Surf Or Die!

Bob Carney grew up in a house on Huntington Beach. He was a privileged kid from a well to do family and with that came a certain set of expectations. His life was seemingly mapped out the instant he came out of the womb. He’d go to the best prep schools, college, marry a girl from a like breed, and become a doctor or a lawyer with the means to build his own beach house and charmed life. To the right guy, Bob was born into opportunity. He was one of the lucky ones…

As a teen, however, Bob resented it all. He didn’t give a shit about higher learning or the finer things. He didn’t care for his life’s road map. He wanted to map and live his own life even if that meant taking all of his born-in opportunity for granted. There is nothing much more romantic or wholesome than teen rebellion in the 1950’s and early 60’s. Especially if said teen is a surfer with 24/365 beach access.

“I wasn’t driven by life achievements as a teen. I was driven by surfing and, to some extent, fast cars. I wasn’t mature enough to realize that you have to get to certain place in life before you can truly enjoy those things as an adult. I figured I would always be able to drive and surf and so I was a pretty laid back kid. No worries. Naivety was a blessing really.”

So that’s the picture of the boy I’m wanting to paint in your mind. He was a punk kid born into opportunity that he took for granted. But it’s that very opportunity that gave the kid the ability to focus entirely on his two favorite things in life – surfing and hot rodding… and maybe a girl or two. Like most teenagers, he was a simple boy.

“I lived on the beach, so I didn’t really need a car. But I had to have one and it had to be fast. Of course, this put me between two worlds that didn’t often get along. Most of the boys my age on Huntington Beach were surfers. The surrounding areas produced a lot of hot rodders. It was much more sweet and innocent than the ‘gang wars’ of today, but the premise was the same. Surfers stay on their turf and hot rodders stay mainland.

This put me in a weird spot as I really wanted to street race and be a hot rodder, but my long hair and deep tan gave me away pretty quick when I attended anything hot rod related. There were a few fist fights, a few keyed cars, and other shenanigans. By the time I was 17 or so, I was pretty determined to beat the hot rodders at their own game. I bought a model a truck and all of the hot parts of the time. My father had connections at a Cadillac dealership and was able to get a nice Eldo motor and a matching trans. I began building the car in our driveway as my mom and dad wouldn’t give me any garage space.

This went on for about three or four months and then the neighbors got sick of seeing my mess. They complained to my parents about the Jalopy in the driveway and my project was effectively evicted. Fortunately, I was able to infiltrate the hot rod crowd by that time and I finished the car in a friend’s garage. It wasn’t a great car, but it was the best that I could do and it ran well. The first night out, I stuck a surf board in the back and went street racing. It was my way of being rebellious. I won some and lost some.”

Bob went on to attend UCLA and then became a doctor. Today, he is a grandfather of 9 and lives on a beach in California. He still has fast cars, but doesn’t have the youthful exuberance to tinker with a hot rod. He surfs every morning.