Gort's Chevy Volt thread, brought back a lot of memories. Are there any old Hot Rodders here? I got my first car 30 years ago this month. By all accounts, the time I grew up in was an end of an era. Even all the magizines were talking about the end of the ole V8. Here I am 30 years later and I still have a V8. Although, I will admit it is nothing like my first one. Carburetors are no longer the mainstream. Points and condensers are a thing of the past. I can't open the hood and repair almost anything anymore either. It's hard to figure out where the dipstick is anymore. And you can forget about advancing the timing. As a youngster, my happiest days were spent under the hood trying to gain one more spidgen of horsepower out of that engine. Do the teens of today love their cars like we used to? My car was called the Green Goblin. YES, it had a name! Ahhhhhh, the rumble of that engine. I can still here it in my head. Listen! Can you hear the 4 barrel sucking for air? If you are an old Hot Rodder, Stand up and say so!
You're a young'n. I got my first car and started driving 50 years ago. I know there are guys older than me here.
Although I'm 2 years behind Phat Rat I have had fun my whole life with many different types of "Hot Rods".....................and will be until the put me in the ground. Times have changed and the world certainly has changed, but my love for cars hasn't changed at all. My one and only hot rod currently is a drag strip only car that has history back some 30 years. I've had street cars, traditional hot rods, and drag cars.................and have now come full circle back to drag racing. I still tinker with jetting the carb, tweeking the timing, and trying to get that last .01 second out of the car or my 60's times..............and still trying for the perfect .0000 light on the Christmas tree. As for the young kids today, I think they love their cars just as much as we did or even more considering the amount of money they spend on them.....................and as for changing the timing/shifting points/fuel......................it only takes a computer to do that with most new cars................and the results are about the same as they were some 48 years ago. IMHO
i guess im on the younger end of an older hot rodder started driving in 88 im 40 but my first 5 cars were all pre 1970 so i remember alot of what you mentioned as far as the kids today no they dont care about thier car its just something to get them from thier house to the computer store for the most part ....theres allways exceptions to the rule
Got my license in 1956 in a 55 Chev 2 dr. hdtp. that a buddy owned. Came from the womb with a 9/16" in my grip. Have built hot rods and drag raced all my life. Drove "slingshot " front motored cars. Now running a 67 camaro Nostalgia Funny Car with my Son. Can you say MOTORHEAD!!!!
This mght be OT but what the hell its close. I got my first motorcycle in 1959 and my last Bonneville record in 2010. You're a young'un but stick around. Before you know it the years will fly by and you'll be an old fart like some of us here.
nothin like a big block Dodge four barrel....police car....coming up behind you...to send a chill....
Got my first license in 1958....own three V-8 cars...one hopped up six banger.. a four cylinder dragster...building a blown front engine dragster. Will drive...till I die!
This is not true for the most part. Im 20 yrs old and have only been driving for the past 4 years but my first car was a 63 chevy II. I know alot of people my age that would fit into the group you are talking about but personlly for me nothing compares to that feelling you get when your fire up that new engine transplant for the first time or make that first long haul trip in your new project. I guess my point is Hot Roding is not dieing with the current generation because i've learnt everything I know about car from my Dad a 40 yr vetern body man and eventually I will pass the knowledge on as he did to me.
Yes, I remember waiting on the off ramp to get in US131 dragway, and listening to the state trooper cruise on by us on the freeway. What a sound!
Well, I'm an old guy pushing sixty but I didn't get my drivers license until 1965. So I started driving when the golden years of hot rodding had already closed. By the time I started wrenching and then finally driving the muscle car era was in full bloom but the traditional hot rods popularity was really falling by the wayside. At least it was in my part of the world in Colorado. I had 2 different SS396 Chevelles, 2 different Z28 Camaros and more than a few Corvettes in the sixties and early seventies. But back then I never really got interested in Fifties era cars and old school hot rods until the late seventies. I often wish I had been born at least ten years earlier so I really could have lived through the era. Growing up in the fifties and early sixties I was able to observe but not participate in those good times.
Got my license to drive motorcycle when i was fifteen in 1962, You were allowed to do that in Washington, State 'IF" you had a paper route. At sixteen I had my Auto drivers license. First car was a 1951 Vic Shoebox Ford, second (six months later) was a 1949 Ford business coupe, I slammed it, heated both leaf springs and coils and ran black rims with Baby Moons and a 5/8" w/w. We painted the front wheel wells pure white and ran small green lights so that the wells glowed.... Cool baby............. Been rodding ever since, I am 63 and don't plan on stopping. Presently building a 1937 Ford Pickup with all 50's running gear.....
Got my drivers license in 1960. I've owned over 200 cars since. Just turned 66 in September. Time flies when your having fun. Frank
Points, condensers, and carbs is where its at. I have proudly owned and driven V8 powered hot rods since 1968. As for the young folks yes they have just as much fun as I did/do. I work with a 22 year old who drag races his Dodge Neon everyweek end during the season, and eats sleeps, talks, dreams hot rods.
Got my license in 1958---just finished (almost) my 5th 40 Ford. Wish I had 'em all back that I had along the way---don't we all???
I was in the 9th grade when I did my 1st complete paint job, a 62 Ford Unibody PU. Was already driving but never alone. Had a 64 T-bird for a 1st car3yrs later. Dad hated it, said it made me look like an old man. We dumped it and I got a Camaro, built it from 2 totals. My classmates never understood my pride of that 1st paint job. Only 1 run with alkyd enamel. That was in the early 70s. Today I have 9 cars and only 2 are less than 8cyls, although currently 3 of em are straight 8s. One is a 385CI and 2 are 356CI. The remaining 4 are V8s, 2 o/t and 2 HAMB friendly. It seems I took all this car shit up yesterday.
1958 ........Idaho 'farm license' at age 14...haven't been without a hotrod since shortly thereafter. dj
I bought my first car before I got my license in 57, now drive an 84 El Camino, and T roadster with a 392 hemi with points and 2 carbs.
Yes Built my first hod rod in 1953. Worked all summer at a farm for a 1941 Chev that was a station wagon, it came with a 1941 Pontiac body. I made my own 3 carb mainfold, split exhaust. It beat many Ford flat head V8's
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