Folks Of Interest How many of you are second & third generation hot rodders or custom guys?

Hello,

When our dad bought his first car during his college days, he like others in the same age status and locales did do some late night activities. He told me a story about the long stretch of highway that ran from Long Beach to San Pedro where he lived. Currently, it is called the Seaside Freeway and is clogged day and night with the LA Harbor traffic.
First car in college...

Back then and even when we were teenagers, there was a funky pontoon bridge connecting downtown Long Beach to Terminal Island. Once off of the pontoon bridge, it was a straight away roadway all the way across Terminal Island, past the U.S. Navy Base, old airport landing, then leading up to the fish canneries and the main channel of the harbor. That is where the ferry terminal was for crossing into and out of San Pedro. The pontoon bridge is gone, being replaced with a tall suspension bridge, and in the recent years, replaced by the latest design, tallest and newest bridge on the Westcoast.

He told us that late at night, the straight away was so dark, then zipped by his old elementary school and piles of old rusty junk. There was no big green bridge (Vincent Thomas Bridge) at the time. The fish cannery workers were gone and the only traffic was from the few locals. (during our teenage days, it was very quiet and the solitude was a little eerie…)

But, either our dad was a typical 20 something guy with a car and wanted to see how fast it was on the open road. This place was old home for him since the early elementary school days. So he did enjoy telling me the story. Full acceleration on a dark street only lit up by the headlights.

That was a classic hot rod story we could get behind. Now, only our story goes to the Cherry Avenue Drags location and not so empty public roadway, unless it is during the early morning, like 2 a.m.

His story goes all over the San Pedro highways all around the Palos Verdes Peninsula and the coastal harbor areas from the Terminal Island area into Long Beach coastal shoreline. He used to body surf the huge waves at the old Rainbow Pier, before the breakwater stopped the big waves from hitting the shoreline. We only got a few stories like this one out of him, as he was usually a well reserved and had a quiet temperament during our growing up period. But, the ones we heard and remembered were good ones...

Jnaki

So, we could be associated with being 2nd generation hot rod/drag racing teens. Our dad even supported our hot rod endeavors and attended Lion’s Dragstrip when he knew something unusual was going to be the showcase event. (Like Art Afrons and the Green Monster race car.) He knew it was important for the sons to be involved together on a good project.

In the June 1959, my brother and I already were weekly racers at Lion’s Dragstrip and decided to just be spectators for this unusual big-time event. It was the first of its kind. When our dad heard us talking about the “aircraft” powered race car, he, too, was interested and attended Lion’s Dragstrip for that appearance. It was one of many trips to Lion’s Dragstrip for his personal enjoyment.

Our dad with his hand on his famous Dobbs Fedora Hat he always wore. We were in our standard teenage drag race apparel of Levis, desert boots, white T-shirt and blue nylon jackets, watching the big event with him. Of course, our dad had his dark suit and tie to go along with his Fedora hat. Thanks, Rruss...

On a final act, he was our connection to his friend in Los Angeles that had ties to the hot rod/drag race industry and we always got a great discount for our needed speed parts. With this last effort on his part, it would have been the missing parts (Hilborn two port injectors/M&H slicks and a C&O stick hydro) to push us into the record books. He would have been proud to see his name on a finished, lower fender as a sponsor for our final 1940 Willys 671 SBC Coupe in late 1960. So, yes, we were 2nd generation hot rod/drag race kids.

Thanks, Dad...

 

My dad is a mechanic and owned a long line of cool muscle cars and motorcycles in the 70's when they were just used cars. He had cool wheels on almost everything and lived the era, paint and bodywork, engine swaps, everything. In the early 90's when I was a young boy he bought a 1964 Impala SS to replace one they had 20 years before. That started the collection and now he has a collection of cars from a 29 Model A on up, and in my mid-30's I have my own collection including a 1928 Model A RPU that I'm starting to build. I grew up with it and will never grow out of it.

 

For my grandfather and my dad too...they didn't like to walk but they liked to get from point A to point B and they were cheap...so they learned to fix their own junk...
My grandfather had his own garage back during the 40's and 50's (pic of ad attached here)....my father worked on oval track stuff in the late 40's and very early 50's...he told me once about how he made a water injection set-up for a model T some guy was racing and they could beat the bigger motors all day long...
Then dad was stationed in West Germany in the 1950s and he fell for all those German cars....So you don't typically modify German stuff...you just maintain them and drive them...when he came home...it was German cars until he died in 2001...

I think if he was stationed state side we might have had some cool old cars in the garage.

 

2nd gen here. I wanted it, lots of it. I've had several opportunities to sample different variants of "the life" if you will, everything from the routine production body shop, prototype, restoration, hot rods, muscle, even drag racing. As time and toll goes on all I can say is, going all in has advantages and disadvantages. Get what you want sooner than later. Later might not happen later. Energy is perishable. Use it wisely. Try not be the cliche of a barefoot shoemaker. What would I do different? Only that, a little more me time, but past that few regrets. Sadly no 3rd gen.

 

3rd Generation here. I could say 4 generations, but my great grandfather was a mechanic and I don't think he had much interest in Rods & Customs. It was just a job for him I think.

 

Second gen here. Dad was a car guy but he wasn't a car builder. He did cut down a 28 Chevy sedan into a jalopy and if I can find the photo I'll post it. He had a variety of interesting cars over the years including a supercharged Hollywood Graham before WWII and a 41 Ford Ragtop with what were said to be the loudest pipes in the county when he came back from WWII. Shown here in front of the Rathburn's gas station here in town. Station is long gone but the family has owned a machine shop since the late 40's early 50's. He had that one when I was born but swapped it for a 41 Buick Sedanette. My memory of that car is that I tagged along at 3 or 4 years old while he and a buddy painted it in the bay of a Shell station on the other side of town (the bulding still stands). It's an auto glass shop now.
He had a 57 Olds 4 door hardtop that was black and lowered with a J-2 Tri power on it. We stopped at some shop in the Mojave area to have something looked at on the way back from a trip to San Diego in 1962 when dad decided to drive across the desert and up to Reno and looking back I think it was probably Gene Winfield's shop and he tried to trade dad out of the Tri power. A great road trip for a 15 year old kid but my dad got tired of listening to me try too play the bongo drums that I bought in Tijuana with the help of my uncle Vernon. That was the last of what I would call cool cars and he traded it off for a 62 Pontiac when I was in the Army and totaled the Pontiac on black Ice 4 days after I got back from Vietnam in Dec 68. Ended up buying a new 68 Olds Delta 88 from the same salesman who I had ordered my 69 Cutlass S from .
From the late 70's until I didn't have a car or truck to take to shows he usually met me at the shows he could get to and we got a lot of together time then.

 

My mother wasn't a hot rodder but she did have a heavy foot, daddy bought her a 1966 Mustang with a hipo 289 & a four speed, she would show out every now and then when some kid would pull up beside her and rev his engine, she knew how to dump a clutch and light up the tires.

 

dad grew up in burbank and bought an old T when he was 14. when he revisited his old home town 40 years later, he was surprised to see the burbank studios had been built where he and his buddies raced their cars!
his dad, though not really a hot-rodder, liked to talk about his adventures with his stanley steamer, which was one of the fastest cars way back when...

 

Working on a 5th generation today when my son and I took my grandson to his first car show.

 

That is so cool, HRP

 

I'm a second generation hot rodder... I have my dad's 1933 pickup that he got in 1952.. he always encouraged me with Anything I wanted to do. Couldn't have asked for a better dad.... He caught a lot of heat from my mom over all the cars I had at our house... He just smiled and said it's fine... I passed the 33 on to my son... But it's still in my barn....lol .. my 3 year old grandson is crazy about it... He says that's my hotrod popo.. he was over a few days ago helping me do some maintenance on it... Hopefully he will be the 4th generation with the same pickup....

 

I’m a second generation. My boy just turned 5 and is ate up with it too. Our 46 is special to me as it was built by myself and my dad and son was there every step of the way. I call it our 3 generation build.

 

I figured out how to get pictures off my wife's phone today. She had pics I've not ever seen.
Pic 1, This is me and my son, right after I drug the 35 Dodge home. Yes, I did put it together, and we drove it 66,000 miles in about 6 years. I had the car on the road for 7 years, but the last year we only took it places to try to sell it, so it only got a couple hundred miles that last year.

Pic 2, This is my son with his son, the little guy is 9 now, and still "helps" his dad.

Pic 3 That is my daughter's son working on his 64 Chrysler Newport, his 1st car at age 16 (he is 21 now, the car has since been sold). We had just left a car show where his car got 2nd in his class. As one would expect, we had to borrow a parking lot so he could do something on his car so we could get the 60 or so miles home. I don't remember it being a big deal and we did make it. That is me standing there with my hands in my pockets supervising. The deal around my place was, if you can't figure out how to fix it well enough to get home, I will check out your problem, then tell you what needs to be done and will watch you work. If need be I'll get my hands dirty and pitch in and help you get the job done, but its your car and you need to learn how to fix it.

Every year, after my oldest grandchild got his 1st car, we as a family have made a family weekend trip. We would go to a dirt track race, spend the night in hotel rooms, then get up early the next morning wash the cars, and hit a big Mopar show. I took the coupe, my son has a 57 Dodge wagon, and my grandson with his 64 Chrysler. My daughter has a modern Jeep and the last few years she would enter it too. All of us were in different classes, and often at least 2 of the 4 of us would trophy. A couple years ago, my grandson had to sell the Chrysler, but he still joins us at the car show.

 

I got my mechanical aptitude from my mom. she was not a hot rodder, but she told me she used to change out the bent pushrods in her 1931 Chevrolet back in the 40's.

 

Seems like I just saw you all somewhere...

 

Hopefully there will be more outings this year! Great to see you guys.

 

Me. I still got dads coupe…..