Can you track back your interest in hot rod to someone in particular? I can. At ten years old in the mid-fifties I was interested in cars but it took a encounter with a real car guy to cement my interest. In the summer of 1957, a friend of my father had purchased a new Thunderbird. I was impressed with it in silver paint with a black and white interior. It seemed the height of performance in my young mind. Until I met Rudy Smith and his Corvette. Rudy was visiting a girl friend who worked at the ranch where I lived. The hood was up as I approached the black '57 Corvette. The owner, a young man in his 20's, was busy working on the engine. I proceeded to tell him about the T-bird and it's performance. He replied that although a nice car his Vette would run circles around it. In a short time he completed the under hood duties and fired it up. The solid lifter, dual fours equipped small block sounded unlike anything I had experienced. He offered to take me for a ride and needless to say I was impressed. The next few years he was always gracious enough to talk cars with a kid on his bicycle. He took some friends and I to our first drag races. Always a good guy, he helped introduce us to hot rodding. Rudy recently died and I am reminded how his generosity effected me. I'll always stop to talk cars to an interested kid.
It had to of been my dad, although he was more into stock restorations. I remember we had to drive from Tulsa to Cushing a lot and there was a guy who always had 5 or 6 hot rods in his front yard for sale. My dad would always stop and look but never bought anything. I cant remember what kind of car it was, but it had a 200 mph club sticker in the window and my 8 year old mind thought that was the coolest thing ever. I told myself I'd have a sticker like that one day but so far, not even close.
I can't go back far enough in memory. I always have been. Dad ensured at a young age I would be into cars. Pictures from my first Christmas, at 3 1/2 months show hot rods on my blanket. I still have it.
When I was 6 years old (1961), my dad had a bone stock T roadster pickup. When the weather was nice, he would pick me up from school in the T, top down of course. I would then go with him to the wrecking yard he owned and I would "help" until it was time to lockup and go home. Those rides to the shop in the T were the best things a 6 year old could ever imagine.
My interest was sparked by my uncle. At about the age of 8 I looked through is hot rod magazines, mostly the small ones. There I read about Bonneville and thought I needed to go there.......this was about 1954 and I finally made the trek in 2009 and have been back each year since, however since 2010 I have taken my motorcycle and run it. I have had a number of hot rods, sports cars, motorcycles,muscle cars etc. over the years but nothing has gripped me quite like "salt fever".... and my uncle? He is in he middle of building a 29 Ford truck with his old Olds motor.
I've always loved cars and gravitated to rods because I'd never built one. A lot of friends grew out of cars and into other interests. Once you're bitten it's hard to explain to others who don't share the same passion yet they appreciate your work and enjoy the cars.
my cousin married a guy that raced modifieds and always had a hot rod of some kind is how i got into cars and hot rods
My grandpa was my hero growing up and he loved hot rods, so I loved hot rods too. As I grew up it just sort of stuck and when he wasn't around anymore it was something I hung on to to remember the happier times.
That would be dad for me, who's still driving his hot rods and turning wrenches at 76. I was 4 or 5 in mid-60s when I backed his 327 4 sp. powered 33 Dodge cpe into the fence. I'd crawled up in it and cranked it over! Used to play with my hot wheels in back of our 55 Nomad, that I now own. Been going to street rod nats since '71 when dad joined. Dad always did own builds, including engine reblds, chassis, paint, etc. I had a good teacher! I have to say, growing up around these cars, especially during the 70s was the most fun for a young gearhead. I could go on and on, probably write a book about all my experiences growing in the middle of hot rodding, street rodding whatever you want to call it. One more thing, dad got involved as a young 11-12 yr old, hanging around at the local garage, helping prepare all those 32-34 ford coupes for the local dirt track. He also had an older brother-in-law who helped him along.
Grew up in the auto repair/gas station industry. My grand father and dad started in the 50s and my brother currently owns the business.
It was 1962 and a friend of the family gave this 11yr old kid his massive collection of Hot Rod mags from 1951 thru 1962.
My father was the one that set me on this path of hotrod's, it was normal in my family. Everyone we knew had a hotrod or were building one and I still remember my confusion when I first learned that we were the 'odd' ones out! I still don't quite understand why you wouldn't want a rod or custom? I can gladly say I have recruited a few into the world during my service, you get some funny looks building an A model RPU in the car park of the Barracks! Doc.
Seems that a few decades ago, hot cars and just cars in general were so much a part of the collective consiousness and in the media, that you didn't really have to have someone in particular to "get you into it". I didn't. My dad was too busy raising a large family, and I had no uncles or older brothers to influence me much. But just by "osmosis" so-to-speak, it got in my blood. When I was 3 and 4 years old, the neighbor boys and their cars got my attention. Then when we moved, the guy next door had a couple old jalopies and the elderly couple across the street took their perfect '37 Chevy coupe out only on Sundays to go to church. I do remember going next door a few times to hang out and watch the guy next door work on stuff. I remember the first time I watched him heat a metal rod with a torch that he had held in the bench-vise...then take a pair of pliers and easily bend it. I was like, "I didn't know you could do that!!!" Lol. Some of the car models I built gave me my first real idea of what hot rods and customs were all about. Interestingly, one thing in particular concerning my father did have an influence on me...the picture in my avatar. That's my father in '55/'56...a year or so before he got married and I was born. I first saw that picture when I was maybe 5 years old. And I thought it was pretty cool.
My Dad was always working on something, buying, trading and selling old cars for as long as I can remember. I often went with him to pick stuff up and help work on them. We had a lot of fun in that garage, and we built some cool memories.
Had to be my dad. He survived the war as a P-38 pilot with the 475th Fighter Group in the Pacific. Ya had to be somewhat mechanical for that! He had an interest in things mechanical. We had a retail store and he introduced us to tools - I still have his Black & Decker drill from the 1950's. I miss him every day...
my dad worked in the local garage,and was allways arriving home for lunch in something different, either in for repair or for sale..this was the late sixties plenty of interesting shapes around in those days.also his friend had a car muesem here with some real old brass cars in there.those were the days. then along came jim rockford with his pontiac and i was hooked.no going back now
I grew up around various local and not local racers (there used to be a local race that brought a name racer each year, Swede Savage being one). That and wanting a high performance vehicle and not being able to afford to buy one (ie, I had to build nearly everything I had, beater go to work vehicle notwithstanding). It helped when I found my father's LP copy of "Breedlove 500" (found it when I was 8) from that point on I figured I was going to B-Ville at some point, been going now since '08.
I did the books and shows at 16 never had anything decent finally built a chopper and had all chromed bolts I said to myself you could have a rod or custom went to Sturgis and kept seeing rods and stuff and that pushed me over the hill and then I went crazy collecting some wild cars this is my 6 th year after the long wait so I started about at 62 was mostly retired about at 57 all my energy goes to cars and shows was class champion in radical custom 2012 ISCA mostly by showing up
My dad,he brought home a 1940 Ford pickup for a father son project when I was 10 years old.We worked on it off and on for 6 or 7 years. Then I drove it to high school where everyone was like,what the hell is that.All my freind were driving muscle cars at the time. To this day day I would take a 30's thru 50's car any day . Still have the 40 after 37 years I plan on passing it on to my 10 year old son..........THANKS DAD.
Don't know the guy's name but he used to visit the guy across the street of a friend I used to hang out with when I was about 13 or 14. He had a 32 five window coupe, chopped and channeled with a hemi. He took me for a ride and I was hooked. He was really cool taking time for a young kid.
Well,dad was pretty deadset that I NOT follow in his footsteps,so it was pretty much these guys corrupting my youth...
had to be the males in my Dads family , they all worked at Ford and had some serious Iron from the 50's and 60's when I was a kid in the 70's, they also had some of the late 60's stuff too . 2 of the uncles were total gear heads and one was a bodyman and loved to paint and customize , my dad was basically nuetered after he got married . in 1972 mom made him sell his 63 maurauder he bought after he started working at Ford in 1962 , don't know what it came with , but I know it left with a 428 SCJ he got from a wrecked Mustang as it was " not practcial and took up space" in the garage , that was a fun and scary car . his new wife has to park in the driveway as he has his toy in the garage but its a stocker , its a 289 fairlane sport coupe the uncles and my grandfathers basically taught/ honed my mechanical skills since my dad wasn't around . learned magneatos from one grandpa , and carbs from the other ( and I learned on Ford Varable venturi ) . and how to supertune and rebuild/modify cars from one uncle and do body work from the other . now they are all retired and have grandkids they stepped away from the speed scene and building cars . out of 40 grandkids I am the only one that works cars other than for my daily transportation . the cars in the family are , my 50 pontiac coach , a Buick wildcat convertable ( built from 4 cars and has a 430 under the hood ) , the Fairlane , a early 60's falcon ( cleavor motored ) , and a real 289 A.C cobra ( hes a gold chainer ) my Dads father was a Mercury man from 1946 to his death , moms dad was a farmer ( learned to work on other stuff there and learned how to retofit parts that weren't ment to go together . ( torches and welders are our freinds ) and don't say it can't be done if you have those tools handy ( I found that out the hard way with a semi )
The Jalopy Journal
