Hello, I'm Alex. I have lurked on this forum for years, but figured I would finally sign up and say hello. My grandfather built hot rods that he raced around San Diego, Berdoo, Pomona and the salt flats back in the 50's and 60's. I grew up hearing stories of his 36 Chevy, 36 Buick, and more. He also had a few mild kustoms, such as a 50 Mercury. My grand uncles worked at the Lordstown plant in Ohio building the Impalas, Bel Airs, Caprices and Biscaynes in '66 and the first Firebirds. My dad was born in the same city as the Packard Motor Car Company so I suppose automobiles are in my blood. My family moved to Temecula in 1986 and I went to every Rod Run that I can remember. We headed down to Cruisin' Grand in Escondido every Friday and shows at Hot Rods of Norco. We'd get to Pomona before sunup when the Swap Meet was still relevant. My dad and I would travel to shows to chat with Ed Roth, who was always a delight and encouraged me to continue working on art and cars. I mowed every yard and picked up every pile of dog **** in the neighborhood starting at 8 years old and bought a 1972 Chevelle Malibu when I was 14. I went through a few more Chevelles and some Cadillacs before work and university consumed so much of my time that I never had time to work on cars. I always wanted a period correct 50's or early 60's era hot rod or kustom. I picked up a '62 Unibody from my wife's uncle before we were asked to relocate to Texas and had to sell the truck. We're currently in New Braunfels, which has a fraction of the car culture I grew up with in Southern California. The lone bright spot being the Lone Star Roundup in Austin. My grandpa and dad p***ed away months apart in 2021 and I suppose in some way, I started looking for cars again to hold onto those connections and p*** them down to my daughter and son. She's obsessed with C-10s and 60's Mopars and his favorite car is a 70 Chevelle and 48 F-1. I'm always on the lookout, but my first love was always the hot rod and kustom scene of the 50's and 60's so it has to be a period correct project. We drove 5 hours to look at a "daily driver" 49 Pontiac that the owner could barely start. I love learning new things and am just starting to get back into everything so I love humbly reading the articles and threads on here and seeing the amazing things that people are still churning out. Cheers!
The Jalopy Journal
