like in your town in the early 60's? I've been asking my pals who were around this question. And loving the answers.... Interestingly, it seems not too many wanted a Model A or a Deuce... So what were hot rods like in your town in the early 60's??
Mid to Late 60's, according my my old man... He was 20 in '68. Had a new big block vette in 69. And a 1970 LS6 Chevelle SS ragtop a few years later...amoung many others. 66 Beaumont SD, BB ElCaminos, whatever. I realize this is a little past "traditional" territory, but that particular time and age still haunts me. Dad's friends and foes had Hemi Roadrunners, and some guys had fast Mustangs. Cops were cool then. A few Fairlaine's with big block in them were of notice too. I feel as though I have been cheated. Things are different now. He still has the vette, which is home to that LS6. Now. Has not seen pavement since 1973. It is neat in a way, but sad in another. FTP.
we had a local hero that would throw together a car or two every summer, mostly T buckets, using junkyard parts then a few guys with a little more money that would keep refining the same cars a Model A Roadster restorod, couple 33/34 Mopar Coupes, one fibergl*** bodied A Roadster on Deuce rails and a '32 3 Window that are both still around
Mr. Happy's description sounds like my dad's, too. In the late 50s in Chicago he had a '51 Merc with a '48 flathead, then in the early 60s, when he was in the Marine Corps in California, he had a '57 Chevy that was yellow with blue flames that ran in the 15s, then he got a '62 Impala..think it had a 283 and he said he put 2-4s on it. He and another Marine buddy went in halves ($250 each) on a Model A coupe that was a piece of ****, Olds engine, stock rear end, kitchen chair and a cresecnt wrench 'steering wheel'. GIs don't make very good money. After the Marines, he went into newer car territory with a '63 Vette convertible, '64 Gran Prix, then later, a '68 Z-28 and a '69 Yenko Camaro. I faintly remember the Yenko from when we lived in El Monte, but it got stolen. Seems like he had more, but I can't remember all of them.
1963 hot rods.( my definition) Now that I look back, Olds was the hot rod motor of choice in my little neck of the woods in that time period. The 327 was state of the art in the new Corvette Sting Ray but lots of "hot Rods" ran the Olds. When I joined this club in 1963, Granahan had a 33 Chevy 2dr with a trunk running a 394 Olds and hydro. Burgundy older repaint with a genuine Tijuana tuck and roll interior. (he was stationed in San Diego once) Sonny Willet had 34 Chevy 2dr flat back with a 394 and hydro. A beautiful black paint job with matching naugahide interior. It was in the D.C.Ram Rods show a few times. It came with that funky new in 1934 independent suspension (whos name escapes me) so he hung a droped Ford axle and split wish bones under it. His daily driver was a beautiful black 61 Olds 88 bubble top with all the over the counter NASCAR parts that were still available from the dealer. Three speed on the column that ruled the streets until the built 327s started to hit the streets. 409s were not a problem. 2 Stalls down was a 50 Olds 2dr with guess what....394/hydro. He pestered me for months until I finally raced him with my 58 Plymouth..383 torque flight. I won. Another 49 Olds coupe came around some. Big slicks sticking out of radiused rear wheel wells with a thumpy motor that I believe was an Olds too. I loved that car except for the wheel wells. Jade East (a popular cologne at the time) was the name of a chopped and channeled Model A 2 dr. that was pretty famous as a show car. Once or twice a year he'd come down and cruise the Mighty Mo. Pretty sure it had a Chevy with lots of chromed carbs. There was a very cool looking A sedan that was full fendered but chopped and channeled. It was definately a HAMB style car. It didn't come around too often. When I asked why they told me the rear was welded solid to the frame to get it that low and it was POS to drive...but it looked cool! A "rat rod" in 1963??? One car that was built in that time frame was 33 Plymouth convertible. Yeah Olds/hydro. what made this car stand out in it's day was that it was a convert. and it had P/Ws and a P/S! They were hydraulic! A pump and resevoir from a GM car I think was mounted behind the seat with hoses to the doors (suicide) and the seat. The crank hole cover had a 6 (# of cyls) on it. He'd turn it upside down and everybody asked him what's the 9 for? Charlie Walters had the coolest 34 3W. It had a SBC and a 4 spd. Another maybe Honduras maroon? older paint job. Today you'd say it had patina. I liew of a radio we'd roll the rear window down, put a portable record player on the panel above the rumble seat and listen to 45s in the Mo. Charlie had style! That's my biased recollection of a "hot rod" on the street in 1963 or there abouts. There were a **** load of shoe box fords and tri year Chevys, but they were not concidered hot rods in 1963 any more than a 1997 car is concidered a collector car today. As a side note there was a lot of cliques then just as today. My blue collar home built hot rod crowd didn't think too much of the daddy supplied down payment on a factory muscle car crowd. That's part of the reason that people my age think of "hot rods" as pre-49. 50's cars were just used cars. nothing special. How hard is it to put a built 327 in a 55 Chevy? It took a little talent to put an Olds in a 34 Chevy in 1963. They were my idols and still are. Roadstar that was not a shot at you. I was typing when you posted. But it was our opinnion at the time.
Best hot car in '61 at my high scool was a beautiful green & white '56 Chevy with a 327 & a 4-speed. Unfortunately it tryed to climb a telephone pole and killed the owner's best friend late in '61.
Pops story from the mid to late 60's... His buddy Danny had a 57 Chevy. 301, 4speed. Fast. His other buddy (can't remember his name) had a had a Ford Ranch wagon. 312, 4 speed, straight axle. Those 2 were constantly whoopin on each other... My Grandma and Grandpa bought a new Impala (66 or 67, can't remember) 327, auto. My Pops and Danny would take the cheater slicks off the 57 on the weekends and put em on the Impala... beat everything I guess. The wagon: Guy down the street says: Who wanted a model A? There's no back seat! As his wife turned 3 shades of red and excused herself back into the house... Ed, longtime friend of my family. Got my 56 lookin nice and took it over there to show it off.. He was a "greaser" back in the day. Chopped 50 Merc, Olds with 6 carbs... beautiful car. Jeannie (his wife) tells us storys of how much money he made (or lost) racing that car... He says " sounds nice, open the hood. ONE CARB?" and goes back into the house! BTW, I have the 301 out of the 57 and its a monster. Big compression, big cam.. it's going back into my 56 as soon as I get more carbs!
The '60's, long time ago for my 50-year old memory. Guy down the street had an "A" coupe, fenderless with a flathead, Offenhauser heads. Don't remember the carbs and manifold. Kid in my woodshop cl*** had a black '40 coupe with a SBC with a 4-barrel. When I went to college a room mate had a '27 T roadster with a bob-tail pick-up bed. He powered it with a 312 Ford Y-block. A good buddy had a '57 Chevy 2-door sedan with a 283 and four-barrel. He later sold it for a '63 El Camino. He worked for one of the local Chevy dealers, so he ordered a new engine. One weekend in 1967, we put it together and put it in the El Camino. It was a 302 small block with the Corvette cam, 2.02" fuel-injector heads, high-rise, dual-plane aluminum intake with the big Holley four-barrel carb. With the Muncie four-speed behind it, and cheater slicks, this car would lift the front wheels. In Tucson, AZ, he would cruise Speedway between the Jonnie's drive-ins looking for victims. He usually found them. Chevy was the predominant choice for cars and engines. Small blocks primarily. The big-blocks were too expensive and not readily available. There weren't too many small-block Fords available yet. My buddy's brother-in-law had a '67 Shelby Mustang with the 428 big block and top-loader 4-speed. Ford white with the black leather interior. I'll try to remember more. AZAV8
Paul Hutchins has a ton of photos of early '60s drag & car show action from my hometown, Sioux City IA... http://groups.msn.com/PhotosbyHutch/siouxcityotheroldies.msnw Here's an example: The Nigg & Mahaney Chrysler-powered '50 Crosley g***er at the Sioux City Airbase drags in '61 (ran 153 mph)
Pops story from the mid to late 60's... His buddy Danny had a 57 Chevy. 301, 4speed. Fast. His other buddy (can't remember his name) had a had a Ford Ranch wagon. 312, 4 speed, straight axle. Those 2 were constantly whoopin on each other... My Grandma and Grandpa bought a new Impala (66 or 67, can't remember) 327, auto. My Pops and Danny would take the cheater slicks off the 57 on the weekends and put em on the Impala... beat everything I guess. The wagon: Guy down the street says: Who wanted a model A? There's no back seat! As his wife turned 3 shades of red and excused herself back into the house... Ed, longtime friend of my family. Got my 56 lookin nice and took it over there to show it off.. He was a "greaser" back in the day. Chopped 50 Merc, Olds with 6 carbs... beautiful car. Jeannie (his wife) tells us storys of how much money he made (or lost) racing that car... He says " sounds nice, open the hood. ONE CARB?" and goes back into the house! Man I miss that car...are you keeping the paint scheme?
my dad had a number of em in the late 50's early 60's he had a '49 ply sedan with a hemi. i have pics of that one somewhere here in a box of old photo's from my grandmother... a 51 shoebox with hilborn...hoodless and cl***ic is what my dad says about that one also had a '54 vicky, pretty much a stock 53 flatty in it internally with a 3x2 intake and edlebrock heads. had a "home brew" floating grill. looked like split 55 desoto teeth, then hung from the top and bottom of the grill "lips", bad *** look... hehe it looked like it really had a set of chops! he built a 40 desoto with a 327 out of a 68 impala ss in the mid 70's but thats for another thread. THAT was the car that first sparked my intrest in all things rusty, greasy, and loud when i was a kid. i should post about that some time. great thread BTW...
I grew up in the San Fernando valley.'59-94. I remember in '62 or so a family friend named Eddie. A John Milner "clone" if there ever were one. He had a 33 plymouth coupe primer grey ,chrome reverse open wheels, wide whites, an Olds motor,straight pipes. He use to help me and my brother build models. We thought this guy was the king of the hot rodders! My Dad used to take us to San Fernando drag strip, on sundays. we saw Tony nancy, tommy Ivo, Tom beatty and others weekly. We watched stock car races at Whiteman airport,on a small asphalt oval track. Bennelli stadium(Saugus speedway,were hot also.We went to go-cart tracks,near Hansen Dam. In the later 60's-'70's we discovered cruising on Van Nuys blvd. Wed. nights. We would hang out with the street racers,on Woodly ave,Raymer st,and other places. We had Ships,Tiny Naylors,and Bobs big boy to hang out, eat, chase girls,race,etc. It was the best times. All but gone now Sparky
Naw... I'm gonna get rid of the flames... seems eveyone has flames now.. Roof'll prolly stay blue. Grey primer the rest (not up to doin all the REAL bodywork it needs yet!) The new ch***is is on a rake.. big n little whitewalls.. the 301'll be back in it, maybe a 4 speed??? Finally gonna do the interior too... white tuck and roll with a tonneau cover over the rear seat. I'm stoked, I love this car.
As an adendum... There was a hell of a transition in cars and at***udes between the early 60"s and the later sixties. The mild customs (I forgot about them) that many of you adore were still cruising the streets in the early 60's. By 67 or 68 they were no where to be found in my area. It was all muscle cars and BB tri 5 Chevys. Charlie with the 34 had swapped it for Deuce sedan and put a BB in it. A snap shot in time can get blurred over the years. I want one of them 63 El Caminos. Just ribbing you. I've made bigger mistakes in my ramblings. There is a big difference between early and late sixtys though.
Me too! I hear they're pretty rare?!?! Well then, let's hear some stories of the "transition" period too...
I grew up in Norwood, Ohio, a town of 50,000 that is completely surrounded by Cincinnati. It was a cool little town, and we had everything, including a Chevrolet and Fisher Body plant. In the 58-62 era, we had a couple of model A coupes, one model A roadster, a '34 Plymouth coupe (mine), a '28 Studebaker, and a '27 roadster....I think that is all for the pre-war hot rods. We had some customs - a '54 Chev hardtop that was so low he had to stop before going over the imbedded, level, railroad tracks on the main drag, so he wouldn't lose his mufflers, a '56 Chev mild custom that won a lot of trophies, a '41 chopped Ford convertible with a Carson top, and a ton of early '50s cars that were nosed and decked, in various stages of completion. Oh, and a Gulf station owner had a MG with a flathead in it. But because of the Chevrolet plant, we were Chevrolet central. Economy Chevrolet was right across the street from the factory, and parts were always available and cheap. You could actually set it up with the plant to watch your car being built, after you ordered it. There were some really bad tri five Chevys that ruled the Pike - a couple of '57s in particular that were pretty much unbeatable. Both were black BelAirs, one post and one hardtop, and both were factory 270hp cars when they left the ***embly line, but they were no longer stock. Both were 4-spds. There was also a '53 Studillac that was pretty quick, and with the rake he had, could go around a corner like it was on rails. A couple of Pontiacs and buicks rounded out the scene. We had a Flathead dragster that used to show up on some Saturday nights at the White Castle, if the guys were tuning it - they lived about 4 blocks away, and tested it on the street - they'd fire it, and run to the White Castle parking lot, then, after the cops left the area, they'd fire it and run back to the garage. When the 409 came out, a friend, whose father worked at the plant, showed up with a Biscayne 409/4spd car the day after the new cars hit the showroom. Mutt
Almost like the 'trad' cars of today. Very few red wheels. Hardly any all-primed cars. No chops. Lowered within reason in most all cases. WWW's, few and far between. Heck, it'd take a book to 'splain it all....
In my hometown of Waukesha Wisconsin mid sixties..., there were a few true Hot Rodders that were bucking the Pony car scene with cars like a 57 Fairlane with an unknown origin Big Block..., Straight axle 63 Falcon Sprint, a couple of 63 Dodge Darts (one with a "X" ram BB Wedge), tons of Tri Fives sporting Big and small blocks with a variety of induction systems. But later in the 60's and early 70's..., most were sold as junk or as Mechanical nightmares in favor of buying the latest Pony car or the Newest factory Muscle car that Boasted Higher HP, better handling and a family friendly creature comforts with the availability of dealer mechanical services...! Fortunately I was able to buy the older relics and some of these Muscle cars for a song because of the Gas shortage and by a strange twist of fate I was able to sell them for a significant profit shortly after the Movie "American Graffitti" hit the screens...! Now I kick myself in the *** for letting go of a couple of those beauties..., (such as my 34 Coupe, 35 Coupe, 57 Vette!) But that's life...!!!
Early '60s? The fastest 2 cars in my part of the country were a 1950 Ford with a Chevrolet 327 with dual fours and a 1956 Chevrolet with a dual four 409. The 56 was a legitimate 12 second car and run in D or E gas.
Our town had (and still has) an oval dirt track. What that means is any 2 door over 3-4 years old was hard to come by. All the racers had em distroyed on the track. That track ran exclusively "coupes" in the early 60s and changed over to the "late models" in the mid 60s when any "coupe" body was getting too hard to find already then. Just as the muscle cars were starting to showing up in the show rooms, they were showing up on the local track. More then a few went from new car show room to the track in a matter of weeks. I was about 13 in '68. I remember riding my bicycle around to the new car dealers and looking at all the cool new muscle cars on Sat mornings, then spent Sat afternoons visiting the local racers that were working on thier race cars. By the time I was old enough to care about what was hot for street cars, 2 door muscle cars ruled the streets. Sometimes there were "old" (pre 60s) cars, but they were few and far between. The transition peroid at the local race track was an interesting time. The first year for the late models (50 model year to current year cars) they tried to run the coupes in the same races as the late models ran. The coupes were light and pretty fast, even with the 6s and flathead 8s, the late models were slow and very heavy (even with the big V8s). Whenever there was a wreck between the coupes and the latemodels, many times the coupe guys ended up with a trip to the hospital. The heavy lates would crush the light coupes, and recieve very little damage! Some wisdom appeared and the coupes became super modifieds and the late models were just late models. The super modifieds got some of the new late model factory muscle car motors. When installed in the light cars, they really flew. Next came the wide tires, nerf bars, open headers, multiple carbs, refined suspension setup coupes. Man! What an image comes to mind as I type this! This is what turned me onto coupes! In my minds eye, I can see twenty 20s-30s- and 40s bodied cars coming off #4 turn just a little sideways, with the big tires kicking up rouster tails, fire belching from the headers hoping for a good start with the drop of the green flag. The memories of the sounds of all that unrestrained horse power at wide open throdel gives me goose bumps. The sights, all the sedans, coupes, and some unreconizable body styles, from wonderfully painted bodies to rough patched up rough looking cars. Low buck, high buck, and every place in between all on the same track at the same time. They all raced down the front straight and into #1 turn. (actually #1 & #2 turns are one big U turn with no kind of straight in between. 3 & 4 are the same way, the track was a near perfect oval, two 1/8 mile straights with 2 U turns on each end, 1/2 mile track measured on the inside edge.) 40 feet wide, maybe a 15* banking, 12" thick cement wall, kind of busted up from being crashed into so often, a usual mud hole on the inside. By the time the lead car entered the turn, the dust was so bad, you watched the back straight to see if your favorite car made it through the turn. Sometimes the #1 turn looked like a junk yard with all the crashed cars all wadded up. Seemed like there were more wrecks in #1 then in #3, never did figure that out, 3 was the same way as 1 was. By next week most would be back for another try. Usually you could see the cars racing through 3 & 4 from the stands because the dust usuall blew off over the infield and was disapated by time it could reach the stands. UM, sorry to get off thead here... Gene
My home town only had 1100 people and there was an A roadster with a sbc. an A coupe with an Olds. Both channelled on A frames and no fenders. A '39 Ford standard two door sedan with a full race flatty he got from my dad. These were in my small home town. On down the road in Muncie, in was the fastest rod around. It was an old army jeep with all vette driveline. I never heard of anything beating him until he started running at the strip. All these cars were nice, finished rods. There were a lot of mild customs and some of them were in primer and waiting on interior money. By 65 I had got rid of my AV8 project due to lack of funds and had my first new car, a Mustang V8, that I really loved.
I wasnt born then but I remeber my dad telling me about a coupe he had. That one sticks in my head the most since he wrapped it around a telephone pole!
Jason, Good to see you are gonna shake the dust off your old Chevy.Cool story too. I just realized Inever did pick up that 3rd member.... FONZI
yea one of my dads friends who he went to high school with in the mid 60's had a 56 chevy with one used to run at lions all the time. but he had a bunch of cars thought the years. a 56 delivery, a bunch of vettes, harleys lol a 31 coupe that he sold cuz after he owned it for a week or two cuz he didn't really want it. then i believe a 64 impala with a 327 but the only one i remember the most is that 56 he talks about. straight axle with cragers in the front and indy mags in the rear i believe. he tells me that him and another friend would line up infront of the light at the highschool that all of us graduated from (including me) and both of the cars would pull the front wheels off the ground and carry them across the intersection.my dad wasn't really into hot rods he was one of the only guys with a primered lime green 53 ford (almost the only guy around with a mid 50s ford custom) that he still has today i reprimered it grey thought to take to my high school prom and i drive it once in a while when my 57 breaks down.
oh yeah and i forgot lol my old 50 ford pick up (the one i got in a wreck with) was a old hot rod in the early 60's. the guy down the street had a 3 something inch olds in it maybe the size motor someone said earlier that everyone ran in his part of town connect to a ford ****** and i believe a 57 olds read end which i still have in new 50 truck i'm building for my brother. had chrome reverse wheels with inglewood slicks in back and just black walls in the front. with mr.horse power stickers on the fenders. my dad said when ever someone would drive down the street thinkin there car was fast the guy would bring out my old 50 and do burnouts up n down the street. then put it back in the drive way. the guy who owned it also had a friend with another 50 ford truck with a sbc chevy motor that was pretty quick as well.
Didn't see any Hot Rods until I bought my first Rod and Custom around '63 I think. There were several hot cars that were used for "business purposes" of an illegal nature. The '54 Ford with the FE engine allways sticks in my mind. A lot of tri five chevy's started showing up next. They were cheap and parts were available also. A buddy of mine had three engines that he kept working on for his '57. We kidded him about changing engines instead of oil. He finally ended up with a hot 327 in it, had the front end jacked up with modified spindles to give it a "g***er look". First true hot rod was a '40 sedan with an olds or pontiac engine in it, was around '67 that I first saw it. I was going home and tried to p*** it with my old '66 Ford with a 390 in it. We ran side by side for about a quarter mile till I finally p***ed him with a curve coming up. The 66 handled a little better than the 40 so he let off. I stopped on up the road and he pulled in. It was Carl Norris an older guy (early '20's) that I knew in p***ing. I asked him what he had in it and he said "It's an old stock flathead" with a big smile. I said ******** lets see it. He popped the hood and it had the big V-8. He'd changed out the engine, trans and rear end but still had the original front end. Went off to the Army, when I got back and hired on the Fire Dept. one of the guy's I worked with, Pat Donnell was building a '27 T Coupe with small block Chevy in it. We've worked together and played around with the old cars now for close to 35 yrs. He and I are both building fat fendered Ford coupes. His is Chopped about 3" mine is stock heighth but has air bags to get it in the weeds.
As I remember late 50's to mid sixties- The first Car I remember local was a 49 50 Ford Bus coupe -Sweeper applied black with plenty of dust in it...skirts and tail end draggin...flathead and dual straight pipe-exhausts made from flattened well pipe...."Dear John"[song ***le?]- lettered on the quarter or skirts...... Then there was the first ever- [I saw] as a hot rod-A 31 chopped and channelled A with a 348 from Cali, Ive mentioned here before......never saw it running-but what an impression it made on us! By the mid '60s Me and my lil Brother Scarliner were workin on and driving cars of our own...I had[still have] a Black 2 dr 56 mod150 Chevy with a 3273spd that we campaigned every sat nite at our local town we cruised in and street racing was king! Scarliner had an original looking 37 Chevy coupe-black with no hood and a Buick V-8 automatic that we swapped in.........later he had a 56' too and a blue40 Chevy 2 dr with a V8.. We were kinda alone in our town -as other kids had "daddy bought" cars that were new when we were driving the only old cars at that time there......Mostly we were poor kid-scroungers-we had in our stash [about 30] 55 56 57 parts cars and thats why we drove them, as we could keep em running easily and did I mention low cost was mostly why!!!!....... we were self taught [as true shadetree mechanics] as we had to be able to keep a car we could afford to drive.... .
The Jalopy Journal
