Was Anyone Here Actually There?

Born in 48, most "baby boomers" like me were just coming into their teens when the car culture (with Cs) stuff hit main stream pop status. No, I wasn't a participant back then, but I had built a lot of AMT 3n1 Deuces before I ever saw a real hot rod in the flesh. Heck, my first magazine "subscription" was to Rod & Custom MODELS! Sure wish I had a set of them for my book case.

There were hot rods in movies, 77 Sunset Strip, cars on album covers, etc. As a teen I attended the indoor shows in Chicago and Indy, where you get to see cars like the Ala Kart and Tognott's T in person. Wow. And I took my models to those shows for contests and even entered a few of the Revell contests. From that time on, I always wanted a hot / street rod of some sort and have always been interested in custom built cars and motor sports of all flavors. I got my first one built and on the road in 2004. Some dreams just never die. Gary

 

first cars i had an interest in were my father's 50's. then on to gto's, impala's, 57 chevies, mid-50's buicks,mustangs, golden commando dodge's, barracuda's. big deal was cruising through dog and suds or a&w root beer on a sat. night. those were the days.

 

Correct, just turned 60, got my license in 66. The car culture in New Orleans and Jefferson was wild to say the least. Drive in hang outs that
served beer and liquor to your carside, never any ID checks. Really fierce
street racing with hot cars, open headers, no problem, slicks, no problem.
Places like the Rockery Inn, JCs, and the King of all drive in hang outs
Lenfants on Canal Blvd, which featured a 2 or 3 acre parking lot that
often resembled the pits at laplace dragway. These places stayed open
all night if they cared to! After midnight when dates were dropped off
and kids in thier parents cars were home, the hard core action really took place. Often lasting until daylight or when the police would say thats enough go home or we will start writing tickets. I am not saying all the
alcohol was a good thing just, telling how it was in one of the most liberal
living areas in the whole country. Eventualy they drug us kicking and screaming into the modern era. However there are still drive through
daquiri shops that sell out of a window like Mcdonalds! They put the straw
across the top of the cup and tell you not to drink it till you get parked.
The bars still have the option of 24 hr operation and some places have not
actually been closed in years. The steet racing now is tuners and bikes,
mostly just stock. It sure was a ball at the time. MickeyC.

 

55 built my first car on my own in '68.

Spent my youngest years on dry lakes, and abandoned air strips, a few real, now famouse, drag strips. Was I involved, my old man was trying to teach me to grind a crank when most kids were dreaming of Lincoln Logs and Tonka toys. You tell me.

 

I remember being inspired by Norm Grabowski's "Kookie T" on the then new 77 Sunset Strip TV show. From then on I was distracted in grammar school with my penchant for drawing hot rods in class. To date, I sat in a 57 Chevy when it was brand new, saw Elvis's live performance on the Ed Sullivan TV show (on a black & white screen) & rode "shot-gun" in several Motown muscle cars (409 Chevys, 406 Fords, early wedge heads & Hemis) that were new at the time. I drove my 1st car at the age of 14; (it was a 50 Chevy 2door sedan with an inline 6 & a 3 speed on the column) I bought my 1st car for $85.00 It was a 49 Ford 2door sedan with a 3 speed 239 cube Flathead with & 2 deuces. It was a really clean & straight car but wasn't particularly fast. As of this day, I've owned 57 vehicles since the age of 15! At the tender age of 62, I've finally acquired a hotrod that can, & has, garnered a few trophies;...that was not my plan. It just happened! I love cruising in my 27 T RPU with a tri-powered smallblock & a GM T5 behind it! Good Luck in whatever you decide to do out there;...and be safe!

 

wow! some great stuff here, just went thru this whole thread thanks for posting these great stories. would make a neat coffee table book for sure.

i didnt quite make the 50's my DAD was a procrastinator! haha. thanks again for the read.

george

 

Mickeyc is 100% correct about New Orleans and the area back then. Got my drivers license in 1958, the hot rod scene in New Orleans was everywhere. There was a hot rod in every block. I grew up in the Gentilly area and there were a lot of hot rods and customs in the area. Remember Rockey Inn, JC's, Stear In, Lenfonts, Wallis and Raouls. Lots of street racing on Southline Drive, Morrison Road, France Road and lots of other places. Drinking age was 18 but if you could see over the top of the bar and had the money you would get served. Lots of good times in those days. LaPlace Drag Strip was a great place, spent many weekend there.

New Orleans was a great place to grow up back then, wouldn't trade that experience for anything. Wish we could go back to that time. The city and area has changed a lot over the years, it is a totally different place now. Lots of the older people have move away since Hurricane Katrina and many of the ones that stayed are still recovering from Katrina. I live on the Gulf Coast now and am also still recovering from the results of Katrina.

There were a lot of really nice cars and I often wonder what happen to them.

 

I am pretty old but the 32 in my avatar belongs to a good customer that might be 80, great guy that i have been trying to get him on here. He is from california and just sent me these pics of his first hot rods, he didn't have a drivers license when he got his first one and got a friend to drive it to the track so's he could race it.
This is about as honest and real as it can get.

 

My first drag car when i was 15. My dad bought it for me for $10.This was at my dads ENCO gas station where my brothers and i worked growing up. No drivers licence so we drove the canal to Beeline Dragway and won my first trophy. Which i still the trophy have today. Those were the days! John

 

I really enjoy reading all of the stories you guys have, being 19 it's great to hear of how it was. I wish I had some local guys like yourselves to bullshit with. I feel like it's my duty to keep the old life alive.

 

Built in 65-67........still have it am 64yrs old

 

Hey Now, I was there! The attached photos (if they worked) are in 1960
and they are me with my '34 Ford pickup.It was one of the only cars in
Dallas with flames on the front. I had a '48 Ford flathead & chrome reversed
rims on the back with porta-walls all around. Note the 1960 plates. I was 16. I'm pushing 66 now.
I had home made "Lakes plugs" that I made from gas tank filler tubes that
I welded on to the dual exhaust ahead of the mufflers. You can see the one
on the drivers side sticking out under the passenger side running board if you
blow the pic up with me in it.I had chrome 1/4 turn gas caps on them so I
could cap them quickly when the cops showed up!
I often made it to Circle Dragstrip since I lived in Dallas,TX. You could stand
around the starting line if you wanted in those days.
Other drag strips we went to were Caddo Mills(watched "Hands' "E/G '56
Chevy), Cedar Hill (where the then young Mike Burkhart ran a hot '57 Chevy
in the A/Sportsman class, and Green Valley for the AHRA Nat's.
Radio was all AM and ROCK N' ROLL was on 'em! Like "Alley-Oop" by the
Hollywood Argiles(I think). Those were rare times in East Dallas.

 

well you have a way to go but the older you get -- the better you get at 'BS,ing'!

 

My first ride was in a 34 Ford. My buddy and i heard this loud 34 revving up around the corner of our block. there was a bunch of rodders that gathered there once in awhile and they worked on it sometimes and we would go and watch. It was kinda beat up coupe with splotches of primer, this was around 1949 as i lived in Buena Park Ca. at the time, i was 11 years old.. Well these guys looked kinda tough, had rolled up levi,s, engineer boots, [with church key]ducktails, the whole enchilada,just like you see in the old pix. One of the guys said 'what you guys lookin at', and was walkin over to us. then he said you wanna ride? Well we were scared, but it was like he was ordering us to do it. so we got in. The seat had an old blanket and I could feel the springs, it was rumbling and shaking, and loud. Any way when he hit that throttle, the pipes were loud, and we felt the tires spinning when he let the clutch out, our heads bobbed back to the seat, it was the most awesome acceleration i had ever experienced, was scary but we loved it, and that was when I caught the bug, I'll never forget that ride.








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In the mid-sixties, my dad had an advertising business on Atlantic Blvd in Maywood. For awhile, he placed Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's t-shirt ads in Hot Rod, Car Craft, Popular Hotrodding, etc magazines. On occasion, while visiting my dad on "bring your kid to work day" we stopped by Ed's "studio" on Slauson Ave. I remember it being basically a garage with an adjacent office for silkscreening t-shirts and opening mail. Piles of envelopes with kid's handwriting addressed to Big Daddy every day and a lot of activity processing shirt orders. The garage floor was covered in plaster dust and in the middle was the shape of the "bike truck" concept. It was a wood frame cab sitting on an old chassis but you could see the overall shape coming together. Ed was covered in plaster - even his beard was splattered. The garage walls and corners were covered in tools, interesting car parts and neat little monster/car drawings and stickers everywhere. I was in awe and Ed probably knew it. I remember being struck by how friendly he was. He didn't cuss (around me). He wasn't the wild man I imagined after looking at so many ads. I knew Ed from his t-shirt booths at the car shows we attended and there he was always "fun-professional" but even in person in his own shop he just struck me as one happy-with-world dude. I was 11 and he was great with kids asking me about cars and stuff. My dad had Ed Newton's concept drawing in his office for a photostat or something and I just stared at the beautiful black ink lines creating chrome effects on the upswept exhaust pipes and wide wheels. I never saw the finished vehicle but it always ranked up there with my favorites because of the experience.

Ed's small home was not far from his shop and for a couple of weeks one summer he put a big sign in front: "FREE HOUSE." I never knew the backstory but it must have something to do with his whacked out sense of humor.

 

Born in 1945, I can remember gasoline on special at 19.9 cents a gallon. That's fill 'er up for under $3.

 

I was born in '45 and some of my earliest memories involve cars that interested me. The first real hot rods that I was aware of were back in the early '50s, but the "holy shit!" epiphany moment was when I saw Grabowski's T in the '57 issue of Life magazine (I still have a copy). I was corrupted for life ... hot rods, drag cars, car shows, car magazines, etc, etc. ever since. Most of my good friends have the same disease. If you offered to trade me an extra 10 years life expectancy for the memories and experiences that I've had, I think I'd pass on the deal.

 

some fun stuff here guys! Bought my first car in '58 with paper route money earned on my trusty Schwinn bicycle...paid a hundred bucks (4 months of delivering papers)...'49 chevy 2 dr sdn...moved up to a mild custom '49 fleetline a year later...got tired of babbet rod knockers so put 303 Olds/cad 3 spd in and raced C gas..hard to compete with a daily street driver in gas class so sold that and got '56 Chevy 210,265 and raced K stock, still my daily driver...1962, bought a Genuine Chevy Parts 4.56 positration third member from the Chevrolet dealer for $100 and it came in a small wood crate over the counter, and the parts man threw in a can of posi lube...1963 Bought a '31 tudor sdn to build as a daily driver BUT got married in '64........no more 50s-60s car stuff 'til after divorce '83....Going hard now to catch back up !! Pretty well still living in the 50s as I don't like this new century anyway

 

Wow, age 19. Here's how you do this in life so you have something to talk about when you are older and also keep the "old" ways alive. I'm 61

1-Hang around with guys of similar interest
2-Never miss a road trip, especially if it seems too long or is spur of the moment. Half of life is just showing up.
3-Marry the right woman
4-Take pictures along the way (and post some here)
5-Remember to drive what you built ASAP and it doesn't have to be finished. It never will be anyway. Need good brakes and steering.
6-Don't confuse price with value. A $4,000 car you built that looks rough is worth more than a $70,000 car some A-hole bought and can barely drive. Don't be afraid to say so either. He already knows it anyway.
7-It's OK to buy parts but do most of your own work and be proud of whatever turns out.
8-Life has a "learning curve" and you will make mistakes. It's not how many you make it's how you fix them.
9-Live a clean life so you can pay attention when it matters. Beer is OK.
10-Life is OJT--get off the couch and pick up a wrench.
11-Have goals. If it will take 200 hours to drive a project, that's 50 consecutive days at 4 hours a day. Stay focused.
12-Only you can make stuff happen--or not--for you. Your happiness is not dependent on other people or their opinion.
13-Question authority. Not the law, just "we've always done it that way" thinking.
14-Stay mellow. Don't argue with morons--walk away
15-Most important--the good old days of tomorrow are happening now. It's not "how it was"; this is "how it is". Start turning wenches.

 

I was there in 1953...............................Rich

 

oh yea i was there,16 years old in 58,first car was 48 plymouth,mcdonalds were two for a quarter,gas was 18 cents a gal. best times of my life,got out of the army in 64,had a brand new 64 ford 427 r-code waiting for me in new york,when i got off the ship,man what a ride home to pittsburgh pa,that car was some kind of wonderful, i think about those times alot, good times no doubt..........richie

 

Yeah, I was there. Got my first first drivers license at 14 (farm AG license - 1962) and graduated HS in '66. Worked at a garage after HS 'till closing and then at a body shop until night. My folks gave me a car at 10 to learn about stuff. My first V8 was a 1953 Ford Vicky.

Used to cruise San Jose Calif at night and Santa Cruz on the weekends. Street raced at Four Lanes on Hwy 1 north of town. By the time I was in JC, I was working part time for a race fab shop in Santa Cruz (A&W Engineering - mostly dirt track stuff).

Built some B & C Gas cars for myself (Fords & a Plymouth). Never won anything on the track (Fremont & Half Moon Bay), but won a bit here and there on the street. Worked at a Chrome shop for a while. Eventually got into cycles as you could go faster, quicker - cheaper.

Back in the day, I mostly built Fords, from G2 blown Y blocks to 406 FE motors. My Plymouth was a 63 Valient with a 383 & TorqueFlite. Most fun of the bunch was my 63 Merc Marauder 390 4-speed. That was a hell of car and got me a lot of dates.

Right now I'm building a 283 to go in my 1970 long bed Chevy truck. The .040 over 454 is coming out as I'm seriously tired of feeding it I'm a few years from retirement. Once I'm retired, I'll drag my blower 355 SBC out of storage and start another project car. Looking for an early '50s Plymouth coupe or two door fast back to stick it in. There's one out there somewhere with my name on it

 

I was there and involved, Hot Rod Magazine from the news stand and all that.

What I remember is how many pre-WWII cars were available in the 40’s and 50’s and what great shape they were. Cars weren’t made during the war, and gasoline was rationed, so cars didn’t get driven that much. You couldn’t get tires or spark plugs. In my old neighborhood, there were cars that were just parked during the war. Then when cars were being made again, nobody wanted the old cars. Those old cars had low miles on them. Old Fords everywhere, in good condition and really cheap. It was fantastic.

 

Yeah I was there.

 

I was there in the 50s/60s. I'm 70. Mostly flatheads (one blown with a 4:71) and an olds that went from my 49 Merc to my 50 Ford coupe. And one Buick powered 48 Ford Convert.

 

Hung around my older brothers in the late 50's throught the early 60's when they did'nt run me off. Did'nt start driving myself untill the late 60's but the memories of the crap my older bros did were the best!

 

i was born in 57 and have 2 sisters that had boyfriens with hot rod in the early sixties. i was young but will never forget some of those cars. the coupes where they took out the roof inserts and installed plex-glass in the roof, memories of sitting in a 34 coupe and looking at the sky thru blue plexi .the east end toronto car clubs, duke deadman was a legend here. he had cars stashed all over toronto in garages and took a lot of pics. drag racing at cayuga, cruising eglinton ave from the pie tree at midland and egg, to the harveys at markham rd,. the red barn burger joints, rod & custom mag, that my mother got me a sub to because all i talked about was hot rods. straight to the vintage tin section and dream of finding gold in them there hills. hot wheels... my favorite was the 36 coupe speed sport at the ex in winter. man o man get me started... draggin unlimited , knob hill speed & custom in scarboro. canadian tire stores where i got purple metalflake cans to paint my bike, after putting on it ape hangers, sky high sissy bar and a slick rear tire and banana seat, chrome chain gaurd and pounding a cut down set of forks over my forks to make a chopper. i am never ¨going to be cured till i am dead... lol.

 

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It was hard to get a new car when the manufacturers got back in production. At a dealership my Dad ordered a new Pontiac, dont know how long we waited but finally he was notified that we had a new 47 Pontiac coming in. I loved our old 39 Poncho, straight 8 business coupe, kinda rare car I would think in these days. [Most bus. coupes were 6 ,s]. Dad bought it around 1941, it had survived an accident when he hit a beer truck [which had pulled out in front of him] and also our trip out to Ca. in 44. but when the new Pontiac arrived he was contacted by a traveling salesman to let him have our order [for some cash] ,and Dad had the 39 Pontiac,s motor rebuilt.
________________

 

I was born in '42. By '53 we would ride our bikes to Lustin Chevrolet in Hyattsville Md. & pester the salesmen by sitting in the new corvette & hardtops.Back them they made a big deal out of the new car viewing & would bring the '55, '56, & '57 cars in on carriers covered with big tarps.We would sneak into the lot & climb onto the carriers parked there & get under the tarps so we could see the new cars before they showed them in the showroom.I had a lot of older friends that had cool cars, & in '57 before I turned 15 & still riding my bike I went to a friends house that had a '56 ford pickup with chrome grill,bumpers, & crome stacks up the back of the cab. He & another friend were hooking up a '32 ford dragster he built to the back of his pickup.It had a cut down '32 roadster body on I think a '32 frame with a flathead. I jumped in the back of the truck & Sonny drove with Freddy being pulled behind in the dragster.He lived in Riverdale about 3 miles from a brand new stretch of highway which had not opened yet.It was Kennelworth Ave & it stretched about 5 miles from Riverdale Rd to Greenbelt Rd.Well they pulled that dragster onto the concrete & with Freddy in it & Sonny driving & me on the running board we pushed that dragster to try to start it.We were going pretty good & freddy was waving for more speed as the engine was sputtering & trying to start.I looked in at the speedometer & we were running 70MPH when suddenly the engine fired & Freddy took of like a bat out of hell & left us like we were standing still. We caught up with him after he shut it down & towed it back to his house.I doubt you get away with that today. But what great times.Then there was the time with my Austin Heal...............But that another story.


Bobbyd

 

Have to get back to this one.