Student Jalopies ,FORD Graffiti ...

Could you enligthen me on this topic ? Common fad all over US ? If so , When did it start ? , .. Or die ?
As far as I know , Norway is the only place outside US where this fad cought on , ( And is still alive & well ).
I stole some pix from Lorin Sorensens Excellent "Fords Forever " book . ( A Silverado Publishing company book `83 ( ? ) to show you what fad I`m refeering to .
The reason I ask is that I just recently bought a `32 Ford that was used & abused as a student Jalopy. Most Norwegian student jalopies was doomed to be scraped after school was out . As things turned out , someone felt that "it" ( The Tudor I bought ) was worth a buck or 2 , and managed to sell it with a profit ( `72 ).
Klaz

 

jalopies got their start in the 20's,when used Model T's became cheap enough for a broke-ass college student to afford.
of course,there were also rich kids who got Stutz Bearcats and Mercer Raceabouts to play with

i used to live in a college town in the 80's and the "jalopy" became early 60's Darts,Falcons,Novas,Valiants,Comets,and Corvairs.

good times for a shade-tree mechanic

now they're all becoming "collector cars" so i guess a jalopy for a college kid now would be a cheap german or japanese car about 20 years old

 

Very cool post! Some neat automotive history in those cars.

 

I wish I had a picture of it, but there is/was a '48 Ford Panel in a junkyard in Ames Iowa, home of Iowa State University, that has Greek frat letters on the side and "Don't laugh, your daughter might be in here" written on the back doors. I bet that thing was a real party wagon back in the 60's.

 

This old heap realy ligthened up our garage, as well as Klazurfers face.
Been 30 years of talking to the previous owner before he let it go.
This car just had to be yours dude. Talk about patience.

It's been shitloads of fun to walk in there and see what new stuff "Mr. Jaloppy Archeologist" has scraped to the surface. I also got to do some scraping. It's addictive when you first get started. Resulted in some laaate shop nights.
Best part is that it has not been abused as much as Student Jaloppys often are. The Tudor is in a remarkably good shape for it's history.


Can't wait to ride Shotgun in this party-wagooooon

Paul

 

Hi guys ! Thanx for your replies
Corn Fed : "Don't laugh, your daughter might be in here" , Well THAT is a Classic . Seen that fraze painted on a LOT of Norwegian student jalopies over the years . There is NO doubt that the Norwegian "Student jalopie-craze" was inspired by a US fad.
AV8-rider : Dream on : You drive ,I ride shotgun ! ... As allways
I have searched the net , But this is all I could come up with .. :

 

Didn't the comic book character "Archie" have some influence on this?

 

Turdytoo : The "Archie" Comic book wasnt released in Norway till the mid seventies or so . My car was put to rest ( In a barn ) back in `67 . Most of the US Jalopie stuff I have seen dates back to the late thirties / early forties , And it seems like it took on in Norway about `53-`55 .
Klaz

 

At my alma mater SDSU (South Dakota State University) the trend started out with Hobo-cars. Our homecoming was Hobo-Day (as in train hopping tramps etc..) They started out as jalopies like yours and by the 60s-70s they became rolling art, some cars were actually several cars STACKED on top of each other. Things got outta hand, one year there were some injuries and the cars vanished soon after.

The new trend is with our High School kids. The first modern Jalopies I rememb er seeing were with a guy a couple years older than me in the 80s, he lopped to roof off a 70ish Buick 225. Over the years that type of thing has morphed into Vans cut up with windows or even topless, cars cut up and painted in all forms of the favorite school colors etc..........so it has come full circle with these kids taking $200 junkers and having some fun.

 

Here are a 26 Touring project that was for sale around here some years ago.

Typical 50 - 60's Norwegian Student Jaloppy.

Paul

 

Great thread, I've always loved those pictures in "Fords Forever".

Back in the fifties my Dad had a big ol' ex-police 30's Austin of some kind that was jalopied for want of a better expression. It had the pre-requisit "don't laugh your daughter may be inside" down one side and "Yogi and Booboo Express" down the other! It had loads of other stuff on it as well, though in the midsts of time my Dad has forgotten what a lot of it said. He and his friends were full on Teddy Boys back then and they used to cram as many of them in the car as possible and drive it all over London visiting coffee bars. This included the famous 2I's in Soho to see wannabe English rock 'n' roll legends(!) like Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard, Johnny Kidd and loads of others that have been long forgotten. Man, I wish I had a photo of that car.

 

Tman : Cool story Seems like student jalopies will be with us for years to come . Over here in Norway, it evolved from cars to Vans , and then busses . Present : it has gone totaly balistic. ( students have a " Coolest student-Jalopy BUSS" contest , and the "winners" `07 had more than $ 100.000 invested in their jalopy !(?) .. A F..ing disco-club on wheels )
The Wrong-un : "Yogi and booboo exspress" Sounds like a cool jalopy Sure wish you could find a pic to share .
Was your dad a Student at that time , Or was it like a "funmobile" ?
Av8-rider : You nimrod you : ... Go buy that T !! .. And : Conserning the pic you posted of me in my jalop , well : you are probaly the only guy in the wordl who would have even considered ride shotgun with a narrow-sighted drunk like me
Klaz

More "Jalopie" stuff :

 

I don't think any pictures exist, I've certainly never seen one. It's just a story my Dad has relayed to me. He wasn't a student at the time, just a hard up Ted!

 

Another toy lead...I think the FIRST (only) release of the Monogram model of the '30 phaeton had jalopy decor and suggestions for embellishments like bandage tire patches...I'm guessing this was released about 1960.

 

Bruce : was this a fad when/where you grew up ? ( Student Jalopies )
The band-aid tire repair must come from some1s imagination , rather than reality ? Created by Walt Disneys` imagination . Or ?
Norwegian students have a biz-card , And this is dated `57 .
( Band-aid tire repair` and all )
Klaz

 

Most of the Jalopy usage was atributed to college students in the years just prior to WWII. I believe the term was originally applied a bit earlier to the vehicles used by the folks leaving the drought stricken area of the midwestern United States during the Dust Bowl era. (think Grapes of Wrath) Student cars stripped of unessential body work, festooned with painted on slang slogans, grafiti, and or epithets aimed at the upcoming weekend's football opponent, were the style. Anything cheap that could be kept in running or semi running condition were the transport of the day. Speed wasn't the need so much as mobility. Service men retruning from WWII with new found mechanical knowledge and ability transformed the Jalopy craze into hot rodding, where speed was the issue.

 

Plym-46 : Thanx !!! Waay cool !

" Anything cheap that could be kept in running or semi running condition were the transport of the day. Speed wasn't the need so much as mobility."
"Student cars stripped of unessential body work, festooned with painted on slang slogans, grafiti . .... "
That about sums it up ... Cheap cars .. Mobility .. graffiti ..
THANX
Klaz

 

I have read that it was popular in the 20's to write stuff on the sides of cars, or Flivvers, as they called them...

One that sticks out in my mind was "Hey Tuna, here's your can!" I've always wanted to put that on a car....

 

Huge fan of the Jalopies! I love to sign paint and hope to do a real Jalopy someday the way I want. Little banger powered Phaeton! Yeahhh!!!

I messed around with this sedan while I was working on paying jobs during the day. At night I'd paint something on this sedan just to give it something unique so I could sell it. I actually bought this car for a customer whom backed out and I got stuck with it. I hated to add to the stupid craze with themed cars, but did'nt want to put anymore effort into this ride as I was working days on cars and a few nights on this.
Seems all the junk that sells on Ebay is a little over the top, and I needed the money quick and thought something over the top would sell faster without having to finish paint it and spend more doe then I did to get it running. So this was a way to have fun as i love to paint.
Figured surfing was a good idea to sell it locally, but all the locals pussed out. Hahahaaa... The whole thing was a joke really, exspecially the Surf or Die. I laughed at my pals that came over and loved the slogan as I was kinda mocking my hardcore winter surfing friends. They are bad Mofo's though! I surf, but not in the winter... Only real surfers surf here in the winter! I traded the body to a guy for something else cool... Gonna give it to my sister for X mas.

That red Phaeton is sick, I'd pay big bucks for a real lettered jalopy! Killer thread, thanks boys!

Lets see more Jalopies!!!

 

Klaz... I know how you feel! Been doing this all week.

 

Dirtyest Devil .. : You sure know how to make a car look WAAY Cool !! I LOVE IT !!
Klaz

 

A bit of thread necromancy, but people might get a kick out of these old LIFE photos I just discovered:


A California Tech student driving a Ford jalopy, 1941.


Russian flyers Anatoly Barsov and Peter Pirogov enjoying a ride in a topless jalopy, 1949

Available full-size by plugging jalopy source:life -aldwyn -palm -gop -scenes -boys -winter -caps -love -"World'S" -atkins into Google’s “Image” search.

-Dave

 

My son-in-law was talking about a jalopy that he and some of his friends were using when attending UT in Austin. Turns out is was a Dodge truck WOODIE WAGON similar to the one owned by somebody on this forum! He said they drove that old truck everywhere and spent a lot of time drinking beer around Town Lake. He doesn't know what happen to it... he attended UT in the early 90s. Yes, I said 90s!

 

Lets start this tread again! here is a few fotos from teh woods







den siste har pinstripa bakvegg stått i 35år, men skal ikkje selges

 

I don't ever think I've seen one in person, but they were all over in the print media, toys, the movies, college campii, etc.. Some were college / frat / rah rah style, some were sort of Beverly Hillbilly style, some just stripped to the bones so they were light and fun to bomb around in. My dad got me a cheap tin plate jalopy toy car when I was very young, made in post WWII Japan. Gary

 

post pics of your jalopy toy?

 

^ Sorry, mine is long gone by about 50 years... Gary

 

hehe, thats sad :/ but i see you got a new toy in your avatar. so i think you will survive hehe