Thanks Ron....

 

east coast style

 

These stories and pics are great.

 

Hell YEA! Thanks for sharing those Photographs.

 

Lots of good pics, lots of good memories. Thank you to all.

 

Yah... STREET rods, modernized old cars, resto-rods. I like 'em! Have a feel-good easy-on-the-eyes look to 'em. Thanks for posting pics.
Marcus...

 

NSRA called them Street Rods? But mine were usually called { Beaters are Neater }

 

Ron, your daughter looks like a "mini me" of your wife.

 

1958 Impala approaching the starting line in 1959
note the 4 different styles of Impalas, with the inclusion of the 59 model with a 335 hp , 4 speed version being the fastest.

Hello,

Street is/was neat, but cheap? Not so fast, buster! Teenage pocketbooks/bank accounts were hard pressed for purchasing daily drivers. As far as our Impala was concerned, since my brother bought it new after selling “our” Model A coupe and his 51 Oldsmobile cruiser sedan, it was a sad time for me.

When my brother first bought his 51 Oldsmobile two door sedan, I immediately thought it was going to be my “hand me down” first car. Then when we got the Model A coupe together, now I knew if we built it, I definitely was going to own a 51 lowered rake Oldsmobile sedan. It was written in stone… or at least a newly poured concrete pad.

Just before it disappeared, it got painted a Lime Green from the stock Pale Yellow color.

Although now, after those two earlier cars disappeared into the horizon, I had a new way to look as a nice powerful hot rod/drag race sedan. Since I was the caretaker for all of the hot rod projects and cars in the family, it was now, my next level of participation. A new 348 powered, 280 hp, 3 speed stick shift Impala that was simply fast from the beginning.

When my brother took me for a ride in the neighborhood, we drove away slowly from our Westside of Long Beach house. Mainly so our mom would not hear the powerful motor at full bore. She got so used to our dad’s line of staid Buick sedans, that anything else was not good in her eyes. Even her first born son’s Oldsmobile cruiser was ok, but a teenager driving around in a lowered car was not ok in her opinion. Sheesh!

That one single point of not upsetting our mom was always back in our minds when we worked on any of the cars I the driveway or backyard garage. She was always supportive of her two sons and always could be counted on arriving in the work area with cold drinks and sandwiches. Thank you, mom! But, she always had a questioning look about her when walking around the hot rods and uplifted hoods.

The normal sound of the 348 rumbling as we backed up in the narrow driveway was always nice for us. But, if our mom was in the adjoining kitchen window, it was loud enough for her to question us about … “What’s wrong with your black car?” scenario every time we backed up or drove into the garage.

We knew when to do stuff to our cars and when/how to drive away from the driveway to our destinations.


Jnaki

It was the anticipation of being able to drive anything that influenced most teens at the time. I could not wait to drive on my own for longer cruising around, instead of around the block after a car washing day. Despite not having a license, I was given free reign to drive around the neighborhood.

By the time it was my turn to take over the daily driving of the Impala to various doctor’s offices for my brother’s accident visits, I began to know the car much better. I was getting used to the 3 speed stick shift and could “speed shift” fast enough that it sounded like an automatic going into the next gear. But, it was the co-ordination of the clutch, power and take off abilities of the Impala within the following year to make the Impala an impossibility for anytime driving for our mom.

So, yes, at this stage, the new/old 58 Impala was now a family car and I was the primary driver to take my brother to his appointments and local road trips to keep the spark alive. The cost of a 58 Impala was relatively free as our mom took over all paid expenses as a courtesy to my brother. I taught her to drive the stick shift and then she paid to get the next stage ready for her own driving road trips.

She wanted to use the Impala for her shopping forays and not have to wait for our dad’s day off. Taking our mom shopping was also, not in our mode, either. After weeks of trying to have her coordinate the heavy duty clutch pressure, the high performance motor, it was a wild bucking bronco at the start and not the best way to leave the stop light.

The Impala had to be practically useful for our mom to drive and me to race anytime, anywhere, other than at Lion’s Dragstrip. That portion of participation was over and we were moving onward to the next teenage adventures. Our mom’s request was to convert the Impala to an automatic, like our dad’s Buick sedans. Yea, right, a Powerglide for the Impala? She said, get it done and I chose another version of an automatic.
The latest thing added to the already fast Impala was a new C&O Stick Hydro transmission. Since B&M did not do any conversions, the guys in Torrance, CA nearby had a great reputation from a lot of sources and did an excellent conversion from a column 3 speed stick shift to a column controlled C&O Stick Hydro. The driving was simple enough for our mom to take the Impala to her shopping road trips without any problems driving. “A little old lady from the Westside of Long Beach” could now surp*** most cars in daily driving… ha!

The transmission, the now, modified 348 motor and a 4:11 or 4:56 Positraction gearing never let me down in our thousands of miles of coastal cruising, forays into Los Angeles County hot spots and up/down the coast to other beach communities. Quickness, cool looking black on black, silver on black and full hubcap modifications last through high school and beyond. It was a sleeper, for sure.
In high school, the sight and rumble of the 58 black Impala was known in our Bixby Knolls circles. The accolades were fine, but it was the friendships of hot rods and mechanical changes to our friend's old cars that was a key point in all of us hanging out together. We were at the center location for most hot rod activities and there were plenty of shops around to offer us the latest in speed parts and tempting accessories, as long as the pocketbook would take the big hits. Ha!

A great win column record for the years driven. Even against my friend’s much faster 409 Biscayne, with a shut down prior to the 1/8th mile using the 6 red taillights as a means of telling the faster car that the game was over for him. Thanks C&O Stick Hydro for getting me out in front of that fast 409 Biscayne at the start and keeping me ahead until the 6 red taillights took over. Yikes!
Thanks to @themoose
The last stage of customizing and cruising/racing still was active, until it was sold in 1965 to the next generation of teens to start their round of hot rods and cruising around during their high school hot rod days. YRMV

 

Thanks Jnaki. I always enjoy reading all your neat stories. The part about Hot Rods being cheap? Well that just rhymes with {Street is Neat}. lol Yeah money was very hard to come by back in the good old days. But if you had some good connections with the local junkyards. Plus, you could buy a good old running and driving Chevy 4 door for a hundred bucks. Then use the motor, trans, rear, steering column, with wheel ect. Than another $1oo. for a rough old model A coupe body, and now you were in business. Next was to search the swap meets for some cool old stuff. Like, old dirt track tires, Halibrand wheels, headers, a highrise intake, axel, springs, shocks, ect. The biggest problem was convincing the Wife that we really NEEDED another Hot Rod. Photo is of my $1oo. coupe body, plus the parts from the Chevy that I got from our mailman. Notice the big Happy Smile on my Wife's face.

 

Wonderful story jnaki. Thanks for sharing that with us.

 

Myself (left) and my buddy in Timonium, MD for the East Coast Street Rod Nationals in 1980.

 

2 COOL !

 

Like Ronnie, me circa '81(and my son now 42) , paid $100 for Pontiac, then $200 for '70 Chevelle and drove it home.
Pulled small block, trans., rear, front subframe, etc., and installed in Pontiac.
Sold Chevelle body for $100 to a happy customer.
Good times.

 

^^^Great legs Timmy^^^Lol My oldest daughter is about the same age too.