History Cars From Milwaukee Wisconsin, SE WI, and Northern Illinois....

I know this is a limited audience and subject matter, but I'd love to see some cars and comments, memories and whatever from anyone who remembers any cars from Wisconsin and Northern Illinois from the '50's and '60's.....We had a bunch of them, but little is the evidence of their History. This is a labor of love for me, but hopefully, there are enough HAMBERS from the upper MidWest who share my passion and sense of nostalgia.....Rods, Customs, faint memories, it doesn't really matter. I know there are those guys out there who have some great memories......Share what you have. Thanks! Centurion9

 

Milwaukee, Wi. 1st Rod-O-Rama, August 1954

 

Morton Grove, Il 1962

 

Thank you Guys very much....America is a very big Country and there is a vast History of Rods and Customs in it. I'd be very happy to see a more localized Thread develop here for all those from the area, both now and down the road.....Centurion9

 

I drove this 1940 Nash Ambassador in ~1960 in Williams Bay WI... (On Lake Geneva)
It was a straight eight with twin ignition...as in 16 spark plugs...
I bought it for ONE DOLLAR when I was (14) from my Aunt... my Uncle had committed suicide in it and it sat for (15) years parked in her garage.
Knew nothing about cars, but towed it home, and had it running in about three weeks.. was a cool car and had the wide whitewalls on the inside as well as outside of the tires...Also the back seat folded up and you had a bed that went into the trunk... Great idea in High School !! LOL

 

Scan_Pic0006 by Stu D Baker posted Feb 22, 2015 at 12:45 PM

Scan_Pic0001 by Stu D Baker posted Feb 22, 2015 at 12:45 PM

Couple more from 1962 Morton Grove, Il

 

I'm not a native to Milwaukee, but I love the rich automotive heritage of the region, and really enjoy any discussions of regional hot rodding history, no matter where. Hope this thread takes off and starts some other regional threads. I'll toss a couple relevant pics up to participate.

First is one of Schumacher's (Park Ridge IL) Stardust cars, in front of Kenosha Wisconsin's R&B Automotive (Dennis Rollain and John Buttera).


Mike Marinoff:

 

Mike Marinoff's son is looking for any info as to the location of the 55 Chev gasser in the picture, any body know anything? or when you saw it last. Thanks.

 

Shot taken from Bob Bleed's instagram - cruising on Wisconsin Ave., March 1964. He recently found this car, ran a 409 back in the day!

 

Again, 1962, Morton Grove, Il

 

1966/ 58 Impala convert, 348 4barrel, 3 speed w/ Hurst, 4:11 posi. This the first car, I owned long enough to do alot of body work to completion and painted. I used to trade, buy and sell alot when I was young. by wicarnut posted Jan 20, 2014 at 5:56 PM

pale purple w/ white top, custom black bucket seat interior by wicarnut posted Jan 20, 2014 at 5:46 PM

1964 Impala SS, 327 reworked to about 350 Hp, 4-SPEED W/Hurst, 4:88 posi by wicarnut posted Jan 20, 2014 at 5:46 PM

Here is 3 of my cars that cruised Wisconsin ave. back in the "Day" Villard ave. Big Boy on Capitol dr. Hwy 100 south of Greenfield ave. Great Memories and Fun w/ a little street racing thrown in. Started in 64, back then, never thought about pics much and some were lost thru time.

 

1956, member of Mellotones Car Club, Wauwatosa, Wi

 

I'm just sick that I gave my entire photo collection away to a terminally ill friend of mine many years ago thinking I would get them back from his Widow. It was certainly the right thing to do at the time...She lost track of them. I had scores of local cars and the best of the lot was an ongoing history of the original West Allis Car Club when they took residence in the old Bus Barns off the corner of 84th and Greenfield, As I recall, there were several clubs who showed there. The ET's, Night Owls, and three or four other Clubs had some great shows there. Thanks for your contributions guys....I really do appreciate it. Centurion9

 

1970's, Milwaukee, Wi. Today, this car may still be around in Illinois.

 

Here are a few I've posted before, but it may help stir the juices a little....

 

1960's, Milwaukee, Wi. I don't know, if this car was ever finished.

 

September, 1954, Wilmot, Illinois, drag races.

 

Back up !
Let's see some more

 

1951, Elkhart Lake, Wi. road races

 

Bumparu-----

 

Here are a couple...

 

and a couple more....

 

....and.....

 

A few more....

 

another center steer car from Ray Besasie(see post #24). The car had Olds Rocket power and center steer.When the brake pedal was depressed vigorously ,the dash pads would pop up.Supposedly to prevent the driver and passengers from leaving the vehicle in the event of a crash.Ray was the fiberglass man for Brooks Stevens' Excalibur project.He also worked with Craig Breedlove on one of his land speed cars.

 

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