No he didn't. Sold it to another local Long Beach kid from a wealthy family. Gabby never got full payment. Some 60 odd years later he drove by the home where the buyer was raised and there was an old man out front. Gabby asked him if he knew the family that use to live there. The old man was the guy that bought the T. Said he didn't remember not paying him the other 5 bucks. This was Gabby's 2nd Ford. His first was in the shop class at Poly High when the earthquake of '33 shook the building down. Said he had 3 bucks tied up in the car. It was in the school because they had a jig to bend up dropped axles. The T in the pics was also running a shop class dropped axle.
Here's a '60's vintage sprint car that I did the restoration paint and lettering on for Carl Olson several years ago . It noe resides in the Dick Woodland museum in Paso Robles . Ironically , when I was a kid growing up . we lived on the next street over from Billy Wilkerson the owner / driver .
2 pics I took back in the late '80s or early 90s of Gabby and his last T. He had a local spring shop bend him up an axle like they did the he was a kid. You can see it on one of the pics.
If you do a search on this site for 'Gabby' hopefully some stuff will pop up. His cars have been discussed in length. His last T was featured in the book 'Ford Model T: The car that put the World on Wheels'. His Chevy Touring was featured in one of the Hop Up Annuals, I can't remember which of the first 10 issues it's in right this minute and American Rodder Dec. '98 had a nice article on Gabby and his cars.
Oooooh I so love the vintage flames...the premise of the Thread (how they came to be even better)....great stuff @Jive-Bomber... Thanks to all sharing the goods...
@Stogy I was going to remark that I think the first flames were just wiggly scallops. I think that the first car in your post is a good example for what I was going to say. I got an idea that like most things hot rod started out in racing. They may have just been a way to make your car easier to spot on the track. I am certainly no expert on it but the first cars I remember seeing pics of with flames were '40s era cars.
Go Fast (Racing) and Hotrod...I whole heartedly agree of the connection to Race and Hotrod being the catalyst for one influencing another. Racing became a Spectator Sport and Numbers, Sponsors, Advertising and Graphics were all part of making each Participants Stand out in Crowd as you alluded...the WOW factor so to speak...the early flames on the Indy racers of 1935 shared here were easily notable as literal flames...the wispy licks were perhaps an abstraction of flame but may have actually been more representative of smoke or dusts drifting away...something different much like scallops. If only we could dig into the Artists mind responsible for pulling those eh...In this case time is not on our side of course......it is notable how generally there is little mention of what decorated these racers back in the day so we are left to interpretation...and that leads to debates with wrongful assumption always a possibility... I like both and like so many things Hotrod/Custom acceptance varies...but again it was a very big part of The Big Picture and I will never try to make them go away...you can't...1965 is over and it's in the History Books... ...Dang...Stogy's long winded... @porknbeaner, always good to hear from you...
Maybe a lil ot, but a quite few years back, some friends and I were at the fall RodRun in Pigeon Forge. We saw a couple coming down the strip in a flamed out Coupe. All at once we holler "Hey, Yer Cars On Far" !! ( your car is on fire). They thought it was kinda funny the first time apround, but we kept on , and they were pretty annoyed buy the twentieth time they passed by. We were 3 sheets to the wind, and thought it was hilarious!..........oh well, Good Times.
theres a racing plane from 32 called the gee bee allways thought was attributed to the first scallops but if ya look the middle looks kinda flamey (if thats a word ) and in 32 that would be pretty early ... sombody thats more computer savvy put up a pic ,, cant miss its its all cowl and a seat,, also looking at the plane its that aint a hot rod i dont know what is !!!!!!!! fabricator john miss you dad
This Deuce was for sale here not so long ago...you would not have recognized it as the same but apparently it was...it was dark blue. I too think that Ole Hotrod rocks wouldn't change a thing...50s greatness...
Second line says "before the war" Stan?...I'm being blur challenged... Gotta say for an early flame job the detail and layout of that is pretty stunning...
I just had to add that caption. Flame jobs were popular before the war. A quote from someone who was actually there.
Hello, My dad was still on campus at the LBCC buildings when it was at the LB Wilson High School location in 1933. He said it was so frightening and was lucky to get out. The concrete buildings just crumbled. In the recovery stage, the college classes resumed in the park next door. Within the following years, he had enough credits and went to a university in Los Angeles to finish his college career. The earthquake was devastating and could have resulted in this not being written. So Cal has had big earthquakes, but not as devastating as this 1933 version. My dad was usually quiet and did mention the earthquake in our conversations, but did not elaborate on it. My mom told me that it scared the living daylights out of him and did not want to relive that moment. Jnaki @flyin-t nice history of the old hot rod from Poly High School. We are well accustomed to that Automotive/Metal Shop Class construction area on campus. photo taken in the access alley between the Metal Shop and Automotive Shop at LB Poly HS 1962 Since LB Poly HS has a history that goes back to 1911 at the current location, (1895 at the first building location) there must be plenty of old hot rod stories. Keep them posted!
The Jalopy Journal
