Cool Visit with an Old-Timer

Yes, even older than me!

I went to visit a client yesterday evening to get some paper work signed and on the way back I drove by the house where a '53 Ford Victoria has been setting with a for sale sign for quite a while. The garage door was up and there was a '71 Mustang notchback in the garage also with a for sale sign. It was the first time I had seen signs of life at the house so I decided to stop.

For the next 45 minutes I talked to (more like listened to) Ralph talk about the car, his youth, his health, etc. Seems he had quite the life. (he's 73)

He told me he bought the car in the 80's with 50K on it and it had sat for six years and the motor was stuck, so he had the local Ford dealer rebuilt the flathead and over the next twenty years put about 11K on it. The car has 61 thousand actual miles on it. He told me he knew the guy who bought it neww because he worked for the dealership and that when it was delivered he took it right next door and had it nosed and decked. Ralph even has all the original trim that was removed from the hood and deck. The car was painted red at sometime in its life which looks a bit odd with the original coral and white interior but it is a nice car. His asking price of 10K didn't seem too bad but not something I am that interested in at the moment.

He talked about racing at the local dirt track, back in the day, which was fun because I spent some time on that track as well. Ralph talked about all the old iron he had cut up to make race cars, about how he had won his first race and then had to fight the secondplace driver for the trophy.

He then told me he still had the car he used for a tow car, a 1949 Ford but it was not at his house.

All in all a pleasent way to spend an hour and I am invited to stop by again, maybe we can go see the 49 next time.

It is amazing what you find when you take the time to connect with people.

George

 

That's great. That's what life is all about,people,not "things'.Listen to his lifes story,you will be rewarded.Someday we will be the ones to tell the stories to the young'ns. All this "stuff" has to go somewhere.You may have some cool cars to add to your collection,then to pass on... seeya, Glenn

 

that's one of the cool things about my job, getting to talk with car guys all day long. Few weeks ago talked with a 93-year-old fella who is the original and only owner of a 1929 Model A roadster and still drives it. He had some great stories, enough to fill a book, and he remembered them all with incredible precision.

Been wanting for a while now to start a project wherein I talk to all these old-timers before they kick off to preserve their stories, to find out about the cars they drove and the people and attitudes toward cars, hot rods, racing, etc. Otherwise, we're likely gonna lose all that history.

 

From personal experience, take the time to get to know the old timers. They have so much more knowledge than you can learn from books/mags etc. Between the HAMB and some old timers I have gotten to know since starting my '39, I have advanced my learning curve a ton. The wealth of information that will be gone when they die is too much to waste. It is our duty to learn as much as we can from these people and share it on the HAMB!! Who else better to tell you about how to build a tradional car, than the guys that lived it the first time around. I make it a point to run new ideas for my car buy my "Rodfather" before I set off to do them to the car. Alot of things that are supposed to be traditional were never popular back in the days we are trying to re-live. I can listen to old timers for hours!!!

 

Yes! These and tech., are the best post's. This is good. You made that old timer's day too. By listening. Respect,and manner's. A mini history of he and his car's. Then passing it on to us.You learn alot about people by watching,listening and reading what they have to say. Thank's much for this post.

 

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Alot of things that are supposed to be traditional were never popular back in the days we are trying to re-live.

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Amen....

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It's not always the old-timers.
Sometimes a guy your own age who's done a lot or done a lot of stuff that you didn't can make for quite an afternoon.

I spent the afternoon at A&W today, roadster parked in the lot and me sitting in the shade of a tree on a hot summer day listening to a not so old fuel driver/engine builder/teller of tales, both tall and true.
And somewhere along the line the tall tales end up being true as well.
Sometimes they border on the edge of fantastic and other times they fall right into the realm of beyond most anything you could believe.
Making me not a checker-upper on what seem to be tall tales, but it's interesting to hear others talk about this guy and in a round-a-bout way verify his stories. People who've known him all his life and who wouldn't know a tall tale if it bit them on the**** cuz they always tell the truth.
And like that old saw, truth is stranger than fiction.
If it were not so, there would be no fiction written because the best fiction springs from truth.

He's been there and done it all it seems and has the pics to prove it.
(One attached at the bottom of the post.)

He's wanting me to write his life story, but it ain't gonna happen for a couple of reasons.
One, I'm moving away in a few weeks if everything works out and the other, he's so damn busy most times that he doesn't hardly have the time to talk.
And when he does have time he wants to talk about present day hot rodding, what's going on locally and elsewhere and if you keep quiet and listen, eventually he'll drift back in time.

All you gotta do is half-way close your eyes, shut out the world, listen carefully and most of all, pay attention.
I swear . . . after a bit, you can smell the crisp summer mornings at the dragstrip, sniff the yeasty fuel, hear the cackle of fuelers turning in for the line-up and a run, feel the sunshine and breeze on your face and wait breathlessly for what's gonna happen next.

Sometimes a tire burning goin sideways spittin out the oil and aluminum pieces adventure and other times a straight and true run through and out of the smoke carding a high 7 at over 200 mph.
Then it's back to the pits so you can lay in the dirt, pull a pan, get hot oil dripping on your face and see if the bearings are gonna last for one more run.

I bet God used to wonder how come all the prayers over a small and unimportant piece of aluminum.
Unimportant to the world at large, but important to a particular individual and a particular place.
I'd further bet that more than a few of these prayers over a set of aluminum backed inserts were answered.

Fuel drivers talk to God.
At both ends of the strip and sometimes in the middle.

Those were the days of real hot rods, not any more real than today or the days that came before and the real part of it came from the total immersion of self into the mechanical marvels we know as hot rods.
Fuel or gasoline, makes no difference.
There's a little bit of each of us in the cars we build and for those who truly love the sport/hobby/life interest or whatever the hell you want to call it, the next car, roadster, coupe or fueler will be better than the last.

Faster too....