Back in 1959, I was living in Vernon, and building an Olds powered 34 Ford pickup. I bought a dropped front axle from Stu at Payless, and he was so curious about my truck, that he and his wife drove all the way to Vernon to deliver the axle and talk with me. Talk about shock and awe! I was completely surprised when they showed up at the door. They spent a couple of hours with me, and considering that I was just a kid and they seemed so old, it was a fantastic visit, he gave me a lot of helpful advice. They were my goto place for parts when I moved to Vancouver. Bob
Halfway down that shaft/arm is a pretty wild jog as well...run with whatcha got is the saying I believe...Rabid these detail shots are great for period recreation in our rides.
Yep until you build something like these and the purists say they never built them that way . LOL!! Check out this car. 1958 and he was a member of BCCCA. I have his coat that he gave me a few years back. Look at the exhaust and one hell of a channel. It has like a 12" channel. If you really look at most of the cars that were built as Hotrods, they were cheap cars usually given away, stripped down, and hopped up. Only the cars that shined made it to the magazines and some were on the street. Most cars were low budget and the young guys couldn't afford paint etc.
To be fair there was a mix as you have said...even your Stepdads photos show that but I can't get enough of this stuff. Photos and film trumph the stories. The stories matter too but they can be misleading. Rabid...I hope theres more...and from my standpoint the less perfect and slightly odd hotrods resonate with me more.
The ratio of unpolished Hotrods and Customs versus the finished & spiffies...would be interesting to know... that's for sure and it was no doubt heavy on the unpolished side...
Check this out. Crown Vic only a couple years old. Already dropped and custom cut outs. My dad was responsible for the dented grill backing into it with his 1953 Olds with Tri-power. My Dad and Wayne ( this cars owner) just got back from driving to Arlington WA spring opening drag strip and racing. That's why the road grime and hubcaps in the trunk. BCCCA member. My Dad was an early member adnd my Step Dad was a very early member like #36. I have his original BCCCA plaque with the riveted car on it. Apparently the member number is etched on the back of the car. I'm not going to remove the rivets to find out but also apparently only the first 50 plaques that were made were riveted. So it seems to coincide with what he has told me. The Jacket he is wearing is a BCCCA jacket but for some reason he didn't get or by the Lapel patch. I have his Jacket and also found a Lapel patch.
Im not saying there wasn't a mix. I really think people think that their memory is "As a matter of fact". But memories get a little fuzzy and the biggest thing is that different demographics like the area's you live could have a totally different scene than somewhere else. I know in Vancouver BC, there were a lot of totally slammed cars. The lower the cooler in some areas. Yet other places were all highboys. Things were different all over. I love looking at all the old magazines and even better yet, old pictures of the average Hotrodder from back in the day. I have about 20 full boxes of 1949 up to the late 60s Hotrod, Customs etc magazines but those were usually just the Magazine shiny cars that were in print.
Rabid you really grew up around this stuff. Your very fortunate. My exposure in Ontario was very limited to a buddy and his Late father. The father lived during the period years on the East Coast of Canada and always spoke of the Hotrod/Custom scene there and some in Ontario as he moved there in the very late fifties backed up with a few pics which I don't have and were very limited in number. What your doing is helping paint a picture and that makes this day here along with the others contributions to the whole history more complete. Thank you so much...
Another great moment in time captured with your late(assumed) Dad's buddy Wayne. Fantastic pic. I take it the plate is complete attached to a piece of the car that was cut away or you still have the car? I just made the connection with the photo of the plate...it's the roadster riveted onto the plate itself.
I can't recall. I know for certain that I never heard of a roadster on the street up to the time I left Vernon in 1962.
Does anyone know whatever became of Chester's T from Victoria BC? Chester Sapala built it and last I knew Morris Hunt owned it. Posting the old pit pass got me to wondering about the old days.
Nope, the second photo shows a second one on the passenger side. I had four of those mounted in my '56 Meteor Rideau when I got it. Those auto dimmer doohickeys were a GM product if I recall correctly. Love the pics.
Chester's T roadster is part of Ron Ford's collection and has been completely redone by Roy Brizio, including V8 60 power.........also featured in Rod & Custom magazine..........it's a beauty.....
Shock mount look a tad on the thin side...even if it was a 1/4" perhaps it's angle iron... The Firewall being bent is probably a kickout for footroom rather than a shoddy rework...gotta take advantage of wasted space...clever hoodlums eh...joking aside some of these Rods are nicely detailed indeed...
It looked a beauty before the 2nd round...a touch odd on the centering of the rearend...perhaps the Brizio redo was the 3rd...
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