Folks Of Interest Remember when the only car you owned was a hot rod?

That question came up today at the Thursday Hot Rod lunch with a few local guys;

I vividly remember working late into the night and early morning trying to finish that simple weekend engine swap that somehow spirals out of control,you know the job that should be done in one Saturday afternoon but nothing seems to fit the new block.

This one really stands out because I finished up with the engine swap and fired up the car at exactly at 6 AM and had to be at work at 7 AM,I made a bee line to the shower and stopped at McDonald's for a biscuit and a large coffee and made it to work on time.

It was a busy day and I was dead on my feet and darn near fell asleep more than once,I was 25 at that time and did what I has to do,but I never over estimated my ability's again ,that is until we had a second car. HRP

 

Remember well, 69 camaro 4.11 gear 3500 stall, comp 292 cam was my only transportation for quite a while. Had to eventually buy winter beaters, they rarely made it all the way thru winter.

 

From 16 to age 25, all I had was hot rods, three 1929 fords and a 1957 post BelAir sedan. The '57 was my college car. Only after I got married, did I get a regular car, a new 350-350 El Camino. Occasional down time occurred, but somehow I got a friend to drive me, or borrowed a car, to get parts and quickly fixed the car. The cars gave me a decent mechanic's ability to diagnose and solve most common problems.

 

Just got home from the military and had a 57 Pontiac with original worn out motor and 3 speed trans. Gave $100 for a '59, wrecked pontiac with a 389 and another $100 for a muncie 4 speed. Had to walk back and forth to work 'till I got the engine/trans swap done...took 3 days. That was the last time that car left me stranded...did many times before that! It was the only car I owned for several years.
Later, my 57 chevy was torn down for a new motor...then for a new rear axle housing [oops!] and I bummed rides 'till I got it all together again. It never seemed like a big deal, back then. All my buddies were in the same boat and we all helped each other out with transportation 'till we got going again.

 

<This is the only car I've had for 10 years...

 

From 1979-2005 I drove my first car. Anything and everything that can be mentioned I did to get to work or out of town. This is around 1980 to 81.

 

Ya,
My Dad ,( God bless him, he is no longer with us ) Said it was me , and my krazy driving that got me ALL those tickets, i told him NO it was the car ( way to much Horse Power for the street ). And so i said hey Dad ,drive it to work, he did, -n- came home, with that look , you know the one, that says KID you were right, its the car, he said that HE was stopped not only once but TWICE, on the way to work and on the return trip...

The EDIT is --- by the SDPD and the CHP(San Diego pd-n- State p)

 

Interesting HRP. Without even thinking about it, my head went spin. Your right. I drive our shitty ol
work van every week day and just take it for granted. Only other personal transport is my coupe.
Now if i could only just adapt a roof rack for planks ???
Wife has 2 cars, a cowshed hack and a grocery getter.
Coupe it is, i really don't mind in any weather.

 

My avatar was my only driver for three years, four years ago.
I took it off the road last year for just over twelve months to change and fix a few things, and now it's back to my only driver again, although now I have an OT Landrover with issues, and then there's the 28 Hudson stocker project taking up room in the shed, but the 29 Hudson Hot Rod is still my only driver.
With no side Windows, and Winter coming on fast down here, I'm hoping for the comfort of the LR, with its electric Windows and heater, but it's not looking like happening any time soon.

 

I must have been rich back then, because I always had two cars. Early on, I was lucky enough to score a '55 Dodge for $10 after the town drunk left it parked in the parking lot of the local Legion Post and it got snowed in. I dug it out and installed a new battery and I was off to the races. I either had this one or my '52 Ford mild custom operational. An interesting side note is that I only had 4 or 5 good tires between the two, so if I had to switch cars, I had to switch a couple of wheels. Luckily, the Dodge and Ford bolt patterns were the same, so it was just jack 'em up and change them. The only problem was that if I put the Dodge wheels on the Ford, the lug nuts would loosen up after about 50 miles and I'd have to tighten them up.

 

Those were the days, break it drag racing on Saturday night and have it back together to get to work on Monday morning. Rears, transmissions, clutches and a motor here and there... fun.

 

My only car from the time I was 16, in 1962, until I was 22, was a '56 Chevy I bought for $15.00. I put new brake lines & brakes on it and bought four used tires from the local junk yard for $20.00 ($5.00 ea!). I had a LOT of fun in that old car..........

 

For over 30 years my only cars or trucks were hot rods. If they weren't hot rods when I got them . They were hot rods when I got rid of them.
I brought my daughter home from the hospital in a 392 hemi powered 51 Merc. Both of my sons rode home in a Malibu with a 500 Caddy motor.

 

Been There, Done That ! From the time I started driving 1964 (16) until 1971, only had/could afford 1 car at a time, first wife did not start driving until 1971. So what ever I was driving was my street racer, cruiser, daily driver to work car, baby hauler, grocery getter, etc. More than once it was a hurry up and fix, so I could go to work, there was NO excuse for being late or not going into work, kids/ people today have no clue IMO.

 

Stuff with modified engines that were my only cars - 65 Mustang, 65 Sunbeam Tiger, 72 V-8 Vega.

Always had a modified Harley to go with them though, never been without one since 1969.

And owning a race car of any sorts requires a support vehicle, so that kind of knocks the one car/hot rod deal in the head.

 

Man you got that right! HRP

 

I drove a 69 nova in high school. Had a 671 blown 327 in it my senior year. This being my only car, I had to drive it to work and school, no heater, no defroster, 10 point cage, tilt front end, and lots of side of the road fixing. I once adjusted the valves in the school parking lot, and still got into class before the bell. Took the car to prom, my date was not impressed, trying to climb in around the roll cage in a gown. LOL. GOOD TIMES!

 

Yep good times. I had a 70 Camaro for a while, a 65 Mustang, 72 Camaro, among others.... drove em everywhere, it didn't matter, rain, snow, heater or not, tires in bad shape, wires being held together with tape..... Now that I have a car I've actually replaced almost everything on, I worry about problems with it more.

 

Normally I would say today but I actually own a late model GMC now, although it is pin stripped and has had the computer tweaked.LOL

Most of my life I have only owned one car and or one bike an I have not owned very many that stayed stock for very long. I have never been one of those people who owned a car and a hot rod, not because I am one of the really cool guys, just mostly not a *big money maker.

*not crying poor here, money has never been an issue to me if it was I would have some.

 

I have a later model dodge truck that was made 15 years ago so if the hot rod I'm working on isn't up and running come Monday morning I can still drive my truck to work,the grocery store or the parts house.

I can't pull off the all night marathons anymore. HRP

 

I don't have to remember. Because that time is now.

Sent from my SM-G900T using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I have never owned a new car,in my mid 70's dosen't look good that I ever will. So ya, every used car I've had got work done to make it better{first step to hotrodding it}. Over the years an many other cars n wagons,I have kept my hotrod I drove to high school,not always in great shape as it is now,from good,to bad an back again a few times,there were times I just got too side tracked building racecars etc..

 

I hear ya on the marathon thing. I remember staying up all nigh swapping out a motor so I could make it to work the next day more then once or staying up into the madrugada Saturday so that I could cruise and street race on Saturday. But those days are long gone I am afraid. Still I don't doubt that the week of the HAMB Drags I will be staying up late making someone's car ready for one weekend of fun. That is kind of a tradition.

Dana,
I still call anything built in the '70s late model.

That said I did own a new truck in '88, it was a work thing. And I bought a new truck for the missus in '05. I felt like she deserved to own one new vehicle in her lifetime.

The overwhelming majority of what I have owned in my lifetime was built before '68, not proud or ashamed of that it is what it is. I have owned some really old iron but the majority of the cars built before '68 that I have owned were built between '54 and '64. I still remember when they were just old cars so they were cheap and I usually had enough go fast stuff around that I could make one fly. Flying is good.

 

Dana,that is a great photo! HRP

 

Back in the early 80's I was divorced, had the 38 Chevy that I still have as well as a POS 1974 Ford Courier pickup. I sold the pickup to my ex brother in law and for quite awhile all I had to drive was the 38. I lived in the country and during the winter I'd have to drive through snow drifts to get to work, the front license plate was mounted under the bumper and it got bent under the bumper when I would hit those snow drifts. I was running L60 15's on the back, and I guess it was good that it was basically at stock height or those drifts would have stopped me. That car only left me stranded three times, once with an empty gas tank, once when the points needed replaced and once when the drag link fell off

 

Here in the Sunny South we don't see too much snow but I got caught in a pretty big snow for our area,roughly 5 inches and I was driving my Model A pickup which was pretty low in the front and you guys that live in areas that have snow removal equipment might know how tires tend to melt and leave a path but there is a build up in the middle of the lane...my trucks splash apron worked like a snow plow and was half way up the radiator.

I stopped at Brenda's grandmothers flower shop to pick her up and for some reason the truck wouldn't crank,we ended up driving her grandmothers wagon home.,the one we have now. HRP

 

LOL Back in the '70s when I lived in SE Kansas I worked with a guy from Western Nebraska. We went to see his folks one weekend, took a full sized Poncho ( mid '60s car). Across Kansas to the western border then north. he liked to do what he called drift busting and it was a good Friday night for that. There was a drift in the road that was odd shaped and I said don't hit that one but it was too late. he banged into it and we ended up racing though a farmers field and back onto the road. Went back to see that it was a beetle covered in snow.

 

Dang you started early! That's awesome

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Like my signature at the bottom says, I've never owned a car newer than 1969. Currently I own a 38 Chevy Coupe and my daily driver is a 65 ElCamino. I'm 67 years old and all I've ever driven was hot rods. The newest car I've ever owned was a 69 Camaro.
The wildest car I've owned was a 65 Chevelle with a straight axle, SBC from a Jr. Fueler, 4:88 BOP posi rear diff, T-10 4 speed. Oh I wish we had the octane in the gas like we did back then. You can see a pic of the 65 Chevelle if you look at my albums.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/media/users/gearheadruss.184088/albums

 

OUCH! HRP