You could drive around all weekend on like 2 bucks I was working part time at an Olds dealership $1.10 per hour
Man-what a good thread. I never write on these things but this one inspired me to share some of my experiences and stick up for a small percentage of the people you are calling rich kids. I was not rich and my folks were not rich but we did operate a family farm in eastern Oregon and I worked in the fields operating machinery from the time I was 6 yrs old---I loved it. By the way, I am Rod--Casey's Dad--I was 16 in 1963. When I was 8 or 9 ,I got to thinking during all that time I was spending on the tractor that if my Dad just paid me .10 per hour, I could buy some cool stuff in no time at all--like maybe a scooter. When I approached him with this new idea I had (not feeling right suggesting I receive money for something I loved--but the neighbor kid got .10 an hour I knew,but he was older also) anyway,when I said it he replied "you are doing a man's work--I'll pay you a mans pay". Sounds like a line from a movie or something. So from that time on I received 1.25 an hour and was responsible for my own out of the ordinary purchases and for college. When I was 13 I bought a 1949 black Buick in perfect shape and good running straight 8 with a 3 speed stick from a junk yard--someone had removed the front suspension to use on a home built trailer. I replaced the suspension with parts from the same junk-yard, removed the front fenders, and proceeded to cut the entire body off the floor pan using a hammer and a chissel--leaving the firewall, and dashboard assembly--giving me a giant go-cart.(to this day I can't swing a hammer at a chissel without abject fear of hitting my hand) I drove that thing all over the valley-to work when I worked for the neighbor--to 4-H meetings at night--afterward sometimes we would play hide-and-seek in our cars with the other farm kids who had driven their parents cars to the meeting-no lights, using the roads and the open fields when possible. On our school bus route, there was a house in town that had a 37 Ford coupe in the drive way I would look at every day. One day it had a for sale sign in the window and that weekend I pestered my dad into going to town to look at the car.It was in nice shape with a 265 chevy in it already. The guy wanted 200. bucks for it. I wanted that car sooo bad, but I could see my dad was not impressed. At 14 years of age I turned to that seller and said "I'll give you 175. bucks for it." My Dad said-"you will?" I said yes and I had my first real car. I had no one to help me, but I started learning and doing-doing and learning--its painful but when you get it you really got it. There was no place to get after market parts-Portland was 250 miles away-I got my scavenger pipes from maybe Baxters there; most other parts I got from JC Whitney. I put a dropped axle in it and cheater slicks with the fake white walls from Whitney. I tunneled 59 Cad tail lights and prepped the car for paint--had the Pontiac garage put a flawless maroon job on it for 175 bucks--had the local shop do a full tuck-and-roll black with white headliner for I think 150. Had a machine shop modify the four barrel manifold to accept the big new Olds Rochester carb. This was the car I had as a sophmore in high school in 1963. Some probably thought I was rich but most knew I earned my own money and did my own work. Not rich but in a unique position and fortunate for being a gearhead. As a junior in 64 I bought a 58 Del Ray in Portland with a 301 tri-power 3-sp. The Sun tach on the dash with the little bare feet decals leading up to it sold me. It was a nice blue color with all the 6 cyl. trim so was a real sleeper soon to be a much bigger one. I developed the car with a 4-sp and posi and tweeked the engine around where it was about as quick as the new GTO s that were out. Then in my senior year in 65 I picked up a new 425 hp 409 which a local guy couldn't make run right--dropped it in my 58 and made it run to the tune of high 12s.With two weeks to go in high school I traded the 58 to a guy who wanted to go drag racing for his 59 Corvette/brand new 365 hp 327 which I painted myself and used as my college car. That first summer after graduation I started building a T Bucket to race in A/Altered. I built the frame, quarter eliptic suspension front and rear--everything. Bought a 426 max wedge engine out of Hot Rod classifieds and had it shipped from Vermont--there went one years worth of college money. I raced the car the next summer then pulled the drive train and put it in a 54 Austin Healy-the biggest car challenge of my life.If anyone knows anything about the Healy which last I knew was in the Portland area, I'd like to hear about it. So this was my experience around 1963. It was the beginning for me and special. I have had a life which has included many speciality cars but they have not been my whole life. They are still my hobby, but not my life. My life is in my Creator and my family. The pictured '57 Ford is a project that I'm currently finishing up. It has a 542" stroker in it.
actually in 1963 i turned 14 and for my birthday my father boiught me a 39ford pickup for $30 we spent the next 2years building it with a 57tbird 312 with rare daytona heads 3deuces steel wheels etc ,i was quite lucky as a kid because or next door neighbor was a racer and was always giving me discarded obsolete stuff for free or next to nothing had that truck over 29years and it never did get magwheels on it//the truck is now bring brought back to life in a new form by a friend i sold it to
I was a legal drunk in 63 and part of the "if you can remember the 60's! you weren't there crowd!" I do have some pictures of my cars as proof I was there but that's all I remember
I was 16, drivng a 1959 Ford Galaxie with port-a-walls (not to be confused with port-a-potty's)and baby moons. The paint job was by none other than Earl Schieb (any car, any color, $29.95 - in by 9, out by 5). I had an under dash 45rpm record player that never worked to well. Were "those the days"?
I'm 16 now. This sucks. But I do drive my '64 F100 to high school! By far the oldest, loudest, and baddest ride in the lot.
Portawalls, skirts, floor shift kit from J.C. Whitney, and flipper hubcaps. Nosed, decked, and painted yellow, because we knew a guy in the highway dept who got us "free" paint that was "left over" when they painted the lines on the road...... (The guys who had a summer job might be able to afford glass packs.) My first real job paid $1.25/hr, an even $50/wk.
My brother graduated in '58 an moved west. That summer he and I took his '39 Ford Standard Coupe from Texas to California. He was 18, I was 13. The '39 was primed, lowered, and had, '49 Plymouth bumpers, medium whitewalls,and full moons. It was flathead powered. The upholstery was white naugahide done by my mother and brother except for the seat that he had done. In '59 when the rest of us moved to California he had already bought me a '38 Deluxe Coupe. I washed dishes at a restaurant, bussed tables, cut lawns, painted signs, and whatever else came up to make money to get the car ready for when I got my license. My dad was a machinist and mechanic and always helped me and my friends work on our cars. In fact I think the pretended to be my friends to get Dad's help. In June of '61 when I got my license the coupe was mostly ready. It had A flathead, 1/4 X 1/4, Offey heads, 3-97s, Clay Smith 3/4 cam, homemade tube headers, Mallory duel point dist. 2 1/2" dropped axle, de-arched spring with reversed eyes. It ran black wheels we reversed. 15" F 100s in front and 15" F 100 centers in 15" Buick Roadmaster outers. Tires were 560 15s front and 820 15 in the rear. They were recaps with 2" and 3" whitewalls. The paint was stock Henry black with primer spots where work was done. The rear wheel wells were radiused and it had no bumpers. The front finders were about 3" off the ground. I had every piece of metal inside chromed dash and all for $100. My dad went with me to TJ and I got it upholstered for $60. All black with 3 rolls on each side. Later it had a 303 Olds(for a while). I often ran it with no hood and sometimes with the hood on and no side panels. By '63 when I graduated I still had the coupe but I'd also gone through a '39 tudoor,a '38 fourdoor, a "40 sedan delivery(shoot me) a '51 woody, a '53 Olds, and a "49 Indian. In the summer of '63 I bought a "40 Chevy pick-up. When it was as done as it got it had a 261 six with '54 vette intake and exhaust, the hood wouldn't quite close on the driver side. It had an F 100 bed and rear fenders and actually looked good. It was red with home built black reversed wheels and skinny white port-a-walls. Also my good friend drove a metalic blue '57 Chevy pick-up with chrome reversed wheels and black walls. Our high school had a good group of owner builts that included 3 As, 4 fat fender Fords, a '59 Ranchero, Shoe boxes, woodies, and others. On ant given day 12 to 20 rods and 1/2 dozen bikes in a school 2,000. Not a set of mags on the place and maybe 3 or 4 in full primer. Sometimes I think it was all the same pile of parts and we just swapped and swiped the back and forth. Also in our area almost every shop, gas station, wrecking yard,and many other businesses had some degree of custom/rodded pick-up or panel.
Graduated in 1960-worked on ranches in the central valley my junior and senior year and had a 57 Pontiac with a set of chrome wheels that came from Eddie's Speed shop in Fresno,dropped front and back with 3-2's and cutouts under the front fenders--weren't too many cars with chrome wheels and the only mag type wheels I saw were on drag cars at Madera Drags-can't recall any on street cars until later. The hot set up where I was was to get a 55-57 Chevy with a stick and go to the dealer and buy a solid lifter cam, change intake to a 4bbl and find an Olds or Pontiac carb to put on it. Most of the cars were dumped in front, painted wheels with baby moons--the trick tires at the time for traction were from Gas Stations and were called Atlas Bucrons as I recall. In 60, most kids cars in our area were 49/50 Fords,53/54 Fords and 55-57 Chevys with painted rims,portawalls and spider caps, moons, Olds fiestas,55 Buick or 57 Plymouth caps. Gary McClean of Ralley America was in the same school as I was and had neat cars along in this time as well. By 63 the Valley kids were driving mostly 58-62 Chevys with 4spds, solids, black walls,etc. or 56-58 Fords.
you need more info like Sarah Palin needs another Couric interview, but here goes... I was 18 in 63, grew up in northeastern Ia. had about 4 cars before I was 16 (all towed mome with great dreams and towed away with tears). started driving in my folks 51 4 door chev fleetline w/ 'powerslide' tranny, etc. degrading, I can tell you. first few drivers all came from junkyards...50 chev hardtop, 55 chev 2 door post, the exception being a 49 ford coupe from Ca, which ended up with a 283 complete with adaptor from Warshawski in chicago. we played around with nose down custom style and nose up gasser style...(heated the coils so often between styles they finally broke). we didn't have money, so we scavenged junk yards and made our own stuff. (even made a 'floor shift' from a chev column shift ont time, along with a bean can witha gauge of some kind in it for a pretend tach. enuf already, but the thread got my memory juices flowing. bc "cram the wheel both ways and floor it!"
In 1963 I was broke and 17, working on my best Friends 52 Chev. Knocked the rivets out and reversed the wheels. spray can primer job for the weekend, removed hood trim and bondoed the holes, made a straight pipe out of used pipe, reversed the shackles, gathered up all of our old mans stubbys for gas and went cruising.
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