Hey SE, Nice photo of the early versions of the surf rack. That surf spot broke well and was a popular destination for those coming out of the city. No one had the clip-on drip rail surf rack/luggage rack idea as yet. Or, these kids just got the ones from their local surf shop. The suction cups were the rage because there were applications where more weight was due to the weight of the longboards. These suction cups provided some weight support for those heavy boards. (50-60lbs each.) If anyone had two longboards that equals 120lbs. Today, 120 lbs is about the maximum safety limit on most factory racks. ( but with modern boards weighing 6-10 lbs, many boards can be stacked.) Add in several more old longboards and that is overloading the rack weight limit. Luggage racks also had these suction cups for the normal family traveling with bags on the roof. No one at the time was concerned with weight rack limits or what you could or could not put on them. We were tempted to make some custom racks with suction cups like the ones in the photo. We needed to transport several boards for our surf trips(4 people), using my first 40 Ford Sedan Delivery. Before we installed a set of suction cups, we saw what they were doing to the roof surface of cars and wagons, after going to and from the beach. The overall weight of the heavy longboards was putting too much pressure over the smooth roof supported by the cups. The tighter you pulled on the straps and the more boards you constantly put on the racks, it kept getting heavier and heavier. Soon, dents, the size of the suction cups started appearing on those surf wagons and cars. Wheeew!!! not for my 40 Sedan Delivery…! So, we took out the rear door glass of the sedan delivery and it fit two longboards easily. If we did some finagling, possible three thinner boards fit with towels wrapped around all of them. (a big problem…fumes came in through the back window unless there were towels filling up the surrounding area of the boards) Then someone came up with the idea of the drip rail clip on style rack supports. No more dents on the roof surfaces. My 40 sedan delivery still used the longboards coming in through the rear window. (no rear drip rail) I just had to remember to reinstall the rubber trim and glass before we left the sedan delivery. Jnaki By the late 60s, we designed a surf leash using those suction cups on the nose of the surfboard attached to long dental flexible tubing. That original flexible dental tubing leash is another story in itself.
Phil Sauer owner of Inland Surfboards and his 51 Merc "Ol Shasta" that was his surf transportation built by Dean Jeffries and striped by Von Dutch. He had a custom made surfboard rack that fit into the trunk. Phil also supplied surfboards for Gidget , The Monkees Ride The Wild Surf and many of the surf movies
Hello, South Orange County is full of hot, up and coming surfers. But, the old guys still cruise around in some of the coolest, Vintage Surf Transportation. The young surfers are so into getting noticed riding waves. The old guys get noticed driving cool station wagons and in this case, a custom, GMC Suburban. A comparison of old versus new in a parking lot. NO CONTEST... In order to keep the tailgaters away, the safety triangle of the third brake light is incorporated in the rear door/bumper area. Along with the cruising look, the GMC Suburban can hold plenty of surfboards on top, or inside if that is the case. The wheels and tires are a good example of old and new. The old look of whitewalls, black rims and small center hubcaps is the style. The new look wheels are custom Corvette Rally wheels painted black and those cooling slots just disappear like the OLD look. Jnaki It is fun driving around in the South Orange County and upper San Diego County areas, from Laguna Beach to Carlsbad. It is one place that guarantees seeing a vintage surf car, woody, 2/4 door station wagons or the larger panel vans or this cool, 1950 GMC SUBURBAN. another thread/post: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...nel-trucks-whatcha-got.1022609/#post-12589438
[QUOTE=" View attachment 3913508 [/QUOTE] I have a large, framed print of this Leroy Grannis photo at home.
I’ve had this Mercury for the last 43 years. First in Southern California and now in the mid west. Guess I have to drop the surfboards and start looking for vintage camping gear.
my FB Holden circa 1989 Stanwell Park " Big Wednesday " my Fc Holden sedan delivery circa 94 Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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