Welcome@ chuck7434 Ryan here's hoping despite the disruption of routine, You gain the nourishment of relaxing. We'll try not to torment Moriarity and Posse in your absence
May your stockings be filled with Old Hot Rod gear. Happy Holiday's to you and the other folks that help to make this a great place to hang out.
Thanks for the new “off topic” section. A good addition in 2024. Best wishes to you and your family and friends.
Thanks Boss, Merry Christmas & thanks for making this place home for so many people, what an amazing source of information & connection, a place to laugh & a place to share & sometimes a little sorrow. Looking forward to the next year ahead
A two seater roadster with a rolling gift carrier would have made anyone’s Christmas a happy one. Who knows how our future would have been if we had made it to the Labor Day Drag Races in Detroit in 1960. A new business venture and more builds would all have been a welcomed part of our hot rod/drag racing era. Hello, After driving around in my 58 Impala and my 40 Ford Flathead Sedan Delivery to the beach in high school, I had the opportunity to drive another car in our family. Just a few days before graduating from high school for me, my brother had purchased this 1949 green, sunroof VW bug. He had this bright idea to buy cars and fix them up to resell later. It had a cloth sunroof that folded on the outside, semaphore turn signals, split rear window, a roller gas pedal, and a stick shift that did not have synchos, so the shifting always needed a “double clutching” to shift smoothly. There was no gas gauge, just a lever on the firewall that one flipped over to the other side when the car started sputtering. It gave the driver another 1.5 gallons to get to a gas station. There were many times having fun driving around that this car sputtered. We had to make a quick pit stop, wherever we were… Balboa, Malibu, Belmont Shore, Bixby Knolls, Laguna Beach, and San Diego. I still had the 58 Chevy Impala and my 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, but those cars took a vacation when my brother gave me this car. He had recently sold a custom camper VW Van for this 49 VW Sunroof bug plus money. So, he was in the process of getting a newer, more powerful, empty van for another conversion. We drove all over So Cal with this different cruiser. With the sunroof open and cruising around the beach cities, it was a hit wherever we went. But, at Harvey’s Broiler inland, we were outcasts. The reception was cold to say the least, even in the summer, sliding top cruising scene. In Balboa/Newport Beach, we were the coolest guys driving around in a rare car. At every stop down the coast (Grissinger’s, Hody’s/PCH, and of course, Merle’s), we were asked a zillion questions about the car. Those cool, car hops just loved hanging around this little cruiser. It was not a hot rod, but in the beach cities in So Cal, it was a cool cruising vehicle. It fit right into the drive-in scene alongside of the hot rods and cruisers in the parking/service lots. By December of 1962, we sold it to another high schooler for his first car. Then it became a fixture at Grissinger’s for the next several years. Today, it is a very sought after, valuable car. These photos from the internet are the exact color and look of our 1949 VW cruiser. Pea soup green… Jnaki But, in December, we were able to drive the VW sunroof sedan to the local Christmas tree lot and with the wide open sliding canvas roof opening all the way back to the rear seat, we were able to put in a nice silver tip Christmas tree for our Christmas decoration. That was the first time our mom told us to go pick out a tree.. Our dad had taken us over the years prior to get a tree. This time, I worked in the largest tree lot in Bixby Knolls. My friend (57 Chevy) and I did all of the sales, spraying and most local deliveries. This time I drove the green 49 VW to the lot and picked out a nice tree that would fit right into the sliding sunroof opening. A neighbor of my friend just happened to be at the lot and saw the green VW Sunroof sedan. He thought it was the best thing, ever! Before I went home with a new tree for our mom, I showed him the “little things” that made the sunroof sedan so cool. The semaphore signal arms, the floor lever for the extra gallon of gas and that made the young kid want to buy it on the spot. So, he did. It was a nice green Christmas present for him and the rest of his high school years. YRMV
The H.A.M.B. UNIVERSE, is indeed, a very cool place to hang out, and read about all of the fellow HAMBERS projects and adventures! Its also a cool source of unique Firewall badges, that can adorn such items as my favorite old worn out straw hat! Thank you @Ryan for creating a very unique digital online club house and hoodlum playground, that is saturated with a ton of great Hot-Rod categories! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, from Dennis, to you and to all of the members of the vast, ever expanding, H.A.M.B. UNIVERSE!
Can you imagine no HAMB, no JJ? Ryan’s World has enriched our lives immensely. Boss, you couldn’t drive us away if you wanted to! Thank you for all you do. Happy New Year!
The Jalopy Journal
