History >>>SELL-----Hot Rod Archives (Hot Rod Mart Thread)<<< Tons of Early Pics!!!!

I wonder if there are cars in the ads where the guy wound up not selling it and still has it to this day

 

I was hoping you fellers would start calling and checking it out. I mean stranger thing have happened right? What would it hurt besides time trying to track a couple down and see if they were with the original owner still. Get to it!!

 

Wow,thanks Mazooma for all the cool pix! That 36 coupe was my dad's car!I still have that magazine!I remember riding home in that coupe the day he bought it,was painted red.I loved that car and cried when he sold it,i was about 9 years old at the time.He rebuilt/ painted it in our attached garage i remember,with synthetic enamel,no buffing,he knew how to lay that paint on! i wanted to post some of those adds also,but i don't have a clue how.What a Christmas present my man,thank you so much! i would love to have that car,36 coupes have always been my favorite.I was just talking to my mom on the phone,she was starting to cry because she misses my dad so much.He passed away at 47 years young.You really made my day to see his car on the H.A.M.B.Jim.

 

I'd like to know the story behind the 1960 Gatormobile, some guy's buddies screwing with him ?

 

Hi guys,
The picture of the XR-6 brought back some memories of the car and my contact with it. I recall reading about its’ concept and construction in Hot Rod magazine and then seeing the completed car next to a jet plane on the cover of Hot Rod. As I recall Tex Smith the “builder” wanted to show how to build a modern street driven hot rod that anyone could build in his home garage and then proceeded to have a good portion of the work done by George Barris, Gene Winfield and other professionals. He used an aluminum slant 6 Mopar engine tilted on its side to get it into a low Indy type front end which was kind of neat. The car was shown on the west coast at a number of shows including winning the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award at the Oakland Roadster show. Tex then sold it to Joe Kizis, a show promoter who ran the Hartford Autorama in Ct. and I think in Springfield, Ma. Joe claimed that he had the rights to the name “Autorama” and threatened to sue anyone who used it. I was a member of a hot rod club named the Motor Masters from the 1950s’ thru the 1970s’. I became the self appointed show chairman when I talked the members into running a Rod & Custom show in the service department of the largest Chevy dealership on Long Island at that time, Rupp Chevrolet in Lynbrook.
We needed the $ to buy tools for our garage and fund the construction of our ’34 Ford
5- Window B-altered drag racer. As a result of running this show I landed a job at Rupp and worked for them and two other Chevy dealerships from 1963 till 1977.
I hired Joe Kizis to bring the XR-6 to our show as a feature car that we could use in our advertising. The deal called for a “great display” to be included. The “great display” consisted of some aluminum foil, angel hair and Joe Kizis’ 16 year old niece posing in a bathing suit with a sash that said “Miss Autorama”. When we were helping to unload the XR-6 we found that the belly pan under the car wouldn’t clear the trailer ramps. We had to raise the car with some wood planks in order to unload it. So much for the “street driven” hot rod concept. I also recall that I had purchased a show insurance policy which called for all of the show cars to be removed from the building on Sunday evening at the conclusion of the show. Joe Kizis stated that his tow vehicle had trans. problems and that he couldn’t remove the XR-6 causing me to have nightmares about being responsible for it. I hope that I haven’t bored you all with my recollections.
Marty

 

Great story, Thanks for telling it... I seen a photo one time with the XR-6 on the golf course with Frank Mararta and another guy playing golf. Frank Mararta ran Connecticut Dragway and had a connection with Joe Kizi show promoter.

 

JeffreyJames / Faded..

Not sure if the answer is here yet but the fiberglass car you like is a Victress C3 which was later called a LaDawri Sicilian. Here's an article we did on these cars - see attached images.

You can learn more about these cars on our website: www.forgottenfiberglass.com

Also...the designer of the Victress C3 is Merrill Powell and will be 80 years old this year. He's a good friend and doing great - let me know if you would like to contact him.

Hope this helps....

Geoff Hacker
Tampa, Florida

 

If a genie gave me one wish it would be for a time machine...and some money.

 

I am still here just taking in all the cool ads! I ran out of mags as my collection is pretty small but I love all the ones you guys are adding!!!

As far as the Victress C3 I think it's definitely a cool car and I would love to come across one later down the road! Thanks for the tip!

There are some really cool cars that never got features!!

 

OK, I'll start digging again............

 

Me too. It's raining and kids are at school, wife's at work.

 

Same guy was selling these three in November '64. Maybe he had been drafted?

 

Love these guys!!!

 

The last RPU is perfect although I would have to see the truck in that yellow lacquer to be convinced I would buy it!

 

You need the right phone...

 

It was a creamy yellow like Chevy's Butternut Yellow from the '60s. I think it was a HRM cover rod and I'll check later on to see if I have that one.

Okay, gotta' get some shit done!

 

GREAT THREAD! I always liked looking through the ads at the back of my mags, although sometimes it's almost torture.
That 36 3 window is (was) right up the road from me, maybe I'll go over and peek in the garage window.

 

Love those old adds! Where is my time machine?

 

I called the phone numbers too,,no luck.