Art & Inspiration Strangers picture of your cars

On the vintage model building side of rodding, here is a photo of my early '60s Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild entries that appeared in a Hagerty Insider magazine as the cover shot for their article,
Model Kids: Decades Ago, GM Put a Call Out For Young Car Designers. Thousands Answered
I have no idea how they got this photo. I have taken my cars to several Guild reunions over the past few years but don't recall anyone arranging them for this photo shoot. On top of that, I was a hard core nobody in the guild competition, never won even an honorable mention in my 5 years of membership with 5 cars. Why did they choose my cars over all the really famous cars they could have used?

 

This photo just before I bought it.


Just after I bought it. I know I didn't take it as I am in the background...


And again...

 

This one by the great New Zealander @HRR

 

Me with beard and my shoebox at Fritzes talking Italian to couple guys.

 

All three have beards!! JW

 

I guess,,,,,

 

Yes that's me talking Italian to a couple guys. Nice enlargement. Gees I'm looking more like my older brother every day!

 

I don't think there is a hood made that looks as good molded as the '55-'56 Ford......None..... Period..... and I gotta say, your Customline is about as smooooth as they come......

 

Well, unfortunately I don't still own the racer, which was Ak Miller's "El Caballo" built back in '52 and run in the '53 and '54 Carrera Panamericanna. I resurrected the old bugger from what Ak had left, after using many of the pieces on his new racer, and after racing it for a year, received the picture below. The artist was a 10 year old kid and he gave the drawing to a friend when he found out that the friend was a friend of mine. Little things mean a lot...... That was 33 years ago, and the 10 year old kid was then 36. The Cabong, as Ak called his racer, is alive and well in the NHRA Museum, after I donated it to them in 2000......

 

1960 Lion’s Dragstrip Pits B/Gas Class competition

Hello,

In late 1959, we started our search, found what we wanted a few blocks from our old Westside of Long Beach house and started our hot rod/drag race project. The excitement was just staring for a couple of young teenagers. Our first big project build, together. A 1940 Willys Coupe sitting in a backyard next to a garage, covered with a canvas tarp.

On the way to school, while walking and talking, I used to see several old cars stuck in the backyards of these old houses. Some we recognized, while others were just “old cars.” Some were exposed, usually with tall grass surrounding the old car and others had the requisite covers made of canvas. They were waiting for their next life as the old life had changed and now, it was sitting time.

When my brother explained his idea of building an old hot rod, I knew why. His friend had one of the only dual purpose hot rods and we saw it almost every weekend. Our house was a teenage gathering spot for my brother’s friends, almost every weekend. When they were not at the dragstrip, nearby, they seemed to always be at our house. It was a typical gathering, laughing, comparing notes, talk of hot rods, customizing, building/modifying and overall teenage banter in a friendly atmosphere. It was usually fueled with some great food our mom cooked for the hungry, hungry teenagers.

So, one day, I told my brother about two old cars sitting in backyards that I recognized. One was a Model A coupe and the other was a 40 Ford coupe. It all began with the both of us purchasing the Model A Coupe. Towing it home, cleaning it up and making it run was the next weeks’ work. It got running fine and we drove it around the neighborhood + over to our friend’s house to show him how it was going to be an SBC powered hot rod.

Soon, almost as fast as it was running and we were planning on the modifications, it disappeared and so did his 51 Oldsmobile sedan. Now, sitting in the driveway was a nice, shiny all black 1958 Impala. Yikes…

What happened to the other two cars, including our hot rod project? Both sold to fund the new car purchase.

Jnaki

For two-three years, we had the adventures with the 348/280 hp Impala to tune and race at Lion’s Dragstrip almost every weekend. That was the start of our weekly dragstrip hot rod involvement.

After several years of trophy winning, improvements in all things drag racing, we went back to looking for another lighter coupe for the Gas Coupe and Sedan class. Then, it brought back memories of the Model A coupe we purchased earlier. Lightweight, SBC motor + driveline and a real street/strip hot rod. Yes! One of them would be my first car…

When I told him of the 40 Ford Coupe under a canvas cover, my brother was interested. So, we went to look at it. Well, since I could make out the rear and side view under a canvas tarp, it was not a 40 Ford Coupe, but a 1940 Willys Coupe in pretty good shape. It had almost two feet tall grass growing all around it. The best thing was, no rust on the body or chrome parts.

Now our adventure began with a 283 SBC multiple carb motor we put together and had it running for our uses. Over time, it ran well for a street/strip coupe and could have been our next high school hot rod. But, it got to the next level of the gas coupe adventures with a complete tear down and rebuilding a blower spec motor when we got a new design 671 supercharged Isky-Gilmer Belt Drive complete kit before it went public.

Finally, after our 671 phase started, a new photo appeared.

Greg Sharp photo (at the time, Greg Sharp was an unknown to us, hot rod person and photographer.)


He had written a short story on “cheater slicks” and we just happened to be in the same pits area (background in B/Gas Class) and next to his target, famous, Bill Moxley. YRMV

 

Seen on Facebook!!!