Folks Of Interest What kind of car culture do you come from?

So Cal car culture in the late 60’s through the 80’s. Very involved with both mini trucks and the cal look VW scene. Two different VW clubs with both street cars and drag VW’s. But my first car was a 56 Ford Vicky, and later my 51 Merc woodie. I traded two VW’s for a 34 three window that I never finished. Hung on to the woodie and several old VW’s into retirement and finally got my 32 roadster and my 34 coupe. Now just rebuilding my project cars for my retirement.

 

San Fernando Valley 80’s and 90’s. Dad was into circle track cars and corvettes. My buddy’s dad who was also into circle track but had his jr stock cars and gasser sitting in his back yard. Both him and Dad were great mentors. We grew up going to Bob’s on Friday night and seeing the Burbank Choppers. They were “older” than us (I think they were mid late 20’s) but had neat cars that we couldn’t afford at the time (still can’t) At the time I liked what they were doing but leaned more towards muscle cars and going to Kevin’s Burger to watch the street races. It wasn’t until a neighbor who was a “Ford guy” suggested I build a flathead for my 31 roadster.....I laughed my ass off at the thought. Then I thought about it some more and was destined to love early hotrods!


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Amish

 

Now get over here and clean the coffee off my screen!

 

Me and Rickybop might as well be twin brothers of different mothers. Same model year too.

As a youngster I'd ride my Stingray bike to the railroad tracks a few blocks away and look at car loads of new Mopar Muscle Cars. The tracks out of Hamtramk paralelled I-75 through Allen PK and Lincoln Pk. At home we had a 3 1/2 car garage, and my dear departed Dad did everything the old ways. 1-800-STREETROD? Not back there. Junk yards, cutting torches, gas welding, and his favorite, Cadillac engines. I still have a soft spot for em today though nothing in hand at the moment. At the tender age of 15 I was exposed to a car that shaped my life in ways I couldn't have imagined or planned. A 1934 Packard, Model 1101 Club Sedan. That particular car is still in my radar screen. Not one like it, THAT ONE. I know exactly where it is, but why? My 1st foray into restoration, and it was delivered on 7-8-34. 7-8 is my birthday too. Some day I'll talk the guy out of it. Me? Just me and not the other things that run us? I did my 1st complete refinish at 14. Hooked. Chased the ghost of perfection for decades after. Sometimes you hit it, sometimes not, no regrets at all. I've owned a who's-who of muscle and collector cars. Boss 302, Camaro SS, 454 Chevelle, 70 GTO, 400 Firebird, GTX, 'Cuda, Mach 1s, even a Shelby GT500KR. Fuck! I could have retired a few years ago! Wouldn't try to recall the rest, but some highlights were a 36 3W with a 283 hooked to 39 trans (good golly I miss that one), a 47 Cadillac conv, 32 Packard 5P cpe, 35 Packard limo, even ans Auburn 12 Speedster. We built a 38 Dodge PU hot rod, all Cadillac powered of course. I drag raced under the same name I use here,"theHIGHLANDER", lavished on the doors and even my clan tartan in gennie Scottish wool on the seat. Talk about chasing ghosts! Bracket racing is a drug, an addiction, a passion, maybe even a fool's errand. Are you good at poker? Do you get cards? Go bracket racing if so as it too is as much a gamble as it is competition.


Today I have something I've never had but always wanted. A flathead powered hot rod. Never even drove a Ford flathead powered car. Imagine that. I've driven so many cars from Ferarris to Duesenburgs, Packard and Auburn 12s, just romped around the ACD festival in a Cord Sportsman Cabriolet last Labor Day. Drove a Mercedes 500K Spl Sports roadster too, and even an Aston Martin DB 2/4. But never ever have I had a Ford flatty under foot. My teen age giddy gland is excited again, and even slaggin hours on more of the same cars my joy, seasoned with angst, is pushing on the old 39 flathead Tudor. They're right. This shit keeps you young.

Yo, Ricky, 'Sup?

 

I was born in 1948 in Southern California, my brother is 7 years older than me so I was introduced to cars at an early age. Dad was a heavy duty diesel mechanic but he considered an automobile to be a necessary evil, just a means of transport. My maternal grandfather was a blacksmith and dad's father was a machinist. Neither of them, to my knowledge, had any particular interest in automobiles.
I loved the smell of diesel smoke, the sound of a hot rod and the thrill of riding on a motorcycle. I built model cars, had my first subscription to Hot Rod Magazine in the late 50's and begged for rides on my friends older brother's Harley.
We lived in Azusa, Baldwin Park and Covina area's of the San Gabriel Valley which had a large Latino population which, I suppose, was a big influence on my love of the early low rider's and mild custom's of that era.
So to answer the Op's question, I come from the '50s/'60s Southern California car culture.

 

Wow, 1stGrumpy, we sure grew up a lot alike.

I was born in '46, in East LA. In that big ol' General Hospital, downtown. When I was 11 or 12, we moved to near Garfield & Whittier Blvd. The Ayala brothers had a shop on Olympic. We all tried to get jobs sweeping up. I never got in, but Gil lowered my Schwinn, causing me to catch hell from my pop. The guys who did get into helping at the shop were rewarded with having their bikes painted, when a car was in for paint. All that hoodlum activity made my folks move to the high desert area in '58. Of course, I made friends with the older guy (17) next door. Back in those days, '37 Fords were pretty much hated and could be had for stupid cheap. Well, Pat bought one and we were sawing the top off of it, when 2 roadsters drove by, being towed by a couple of pick up trucks. We jumped in the ol' Coupe and tore off after them. The top, half sawn off banging away, like some crazed drummer, a Jerry can between my legs with a hose to the fuel pump. It was a pretty long drive to get there, but they led us to El Mirage. They weren't racing that morning, so we watched them go through tech inspection. When I got to high school, I would've loved to have a 413 Dodge or 409 Chevy, but we was poor. So, I bought a crummy ol' '40 Ford coupe and began chasing better parts for it. I lowered it with heated spring ends and long shackles. To this day, every car I've ever owned has had modified suspension. I cruised Harvey's Broiler and Bellflower Blvd, in my cars with a couple of baby seats. The result of that background defines my taste in cars now. I don't like cars made to look ratty. I hate dirty whitewalls. I don't understand the appeal of making a car look fast, when it isn't. What was hip back then, isn't hip now.

The music was better then, too.

 

Well, I guess all us So.Cal guys are speaking up. Born in 47 I grew up in the drag racing culture. Hung out with a lot of the known name racers and ended up owning a parts store in the orange county area just down the street from Boyd's house. Blues4U and I could probably write the same book. Was great then but I wouldn't even go to visit there any more.

 

I was born in Santa Monica, California and raised in the surrounding beach cities of LA. Car culture permeated everything as I came of age in the late 70's/early 80's. Even as the Automotive Bataan Death March (what i call the EPA's, Federal Government's and Insurance Co's collective and concerted effort to kill performance cars and legislate gasoline into low octane swill) went into full effect, car culture seemed to thrive, with affordable, restorable classics to be had just about everywhere you looked.

The sky was the limit in those days. the "Pro Street" movement arose, with flashy paint, mini tubs, cheater slicks and functional blowers. Many of these were barely streetable race cars. The rat rod crowd was ever present, even if these folks were simply the inevitable progression of the Jalopy crowd from the old days. From sweet customs to bone stock restoration, it was all being done in So Cal in those days.

I myself fell firmly into the ranks of the "resto-modders". No major body mods. Power adders. Suspension and performance upgrades. Street rod wheels. All this and more, but nothing too outlandish. To this day it seems I am constantly upgrading the cars that I acquire. I almost always try to stay brand specific in my upgrades and do so on the cheap. Always with parts availability in mind. I recently picked up a trick to adapt factory rear disc brakes to any car equipped with a Chrylser 8 3/4 or 9 1/4 rear end....from late model jeeps. It was so easy (and cheap) that this same swap is being done on my other 2 classics. This is the spirit that drives me in car culture: to build up a sweet, performance oriented machine that requires no apologies for it's age, it's antiquated tech, etc.

 

I was born in Kalamazoo in '57.
We moved to SoCal in '63. Cars were everywhere. The neighbor had a hot rod, the neighbor down the street had corvettes and the guys around the corner were building a corvette Dragster.
Dad was a school teacher and not mechanically inclined,,at all.
That said, he taught night school at an old folks home.
As I grew into liking cars I realized the Grandma's had old cars.
I started offering light work with the guarantee I had a friend who could bail me out if I got in over my head.
The school had MOTORS and CHILTONS , which I read vociferously.
I graduated in '75, then it was off to the Navy.
The Grandmas didn't like driving and I ended up driving them around and eventually owned a lot of them.
I was in high school driving 49 Buicks, 53/55/49 Packards. 36 La Salle. 38/48/55 Olds.
Many more but those stick out. They were all my sweet old Grandmas.
And, that's the petri dish where I got my culture.

 

Grew up in east San Francisco bay area, Livermore specifically. As a kid in 60's I would cut out the pictures I liked from my father's Hot Rod magazine, and wallpapered my room wall with them. In 79 got my license and my friends and I were mostly into muscle cars, and drag racing. Although we also liked going to the dirt ovals for some fun spectating. Late 70's and early 80's a muscle car was still obtainable for a high school kid. Fremont Raceway was still operating and we would go there on grudge nights for some fun. We also did a lot of cruising, Livermore was one of the last real good cruising spots in the bay area when all of the cities were making laws to put an end to it.
My father was not into hot rodding, but he did teach me basic mechanics. Our family car was a 68 GTO, which I took over as a 16 year old kid. All of my hot rodding skills or knowledge is self-taught or learn by doing with friends. I still have that GTO, 39 years so far!
With help of my father, I rebuilt the engine in the GTO and repainted it when I was 16. Then it was too nice to take to college, so as a high school senior I built a 74 V8 Vega, nice practical college car, LOL.
Worked as a kid in one of the at the time disappearing old type gas stations that had the pump islands and service bays. Mostly a pump jockey, did some tire changes and a few oil changes. Worked my way through college working in auto parts store, the old type with paper catalogs for most part to look up the parts.
Always have been into cars, since a little kid to current. Don't see it changing in the future.

 

All these contributors from California that were there back when everything was car oriented......what happened to your state? It sounded great. I was there in 72 and considered moving there because I saw cars all over.
Now I think its the most over regulated and unfriendly car culture around. Or does it just seem that way from reading the news and these posts?

 

^^ It seems that way. People who aren't from California have many opinions about it. Me? I'll be here forever.

 

At best we're tolerated. We're almost as disliked as gun owners or plastic straw users. The state has an agenda, and we're not part of it; in fact were in the way. I'm sure our new governor would prefer if we all drove electric vehicles; of course, how we would charge them all is another question since we don't build power plants here either. Without getting too political and getting the thread shut down, it's a large state with a large number of people, and not everybody has the same likes and dislikes or the same goals. For some time now those that prefer individual liberty are becoming increasingly outnumbered and losing elections. That's what happened. Don't let it happen where you live.

 

It has definitely changed. Even in Bakersfield CA.


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I grew up in Northern California in a town of about 3000 people. Since highway 101 passed through town, there were 5 gas stations. Each gas station had it's bunch of guys with cars that hung out there. My Dad had a neat '31 coupe with a Y-block (pictures are on this site somewhere) and worked at Dave's Texaco on Saturdays. There was always someone's hot rod on the property. I remember watching Don Ringler gas-weld a set of headers on a primered Bantam roadster drag car with an injected small block Chevy when I was about 6 or 7.
Up the road at Dean's Shell station, some circle track guys were always wrenching on some tri-5 Chevy dirt tracker or another. Another guy that hung out there had a '69-1/2 Super Bee, the ones that came from the factory with a lift-off 'glass hood. One night at Deans, Dennis Frost had his SBC Chevy front-motored dragster there and they wanted to start it to tune the new Hilborn injectors. It was push-start only, so they did what anyone of the time would do, they waited for traffic to clear and shoved it out onto highway 101, fired it up and made a U-turn in town. The local cops were driving by about the time they pulled back into the station and stopped by to ask them not to do that again.
One of the local Little League coaches had a neat Model A roadster that was actually a coupe with the roof cut off that dad tells me was actually a pile. Lots of my dads buddies had hot rods, nothing special, but neat cars built by the owners as a hobby because they were cheap. It never occurred to anyone to sell the car for profit or hoard vintage coupe bodies. If you had something your buddy needed, it was his. Pay me later. Or trade something. Money rarely changed hands.
Dad and I built my first ride, a Model A pickup. Pictures of it are floating around here somewhere as well. Later on, I worked on lots of other people's cars, one of which won a Best Engineered award at the '99 Portland Roadster Show (see avatar). Also built the other car in my avatar by myself 100%. Where my dad was into vintage Fords, I'm more of a muscle car guy. Weird thing is, when my dad built his coupe, it was a 30 year old car. My car is a 50 year old car and I get guys with 'glass cars built by pro shops looking down their nose at my car. My kid is a senior in high school and into off-road stuff. He's building his Toyota into his version of a hard-core trail wheeler as his budget allows. Lots of times, he'll be out in the garage well into the wee hours of the morning wrenching on his car. It's not a muscle car or a vintage hot rod, but it's how life works. At least he's into wrenching on something and hanging out with his buddies talking cars. Just like my dad and his buddies and all the guys with 396 Chevelles when I was a kid.

 

Born in 1956, I was introduced at an age of perhaps 2-years old to the local televised oval track jalopy races from Gardena, CA. on Sunday afternoons. I believed I also inherited racing genes from my mother's side, who's family raced oval track roadsters and stocks in Ohio in the 1940's and '50's. All I knew was oval track racing. Then, in 1962 the family took a vacation from So-Cal to Ohio, and I was taken to a drag strip for the first time. I never saw the strip, just the pits and the howl of the cars in the distance . The way the family tried to explain the start of drag racing to a 5-year old oval track kid was hysterical. If I could go back in time and see any racing it would be the 1956 jalopy races from Gardena Stadium and then 1963 for the figure-8's at Ascot Park. I call those as the "Super Ultra Glory Days" of racing in Southern California.

 

^^^ "Whoa Nellie!" ^^

 

Born in Montana, 1939. Folks moved to Seattle for the war effort in '41 when dad gat a job at Boeing.
Realized I,..... "was", …………. about the end of WW II. My best grammar school buds and I knew most of the cars by name by the time we were in the 3rd or 4th grade. We went to a small two story school in the Tukwila valley on the banks of the Duwamish river and there was just a small group of about five that were into cars in my class and around my age. I've related how here before how my best friends dad had a garage that he rebuilt cars in and even had a forge for making things he couldn't find for the repairs if he needed to. Buddy and I "got to crank the forge" as a treat once in while even. We'd try naming the cars on the road before the other guys as game. The culture then for us was just, stay the hell out of the way and don't touch anything unless your told to !@#damit." His dad took us to Seattle to the first car show we attended. Joe Ballion
was there with his '41 Chev. coupe, "Miss Elegance", and that blew us away. We didn't even know you could do such stuff to cars. We of course didn't have any moola, so we'd draw cars, swipe car mag's to dream with, lie to each other about our parents letting us drive, and as we grew older started working on other guys cars who got one, and I even wrecked buddies dad's 41 Plymouth 4 door one night when we stole and went joy riding.
My kid brother had a girl friend who's mom drove jalopy at the local quarter miler on Saturdays with the men and we got to go with them if we had the 2 bits, (soon to go to 4 bits then 6 bits) admission). I never got into the Roundy rounds though, even though I liked being there.
The culture here anyway followed pretty much So. Cal. through the years but I always resented the "step child" position implied by the magazines of the day for us guys in Washington and Oregon. It was natural though I guess. Then came graduation, uncle sam,
(I missed Nam getting out in '62), wife-babies (3), homes, job and you know the story. American Graffiti was not my story though, there was a hell of a lot less money around and my time was a few years before that time. I look back now, I'm 80 in April, and wish I knew where that time went. Now having heath problems and just thankful for the good times I've been allowed to have and hoping my 34 goes to the right guy.

 

Well it already has happened here in Washington in the Seattle Everett Tacoma area and this current Governor is equally as bad is yours. If you like Cali, you'll LOVE Washington politics, gas prices, property taxes and prices, at least on the west side were the jobs are. Think San Francisco hosing costs along with living expenses.

 

X2

 

I was born in a small town in Massachusetts in 1947. It wasn't until I entered high school that I payed too much attention to cars. Hot Rod Magazine and the golden age of plastic models got me hooked. I liked customs but hot rods really grabbed me. There weren't a lot of them in my area so when I saw one live, I almost broke my neck trying to get a closer look. Moved to South Florida in 1964. I didn't have the money or knowledge to pursue my love. In the late 60's, I got heavily into the hot VW scene. I built countless Vws of all types. Then in the late 70's got back into the early rods. I guess that I will always be primarily interested in the pre 48 stuff.

 

Lol I have a nephew when he was preteen years he was a tinker to. Took stuff apart to see how it looked inside but never put it back together. He would get a new toy and 2 minutes later it would be in need of a repair.

 

Dad drag raced , late 50's to early 60's . Dirt roundy rounds from '62 to '74 and sometimes ran asphalt turning left. We always had hot rods '36 Ford Cabriolet, 55 Chevy etc, etc. He built his own chassis , roll cages, engines and suspensions. So it never was question of would his kids be into loud noises and fast cars. I wanted a big block Vega for my first car but he nixed that idea. Smart man.

 

He raced Friday, Saturday and Sunday's . Had the small magazines from the '50s including 30 + years of Hot Rod , Car Craft, Stock Car and Circle Track. So every month I had my nose in them. Did I have a choice ? Wouldn't trade it for nothing. Dirt is in my blood.

 

My dad doesn’t know what end of the spark plug goes into the hole. So I didn’t get my sickness from him. In the 2nd grade we went to the Chevrolet Plant for a field trip...I was totally hypnotized by that place. I can still see the red Impala rag w/ white top I followed down the line, I got into trouble for not keeping up with the tour. I wanted to help put those door panels on. Screw the teacher and tour guide. This place was “it”. Ive loved cars ever since.

 

Born in 42. First 16 years spent in El Sereno, Southern California. It was all about the cars. Hot rods and customs were king. We cruised Henry's on the hill to Bob's Glendale, back to Bob's Pasadena, down to Henry's on Valley Blvd. Then repeat till we ran low on 25 cent gas. Sometimes made it over to Van de Kamps on San Fernando and Bob's Taluca Lake but it was a long ways to go. Street Racing in the LA riverbed till the cops shut it down. Don Blair's speed shop was the candy store. Don would charge to most of us with a simple signature. That was my first credit account. Those were the days.

 

"Old cars were not built as a hobby. They were built to get to work. In Chassis rebuilds, engine or transmission swaps, major work...started on Friday...finished on Monday Morning. That was done or you were walking."
You succinctly described my car culture. It hasn't changed, although my daily driver is off-topic, it is the primary focus of why I have a well-stocked garage. It has more than 400,000 miles under its belt, although only 371,000 on the odometer, which has worked about 1/3 of the time for the past six years. I'm just squeezing out the last few miles left, and trying to put the money into my hotrod truck instead.

 

I spent my pre teen years in Cincinnati Ohio reading every car mag I could get my hands on. Went to the dirt tracks in KY and watched Nascar on Wide World of Sports. Moved north of Dayton Ohio as a teen my dad worked as a sale rep for the Dodge Div. Out of Cincinnati and got a chance to get his own Dealership. I took my driver's license test in a new 1969 Road Runner ( mom's s demo). Dad said I had to buy my own car so washing cars after school I bought a 1947 Dodge Deluxe 4dr flat head 6 with fluid drive. I'm glad he didn't give me a car like many of my friends parents did. That was a great lesson and I started buying fixing cars and selling them to a total of 23 cars in two years. I was big into sleeper cars that people didn't think would be fast. One of my favorites was a 66 Plymouth Sport Fury convertible 383 4 speed that ran D/PS and would out run most of the C cars back in the day. Really got into drag racing. At 66 still playing with cars building a 39 Plymouth coupe powered by a 57 Chrysler 392 HEMI.