Hot Rods Are any of your high School friends still involved with Hot Rods & Customs?

Graduated in 73. There was a group of five or six of us that spent a lot of time at the drag strip. None of them are still into cars, most of my car friends now are older, and were part of the 60's generation before me. A great bunch of guys who saw it all first hand, the whole American Graffiti thing that I just missed.
B

 

no....

 

There were very few that were even into old cars when I graduated, but the few that were made up my main group of friends. About half of the half dozen or so out of a class of 900 are still into cars and some still have the ones they had in high school. I’m probably the main idiot who has stayed the course as much as anyone although I have been through 100 or so other old cars after selling the ones I drove in high school ...

I haven’t ever gone to a class reunion since the few car friends I had are still guys I run into without having to spend lots of money and dressing funny to compare how successful we all ended up. Since I was into cars and that was somewhat dying off as something kids messed with in school, most of my friends were older anyway...kind of like today.

 

I graduated in '60. Small high school, 42 kids in my class. Couple of guys into cars like I was, only one I know is still with us but not into cars. Went to Morrisville Ag and Tech in NY post high school as an auto tech. Lot of guys in my class were big into hot rods but most no longer are I guess. One exception is a good friend who is currently building a nailhead powered '33 Ford 3W. Here a chassis pic before it gets blown apart for paint. I am still very interested in all things automotive but physically not able to do much anymore.

 

Who knows, I haven't kept in touch; I was out of school and out of town 2 months later courtesy of the U.S. Army. To be honest, I was a loner in school and have been my whole life. Working on and driving old cars is peaceful solitary bliss for me.

 

I graduated from high school in 1964 and our 55 year reunion was last year. I didn’t go in fact only went to one reunion which was the tenth and found no reason to return. I hung around with some older guys back then a couple of which were really involved in cars including myself. Seems like all my friends were interested in cars but but not building or working on them. I ended up moving a thousand miles away and with job, family and other life commitments kind of lost touch. The one thing I find amazing is even after years of not communicating I or they will call on the phone and we start talking like we had just talked a couple days ago. Most of the conversation ends up being centered about cars what we are building, doing or planning. Seems the thing that binds our friendship together is cars and the experiences and stories we have involving them.

 

Graduated in 65, at the last reunion a couple of them had white walls on their walkers, still a handful with old cars\trucks. 3 of us still ride Harleys

 

Whitewalls on their walkers. you ain't right! HRP

 

I don't think I ever had a car friend in school. The few guys I hung with had drag cars and they were 20 or 30 years older than me back then. They are all pretty much gone now from a crash or some untimely death. It's part of living fast i guess.

 

Another class of 65 grad , most all have passed , either Vietnam or cancer , have 1 left but he moved to Florida a few years ago ..?

 

Small town in Ohio and none left that I hung out with. I'm the guy standing under the (A).

 

There was a lot of hot rods & customs in the T.L. Hanna High parking lot, In 1967 there were old cars and newer ones, there was a young girl, Kathy that drive a 32 Chevy coupe, Johnny had a new 1965 Shelby 350, a bunch of tri 5 chevys, my pal Ken had a bad 54 Chevy, James was into 62-64 Chevy II's and Tommy who's dad owned the Cadillac dealership, he always had interesting trade in's and I had a 63 1/2 Falcon Sprint.

The only two guys I see from time to time is Ken and James, ken is into VW's and James has a radical chopped top 57 Chevy. HRP

 

Well it is sort of funny you asked. I hit the road in the early to mid 1980s. And while you might think there wouldn't be many old school cars running around...there were! I had 1962 Nova 2 door Hardtop with a 400 sbc. It was basically a bracket car on the street. I had several friends that had just barely off topic here rides including a convertible first gen Camaro, a Duster and a Mach 1.

Recently 6 of us that are still in the area started getting together once a month for dinner. It has been a total blast reliving the good ole days and cars come up every single time. Just the other night one of them called me to say he is giving up on trying to get his 750 hp convertible to hook up even with tons of aftermarket suspension updates. He said I know you can make it work, I am just going to bring it to your house and drop it off! LOL

What are old highschool car buddies for anyway!

 

High school I know was not great for a few,an there all types of why's.
I had a super good time an posted some about it in post # 32 of this thread .
After seeing a few say they never looked back? .
I been part of our reunion staff every 5 years for a long time,an get a pretty good idea when calling other classmates.
When trying to get them to sign up for reunions,some right away are all for it,others need encouragement,an then there are the loners ,that had a bad time; Some just had it ruff or in a few case's made it ruff on there own. I did find some of those that enjoyed talking anyway,an so we had fun doing that. Point being there is shared ground to talk,an often you don't know that it is fun, tell some one calls from the way back to shine a light in the hole !.
If ya can,make the call !!! There may be a big smile at the other end.

 

This picture was taken a few years ago at the local VFW cruise night. 14 of us graduated together in '67 and the rest are from other classes near '67. All of us were car guys back then and still are. This is not uncommon when you grew up in the suburbs of the Motor City.

 

I Graduated in 1976, most of the kids though it was cool to drive moms 4 door impala to school. I Lost track of the car guys I knew than. With any luck I will be driving my o/t gto to my 50th reunion, the one I drove to high school ( I am in the middle of a 50 year restoration).

 

I have been out of high school 48 years. I had a small circle of friends back then. But most weren’t “car guys”. I was in the college prep program and didn’t fit in with the gear heads. Not for lack of trying.
Some guys were into hot rods — 55 and 57 Chevys, I bought a 57 myself the week of graduation, but most were into pony and muscle cars: Mustangs, Camaros, Road Runners, Chargers...
I have not kept up with any of my classmates since, so I don’t know what any of them are doing now.

 

Graduated in 73, most of my friends that had cars like me had 4 to 8 year old cars with hi jackers , Formula One Super Stockers and glass packs. I am the only one who went on to develop the skills to build anything. The rest went onto daily drivers and jiffy lube! My one friends Bob who had a pretty nice Duster in the day and has always like Mopars a few years back bought a new Challenger when he retired from the water dept. It was a V6 car though.

 

Yes and several of us still have our cars. These include a 66 chevelle; 71 440 dart; 73 charger; 69 Hurst olds; 69 super bee. We all raced at union grove wi. Class of 1984.

 

Did that Falcon Sprint have the 260 cid engine? A friend of mine had a red one I think the only one of our crowd that had a brand new car. I’m originally from the Detroit area and his dad was a Ford exec.

 

Yep, three members of the Camjammers in Vernon, all founding members of the club in 1957.
Bob

 

Friends....wife wants one...with no more F100 doesn’t seem so fun...one day I’ll get the truck and the camper will follow

 

Sadly the guys I went to high school with drove their family's hand me down muscle cars so they used to make fun of my 50s car I used to drive then. I guess I got the last laugh when I see them at local car show now and realizing they just paid money to get in to see my car. Heck, the majority of the diehard guys I hung with who never missed a car event years ago are out of it now.

 

First you had to have friends.....
Ok,that was in jest. Almost all my friends back then were car nuts. Graduated in 1977 and I moved 120 miles away and wouldn't you know it they couldn't find me for the 10 year reunion. I had a buddy list me in the roster as DECEASED and it worked. Haven't heard a word from any committee since. Are any still involved with cars? I have no idea.

 

Most of my Buddies have passed or are away at the county farm . The ones that wised up , are still playin with cars, but OT stuff no rods .,

 

The mid-60's in McMinnville, Oregon, there were a number of guys in high school that worked on cars, we formed a club back in our freshman year. Having an NHRA sanctioned Dragstrip at the airport, and the best cruising route through town, made it a haven for car guys. Out of my friends from that time, only a few mess with older cars. I met up with two of them a couple of years ago, at the yearly cruise held there, one has a 63 Merc and the other a 50 Dodge panel. I did get a call from another classmate who had a beautiful full fendered 30 roadster with a late Flathead, in high school, he is selling his 57 T-Bird, to build a 34 sedan. Class of 66, best of times.

 

I graduated in '73, my close friends then are still close friends today.
We all were saving our money for a new set of tires/wheels, paint job, interior, speed equipment, or updating to a "cooler" car.
My friends got away from the "car thing", but I've been a die hard motor head forever.
I still listen to the same music from that time period also..maybe I'm sentimental, or more likely just living in the past.
The most important thing is being true to myself, I'm more than okay with being the only one who continued on with the cars, life is about choices.
New car friends are easy enough to find at shows, HAMB, swap meets, etc., if you're open to it.

 

No- I was the only one of my friends that was car crazy- I was the kid that watched the older guys build hot rods in their driveways- they let me hang around- fetch and carry- my friends didn't know one end of a wrench from the other- one drove a Moped through HS and the other best friends drove family hand me downs- base model Chevys mostly- I bought my first car at 14- rebuilt engine and did body work in back yard- at reunions I'm that guy driving the old car- switched gears for a number of years and drove Corvettes- in fact- still have one OT-

 

I don't get here often, but have to leave a note. A lot of my high school/ college "friends" were kinda like Primer described. And, several were killed in Nam. If as any of them got older they bought their hot rod or had $ to buy several & also "collections" to hang on the wall. I had 600 in my 1962 graduating class, think none have "our" kinda cars. I drove a '52 Ford sedan to high school.....with primer spots & hand painted Moon eyes on the quarter windows. For several years I was a manager of several retail stores. At lunch & dinner I'd go to the parking lot to adjust valves in my 55 Chevy with the 301 in it(to go street racing later) or another hot car. I doubt any of my school friends could understand. I went on my own in 1974, started Flatlander's in 1978 & moved to the country in 2007. Best years of my long life (so far). All u guys have great stories, I've enjoyed them all. Hot Rods Forever, Alan

 

Man, maybe one or two, but not so much...