Hot Rods Do you remember the "old" Kool guy in town?

I'm thinking that cool old guy would have to of been my dad. In a area where the livestock out number the residence 5:1 it's pretty easy to figure that out, but he always had a 60's or older car. he had the Shelby for about 25-30 years, but during that time he had a hot rodded 55 F-150, a 1940 Ford sedan (that he never finished) a 68 Ranchero, and almost every Mustang, but that was before my time.

 

Not too many people have ever called me cool, but there have been SEVERAL that have said to me, " Hey, you're the old car guy." I try to drive my old stuff around as much as I can. What we all call cool now, was just everyday drivers when I was a kid, and I still miss the days you could recognize everybody that came by because you knew their car.

 

Duncan you are too funny!!!

Thanks guys for adding to the thread, I've enjoyed reading them...

 

Pretty sure the “old” guy in my neighborhood was at least 10 years older than me and made quite the impression when I was in about 2nd grade. He had an early 70’s Mach 1 with skinny and fat slots. He told me one day that his car would pop a wheelie and I didn’t believe him. We lived on a gravel road, so he drove to the nearest paved road and I followed on my bicycle. He had me stand over to the side so I could watch it pull the front tires when he launched it. Sure enough, the tires came off the ground. It would be years before I would start to question whether that was actually a really fast car that hooked good or whether he had a bunch of weight in the trunk... Either way, I was impressed...and ruined for life.

 

Took my newly found '60 F100 axle to the machinist here in town last week.
This shop has 14 Bridgeports, 4 CNC mills, CNC lathes, and some LARGE pre-WWII 'Engine' lathes.
I was impressed. The owner looked out at my '55 F100, said "Those wheels...What are they?" I told him Romeo Palemides had made some sets for F100s before selling the Torque Thrust patterns to American Racing.
He was surprised...said he and his 4 sons had been remarking about seeing "that older guy in the hot F100" for a couple of years. Never saw it stop, or would have talked.
The machinist took good care of me, milled the spring Ubolt holes closer to the centerbolts for my narrow springs. Good trick. TAAA '60 Ford F100 axle lowers a '53-'56 1". Like Free lunch!
Oh, and one of his sons (they ALL work there!) said that was definitely a 'cool truck'...

 

I grew up in a small town suburb of Detroit. I was maybe 14 but hung around with guys older then me who already had cars and were driving. My buddies and me were really into cars. During the summer we noticed a very early 50’s Mercury, baby blue, chopped top, lots of pin striping cruising around. No one knew who the guy was. One day while working on my buddies car in the street this guy pulls over to the curb in front of us. When he got out he had the waterfall haircut and looked a bit rough was probably in his 20’s but that was old to us. Introduced himself but I don’t remember the name.

He said he was from California and came to see his sister. He said he was looking for odd jobs as a mechanic but also did pin striping and other custom work. We would see him around town and he would stop every now and then to talk. Seems every time we saw him he had a different girl in the car and often times talked about his exploits. That was cool and entertaining for teenage boys. He did some pin striping on a small outboard hydroplane I had at he time for a buck or two. My dad didn’t like him around the house and my mom didn’t seem to care for the girls hanging on him.

Car was really cool to us at the time. Flathead, early aluminum wheels nice interior and lowered. I guess he was around four or five weeks then poof and he was gone. No one really knew him or much about him or where he went.

 

"Buck-a-weld" Bob. Bob didn't drive a hot rod, but he understood the hotrodding concept and how to deal with a pain in the ass, single Mom raised, 13yr old who was "chopperizing" a wrecked 650 Triumph (bought with paper route/lawnmower money). I'd drag my bits and pieces to his shop to have him weld them up, then let me hang around and get in the way. After awhile he taught me how to weld so I could do it myself, but he always checked, and I got real good with a grinder in the beginning. His commitment to doing jobs right and his 'common sense' backyard engineering have stayed with me for 60yrs.

 

From the context of your post on this thread, I don't believe this was a mistake. Was this built to fit in a particular class at the "salt"? I, for one, would like to know more about this car.

 

Growing up in a town of about 300 people, there wasn’t much going on. No post 1955 cars that I remember, there were a couple or three tri five Chevys, a 66 Chevelle, and a 65 Mustang I remember, but none of them were anything special, maybe some wheels and glass packs was about it. 5 miles away was the county seat, there were a few Chevelles, Camaros, Mustangs, etc, running around. One that I remember that was said to be the fastest car in the county was a 68 or 69 Roadrunner with a 440 in it. It was red, white, and blue, just like the Sox and Martin cars. Word was the car and driver were undefeated. Only saw it a couple of times, it had the deep dish 5 hole aluminum slots on it with huge rear tires.

 

I was the old car on my street . All the neighbor boys reach a certain age and hang out for a few years . They would move on and then their younger brothers would be next . They have all became men and have families of their own now . My own son could care less about a car or bike , he is a college professor with the mind set that a hot rod is burning up the ozone and I’m killing people . They neighbor boys still stop by to see me and show their boys the crazy bastard they grew up knowing . I took many of them to rod runs , bike shows , hunting , fishing , etc . Warned them of lives dangers , I kept them on the straight and narrow path , they would share experiences with me that they would not share with their Dad . All have done well for themselves . I rode one of them around on his wedding day in the rumble seat , and now I have done the same for his son . I guess , I have left them with a lasting impression , crazy bastard , that can fix anything from a pregnant whore to a basketball game .

 

THE GUY'S NAME WAS SMOKELY AND HIS LICENCE PLATE WAS SMOKE

 

In the small suburb I lived there was a surprisingly large group of “hot rods” running around driven by the the older teens. ThePhillips boys always had a few tricked out 49- 50
Merc’s around and the guy down the street who raced a stock car at Santa Fe Speedway had an all black 56 Ford Convertible with lakes pipes,skirts and duel spots.
The greaser down the street would cruise by in a 55 Ford primered convert with a tattered top which was down all the time and wheels he sprayed a different color every week.
I would give him the nod when he drove by and he would acknowledge me in return.A few years later when I got my own 54 Ford he would stop by when the hood was up and bs a bit,it was like I was now accepted as one of them. He also had a competition stripe painted in his bedroom and parts of an Olds engine there too.I was impressed.
There were others that faded away,a38 Ford coupe,49 Ford with 2x4’s used to give it the oh so cool rake that I got a ride in occasionally, all these experiences just added to my love of cars and the lasting impressions they had on me.
Soon after high school we were the “idolized” by the youngsters on their bikes with our GTO’s,Chevelles and Mopars hangin’ at the Dog& Suds.Great times and memories.

 

Hello T,
It has been a highlight in my memory, as we were trying to get over or get used to not building/racing our hot rods/drag race cars. But, the brain only goes so far back as a 59 year old memory can. I drove the 56 Ford around that LA neighborhood. It had power, the sound was nice, and the floor shift was different than what we normally had. My impression of that car was, if I had the extra money, it would have been in our stable of cars at the time, using it as a daily driver. It would have been a third car used for cruising and racing in the lower level classes if needed.

Since the 56 Ford was offered to us by my dad's close friend, it was a fabulous gesture of him trying to keep the flame alive in hot rodding and some form of racing. We were devastated with the accident of the 671 SBC Willys Coupe and the resulting recovery of the burns. But, my brother still had time to talk to my dad's friend and keep him abreast of what was going on in our lives. From those conversations, the offer of the 56 Ford just popped up. Since my brother was still in his intense recovery, it was up to me to go see and drive the black Ford Sedan.

I know and experienced what was offered, but any other details as to previous owners, runs at the salt flats or dry lakes still remains a mystery. I was just impressed with the whole idea of a different way to keep racing, other than drag racing. This Ford could have been an excellent way to keep the "irons in the fire", so to speak. The Flathead was not built up to bigger specs, but had three carbs and it sounded great. We were accustomed to SBC and our 348 Impala motors, not a built up Flathead.

Jnaki
My dad was going to just outright buy the 56 Ford, as it was a deal offered from his close friend. But, my brother told him/me to just thank the friend and that was the end of the story. We already had the 58 Impala and the 40 Ford Sedan Delivery for daily drivers.

Did I mention the cool Moon Discs that just made the whole Ford Sedan outstanding? OR that one thought my brother had was to put our 671 SBC 292 motor in it for a different kind of hot rod. We sold the motor and that was the end of the 56 Ford episode. There was just too much going on for both of us to get back into hot rodding and racing, at that moment in time.

 

I have become that guy. Didn't take all that long either.

 

growing up in Wichita Titus Bros and Dave Stuckey and Darrel Starbird were the cool guys around here

 

It just came to me that I am the old cool guy on my street!

 

That, sir, is classic. As old as I am I probably will not remember it but you should know that I will try.

 

In Starkville, MS, that guy was Lynn Cook to me. I was friends with his son, Lynn Cook. Back when I was in high school, he built a T street rod (gasp!), followed by an 30's International pickup, and a 48 (I think) Ford sedan. He drove the wheels off the International and his wife drove the 48 Ford. He was a fabricator/ welder/ machinist that owned his own business that was the center of all hot rodding to me back then. He built or helped build many a hot rod thru the 80's for himself and others. Lynn (Sr.) passed away in the mid 90's. His sons still have the shop but are trying to sell it. It was rather painful for me to see them selling everything off last year.

His son, Lynn, drove a 53 Chevy 2 door thru high school powered by a 235- coolest car in school despite being so rough inside.