History From Whence We Came

I was having a conversation with a fellow HAMB'r which caused me to go searching in a few of my old photo albums (actual photo albums, as in not on my phone ). It brought back some fond memories...and I thought maybe this could be a thread idea showing our first hot rod or two? And then I thought we should maybe even provide a bonus point or 2 if the photo(s) shows how "cool" or "****y" we once were (or how cool we thought we were but in actual fact ****y and at what age/year this occured). And/or maybe even a build photo or 2. I understand that this may contain a bunch of photos of poor quality photos, or scans but what the heck!

I'll start...I'm not old enough to be part of the original hotrod hay-day but I always loved hot rods. And, while not really considered a hotrod when I bought it in the late 70's by the early 80's, 21 year old me thought my 1954 Olds Super88 was cool (that's "****y" me digging through the trunk). Even though it was a "quadraport", the 2 extra emergency exits were "disguised" by removing the exterior rear door handles.

Over the next few years, the stance was refined from a sky-high street brawler to more of a slammed cruiser . The L88 hood scoop is kind of hokey (and not really HAMB friendly, I'm hoping the moderators will give it a p*** in the spirit of the thread), I liked it back then, but had a color matched stock hood hanging on the garage wall to interchange. And a few years later trying on my best "cool guy" stance in my mid 20's...

My second hot rod which was on the road in the early 90's, was indeed a hot rod. A chopped '31 model A coupe. Here's the day a couple friends were enlisted to put the freshly painted body back on the ch***is.

Once finished, it's break-in inaugural drive was a near 7000 mile trip through western US and Canada...here we are in BC (so, "****y" me and my cool (still current) wife in our early '30's).
Ok...now let's see yours...

 

My 1st Hot Rod around 1968. k

 

First car was a'31 Model A coupe when I was 15. Got it running and licensed but by then I had my driver license and wanted a motorcycle. So the Model A went down the road. Then there was this '65 Falcon 2 door wagon. Started out as a 289 automatic and ended up with a built 289 (headers, high rise, solid lifter cam, and reworked heads backed by a T-10. It went down the road when I got drafted. But per the pictures I think I get a point or 2 for "****y"

 

Well, at least you didn't weld the rear doors closed (or did you?). A guy in my high school did that on his '57 Chevy, and while he did install a 2-dr front seat, you had to be gymnast to get into the back seat...

I wasn't picture-taker in those days, so I have pretty much zero pics of all the cars I've owned over the years. Rough count on the cars/trucks is 50+, plus a dozen or so motorcycles. As I'm a Ford guy, most were Fords but there was a smattering of others; Chevy (3), Plymouth, Pontiac (1 each) and due to my inexplicable infatuation with them, Jaguars (6 XJS, 1 XKR and 1 XJ).

 

Lol...my rear doors functioned...just no door handle on the outside.

C'mon...removed the auto and put in a 4 speed...that's cool guy territory in my book.

 

One of the best looking "more-doors" I have ever seen. I like the 200's but the ETs are *****ing!

 

Well, at the ripe old age of 78, I can take a look back at all the cars I've owned since I got my first car at 14 in 1962. It was a non-running 48 Ford coupe bought for $75 from a combination used car lot and wrecking yard in San Diego. I had it running by my 16th birthday and drove with a big smile! Unfortunately, I was to much in love with cars in general and not long after I started driving, the 48 found a new home and I started buying, selling, and trading cars. I bought and sold so many cars in one year (7), that I got a nastygram from the California DMV, saying that if I bought and sold one more car that year, I would have to become a dealer! I slowed down, but not much! Right now I have a 32 Ford roadster and a 68 El Camino that my dad bought new April 4th, 1968. I have owned both of them for quite a while and have no plans to get rid of either of them. My total car count since 1962 is 108 cars! I am more than happy to drive both cars and genuinely enjoy them. Would I like to have other cars? I would be lying if I said no, but I have been very fortunate to have taken a teenage obsession and made a very good career from it! I have restored cars, hot rodded cars, and always enjoyed them with few exceptions. Would I do it again if I had the chance? Of course! Except in my perfect dream, I would have unlimited funds and a couple of warehouses! It's been one heck of a marvelous ride so far in my life and if I croaked tomorrow, I couldn't complain one iota. My avatar is my current roadster, in the early stages before final paint and upholstery. I drove it all over the soutwest for a couple of years and was asked when was I going to finish it. I used to reply that it was velcro that stopped me. I would get some odd looks when said that and I would explain that it was through velcro on the rear of t my pants and the velcro on the seat that that never let me out long enough to finish i it. But, after a couple of years, I painted it Washington blue and did the interior in oxblood. I have had offers to sell it, but turned them all down. My wife figures I would want to be buried in it! It is a thought though I doubt the cemetery would go along! Cheers guys and drive the snot out of them! They should never be a place holder in the garage or a static display! Someday we will all be confined to an eternal nap. Always enjoy the ride!

 

My first car. '39 Standard tudor. This was maybe 1979? So 15ish year old long haired me making vroom sounds. The flathead ran, frame was done, more bodywork to come once winter p***ed.

63-year-old me still has it. Rebuilt and hot-rodded "59" flathead. Sid's dropped axle. Painted by me around '83? Here it is several years later at the Symco show:

 

That is way cool!! And a great looking '39 today!

 

Nobody else interested in posting photos of your first hot rod or 2 and tell the story?

 

Fresh out of college and way BC (before children).
Called him Elvis and he was just a hopped up blue flame special.
Wife and I loved cruising around the Hat and Cowtown in this sweet ride, c***ette blastin tunes and those seats were so comfy (like big ol couches). First kid may or may not have been a result.
Downside: PoPo gave me a ****load of grief about my tint job.

 

Circa 1985, sporting a sweet *** mullet and cruising a '36 5 window this guy built from an empty frame and a bullet riddled body purchased down in Scio, Oregon that he dragged home behind his Ranchero. 327, dual Edelbrocks on a polished manifold, power glide (also polished), Wescott gl*** fenders, painted '84 Corvette red in Centari single stage. It wore Enki wheels painted to match the car with big and little black-wall T/As, black rubber running boards, a CD player in lieu of a glove box, and yeah...lots of chrome and polished metal, even plated the window surrounds. A chrome ZZ Top Eliminator key chain is hanging from the ignition, the same exact one that is hanging on the keys in his roadster today.

The "selfie", one of the first of this popular genre, was taken with a steady hand and a disposable kodak. The picture was snapped driving across the newly finished I-205 Glen Jackson bridge on the way to Portland to sell her to Hank at Peggy's Cl***ic cars on 82nd. You might say it was the final hurrah in his first hot rod and that look on the driver's face tells you it was not by his choice.

Within a year this hirsute ***** would be divorced and penniless, living paycheck to paycheck at two different jobs to pay his child support, feeding his kids happy meals every other weekend and visiting with the other dads while the tykes played in the ball room. They did love riding in the rumble seat, which meant it was quieter up front for some music appreciation in the form of Zepplin and Van Halen. When the wind started whipping her hair in her face Whitney would slide down on the carpeted floor behind the bench seat, the Pioneer 6x9's in the package shelf over her head blaring rock (it wasn't "cl***ic rock" yet). Today that girl has one of the finest vinyl collections out there...and possibly a hearing loss.

This guy here knew every bar in town with free eats during happy hour, El Presidente had a free Mexican buffet with a 2-drink minimum, and Diamond Jims put out a plate of prime rib every day at 4:00. He was there at 3:45 waiting.

 

My 49 Chev coupe when I was 16. Studebaker V-8 engine hooked to the Chev driveline. Drove it throughout High School 1956 - 1958. Learned how to pinstripe on this car.

Mick

 

not much has changed..

 

The blonde mullet is long gone, replaced with receding chrome locks and no one gives free food any longer at happy hour…more like so so hour. Like Dillon said, “these times, they are a changin”

 

Lol...I like that! I may have to use it.

 

Stude V8 powererd Chevy...that earns extra cool and unusual points! I like the hubcaps in the second photo. Good looking car (and proud driver)!

 

Those were the days! I remember them well.

 

Built this when I was 18, 350 t400 ...broke a ton of spider gears. BTW, paid 500 bucks for it with a locked up 265 pg. I remember laying on my back and bench pressing the t400 in

 

Three goobers on a cross country junket in my 1954 Ford circa 1979 (I'm wearing the yellow t-shirt and questionable hat):

 

My first car in 1957 was a 31 Ford Pickup for $85 (got him down to $50, cashed in some Coke bottles for 90 cents, still owe him a dime). In 1961, chopped up the truck and built a drag Gas Roadster with Chevy V-8 and fibergl*** 23 T body. Had some fun for a while.
Bought this one in 1962.
Became my only car for a few years -- 327" Chevy, 4-speed Hydro, Enderle injectors, Cyclone quicky. Bought a Parilla motorcycle for rainy days for work. Rebuilt the roadster in 2001 into a SCTA C and D Street Roadster with 7 records with a best of 210 mph. Sold it after 60 years.

 

Well, here's the other car . . .
can't seem how to drive it over.

 

Oh, there is no questioning that hat!

-rick

 

A well thought our Street Roadster for Bonneville. Always liked the oversize Strakes camouflaged as frame rails
Ronnieroadster

 

Taking over another roadside Hotel. This time it was The Jet Set Inn in Ingersoll Ontario. I wonder if it's still there?

 

@ronnieroadster ...I just read your signature line...wow, those are serious accomplishments. Congratulations!

 

Yep him and Stan Back are the real deal!!!

 

X2 on the both of them. @Stan Back comes to Saturday Lug Nuts and Coffee and both his 28 Mercury Topedo Salon and his Hemi powered 54 Plymouth are works of art. IMO

 

Got my first hot rod in 1962, when I was 14. Put a 265" sbc into it using the stock drive train.
Totally shade tree mechanic stuff. Painted it yellow in our carport. Phoenix, AZ.. My next
hot rod was the 1940 Chevy in the same picture, which I bought from my older brother for $100
when he left for Vietnam.


Drove it through high school and beyond, and here is how it ended up.

Then, moved on to a 1961 Corvette



And from there, have had about 20 other street rods. Nova, Malibus, Camaros, Old Coupes,
409's, Blowers, old Chevy truck for 30yrs. and current hot rod:




Always been a Chevy guy. And still having fun at 78 years young, thanks to hot rodding!