Register now to get rid of these ads!

History Stories of your youth

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by scotts52, Nov 29, 2019.

  1. { A STORY } When I was a kid in grade school. I had this good friend, and still a good friend to this day. His grandad had a cool green two tone 56 Chevy with WW's. He loved cars, and stock car raceing. He would take's us every Saturday night to the races. I'll never forget how much fun it was. They had the modifieds, and stockers. { Jalopies } The sounds of the open exhaust, the old loud speakers that you couldn't understand. Then the smell of dust, dirt and smoke. The old hot dogs just boiled in water, and a bottle of pop. { cream of soda } It tasted better than a steak dinner. While grandad was watching the race. We would run free. I remember watching the racing from under the old wooden guardrails. Yeah { stupied kids! } But the best part was after the race we would go to the pits and talk to the drivers, and see the cars.. I would climb in the wrecked heaps and play like I was in a crash! They would yell at me to get my butt, { a$$ } out of their car. The only pictures I have are my memories. But I do remember it like this . Thanks Ron.........[​IMG][​IMG]
     
  2. alanp561
    Joined: Oct 1, 2017
    Posts: 4,612

    alanp561
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Dayummm, I think I'll cry with you on that one

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
    chryslerfan55 likes this.
  3. I'm 52 now but when I was 10, I purchased a rust free VW bug, from a friend of the family for $25 bucks. Thing ran like a top. I cut grass, worked at fruit farms and at a neighbours lumber yard working the saws, driving front end loaders, forklifts etc from the age of 9. Obviously different times!! Across the main drag from our house was a field of about 20 acres that we rode our dirt bikes in. On weekends and summer nights my Dad would drive the car across the street and go back home, leaving myself and approximately 8-12 neighbourhood boys and girls to all pile in the car and blast around the field all day. We would only stop to gas up and at the end of the day to have my Dad drive the car back across the road. Learned how to drive standard in that car as well as how to get going fast enough to corner on two wheels. Saw the higher side of 60 mph all the time. Never bothered by the cops or anyone. Like I said, different times and my parents must have been Crazy. Seat belts for the first 3 kids and myself and the rest just crammed in and held on. Shudder to think what would have happened if we would have rolled. Kept the car two years and doubled my money plus received a BMX bike in trade for the car. Sure do miss those days, and that car!!
     
    chryslerfan55 and Ron Funkhouser like this.
  4. s55mercury66
    Joined: Jul 6, 2009
    Posts: 4,335

    s55mercury66
    Member
    from SW Wyoming

    To be honest, once I realized the car was a rollin' down the drive, I bailed too. The left front tire went past my head, just brushing it as it did.
     
    chryslerfan55 likes this.
  5. Elcohaulic
    Joined: Dec 27, 2017
    Posts: 2,212

    Elcohaulic

    I was 12 in 1968. I was walking down under the 40th street bridge in Lawrenceville on a hot summer Saturday morning. I ran into a stolen 65 Lilac GTO, 421 Trips, 4 speed. It had a 421 sticker with some other writing on the one valve cover anyhow. Some teenagers must of stolen it the night before and were going to strip it the next day. They had it all shut off and hidden in the bushes.
    I connected the starter wires back up and it jumped forward! Wow I was in luck. I figured out I had to put it in neutral for it to start but it would just crank. then it hit me I had to get the ignition on. When I saw all the dash light come on I knew I had it. I touched the starter wire and it fired right up to full attention. I was in heaven.
    Now how does this four speed work. haha. I pulled out in third but I got it going. Two hours later I was five miles away at the other side of the river joy riding all over by the train tracks. I stashed it in Millvale and walked home. Every day I would take some gas over and ride around the river all day. Then one day I was walking over the 40th street bridge and I saw it on the back of a city or Pittsburgh tow truck going to the city pound. The car seemed to wave good bye to me as it passed. With nobody ever knowing the fun we had together..

    46637.jpg
     
  6. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 9,295

    jnaki

    Hello,

    We lived in a time period of innocence and sports. What an odd combo. Our little world revolved around listening to baseball games and playing in our yard surrounded by a white picket fence. Baseball was a hot topic at our house as our dad once played for a touring semi-pro team out of Los Angeles. For us, that was very cool when he told us a story or two, of those baseball days.

    He never inundated us with his playing days, but helped us get our playing stance and style in place. One thing he did was to make sure we knew how to throw a ball, efficiently. For him, the stance was just as important as hitting the ball. Later on, we learned that he was also teaching us a defensive stance and reaction to the ball.
    upload_2020-1-12_5-16-11.png reluctant photo models...
    During all of this time, he drove his Buicks to Los Angeles to work and took us everywhere he could on his days off. He was responsible for the two brothers to like cars and what they could do to make life easier than it was. For us little kids, life was pretty easy and fun. Eat, nap, play baseball, ride our bikes, as well as going for long walks to the neighborhood grocery store and Mobil Gas Station.
    upload_2020-1-12_5-17-14.png
    Despite what my mom liked, our dad took us to the early Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles for those early Car Shows/Autoramas. At its height, most major indoor events in Los Angeles were held at the Pan-Pacific. She did not like cars as they puzzled her. The convenience of going from one place to another without taking the city bus was acceptable, but she did not want to drive.
    upload_2020-1-12_5-19-52.png
    Today, there is only one of those “Moderne” towers left to commemorate the historic building that once stood proud and drew in thousands of people for just about any form of entertainment, wrestling to the annual car shows.

    Jnaki

    In thinking back, it may or may not have been the turning tide for the brothers to get involved in hot rods and custom cars. We loved looking at all of the different models and always had a contest to see who could name the next car without looking at the big marquee above the stand. So, add in the yearly and possibly attending at least two shows every year, we got the picture that our dad loved cars. He took us everywhere in his big Buick sedans.

    My brother and I as teenagers took our dad to a Volvo and Mercedes dealer to show him what was available in a great luxury car, for his next ride. When he sat in those outstanding leather seats, it was a giant smile that showed his appreciation for the finer stuff in cars. We almost had him convinced, but in the next few weeks, he drove up in our Westside Long Beach drive way with a new light green Buick Riviera with leather seats and A/C. Here was no way to compete with that !!!
     
    chryslerfan55 and Ron Funkhouser like this.
  7. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 9,295

    jnaki

    Hello,

    When we moved to our old Westside Craftsman House in 1948, it was our first official house. We had been living in a government rental trailer since 1946 and it was nice to have a house and yard. My dad had saved up and bought this old house for our growing family. It was small as most houses were back then. (currently, the Craftsman House and the rest of the whole long, two blocks of cool old homes got destroyed to build a new elementary-middle school complex next to the Terminal Island Freeway.)

    One day my dad told me to walk down to the corner of the block and meet him there at 6:00pm. Back then, as little kids, we could walk anywhere in the neighborhood and not worry about anything. The neighborhood was a safe place for all kids. So, I was waiting for my dad to arrive on that corner many houses away. He finally comes around the corner and pulls up in front of where I was standing. He said to jump in and grab the steering wheel. I was almost 4 years old, maybe 5 at the most. He told me to hang on to the wheel and steer his 1941 Buick Fastback Sedan back to our house.
    upload_2020-4-1_3-53-12.png 1948-49
    Of course, I was scared I would hit other cars, but at the time, most of the cars were not parked along the curb. So, I steered back and forth until I got the hang of it going straight. I could make a slight turn into the curb and promptly hit it before I could turn the other way. The depth perception was not as developed as yet and the Buick had a long funny hood and fenders in the way of sighting the curb.

    The old saying of practice, practice, practice rings true. As the other times during that first month of “steering” was so much fun that I got really good at coming into the curb area under the huge palm trees. After that first curb hitting, there were a few more, but I got the hang of turning away and not hit the curb. I could not see the curb as the Buick got closer, so I had to make a choice to turn at just the right moment. It was pure guessing, but part of being able to practice and make adjustments each time.

    Finally I could turn towards the curb and pull away just before the tire hit the curb. Then the Buick was in front of our white picket fence and yard. To this day, I have always thanked my dad for getting me involved in the steering of his Buick Fastback Sedan. Now, if I could only be tall enough to step on the brake AND gas pedal…

    Jnaki

    After doing this daily early evening driving (steering) lesson, my mom was wondering where I was going every day at 5:45 pm every day. She never saw me steer the 1941 Buick, as my dad bought a giant black 1949 4 door Buick Roadmaster sedan and the lessons continued. One time she saw the black Buick pull up to the curb and there I was, looking out of the window, waving. Needless to say, the $#!%&$ hit the fan and my dad was in the doghouse.

    But, for all of the times we did those steering episodes, I was able to get a clear understanding of my skills of steering a car back/forth and moving to a specific location. It was my first behind the wheel lesson and experiences. Thanks, Dad… Boooo, on my mom…

    When we moved to our next house in 1953, the only driving I did was to take some girls (at their urging) out driving around in their piano teacher’s 55-56 Mercury Hardtop Sedan. I was tall enough to sit, steer and actually put my foot on the brake and gas pedals. It was an automatic and fun to drive around the neighborhood. The teacher was a neighbor, a few houses away from our house. She always allowed me to hang out at her house when the girls came over for their lessons. As we got older, the borrowed car incidents continued. But, we got braver and the distances increased all the way across a busy street and near our junior high school campus, almost two miles away.

    What was those girls’ favorite thing to do in the car? Urge me to drive normally, then put the lever in L to hear the backfire and rat-tat-tat sounds as it wound down to a stop. I never liked it, but for some reason, those pesky girls liked the exhaust sounds when put in low gear. Luckily, the music teacher was not a finicky car person. She never knew we drove her car and put on miles of fun for all of us. The keys, were always in the correct place on the end table. The mileage was high, but she never read those tiny gauges. She was a gas it and go person.
     
  8. sliceddeuce
    Joined: Aug 15, 2017
    Posts: 2,981

    sliceddeuce
    Member

    Three weeks shy of my fourteenth birthday, the girl next door picked me up walking in the rain. She was 17, tall and blonde twin to Barbara Stanwyck with a smile that could melt butter and a '61 Belair.....Oh, Not that kind of story???
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2020
  9. raven
    Joined: Aug 19, 2002
    Posts: 4,698

    raven
    Member

    Go ahead sliceddeuce , I’m listening...
    r


    Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
     
  10. sliceddeuce
    Joined: Aug 15, 2017
    Posts: 2,981

    sliceddeuce
    Member

    Can't do it...Memories are too precious and she is someone's grandmother.:rolleyes:
     
    chryslerfan55 likes this.
  11. Back when I was very young my Dad had a friend who didn't have kids. What he did have was a long list of fast cars. When I was 5 or 6 he had just bought a brand new 67 Corvette roadster in Marina blue/blue interior powered by a 427/400 with the three 2 barrel carbs. (obviously I learned the specifics of the car much later) One afternoon he came over to show it off so him, my Dad with me on his lap, and our German Shorthaired Pointer in the area behind the seats headed out. What I remember to this day is when he floored it getting on the highway on ramp. The noise and unbelievable acceleration at the time was just mind blowing. It felt like we were in a rocket ship headed to the moon and was a much different experience from riding around in Mom's station wagon & my Dad's old pickup. That was the moment that set the hook for hot cars forever. Funny how a couple minutes can affect the rest of your life.
     
  12. brigrat
    Joined: Nov 9, 2007
    Posts: 5,615

    brigrat
    Member
    from Wa.St.

    So way back when my Dad and I were sitting around talking about what car crap he did when he was a kid. He started off telling me about the time he rolled a model A up in the hills with a friend and his girlfriend. Only damage was on the model A and his friends girlfriend lost an ear. So if you see an old lady in a rest home somewhere with an ear missing it could be her!
    Some other things he would do is take a model T coil and rig it somehow to his cars chassis, when he would go to the car hop just as the lady would put the food tray on the window frame he would flick a switch. Needless to say the shake, fries, burger & the little honey hop got the shock of their lives...………………………………..
     
    chryslerfan55 likes this.
  13. Rickybop
    Joined: May 23, 2008
    Posts: 9,606

    Rickybop
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    My very first hot rod memory.

    1960. I was 3 years old.
    We lived in a big two-story house divided into a duplex, 1 block off Main Street in Rochester Michigan.

    The people who lived next door... Mr. and Mrs. Nedrow... owned the house and had 4 teenagers... 3 boys, 1 girl. The boys were all greasers.

    One day while my father and Mister Nedrow were at work, my mom was visiting mrs. Nedrow in her kitchen. I was toddling around the kitchen while they sat at the table playing cards drinking coffee and talking.

    All of a sudden, I heard a loud roar coming from outside. I ran and pushed the curtain back on the full length window in the door. There was Joe, the youngest son, out in the driveway, bent over the engine bay of a black late 40s Ford Coupe with a couple of his friends, revving the shit out of the unmuffled flathead V8.

    I was completely enthralled by this. I think my mother was afraid of me being negatively influenced by these boys who she considered to be juvenile delinquents. She kind of snapped at me... Ricky... get away from that window.
    Too late. I was hooked.

    Sent from my VS835 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  14. Rickybop
    Joined: May 23, 2008
    Posts: 9,606

    Rickybop
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    In the spirit of celebrating youthful hot rod memories...

    When Jimmy was 3 years old
    Just a little boy
    His daddy bought him a birthday present
    A neat little hot rod toy
    It was nothing fancy
    Just a wooden car on a string
    But Jimmy loved that shiny red roadster
    And little Jimmy used to sing...

    "One day I'm gonna build me a REAL hot rod car
    I love the one that Daddy gimme
    But when I get big
    I wanna build a Deuce
    A hot little flatty
    With lots o' juice
    And they're gonna call me Hot Rod Jimmy

    Hot Rod Jimmy
    Hot Rod Jimmy
    With the motor thumpin' so hard
    That it makes the doors shake and shimmy
    Hot rod Jimmy
    Hot rod Jimmy
    A shiny red roadster just like my daddy gimme



    Sent from my VS835 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  15. goldmountain
    Joined: Jun 12, 2016
    Posts: 4,442

    goldmountain

    My mom knew this family with a small farm on the outskirts of the city and it was harvest time so she enlisted my brothers and me to help dig out carrots. This was on the edge of town where just after the farm, the land slopes down into the river valley. While exploring the drop off to the valley, I spied a '32 Ford 5 window on its roof and it was an image that just wouldn't go away. Many years later, (decades?) I decided to go check. Of course, it is now a big subdivision and the car is nowhere to be found.
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.