History PreWar, PostWar, Late 50s or Early 60s?

I've been slowly moving backward in time. I started in that 1953-'64 era right before the muscle cars came on strong, fell in love with the post war 1946-'52 style coupes and roadsters and now have settled solidly into the 1929-'41 era. I still love and appreciate the newer styles (and even quite a few muscle cars) but my ambitions are all for pre-war stuff: specifically a '23 T touring built in a '32-'34 style right now, 98% period correct.

 

Always enjoy the LA Roadsters Show to see all the different styles and unique mods. But drawn to the earlier 40-50s roadsters. Have a AV8, but a flathead would be fun.

 

Late '50's, early '60's. That was the era when I became aware of hot rods, customs and most importantly for a young guy, car magazines. I think a lot of guys migrate to the type of car they wanted when they were a teenager, but couldn't get. By the time I turned 16 I had gone thru a Euro sports car phase and then moved onto wanting a VW bus so bad. I managed to satisfy both those cravings and finally came back full circle to hot rods. Funny how things go.........

 

Been around the block a few times.
Driving is everything to me.
The time machine thing hit me early.
In the '60s when I started driving I quickly realized
I was born about 1 decade too late.
As time went on I wanted to go back to the pre-war stuff.
That part is still in my head now.
I wanna know what it was like to be this guy!
I'm sure he "Got it!"
I've used this picture many times. I want to drive one
of these. Livin' on the edge!
Killer!

 

Like like the mid 5o's to early 60's. This era a little bit of everything Flatheads early Overheads, chopped, non chopped, channeled, high boys, steelies, chrome reversed,whitewalls, blackwalls, it was thing goes.

However I mostly like the East Coast style!

 

One of each,my friends,one of each..

 

I'm with you and Palmer !

 

We think a lot alike. I was first exposed to hot rods from a three or four year old 1966 issue of Hot Rod. Some kid brought it to school, it had been his brothers, then he gave it to me. Everything was wearing 5 spokes or Ansen slots, pre war cars, post war cars, 50's and 60's cars, the A/FX's gassers, rails, everything. I wore the pages out of that magazine looking at things I didn't see around my area. Big V8 engines adorned with polished chrome and aluminum, big tires, bright paint jobs, I was hooked. As I got closer to driving age, I started seeing mid 50's and early 60's cars with the wheels and tires and loud exhausts running around. Tri five Chevys seemed to be everywhere, as did hopped up Fairlanes and Chevelles. I still remember a red 65 Comet with a 289 and 4 speed, guy never started off without laying rubber and chirping the tires every gear. So, even though I like all of them from pre war to late 50's, the mid to late 60's and early 70's are my favorite time period. I wish the cut off date would be moved up until about 1972, lots of good stuff in the years from 65-72, along with some junk, just like ever era has. From 73 on, things went down hill with a few exceptions. I even like the muscle and pony cars and the factory performance wars.

 

Watch out for the "slippery slope!"

 

I prefer the postwar to early 50s era, in particular 1948-49 that is when things started to explode.

 

I like them all, at one time or another have had them all. So many cars, So little time. IMO, they are all KOOL !

 

Pretty much sums it up for me .

 

I like all the era's for various reasons, however my fav's are;

Customs; Post War/Early 50's. The smooth, early Barris, Ayala style where the lines of the slab sided post war cars such as Mercs were improved with chops, trim removal, grille improvements, interior work and mile deep paint. IMHO, the pinnacle. By the late 50's/early 60's, that style was lost to over the top garish designs and became a victim of "too many cooks".

Hot Rods; While I love stripped down pre war Roadsters and early 60's Drag inspired Rods, the early-late 50's is my favorite era. Lots of growth in #'s of cars and industry speed parts, magazines. Late model OHV V-8's, and cars were starting to be finished with paint, interiors, chrome.

 

The old Conway 33 Coupe coming together.

 

I’ve told this story before….
At the age of 5 or 6 I ran away from home. Don’t remember why.
I walked exactly one block down a back alley and came up to an old garage with 40’s and 50 cars in the back lot.
I was fascinated by a 40 coupe I’ve never seen before. The split windows and rounded fenders drew me to open the door. The smell of musty mohair hit my face. I couldn’t help but get in. On that day I imagined, as I was turning the wheels, I drove to California and back. I miss the old mohair smell in my 37 coupe that was beyond repair. But every once in a while I still get a whiff of that old forty 65 yrs ago.

 

Hello,

Most everyone likes the time period of when they were able to understand what hit them. Somehow we all got hit with the experience of a custom truck, fast hot rod or cruising sedans that most teenagers were driving at the time. No one had future plans, except to learn to drive, whatever. Bicycles, to go karts to sidewalk scooters to "junkers" found in the neighborhood backyards, all played a huge part of our growing up where we lived.

Some were more focused as they wanted to build something that struck them as a creation from their ideas gathered from the plentiful magazines. I was struck by the color of the first custom truck that I saw in our neighborhood. The whole place was a working parent neighborhood, with some moms staying at home to raise the kids. But on the whole, the little enclaves of homes centered on the close by shops and grocery stores.

Our era started in the late 40s and ran until it didn’t physically, for both my brother and me. His involvement in the aftermath of the explosion/fire was no longer into drag racing. I continued for several more years until the surf world took over. My brother's influence was tantamount to an nearby book of information and teaching tools/techniques. He experimented, I watched and learned what to do and not to do on those old cars. Those 50’s cars an trucks hit us like a brick.

The most fun was a “brother project” of building the street/strip 1940 Willys Coupe with a small block 283 Chevy motor and 6 carbs. We tried our own porting and polishing the heads and building the motor to match our needs. It was an ok build, as it was our first one. Ideas came from all sorts of drag racing hot rods and other race cars, but it had everything needed for a fully licensed street hot rod for using as a daily driver to high school and work.

The magazines were influential as they gave us some ideas and made us amazed at what could be done in the customizing world. When 1955 came around and Lion’s Dragstrip was being built near our own Westside of Long Beach home, it was a whole new ballgame for both of us.

It was our outdoor “Mall,” local hot rod speed shop and entertainment all rolled into one entity. There was no need to anything else for the two brothers and our friends that had the same feeling about hot rods. Some just wanted cars to get them to work, to afford the car and to school so they would not have to take the bus service. Walking was the alternative as we were all close to the local schools.

Jnaki

But when the early 60s came, we were already in a different mode due to our accident. So, our world evolved in many different ways to have fun and new adventures. Surfing allowed us to travel all over So Cal and Baja, Mexico. It opened up our travel experiences so when we selected other places outside of So Cal, it was there for our choosing. Old cars? The our open road adventures showed us that there were a bunch of old cars still on the road as daily drivers and family cars.



What was it like for others hot rod drag race teens and adults in other parts of California? Well 5 years later, I tried to go to a Northern California drag strip for some weekend enjoyment. Sitting in the stands and walking around brought back some feeling. Even though the sound and race cars were almost the same, the excitement was not there for me.

The whole experience was just not the same as being inside, under and struggling for hours trying to build something to work, just right for our Hot Rod/Drag Racing adventures. Sitting in the stands did open up my eyes as to a different future, but still liking hot rods and custom cars that got pushed back in my crowded brain. YRMV