History I'm curious-How long you been at this??

I'm 31,I was born handing wrenches to my father in northeast PA. He follows more of a street rod stly car and as I grew and educated myself my I veered toward the traditional hot rads and customs.I've tried in the past few years to pull out of the hobby but it never happens so I just let it consume my life and my wifes life ...sometimes at least.

 

Born in '56. My Pop used to run with the Glendale Sidewinders but that was before I came along. He moved into sports cars and did a ground up on a 54 MG TF1500 when I was about 4 or 5. I can still remember sitting in the car in the garage "Helping". We got into the slot car thing about 62. Same year we went to the Seattle Worlds Fair and I found a 62 Corvette model that someone had left on a bench. Must have been destiny cuz I Hot Rodded the model. 68 got a mini bike, which got traded for a Honda and I haven't been without a bike since. Got first car in '70 - a Sunbeam Alpine with a 1275 motor built by the legendary Jim Hall, had been hit hard in the left front. Dad drove it home making only right turns, it wouldn't turn left! Wished it was a Tiger and got one when I was 19! It was the SCCSCC Slalom Championship car and Way too much car for an immature gearhead.
First job was a tire buster at Security Tire in Huntington Beach (anyone remember them?)and have either worked for or owned auto businesses ever since.
Raced dirt bikes, Won a Championship in an Off Road Truck, another in Pro Rally, Road Raced a 1984 Corvette (When it was new) did a little drag racing. Hell, met my wife riding ATC's at Glamis!
Craziest thing is when I was 13 I used to ride the Stingray down to Blair's Speed Shop and be a pest. Watched them building the Anglia Drag car - I've owned it now for 13 years and gonna go nostalgia drag racing with it!

Great idea for a Thread!

 

I'm 59. No one in my family was into hotrods but I was raised on a farm and if something broke you had to fix it so I helped with some pretty basic fabrication. I discovered model cars and hot rod magazines around 1962. I went nuts when I got my drivers license. Tore up the local streets and was at the drags everytime they opened up (twice a month). I went to work at one of the local tune up shops when I turned 16 too. Went off to college, got a degree, worked in an office that was about 4X4 until I was sick of it. Threw my degree in the corner, moved back to the town I grew up in and started working in the local hot rod shop in the early 70's. I had a couple of Mustangs and a Sunbeam Tiger while I was in college. I'd kinda gotten out of cars and into Harleys in the late 60's. Got back into cars when I moved home (NEVER got out of Harleys). Went through a 65 Corvette and Don Hardy Vega before I bought my first Anglia. Still got it and have run through a couple more hotrods and a lifetime of projects. Opened my own shop in 78 and I'm still trying to figure out if it'll ever make a profit.
That's about it, more than most folks around here know about me.
Larry T

 

I'm pushing 50 and helped with an engine swap (392 hemi into a 55 Chevy) back when I was six years old when I got to work the cherry picker, put motor mount bolts in and install the driveshaft.

Blocked sanded (also a 55 Chevy) at ten years old, learned to braze and gas weld at about 12 or 13 so I could extend forks on my bicycle, was taught tire recapping at thirteen.

Ended up being a mechanic for 16 years (started my own auto repair shop at age 23) before I gave it up in the early 1990's after breaking my back to schlepp used houses for a living.

Nowadays I build the occasional race car chassis for fun, wish I could do it for a living but it ain't in the cards so I am happy with crewing on a nostalgia funny car.......

Al in CT

 

I am 71. First car 36 ford 5 window ,work done in 1954.then 40 ford sedan
in 1955.now owner of 32 deuce sedan.

 

61 years young...........Saw my first drag race in 1956 at the old Irving,TX. drag strip from the road (no money to get in). Attended my first drag race at Green Valley in 1960 and told my mom and dad that some day I was going to race a fuel dragster. Built my first race car that same year (F/gas coupe) 52 chevy 261 chevy bored .120, McGurk cam, Jahns pistons and a 3 / 1 barrell carb. setup and header I fabricated by hand from muffler tubing. I won many trophys with that car at the old Forest Hills darg strip at Everman TX. When Uncle Sam turned me loose in 1968 at age 21 I built my first of many dragsters and one flopper. I was in the automotive machine shop business for many years until I sold out and then retired at 53. Numerous hot rods over the years 31 Ford P/U, 39 Ford coupe, 39 Chevy coupe, 32 Ford sedan, 57 Chevy P/U, 62 Chevy SS 409, 62 Belair hardtop 409 Factory racecar with factory aluminum frontend, no carpet, heater or radio, 58 Corvette. Cars have pretty much been my whole life. It's been a fun ride and it ain't over yet.

 

Im 27...Well, when I was very small say 2-4 years old my grandmother would watch me and we would basically play with hot wheels all day long. My grandfather would give me a new one everyday that he would come and pick up my grandmother. So the collection got big fast! My grandfather Adolph was the one that really got me into cars. He hotrodded model Ts way back in the late 20s early 30s in chicago. That stayed with him untill the early 60s along with customizing cars. He bought me my first model kit when I was 9 and continued untill I was 13 or so. He was a great man and highly skilled in all aspects of welding,and highly knowledgable about cars. My grandfather also helped me buy my first car a 1952 Packard 200 Deluxe. Unfortuantely he never got to see it as he passed away about 1 week after I got it. I am very thankful I knew the man. We would sit for hours on end and talk about cars, no matter how many times I would ask him the same questions over and over he would kindly reply with an answer. After the Packard I got my Lincoln I have now. So I guess I can say I have always been into old cars. My dad thought I was nuts and waste of money to subscribe to Hemmings and Cars & Parts when I was 12.
Now I am starting a new generation of cars nuts with my 4 year old she has her own 32 pedal car with pin stripe flames and pinstripes. Good kid and I hope she follows in the ol mans foot steps.




sorry the pic is so big I cant resize it

 

I'm pushing 60 & feel 80.
Been into cars all my life. 1st car was a 36 Chevy sedan I drug home at 13 for $35.00. Mom had a fit & made me take it back. It was bright yellow & had a lawn chair bolted to the floor for a seat. You'll kill yourself in that death trap!!
From there- race cars (Henry J's & Anglias), then tri-fives, a few oddballs, more tri-fives, muscle cars, back to tri-fives & now a roadster. Been going to the drags since the mid to late 50's & car shows as far back as I can remember. I've had a couple of trailered cars (oh wait- is that thunder?)- the best was a 40 Ford Business coupe w/ full tube chassis, blown & injected alky BBC, black w/ flames. Won alot of awards w/ that car. Got sick of the car shows- rolling it in & out of trailers. Sold it & built a 10 sec all motor 55. Then- like the others before it- it morphed into a Super Chevy trophy hound, winning 5 years in a row in ProStreet class. The car was difficult to drive anywhere, expensive running a tank full of straight C12 & not much fun. The last year I owned it- it was out of the garage twice in a year. What a waste. Couple of others bought, driven & sold.
Moved on to the Deuce & the fun is back!
I've always loved all cars- be it shiny or traditional. If it has wheels- I'm all over it. Some of the nicest people I've ever met have been car guys.

 

I'm 36. Old cars have been my passion since I was 9 in 1981 when I bought my first Car Craft and Popular Hot Rodding magazines and drooled over my neighbors Trans Am. The first model car I built was a '66 Chevelle SS 396. I'd draw that car countless times after that. Haven't stopped sketching cars since. My step-dad got me into working on cars when I'd watch him do maintenance on our vehicles at home. Plus, all the stories he had of the cars he built when he was young fed the fire. I started with a Camaro, then a couple of Mustangs, an Impala, and now a Tbird and Model A. It's been an evolution making my way to really old iron.

 

just turned 45 last month, been into cars mywhole life, dad had a 52olds rocket 88,53 belair, mom had a 49 ford ,he sold the olds to by a 59 mercury station wagon 2 door to haul us kids in, went to the revell nationals in fremont when i was in the 5th grade... my older brother had a 52 f-1 that was metalflake purple... he bought it from an old guy in our neigborhood whos name was joseph cool (his real name... really )my first car i bought outright was a 56 bug for $200. still own it today, did the vw scene for the last 25 yrs. until a buddy and fellow HAMBer turned me onto this place... havn't been to a vw event since.

 

I'm 26......Started out at 13 helping my old man out around the garage. Then got into model cars for a few years .Built my first car when I was 17 and never looked back.

 

I pushed little cars in the sand pile,but started building real cars with my Dad in 1955,built my own rod in 1956 by paying for parts from my art work and just keep doing it.
The guys and gals you meet along the way are great.

 

45 now! Dad was a Lincoln Mercury mechanic in Santa Monica, first car I remember was his 62 Merc. Meteor, black cherry, Foxcraft skirts, twice pipes on the 260, tail dragging with 2" blocks, thin whites, black and white tuck & roll with matching kid seat for me on the center console, 2nd ride was the familys 67 Merc X-R7 Cougar which we had until about ten years ago.

My first at 15, 67 El-Co (uncles old gardening truck) 283 with a mean "rod knock" blasted tail gate & rear bumper, tore up interior, and "smelled like fertilizer" from day one till I traded it for a 64 Impala.

Been at it forever, lowrider bikes, dirt bikes, Street racing "lost money" to you and your group a couple of times, did the lowrider thing " had my street 64 B/Blk Malibu & my 64 SS Impala lifted with Tru-Spokes at the same time, Van Nuys, Bob's, Whittier, Crenshaw, still at it, recent rides, 29 hiboy, 27 RPU, 54 Ford Kustom, 53 Lincoln Capri, current 29 Model A sedan..........................."Never Going too Stop"

 

I'm 64 years old and Rods and Customs have been my passion for 55 years.Have never owned a car that wasn't modified and lowered.

 

I am 47 and have always been around modified cars of one sort or another. My Dad would take me to Meyer Speedway in Houston in the early to mid sixties to watch our neighbor race. From there I "helped" my dad rebuild his 1927 Model T one ton. The family still has the home movies of my Dad driving the neighborhood kids around in that. About the time my Dad lost interest in the T and started flying I discovered that the guy across the street from us had a SBC powered Kurtis that he road raced so I started hanging around pestering him.
I built my first tube frame race car at the age of 14, vw powered sand rail, with the $$ I made clearing lots, mowing yards and fixing stuff. My first street car was a 70 Charger with a 383, by the time I got through with that, it would pass anything except a gas pump. By 1980 I had been bitten by the sports car bug which led to autocross, which led to road racing, which led to working for a road racer that used to be a roundy rounder, which led me to circle track racing on both dirt and asphalt, which led me to quitting my job and taking over my partners race shop. When Houston Raceway Park opened my Dad and I started planning building him a drag car which culminated in the roadster that I have now. I continued to make racing my living until 2001 when a major "lifestyle" change forced me to get a real job to support my kids.
My wife dicovered the HAMB trying to find info on some parts I was trying to sell to finance my latest roadster engine and that rekindled my love for hot rods.
My youngest turns 18 next year, which means I only have 10 "payments" left, so there will be some extra $$$ for projects. I would really like to build a street legal version of my roadster, but the redhead says I am going to build her a HAMB friendly truck first.

As long as petroleum products are being consumed and ALOT of noise is being made I am happy.

 

Very cool thread Groucho!!! Bringing Back many good memories.

I'm 38 and have been in to what seems like every aspect of motorsports since 14 (VW, muscle cars, dirt and street bikes, 4x4's, off road racing). It wasnt until the last 6 years I got into old cars. I bought a 42 Chevy truck and began a ground up resto on it. Completly stock down to the hardware but something was missing. I found it! It was my 36 Chevy truck. There is something about 30's cars..the way the fenders roll... the grills. Anyhow, I finished my 36 and swore I would finish my 42 but never did..just sold it as a project. Now I'm working on a 37 Plymouth to haul the kids around in. My son, now 3, asks every day if we can go to a "car show".

 

Im 33 and have been into cars all of my life because of my dad and uncles.I know they were big into street racing in san jose back in the 60's through the late 70's before we moved up to woodland a couple years after i was born.It is my way of life and always will be,my son is two now and already loves the garage and helps me with tools he will be a lifer as well im sure of it!!!!!!

 

I'm 59. I started drawing cars in kindergarten. I built and painted models and bicycles. I drug a 31A 2dr sdn home when I was 13. I got it running with parts from Warshawskys in Chicago. I had a 303 Olds with a stick and 6 97's to put in the A but never got it done. I sold it and got a 57 2dr sdn when I was 16. I worked at a Chevy Store in Highschool and learned mechanics, and body and paint. I've been doing it ever since. Throughout my career I've worked West coast, Texas, And Midwest. I can jack a key up and build a show car around it. I've got enough projects started to probably keep me busy into the hereafter. There's a good chance they'll find me on the shop floor dead with an Idiot Stick still in my hands. I still love old cars as much as I did in the beginning. "OH" and Pussy Too.

 

59..now.

When I was little my parents used to say I drove everyone nuts..naming the brand and model of every car I saw..also a Chicago boy..

Models..slot racers..magazines..drawing gassers and cycles instead of paying attention in class.
Got my first car...'54 Chev..burned out interior..rusted..but ran in 1963. Got it cleaned up and made $200 on the $25 I paid for it. Salvaged a '55..built it sold it to a buddy. Built a basket Triumph 650..then sold it for my first real car in 1966..
.. Saved the money from playing in bands..sold the hulks I fixed up..

Bought that first real car..1957 Vette...with a "409" transplanted..of course it turned out to be a 348..but loved it anyway till I blew it up..then stuff a 427 and went racin'..

..a life of debaucery..addiction to various viscosities and fuels...and now..

This...

 

I'm 36, been in it 36 years. I'm glad to say I was borne into a hotrod family. Old airplanes caught on for a while, then I went rally racing, circuit and Finlay drag racing. Moved onto the Army while still racing but operational requirements saw the end of my piss poor career. But old cars have always been No1, always had a rod or a project.

 

I'm only a youngie by comparison to some of you guys. As a young child I loved to go to the speedway and taste the mud on Friday nites. I always had Hot Wheels cars and even made the occasional model when I had the paitence. My Dad had Brit bikes as a young man in the early '6o's and always played the likes of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and The Big O. on the record player. But for me it all really came together in High School (check out my Bio if you're interested). Since then it's been more than an addiction, it's a lifestyle!

 

I am 39 and am 20 years on it now. My first girlfriends father was into old cars an infected me. That was easy, because I was and am into old music from that time before. Been a Rockabilly for almost 25 years.

 

I'm 63 when I was 10 years old an uncle took me to the stock car races in Peekskill NY . Been hooked ever since. Had a paper route in Yonkers NY one of my customers was Bert Melody he owned a body shop and built some real cool cars . He would let me have his little mags after he read them. Over the years I have had all kinds of cars and trucks .I always seem to find that I have to change them. Today I have a 50 Dodge bis coupe 426 wedge gasser style ,37 ford pu chopped channeled/with fenders,84 toyota4x4flatbed,81 HD Sturgis.I still remember the thrill of hearing those cars roar down the track50 years ago and i still get it today.

 

im 21 been at it since i was a kid, 5 years old i tore a 327 down and could name every single part of it, at 8 i rebuilt my 1st carb a rochester 2 bbl. when i was 9 i helped dad build a 13:1 comp 327 that ran 11's. been at it awhile haha. grew up learning and living with tiny mouses for the most part have built 2 301's about to build another 283 and a 327. grew up listening to oldies/classic rock and still do.

 

18 years old now

around age 4 when i first got into it. dad bought his 58 fairlane. had it till i was about 7, sold it for a 65 mustang, sold that in 2000... then i got into model cars.... that really sorta uplifted my spirit for older cars even more, and i kept messin with model cars until around 14 when i wanted a car of my own.
dad and me found a 58 fairlane when i was 15... the car i wanted since he sold his.

i never liked newer cars... sure its nice to have air conditioning and all those nice features and what not, but if your at a stop light in an old hot rod and the car next to you is one of these high end nicer newer cars.... the hot rod gets more attention

from guys like me and you at least

 

I started building cylinder heads at the age of 11 and welding in 4th grade. I know it sounds a little early but it's the honest truth. I grew up with a Dad like me. If I spent time with him it was in the garage. I earned enough money doing heads I could buy my first drivable car early in my 12th year. It was a '73 Monte Carlo with reverse out of it for $300.00. Nice car. My first two cars? I went to an auction with a neighbor kid and bought a '35 ford slantback for $25.00 and a '57 chevy 4dr wagon for anouther $15.00. It is a different bunch of kids today. Seems they are more into computers. I have many good memories working with Dad. I'll be 40 next month.
Jeff

 

I'm 30, bought my first own car in the age of 11, removed the muffler and bumbers, painted red scallops and learned to drive. My dad and granpa weren't into cars but they got good tools to borrow. My uncle tough me how to weld.

 

Im, 70. Had my first car at 8 and at 12 Dad got me a 302dr, to keep me away from the girls. I worked ,sort of. Still have my Old Greeny as my dailey driver, and am building a 29 Rod when I can get the parts. Its in the vains. Ice man

 

I'm 60 now. I grew up as an Air Force brat so planes were big in my life from the start. My dad was a panel man on B-36's out of Biggs AFB in Texas during korea. We moved to Birmingham Al in 53 and I was already bit with cars by then. Had a few cars but was mainly a wanna bee. Bad health in 2005 made me think it was time and I was lucky enough to find Clark's T for sale. I had built that car several times as a model but never realized how much I liked them. All 3 of my grandsons are already car guys..they talk about nothing but grandads hot rod...I don't think I would change a thing.

 

Groucho,
I got a year on you. Bought and overhauled my first car in '68 a '59 Riley. I liked it because it had two carbs and a factory tach. Well that and I had the 20 dollars the guy was asking for it.

Guess I was into cars way before that, my dad owned a speed shop. Lots of guys that most of you worship were just people in our house.

But I didn't start doing my own thing until about '68.