Who/What turned you onto classic vehicles?

Like some have said, It seems to in the blood. I was always taking stuff apart or trying to fix stuff that was broken. Restored bicycles as a kid and Always been a car guy. one of my neighbors had 2 woodies 39%40 rusting away in the yard that I always wanted)to young)

 

Very cool stories guys, i knew there was some sort of reason for this madness!

 

Growing up in SoCal I remember seeing classic cars all over the place in OC and LA. Since then I have always had a love affair for these cars. Around the early 90's I got into kustoms after spending a lot of time in Fullerton and the surrounding areas and seeing The Lonely Kings Car Club. To a kid I had no idea what I was looking at, but I knew I had to find out more.

 

Yeah, I think it was my Mom who told me that Real cars have three pedals. This was before I was old enough to drive.
Real tuff Gal. About 25 years ago she had a Kidney removed and the Doc had said that the thing was 100% scar tissue. About 25 years before that, late '50s, she had been in a real bad wreck while racing and almost lost her leg! After hearing that the Doc said that she had endured 20+ years of pain walking around with a dead kidney.
Needless to say she is my inspiration. When I get back to the States theres a Model A that needs to be finished and if she can get away from her studies long enough, she's in college right now, she'll have to break it in a little.

 

Like a lot of people here, I've had an interest in 50's cars for as long as I can remember. However, more specifically, my father is responsible.

When I was about 13 years old, I had started to hang out with a bad crowd. Fights, drugs, just generally a bad road to go down. I had done something that pissed my parents off, and they had me confined to the house for awhile. I remember sitting in my room, planning on sneaking out the instant my dad left, when he walked into my room and said "Come with me."

We got in the car, and drove to the home of a friend of his. I didn't say a word the entire ride, and neither did he, so I had NO idea what was going on. When we get there, there was a black Z28 sitting in his friend's driveway. I didn't think much of it at first, other than that it had seen better days.

Turns out, that was the reason my dad was there. My dad and his friend looked over the car, and my dad called me over to check it out too. It was a black '80 Z28, with T tops, and somebody had swapped in a 283 (or so we thought at the time). Yeah, I know its O/T, sorry.

I had no idea why my dad was checking this car out, and frankly I was still annoyed about being in trouble, but I kept quiet. After hearing the car run (I remember thinking how badass it sounded), my dad asked me if I liked the car, which I thought was strange. Why would he care if I liked it? I mean, I thought it was cool as hell, but what did that matter?

Nonetheless, I replied that yeah, I thought it was cool. He replied "Good, its yours." You could have heard my jaw slamming into the driveway it dropped so much.

That $350 dollar, ragged-out Camaro did more to turn me around than anything else in the world could have. My dad and I stopped fighting and worked on the car together, I quit hanging around the loser crowd, and I had finally found something I was good at. I am who I am today because of that simple act on his part.

 

My dad was an awesome wrench and passed the gene on, but hot rods came about at 11 when Don Story gave me a ride in his Bantam....hooked for life! And Don still has it!!

 

When I was 16 I bought a 55 cj5 with a f134 and a 3 speed toploader in a farmers feild for 400 bucks, since then nothing seemed cooler than pre 65' cars, or easier to work on.

 

its in the blood.....but for me it was/is my dad, hands down.................................................john

 

My father - or lack thereof.

May dad always built model cars his whole life. I didn't see him much through most of my childhood (divorced when I was very young) and from that point I only saw him here & there. I started building model cars since I knew that was something that could connect us - even though it was all one way it helped me I think.

When I could get real cars, I did and it just blossomed from there.

 

I was lucky enough to be growing up prior to internet, fast and fartiest, britteny spears and all of the current crap culture.

 

Grown ups did it,,so .... I wanted to

and getting in the car ment going somewhere and adventure,,things to see etc...and you remeber that ,,so it would only seem natural that you would prefer was you remember fondly being what you would get into

 

Hot Wheels thanks to Mattel.

 

growing up in the Motor City..can be contagious. the smell of a new car, all the rolling iron..it was everywhere.

i still miss the smell of leadded fuel burning..

Dad and Grandpa worked in a Foundry in Detroit..all that cool mechanical stuff everywhere..i was hooked and didnt even know it, used to go with him down to alot of industries, Strohs brewery, Rouge Steel, Henry Ford Museum, GM, Dodge..Willis street station, Mistersky power plant, detroit edison power plants..ship yards..ahh the good ol days.
the smells the sounds the mechanical roots of our existance in its rawest form..pure poetry in motion..its a sickeness with no cure, but death.
Im still working in the Heavy Industrial Market cant seem to bleed it out of me

 

Gas Giant,

Your story TORE ME UP! My dad is the reason I'm into cars as well. I lost him not quite a year ago...boy, do I miss him.

Thanks for sharing this.

Thor

 

Cool cars driving down the road...

 

I personally have been into old cars from day one. My first word as a baby was actually "car" followed by "ooooooo...!" I wanted an "old fashioned car" since i could talk, my mom hung pictures of things like a 1917 Buick, and a Cord 810 cabrio on my wall for me to stare at out of my crib. I got my first "rod" at the age of 7 for $200, it was a '50 chevy pickup. I had that on the road as my daily driver by the time i was 17. When i was 16 I had a '50 DeSoto for a daily to hold me over until i got my truck done. It was actually a pretty nice car, one of the few i've had even to this day that had paint, interior, etc. all done at the same time. I'm 25 now and my cars are still in primer even though i spend mt time painting other people's cars now. Doesn't make much sense to most, but paint sucks and primer is king!

 

My first car [don't laugh] 1963 Studebaker Lark

 

I've always liked old cars but up until recently cars from the '30s '40s '50s and early '60s just didn't appeal to me. Then I started to like the gasser thing and it just went from there. Now I am a huge fan of traditional kustoms (yes, with a K) and generally anything that is old looks like a hoot to drive. As far as who turned me on to old cars, I honestly have no idea. My cousins had some badass old trucks but for some reason I never gave them much thought. I guess it was self induced.

 

Dude that would be awesome when you're 48 - like me!!!

Lundy

 

LOL, that's what I was thinking. Didn't know anything would be a "classic." My first was a $75 35 Ford, then a $90 50 Chevy. Based on the age of these cars then it would be equivalent to a kid driving 1980 and 1995 cars today. First time I suspected I had something special was my black on black 67 GTO, but that didn't keep me from trading it in on the next car.

 

When I was very small 7-8 years old to shut my brother sister and I up on trips, my mom bought a game called car bingo, it was bingo cards with ford, chevy, pontiac, dodge,(you get the picture) and every car coming the other way was on one of our cards. I learned a lot about cars and by 5th grade I was in trouble in school for drawing hotrods instead of working on my school work. My dad never had any interest in cars but my brother and I both have collections.

 

In 1976 (I was 6 at the time )my older brother brought home a black 1957 Chevy race car named Grandpa. I was hooked . He still has it but, hasn't seen the street since 1976 and the bastard won't sell it to me!

 

what he said ....

 

Well, I don't know about the "male DNA" thing...cause I am definately Female...My folks had an old Packard...pre-war (not sure the year) when I was a kid. Then a 48 GMC and a 53 Caddy. My first car was a 53 Metropolitan, then a 59 Ford Fairlane convertable, a 61 Plymouth Valient, a 57 Chevy...and the list goes on. I have an un-restored 50 Dodge now, but not sure what I will do with it... restore or Street rod...suggestions?

 

Been into old cars since I was a little kid. Used to jump up and down like a monkey when ever I saw one on the road. I think family has alot to do with it. Being raised around my uncles cars, packards, plymouths, fords, chevies pontiacs buicks, everything.

Don't currently have any old iron right now but am on the look out for that next project, driver.

 

Ive come from a long line of hot rodders ... My grandpa , dad , Uncles, cousins and know me. We always had a bad ride under construction and frequented all the shows and cruise nights. Just gets in your blood. Its like a drug that you cant go in to rehab to shake. Once you get started in this hobby your usually in it in some shape or form till there throwing dirt on ya. - Mayor

 

My dad and grandpa turned me onto Hot Wheels and then took me to the NSRA Nats in Columbus one year. It's their fault!

 

My dad was (RIP) into cars all of his life and worked on them in his free time. I would hang out and help him as much a little kid could. I loved this time with him, though he would get pissed a fling tools at me if I handed him the wrong size wrench. I knew my fractions down to the 64ths, and could spot the correct wrench size by the time I was ten. Most of dads cars were beaters, but he did have a Camio pickup with a four speed, and gold tuck n roll. He use to take me to car shows and the drags, that was super cool. I built models, and always customized them. We only had Matchbox cars but they were kind of lame, I out grew toy cars by the time Hotwheels came out. Full size old cars was the obvious next step. Just like in models I love the building part and try to do everything myself. I hope today's kids won't build models with their wallets, that would be sad. My sister and fellow HAMB member caught the bug from me, but I got to say she really surprised me. She bought her 56 Ford without a motor tore it all apart painted it and got it back on the road in no time at all. When she started the project all her tools were in a single kitchen drawer. Now her son is a car nut, and I'm his favorite uncle with the merc.

 

My dad I'd have to say inspired me. His 56 Buick was the very first car I leaned how to drive in. He's been a car guy since I can remember. Sadly I was not and wasted a lot of years. Playing catch up now and not being able to retain a lot of what I read is making it rather difficult. Ha ha!

I've always been attracted to the curves and chrome and had some cool cars over the years.
68 Chevelle, 49 plymouth, 67,68 Chevy trucks, 54 Chevy, 72 Impala and a few more.

While I've always been a Chevy guy I can appreciate others as well.