History Were you born into a rod or custom family?

Unfortunately,I was the only member of my family that was afflicted to the hot rod/custom car disease,my dad saw cars as transportation and nothing more,my uncles didn't care about old cars.

My granddad had a Henry J in the barn when I was a kid but he never did anything with it.

My first car was a 32 Ford five window coupe that I bought at 12 years of age and owned just a few hours but that's another story,my '54 Ford was my initiation into the world of hot rods and modifying cars.

I owned the '54 Ford for less than 2 weeks when my size 12 blew up that poor inline 6.

I was heart broken, Good fortune smiled on me when my granddad called to tell me he had talkPed to his neighbor and his son said he would help me with repairing the engine.

He was several years older but had the mechanical ability I lacked,had it not been for his help and guidance I don't know I would have done.

Later on I replaced the anemic 6 with a 390 Mercury and that was the beginning of my life long obsession with older cars.

I'm thankful a guy that I hardly knew spent couple of days helping me get my car back on the road.
I contact with him many years ago but a few years ago I ran into him at a cruise in and able to repay him when he bought a 40 chevy and I was able to assist him. HRP



HRP

..

 

My dad couldn't change his own oil. Mostly self taught.

--louis

 

No, but my dad was a racing fan and him taking me to some races before my teens certainly had a lot to do with my love of racing.

 

Farm kid,could weld by the time I was ten,first car was a 61 comet fordor,wish I still had it! 17000 miles,still had the plastic on the back seat. I was 12, payed 75$ for it! 5 older brothers, lots of mustangs,fairlanes,galaxy's,all big blocks of course,so yeah,sort of born into it.

 

I came from a family that was not mechanicaly inclined at all. Had no use for cars except for transportation

 

no one in my family was into cars....including my father , 7 brothers and 2 sisters. my father did teach me a lot , but he was more into steam tractors and airplanes. the airplane thing rubbed off on me and i got my pilots license in 1970. although he did not understand my desire , he did think it was a good idea for me to get a Model A Ford when i was 16 in 1969. before that there was a string of go-karts and mini bikes

as long as i can remember the sight of an old car got me excited

 

I was certainly not born into a hot rod family. My dad was more into sports cars (had a 356 Porsche , corvettes , etc - although he did have a 53 Chevy as a younger man, that he really liked) , my parents also had 67 Cougar GT , Mustangs - that kinda stuff. My grandparents were into vintage fire trucks (20's/30's) and old Mustangs , so I rode around in stuff like that growing up as well. My mom was/is more of an A to B car person .
I have had dozens of cars over my driving career , including sports cars and muscle cars , so this stuff is relatively new to me as well . It is safe to say that I am definitely the only one in my family into this crap , lol !

 

You and me both,brother! HRP

 

I guess I was born into a hot rod/scooter family. I came home from the hos[ital. in a nailhead powered Willys pickup, but I really don't remember. LOL

Like Hank Jr said, "I'm just carryin' on an ol family tradition"

 

I don't know how to answer or add to this????
Maybe.... My dad was into 49 Merc 2dr's when he came home from Korea with a drivers license. 1st thing he did was to go out and get a stock 49 Merc 2dr, Take it over to the Muffler shop for a set of "Twice Pipes" and a full coil cut out. I believe a set of blocks in the rear. The next paycheck went to his 1st payment and a trip over to Gil's Auto Body for a "shave and a haircut", He later sold it to his brother and bought a 54 Merc Hardtop in Metalic Blue and had Gil shoot a white stripe along the side.
I have no pix of either, The 1st cars that I remember was a 58 Edsel that I played in until it sold in 1968.
Around the same time he drove a Light Green 53 Chevy 210 that I remember getting stuck in the local Jack In The Box Drive-Thru. I liked that car. It drove pretty damn smooth.... Then he showed up with a 55 T-Bird in Raven Black. My stepmother bought it brand new in 1955 and I didn't get it till I was 22, but I claimed it when I was 4 yrs. old. (I still have it).
He bought a brand spanking new 68 Firedbird 400 that had that great new car smell!!!!!! I loved that car.... He sold it in 1970 and made money on the deal. I bought a 67 in 1982 as a 18 yr old and kept it into my 30's=never should have sold it ever....(img. is a representative if what it resembled)

My maternal Grandad was way into the Car Life, He had Cords-Auburns, Jags, Cads, Sprint Cars-Midgets and all kinds of stuff, Infact-he even had a 72 Mazda RX-2 they he bought in 1972 and had till 1982 that only had 7k mi on it. It was Brand new!!!!! Traded to an uncle for a 76 Olds 98 Regency that he detailed out.... He was 84 and still shooting lacquer. I wish that I would've have spent way more time just sucking the info out of him, but my mom died of Cancer before I was a yr. old and we didn't get to visit as often because of the personal pain of loss, so whenever I could get together with those grandparents I took on all I could.

What an amazing life they had though while they were here. Luckily I have the memories and a few pix of Grandad's stuff. None of my Pop's cars other than the Bird that I keep over at the house that I grew up at where I used to play "Cars" as a kid.

 

Nope...but my kids were!

 

Birds awesome kev!

 

I second that emotion.

 

T bird,not firebird.

 

I knew what you were talking about.

It is actually a hawk around here as in Thunderhawk.

In this house firebirds and Camaros fall into the same category, and its not good.

 

My Dad was a mechanic, body man, painter and truck driver...I learned a lot from him but I grew up in the fifties and the magazines of the day featured kustoms -lots of them...that alone formed my outlook on cars...and nearly every kid I went to high school with drove a "kustom" of some sort. Most were '50's Chevys and Fords-nosed, decked and complete with primer spots...there were only two "hot rods" in my town. A '40 Ford coop and a beat-up Model A coop which was far from a hot rod...

Of particular note, in 1961, my pal Richard Fredericks traded his nosed, decked (and painted white) '56 Chevy two door hardtop for a '61 Biscayne two door sedan and promptly had the Chevy garage add Impala trim and three deuces to the engine...that was the end of Rich's "kustom" involvement...

Even today, I build kustoms...I've had one rod in my whole life...and after I had it for a few years, I turned it into a tail dragging kustom (photo)...

I built my latest kustom in 2005-2010 (my avatar) and I've driven it all over the country in the last few years...

R-

 

Well HRP, yes and no.....
I was born into it in one sense. The era I grew up/lived in AND the neighborhood I grew up in. The brothers down the street from me always had something with a V8 in it. The guy that was my hero when I was 9 yrs old had a raven black '69 Mach 1 with the red rocker and spoiler stripes. His younger brother had a red '65 Mustang rag top. Black top, black pony interior. The kid right across the alley from my mom and dad had a '63 Impala, dark burgandy, white interior with chrome reverse wheels. The guy at the end of the block was a mechanic with his own shop. He used to build and race dirt track cars. Spent alot of time pissing him off I'm sure.
My dad always seemed to drive the coolest car he could swing owning, but as the kids were growing up he never had money to have a project or dream car. He does currently have a '30 Ford coupe that we restored.
I honestly "feel" for the kids today. When I went to school, the parking lot at the H.S. was filled with late 60's early 70's Camaro's, Firebird's, Cutlass.... Nova's. You get me. It was a daily car show. Today the same lot is full of 4 door Taurus and the like.

 

I am mostly self-taught for the hot rods modification and upgrade side of things. My Dad did not have hot rods or customs, but did do the mechanical work and I learned a lot of those basic skills. He did buy a 68 GTO new, it was our family car, and remember taking vacation trips in it as a kid. I have had it for 36 years now since I was 16, will never sell it. Rest of the family cars were nothing special, typical GM sedans or wagons. No other relatives were into cars either. My Dad did get Hot Rod magazine and I read it front to back as a kid, even cutting out the pictures and making a mural on one wall of my bedroom as a kid. Later in life, long after I was out of the house, my Dad bought and restored a 1917 Model T Touring car. Basically stock and original, it was a nice car, but not any type of hot rod.

 

I was. Dad taught me everything I know. Had me oxy/acetylene welding before my teen years. My little brother and I chopped our first top for pay before I could legally drive.

 

Sounds lpke your dad tough both his son's well. HRP

 

Well Dad had always emed to have some sort of modified car when he was growing up in the 30's and had this 41 Ford Ragtop when he came home from the Army Air Corps and met my mom and got married. Said to have the loudest pipes in the valley at that
time by a couple of cops who considered themselves experts on the subject.
That got traded for a 41 Buick fastback when I was little and I remember him and a buddy painting it at a gas station in town one Saturday when I was 4 or 5. He bought a 51 Ford two door new in 51 and that was the last Ford he ever owned. He had a couple of Buicks and after he and mom divorced started a string of Oldsmobiles with a 53 Super 88 and then a 57 Super 88 with a J-2 in it that was great fun on dad and kid weeekends. It wasn't bad cruising with with Dad in a Jet black lowered 57 Olds that would kick butt in 1960 on weekends.
During the Koran war my uncle Vernon Davison left his 49/51 Merc in my folks yard while he was gone to Korea. I think that car started my love for those Mercs as my first car was a 51.

My first step father bought/traded for a 52 Vic with a 56 Thunderbird Special in it not long after he and mom got married and that was my first experience with a real hot rod as the car had held the C gas track record at Ellensberg for a time. Mom could wheel that car pretty good and could drive the wheels off any car or truck she got into.
When the Monogram Big T T bucket came to a local hobby store for a show and tell promotion and the New Avanti just happened to be premiered at the same time she and I made a trip up to see both of them. I think she had more fun that day than I did because she ended up flirting with the guys at the Studebaker dealer where the Avanti was having been divorced from my stepfather the year before.

I can at least say that my parents never tried to dissuade me from having modified cars or having fun cars.

 

Yes indeed...both my dad & grandpa were into cars...my grandpa was more into log trucks, and worked 18 hrs a day seemed like, but was always enthused about cars, and fiddlin' on them when he had time...making my grandmothers Lincoln ''just a bit faster''. My dad (pic with my mom), was a big time hot rodder in the 50's....coupes and lowered customs, and was all about ''image'' more than his mechanical skills.... he wanted to be a "rebel and any cause" mentality....I learned my 'real' skills from my grandpa, while my dad taught me how to 'polish' chrome with a toothbrush!!! ---My dad was always towing home some old car, and working or tearing it apart...and letting me ''wash'' the hubcaps when I was a ''good boy''...haha....good memories, and I cherish the thoughts of all those old fun cars ''way back when''__Ray

 

My step father guided me on auto repair and helped me out plenty with a few early rides I had. Before I could even drive he would take me to the Rod & Custom show at the Chicago Amphitheater and never discouraged me for whatever I did with my cars.
I can't remember a time when I wasn't in love with the automobile, Just lucky I guess.

 

Born into it, just took a few years to get there. Dad was in the Air Force and that meant moving all over the world a few times. He had a few slick rides before he got married and kept getting shipped all over the world with family in tow. He had a really slick 62 olds Dynamic 88 and 67 Barracuda fast back. Then his 52 Chevy pickup that he built when we were in Texas. They still have a picture of me with a loaded diaper on climbing into the 34 5 window coupe that never got to be built on the fridge. But being military dad had to sell his toys off to get shipped around the world, Dad said I cried when that 52 Chevy left and said I wouldn't talk to him for a few days after it left, I was only 3 though. Being the good man that he is, he made sure that his family had everything that we needed before another hot rod got to come home. So we both built hundreds of models and studied over and over every hot rod magazine we could, Rod Action, Street Rodder, R&C. and just built up as much knowledge as I could to apply to this stuff when I was finally able to.
Got my first car when I was 17. 68 firebird 400, still had the California black plates on it when I bought it from a Marine. blew the rear axle up in it a month later racing a 5.0 mustang (disgustang I call them) then El Camino's nova's 60's Buicks, an amc or two thrown in as well. I got my 31 Tudor when I was 20 and have been collecting all the perfect period parts for it since then. nothing newer than 67, save for repro 32 rails. It finally will hit the streets this year. only took 18 years!! Dad still does it and we work side by side on our stuff. nothing could be better than doing this with my Dad, save for building cars with my boys, one already claimed my 51 Chevy and his brother claimed the 39 tudor.....guess I gotta get more cars!!!!

 

Born into a midget racing family, grew up going to dirt tracks from little on and my Dad was also a race fan besides being a 40 year car owner, in Milwaukee Wi. Area, Modifieds ran 5/6 nights all summer plus the state fair races. Started making model cars and reading Hot Rod from the beginning, It's been a life long Hobby/Obsession for me and has served me well, Funny how things turn out, 5 kids, drug them to race tracks for years, I raced for 21 years, 1 son raced some, talented, walked away, too much work and $$$ for him, another son takes his boy to races occasionally, 3 rd boy 0 interest, cars, races, the 2 girls never go to races/car shows, although 1 does take her son to local car shows once in awhile and ALL of my grand children are not interested in cars or racing, sports & music kids, very proud of all of my children and grand children.

 

Yep, I was. My earliest memory is riding in Dad's seaweed flamed '62 Vette (circa 1972). With one of the next earliest memory going to look at the 33 Tudor that eventually became the first hot rod I witnessed being put together.

 

Dad could do basics on a car, he swapped in a rebuilt engine in his 38 ford when he got home from the service ( occupation of Japan), but when he married and fathered 7 kids he never looked at cars as anything but a way to
transport all of us. I am the only one who developed the car bug, my brother could not change his own oil., and
my sisters all drive Jap crap.

 

My Dad, my Brothers, my Uncle, my cousins, and myself (is) were all into cars. My Dad worked at a gas station as a teenager back in late 30s and his first car was a 35 Ford Phaeton, black with a lowered top, as well as model As, which he said that him and his friends would drive the heck out of them and then junk em' and buy another one, because they were a dime a dozen. When he got married in 1945, he started to buy Mercury's, the first one being a 41, all the way up to the last one which was a 61. After that, he had Impalas, 58 Ranchero. 52 F100, 60 Apache, a Rambler, a Metro, a Belvedere. And he would pay like 100, 200 for those, and they weren't junk. He paid $25.00 for the Metro. He would give cars away, or people would offer him free cars, like a 57 T Bird or a 65 Mustang convertible.
Believe or not, but in the early 60s, a friend of my Dad gave him two 41 Chevy coupes,one green and one blue. In decent running condition. The interiors were still in nice shape and the original paint wasn't too bad. At first my dad tried to sell them, individually for $150.00. No takers, so he then offered if you buy one, you get the second one free. Still no takers. Finally, he just ended up junking them. People wanted newer cars.
My brothers were mainly into Chevys during the 60s. Corvettes, Bel Airs, Impalas, El Caminos, with chrome reverse rims and a Superior steering wheel. Typical AG. So, that's how I got started with old cars and my first car, which I got in the late 70s was a 55 Nomad, and then a 57 Chevy sedan, a 61 Impala, a 50 Chevy, and now my 51 AD, which I am currently putting together. Here's a photo of my AD , in it's current state and photo of my Dad, taken in the early 50s

 

Grew up in Snuffys, a Pennsy hot rodding hangout that was supposed to be a Texaco station. Pop had a sickness that required him to snap up every '46-'48 Ford coupe he could get his hands on. Sometimes he owned 5 or 6 at a time, slammed, always red wheels and whites chops of various levels, louvers, and some very hot flattys to go with it.

He also had a bunch of "A" coupes and an absolutely perfect '34 Tudor that would be timeless today. Don't forget the '49 to '50 Mercs.

My youngest brother ended up behind the wheel of dirt Sprinters for a living and my middle brother runs TMK Metalworks, which builds street café racers in Arizona. I have a small hot rod shop. Guess you could say Pop rubbed off.....

 

I didn't, but my Dad would talk fondly about cars.
Our first car was an English Wolseley, and then an Austin Maxie, followed by a Japanese car.

By age ten, I was lost, didn't know what sort/style cars I liked, but u knew I liked cars.
My choice was made for me. LocAl bunch of long haired 70s Hot Rodders took over the old woodwork factory, over my back fence, and by age 11, I was over there every chance I got.
The die was cast, the sickness set in, and although it died a little in the eighties, due to the ugly graphic billet monstrosities, the gospel of the Hamb set me back on track.

Now I'm passing it on, my six year old flatmate loves Hot Rods, and is my main passenger in the 29 Hudson.