Who was your Hot Rod mentor?

Don Marks. Known him for over 30 years.

 

My Dad and My grandpa

 

Guess I'd have to say a guy named "SAM"
Pontiac Slim

 

No particular person stands out a lot. My dad is totally not a car guy. My grandad always like Fords and had some pretty cool late 50's early 60's T-birds. I suppose that's where it started. I learned a lot from building model cars and reading Model Car Science and Car Modeler (?) magazines. Hot Rod and Car Craft too. I picked up a lot of it on my own. I did know a fellow in Wichita, Fred Hilbert who was into Shelby's. I always liked Mustangs and that got me into the Shelby part of it. I learned a lot from him.

 

My Dad and my Uncle gave this disease, they are now into mainly telling stories and having fun. I on the other hand am not able to give up what i love so much. However, I do have a lot of cool cars!

 

Most definitely my dad, I was under the car with him as soon as I could walk, he is also the reason why my attention span with cars is short and that at 27 I have already owned well over 50 cars and see no end in sight to the revolving door

 

My Daddy-O, no doubt.

My first car was a VW. He was always giving me shit about it being in his garage broke down all the time. He kept telling me to get a "real" car. Every day when he came home, he'd say "get this P.O.S outta my garage!". So I went and bought a `65 Chevy. That shut him up. And on it went. I don't know where I'd be without this obsession.

What the hell do guys do that aren't into cars?
I think I'd call that an alternative lifestyle.

 

My dad was not a car guy, although he could appreciate them. I had friends that were, but it really all went down hill when we got a new neighbor when I was 16. He's almost twice my age (I'm almost 37 and he's 64). He had a '31 A Pickup then, though now he has a '63 Plymouth that is raced at Nostalgia Super Stock events in the Midwest. He really turned me into what I am now. He's by far the coolest cat that I know! I owe a ton to old R.F.

 

Michael Wegener

 

Bill Burnham, a lot of you may remember his writtings in Street Rodder and Goodguys gazette, but I think he helped put more guys on the road than any one, he use to show up a my place on the week end when I'd be sitting on my ass watching football and drinking beer he'd bug me to see what I'd done that week on my car, next thing you know we're crawling around it doing what needed to be done, he would take my templates for brackets and 2 or 3 days later he'd swing by with the parts pattern torched and tumbled blasted sure made building easy,he worked for a nationally known tractor company and had access to a lot of trick stuff that I didn't have, after you were all most finished he'd stop coming by and then some one would say he was at so and so's place helping them and soon it was someone else, he was one hell of a street rodder who just wanted to see as many hot rods on the street as posible.

 

My dad, more so because he always was happy to take me to races and car shows on "have the kid for the weekend" visits. He almost always had cool cars including the 41 Ford ragtop he had when I was born through a 52 Olds super 88 that we rode many a mile to different events in and the Jet black 57 Olds J-2 4 door hard top that was one awsome car to a 15 year old kid in 1961.

 

Long Island Larry Hoffmann. He was my hot rod mentor in the 70's. Remarkable person and bodyman. Also 1962 New York State Gymnastics Champion!

I Hope you're doing well, Larry!

-90% Jimmy Becktel

 

Coyote, Grizzly and Wizard

 

It's gotta be 320CIABONE, he never posts on here except for his introduction. But his knowledge, inspiration and fortitude keeps me going constantly even though we are now 1501 miles apart.

 

Not sure. No one im my family was really into it. I do remember sitting with my uncle and naming the cars coming down the road by the headlamps or taillamps (can't do that now, they all look alike). I guess my good friend Danny really got me into it more by helping him build a few traditional lowriders

 

Hi plywude. I remember enjoying and learning a lot from Bill Burnham's editorials. Mr. Burnham sure knew his stuff. And I never met him, but reading him, I got the idea he was quite a guy. He had his opinions. He was old-school traditional before it was cool. He drove a sweet power-blue '28...'29? roadster. He was the first person that I remember to predict the return in popularity of the traditional hot rod. This was quite a few years ago now. I think I still have that issue. I'll have to dig it out and post it if I can. I was truly bummed when he passed, and really missed his pieces in Street Rodder. Bill would've fit right in here. He would've been so stoked to see what's happened in the hobby, and all the kick-ash cars on the HAMB. Rick

 

Mike Norris. My dad built midgets when we lived in Indiana and my uncle and cousin were into racing motorcycles and go-karts, but they wern't much into hot rods.
But Norris! Man he was THE guy to learn from! We went to school toogether, I crewed on his FED fueler, we still see each other. Not enough, but when I can I try to get by. Mike is my mentor, and still a brother. I still call him first when I'm stuck.

 

My uncle Glenn, in 1962, i was 8 ,he built a 27 'T' on deuce rails.1st engine was a flat head..'49/w 39 trans, wasn't fast enofe 331 cad... the 265 was the fastest..I always wanted to buy it from him..he would'nt sell it to me . sold to a junk man in about 1973

 

Guy by the name of Ron Bettin...

A buddy and I were driving by around one day when I was about 17 years old (14 years ago). We saw this guy outside getting ready to light off what I later found out was a blown and injected 392 bolted to an engine cradle.

I was into cars at the time, but nothing traditional. We stopped to see if he was going to start it up so we could hear it. He did, and we hung out for awhile and talked cars. I remember he told us stories about how hotrodding was for him back in the early 60's. He was one of those people who was more than willing to take the time and explain things to me.

I ended up going to college to be a tool maker, and I kept in touch with Ron, and I made a lot of parts for him here and there. Every time I went over to his place to look at something he wanted made, or to drop parts off, I would be there for hours. He would tell me stories, and teach me how things worked. I learned a tremendous amount from him. He got me interested in traditional hot rods and customs.

Ron passed away last week, and I'm really going to miss him.

Rest in peace Ron.

These were his pride and joy.

 

Gotta give my props to my pops. Dad ran falcons in the sixties with banjo mathews 289 that went through several cars before he landed in his (and later my) first rod in the early 70's. It's a long story, but thanks to him I started my first build at age 12. all that said, the family lineage (again a long story) goes back to the man think of as the "rod father"--John Bell in asheville, nc

 

`George Trosley and cartoons

 

My big bro he has always had cool cars and always enjoyed help him build them our cars are diffrent but fun!!

 

I didn't really have a mentor. My love for cars just sort of happened when I was way little.. Both of my parents weren't hot rodders. My cousins had hot rod trucks but for some reason, I never took any notice of them till I was older.I guess my uncle was my mentor when I got older. He taught me alot about building cars and for that he will always be someone I will look up to.

 

Didn't really have a mentor. We all started in the early '50s together. I suppose the guy whose opinion mattered the most was Bill Ewing. In later years I leaned a bit on Joe Harris at the Old Ford Store here in Tucson.

 

My mentor was mostly Hot Rod Magazine. My Dad likes cars but was always to busy farming.

 

I would have to say that it was my Dad... He had an old 33 pickup in the garage that I grew up playing in. If I wanted a car he always said if you want it go get it... He had a business and would let me keep cars in his parking lot, one time I had 7 derelict cars parked there. He always encouraged me..... He never finished his 33 pickup but I did and Took him for his first ride in it on his 81st birthday last year...... He got the 33 in 1953 so it only took 55 years

 

My old man! He was the kat's meo when it came to Rods in his small Texas town. Hell, he was the Ford Dealer's son!~

 

my old man... he was a greaser in the day , so I grew up suffering through doo wop music on weekend nights... but I also got to go to all the big shows when i was a kid... not so much of a mentor , more of the gate keeper...

 

My Grandfather, he owned a Texaco Gas Station and all the rodders would bring their cars to him for advice. He passed about 8 years ago and I still think about him every day.

 

My friend Owen . When i got my 29 model a he was going to help me build it .The day i went to see him i found him lyin on the floor he had a stroke . His left side was limp but he lived to tell the story .He is very full of information . Thats how i met my good friend Randy and he has opened my eyes to the hot rod world . Thanks Randy ..