Folks Of Interest Am I the only one?

I am the only car person brought up in a family that shows no interest in Old cars.
I am not very sure where or how this bug was traced to me only. But I do have a couple great uncles that built Hot Rods back in their day.
I'm not saying I feel sorry to be raised in a family absent of traditional Hot Rodding, but It sure kicks my heart around that I have no one to look up to, to teach me or to be inspired by. I have to pay people I don't even know to come over and help me out which is nice, but still. It would be nice to have 'free' help from a family member or friend and I don't have that. My brother would have been one to help but he moved to Germany and haven't seen him in 3 years. It's so difficult to get motivated with no company and free help.
I just have to know, am I the only one? How do you get by without any help?

 

No one in my family showed interest in hot rods,I was just lucky that I caught the bug! HRP

 

Welcome to the club!! Really hard to express to anyone family-wise why I do what I do. On the plus side, they think I'm nuts and leave me alone in the garage.

 

It's just me up here too. My "friends " are more into beer then cars .

 

No one in my family ever had an interest in cars except as transportation. Whe my Father was assigned to duty in West Germany in 1959 he bought a 51 Pontiac 8 wagon to transport my Mom and 5 sons around Bavaria. I saw many old cars in Germany and knew some who owned them. I always had a hunger to own and drive old cars, never new ones. A friend of mine in Germany was from Virginia and was alover of old cars too. We couldn't wait for the new R & C and HotRod to hit the stand at the PX. And everything went downhill from there as far as my non-car-guy Dad was concerned. But I sure have had a lot of fun.

 

I am lonesome in the category as well. I don't even have very many friends around to even help...

 

Yeah it's nice to have buddies to bull shit with too. Glad I found the Hamb

 

You don't need free help. You don't need any help. At least you had a few uncles who messed with cars. Even my dad didn't drive or touch the family beaters that mom drove. Hell the guys down at the local Shell station checked the oil, etc and begged dad to let them add oil or antifreeze when needed. Other family members just drove their cars and no one worked on their own. Not even my neighbors.
Only my younger brother got the bug, after I spread the dread desease to him. Why I became a car guy is a mystery. But there are no shots or pills to cure it. And who would want to? There are worse things that could happen to you.
As you see my threads and comments you will see I got it bad and never wanted to be cured. I'm pushin 74 and have slowed way down. But there have always been old cars in our garages and yard. And always a project and new dream in my mind just wanting to get out.
The way I got help was to become friends with other car addicts. My biggest problem soon was having time alone with my wife and family. If I wasn't crawling all over a friend's car, they were at my house. Yes, it's nice to have help. Some jobs take several hands. And my wife always knows where I am. I've eaten more meals in the garage than in the dining room.
Buy an old car that you are intested in and start messing with it. Go to cruise ins and car shows. Wander around and ask questions. If you really are a car guy others will sense it and life will never be the same.

 

No one in my family was into rods but I managed just fine, I am now 62 and still building rods. Just read all you can and get your hands dirty, and make mistakes. Then fix them. That's how you learn.

 

I've always had old cars. The rest of the family drives new ones. I've just always loved em. Like you though, I dont have buddies here in Portland to help me out. I am lucky though, my rockin' wife is right there with me, she loves old cars as much as I do.
I do have a couple of neighbors who wrench and offer a lot of sound advice and occasional help (which I'm grateful for) but the things that need to get done, get done poorly by me, then (later after I've re-examined the situation) redone. That's why it's taking a year + to get my 58 on the road. That and a total lack of funds.
And you are right, it is difficult to get motivated when you have no pals to share it with and with whom you can get together and work on each others rides.
However, I'm in Portland and if I can help with something let me know.

 

Yeah, This guys that's been helping me out offered an apprenticeship to me at his body shop. I'll have to take it to get by with my ol' cadi. We'll see what happens I guess.
And loneliness kills the mind to even think about how to fix something on your own car. Frustrating.

 

I checked your profile. There are many here who are very much like you. A gal at our local NAPA has a 59 Caddy 4-door hardtop. Good luck. Checking your albums, you are a cool guy.

 

Nope, no one in my family, as I was growing up or now were/are interested. (My wife nicely tolerates it, see grew up around Lotus's, Austin Martins, MG TD's and the like). I wasn't all that interested myself until several years ago. Was more into late 60's to early 70's street rods. But a friend brought me around, and I became even more interested after I found the HAMB.

 

Nope. You're not alone. My pops had a handful of muscle cars way back. 3 R/T chargers that I'd love to have now. Endless stories of drag racing from my uncle that ran a slingshot in Dallas back in the 70's. I couldn't convince either now that I am not waisting my time and money with cars. I've got one buddy that is as sick as I am but over the years kids come along, mortgages, bills... So really I'm all alone here with my wife that tries to be understanding about my obsession with finding killer deals on parts I'll never use.

The one thing she likes about it is how I'll pass right by a hot little number in booty shorts and little of nothing covering up top to drool over a car.

 

Hell yes you should take it. If you have the time, it could be a great learning experience. Go for it!

 

Well, my dad is... a Corvette guy.

I have always been into cars of all types, but didn't really get into rods until I had a boss that was into them. I bought my hunk of junk from him cheap and have been hooked ever since.

 

My old man nearly scrapped my hemis once when he was pissed off. No, you're not the only one.

 

I sold a '65 Nova a good number of years back. It was in my dads shop at the time and I couldn't be there when he picked it up. Needless to say he got a helluva deal on that car and ALL my parts... a few sets of headers, a set of drag stars with BFG drag radials and front runners, new griffin radiator, billet distributors, 2 4 bolt 350 blocks, a forged crank, cast crank, set of old 491's that had been machines and built, ladder bar and coilover setup and much much more. I don't take a damn thing to his shop anymore. I'll rent a thousand storage units before I'd drop off a blown out tire over there.

 

all of my family came from italy in the 20,s and frist lived in ny didn,t have a car till they got to jerzey but i was lucky guy,s i went to school with were into cars and the bug hit hard and i,ve been into cars and bike,s for the last 60,s years

 

Its just me & my dad. He loves muscle cars 65' and up and he wouldn't know a model A from a 34' but the wrenches still turn the same for that I am grateful!

 

Nah, you're not the only one. First off, as a fellow Oregonian [misplaced in Nebraska] I can't help but wonder...where the hell is Sugartown?
My dad was always into Harleys. He told me about the 29 two door he rebuilt the engine on back in the early 40s...was proud of it but didn't show much interest in car stuff [he was a catapillar mechanic] while I was growing up. Then I bought an old ford and it had a cracked block. He talked me into it and said we could rebuild it together. I jumped on it for 50 bux and after buying another 2 cracked blocks [they both gave me my money back] I finally scored a cherry 53 merc engine ahd the ol' man and I rebuilt that sucker in his little 1 car garage...rings, bearings and gaskets were 36 bucks. He knew a guy at work with a pair of freebie tube headers and a buddy of mine sold me a complete offy 4 barrel setup. I was astounded at the ol man's interest! That was the end of it tho. He got back to his drinking career and I stayed interested in cars.
Long after I'd left home he quit drinking and began dragging old fords home for himself. Surprised the shit outta me. He was calling me for advise! By then I was into muscle cars [OK, 1 muscle car...a 68 GTO] and it was his interest in building hotrods that made me swap the goat for a hotrod 57 chevy.
His younger brother bought a brand new 50 Merc tudor and stored it at my grandfather's shed while he was away in Korea..I use to sit in it and play "driving".
Nobosy else in my family was interested in hotrods until my 1st cousins got old enough...then a family reunion looked like a fuckin car show! Even the last one last year! Fat fendered hotrods, model A's with blown smallblocks, Prostreeted old ford pickups, sdean deliveries...it was great!...and I grew up with no interested relatives so I hung with my hotrod buddies until my family finally got the bug!

 

Me too! I will say that I was interested in hot rods in high school but it was the muscle car and mustang era. I didn't have any money any way. This traditional rodding rebirth is coming around right when my kids are raised and I've got some extra time for the first time in my life. The HAMB is helping my dreams come true!

 

That's a toss up for me.
Or a happy medium.

 

I'm sorry man



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I'm in the same boat. My dad liked old cars but was a bum sorry to say. Now my 20 month old son his first word was car! I'm stoked at the future potential we will have together. Guess we are starting the tradition !


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My Dad told me a car was to get you from point A to point B and that was all, and if you did any modifications to your car you were just wasting your money. I offered my teenage son a 65 Mustang for his first car if he would just work on it with me and he said he was interested, but I guess he just didn't want to hurt my feelings because I had to drag him to the garage. But now I'm a Grandpa so maybe she will like my old cars!

JW

 

My Grandfather owned a Sinclair station and fuel oil company in my family's home town for decades. He had a massive stroke and then passed away when I was only 8. It was too much for my Granny to manage on her own and no one else in my family really cared or were interested in taking charge. Every once in awhile I wonder how things would be different if the business stayed in the family. Still to this day I'm the only one of my siblings that has any interest in this stuff. Although, my 6 year old daughter has her own tool box and loves helping me work on the heap.

 

Nope. The only car related person i have in my family is my great-grandfather (whom I never met) that ran his own shop back in the 30s and 40s.

My family doesn't really get it but I am very lucky that they are understanding and supportive. Sometimes that's the best you can hope for.

 

My story is the same as yours. No one in my family could care less about this stuff except for a couple of Uncles but they live 500 miles from me and all the rest of my family have moved away. Totally on my own which makes me even more thankful for my car hobby!

 

I was the only one in my family who worked on cars.
I always wondered where the bug came from.
Years later I found out that my Grandmother's brother was involved with the manufacture and racing of Mercer cars from Trenton, NJ.
I have a couple of pictures of him and Mercers at the factory.