History Your first ride in a Hot Rod???

Hey Fellas, Did a search, for a similar thread, to no avail. So here goes.
As a youngster, growing up in suburban Cleveland, I was super fortunate to have a neighborhood jam packed with cool Hot Rods and Muscle cars. This Bitchin' little 5 window, belonged to a mechanic, up the street. This shot was taken appropriately on Memorial day, after the Euclid City Parade, circa 1973??
Roger Antonick could not have been more than 25yrs old at the time, as I was about 10. Would give my left testicle to just know where this car is right now. As with most of you, still getting the hang of the New and Improved Hamb. Hope this picture comes through, because last batch, I posted did not.

Roger Antonic's 5 Window by jakespeed63 posted Jan 5, 2009 at 7:06 PM

 

is a stock 32 Plymouth coupe with American 5 spokes a Hot Rod? that was the first really old car I had a ride in. around the same time a buddy had a stock 1940 Ford 4 door. the first official Hot Rod I rode in was a fenderless 33 Plymouth coupe with a 303 Olds in it. back around 1975 - 1977

 

1992. I was 15, on my way back from a Disneyland trip with my church youth group, and we stopped just south of the grapevine on I-5 (southern CA) at a McDonalds for lunch. I heard a rumble out in the parking lot, and none of my friends were surprised when I walked out to investigate. There sat the stereotypical 1980's T-bucket...bright red, gold leaf pinstripes, huge & tiny rolling stock (wires, of course), and a full-height windshield & top. Powered by a blown, gear driven big block Chevy with side pipes, of course.

I struck up a conversation with the fellow. He was European, judging by his accent, and this was part of his "American Dream". I was well read thanks to Car Craft, Hot Rod, and Rod & Custom, so we chatted for a bit and he offered to take me for a ride. He typically only utilized the top range of the TH400, which was enough...he laid into it once for me, and shifting down to second the blower came on and the brute force scarced the hell out of me. Not to mention the dissident harmonies of the blower, the (Pete Jackson) gear drive, side pipes, etc. I was hooked.

He brought me back to McD's, I rejoined the group, and will clearly never forget that first impression.

Looking back, the experience could have been the opening scene from an episode of CSI, or Law & Order...back then, no one even blinked.

 

First ride? I was 10, and the guy nextdoor took me for a ride in his 62 corvette, it was not stock. Hopped up! This was in 1973.

 

Never got a ride in a Hot Rod least not when I was young- had rides in hot cars- Corvettes and Muscle cars but never a Hot Rod- very few in town where I grew up-

 

in the 80's 401nailhead with hillborn injection

 

It would have to have been when I was 10 or 11 and my then stepfather traded the 53 Mercury he had for a 52 Ford hardtop with a 56 312 Thunderbird Special under the hood. The car had held the C gas record at the Ellensberg drag strip in the mid 50's and was fast, loud and fun and I was sold.

 

Some time in the mid '90's for me, dad and my uncle always had '70's aussie muscle cars but one of dad's friends had a resto rod '37 or '38 Plymouth four door which dad looked after for him for about 12 months while he was working in the mines up north. I think that's when the bug bit, I would have been about 6 or 8 at the time.

sent via classroom note. pass it on

 

Not really a hot rod at the time but my dads 55 chevy 2 door sports coupe. 265 power pack around 1958 he never bought a new car. I remember going for rides with him we would roll all windows down radio up a let that thing sail down the road.
Never got over that feeling or the 55 Chevys. Ron

 

First ride that I remember was in my neighbor's Model A coupe at the age of three or four. Neil (the neighbor) and my Dad had known each other since elementary school and had been working on that thing since long before I was around. Shiny black resto-mod with all C2 Corvette underpinnings, 327 four speed. Neil and Dad in the front, Neil's son Justin and I in the rumble seat. Neil still has the coupe, unchanged since the 80's.

One of my earliest and best memories; I guess it had an effect on me...

 

I never got to ride in a real hot rod until I built my own. The 32 coupe I own now. I first obtained it back about 1973 or 74.It was an older 1950s built hot rod but came sans engine and trans. I bought a junky 67 Mustang and used the engine/trans/rear/steering and everything else I could off of the Mustang to build the coupe. I drove it some but didn't like how I built it so I tore it down to do it right. Ended up selling it but bought it back a couple of years ago.The only hot rod I ever drove/rode in. Had lots of 50s cars and muscle cars but there is nothing like a 1920s-1940s true hot rod.

 

My dad's '38 sedan. 1989, he and I sat on milk crates and went about a mile down the road, first trip ever down the street. Great memories.

 

A good friend had a 38 Chevy Coupe that he had Drag Raced at Yellow River near Atlanta,Ga. At the time it was a 327 with 4-speed.
First time I rode in it he had just installed a 400 cu.in Olds newly acquired from from a wrecked 4-4-2. The engine was a light bronze paint color and would tote that Coupe down the Road.
My first ride in a Traditional Rod was a 48 Ford Tudor with a 53 Merc Flatty........ All of this Crap was going on in the 60's. God I wish I could Do It Again !!! Jeff

 

mine was cool, my dad asked if the owner, and I was able to go on the cruise to the show in the real R&C dream truck at one of the Golden state pickup parts truckin nationals in the early 80's

 

About 1965 I got a chance to ride in an orange 39 Ford convert tail dragger, cream top and interior, flat head with three carbs and a three speed. It was an older build then, but the almost straight pipes sounded timeless.

 

Not really hot rods but to a 13yr old they were very cool. A friend I played little league baseball with had a brother-in-law that had a new 63 Ford XL fastback w/390 cruiso. Second one a year later a salesman where my dad worked gave me a thrill ride in his 64 Ford 427 4sp. It definitely wasn't stock. I can still hear those solid lifters.

 

About 1961, when I was 10, the neighbor across the street owned a Standard Oil service station. One warm summer night he comes home with a 34 Ford Cabriolet, blue with a white canvas top, a small block Chevy, & 3 carbs, hooked to the old Ford floor shift 3 speed. The car was blue with a white top.

The neighbor took a bunch of us kids for a ride a couple of miles up the road. It was an experience I'll never forget.

The story was that the owner, a mechanic at the station, was bringing the car to Appelton (or Kaukauna) to sell the next week because "those rich city guys will pay big money for a car like this". I think they were talking $1200 or something like that.

 

I think my first ride in a hot rod would have been in about 1974-75 when I was probably 5-6 years old. A friend of my Dad took us for a ride in his newly almost-finished 27 touring. Going down the road the cowl lid blew off because he'd forgotten to bolt it in. My second ride in a hot rod was in the rumble seat of another friend's 32 3-window. My third ride was in my Dad's 33 Tudor.

 

Age 14 or so, A good family friend had recently finished putting together his '36 Chev pickup. Still in primer, chopped, channeled, full fendered, 283 powered, with, at the time, a screwdriver operated 'glide behind it. We drove about a block from my folk's house, Lee pulls over, he gets out, comes to my side, and tells me I'm driving. Still hooked, hard.

 

1968 in my brother`s Henry J 10 Yrs old,straight axle car, sbc and a 4 spd. Took off in first with some wheel spin grabbed traction and wheels came up and i was hooked,now I am 56, and building a Replica of my brothers car.Pete.

 

The car wasn't really a traditional hot rod in the normal sense but it was red and built in 1964...and it was fast,faster than anything this 14 year old had ever ridden in.

The car belonged to the brother of a friend of mine and he had just finished up his 4 year stint in the military, the car was a brand spanking new Sunbeam Tiger. HRP

 

The actual first was in my uncle's 50 Olds 88, which probably isn't technically a hot rod. The one I remember as my first real ride was quite an adventure for an 8 year old. He gave me a ride in his beat up 37 two door sedan stock car, which was a real piece of crap that he never really raced anyway. He was belted into the seat and I was standing hunched over in the rear holding on the the big X in the center of the roll bar when he managed to roll it while sliding sideways in a field of wheat stubble --- while I became a ping pong ball in a tin can. I wasn't really hurt and the car ended up on it's wheels so after some fooling around, he got it started and we agreed not to tell my parents or his (my grandparents) or we'd both be in trouble. And they never did find out!

 

I can remember riding in my dad's car in 1968 but I road in it sence I was born. The car on my avatar.

 

I was a late bloomer,too. I was in my 50's when a group of us started a car club and to get sponsorship for our first car show, the VP picked me up in his '34 Ford 2dr. sedan. It was All Ford powered and a very nice streetrod. This was 1993. I had been into muscle cars and owned a '65 Malibu SS convert, but it wasn't long after that ride that I sold the Chevy and bought a '40 Ford coupe. All of my hotrods have had solid axels up front. I still love how they ride and drive.

 

Hot rods were everywhere when I was growing up in so-cal and I couldn't get enough. Bought all the magazines, etc. My first ride in one was in my best friend's older brother's '55 Chevy with a 327. It would have been about 1971. About 4 years later, my next door neighbor took me for a ride in his '66 Vette roadster with a built 427/4-speed. Scared the shit out of me and I loved every minute. Chrome side pipes, black with light blue pinstriping and "427" lettered on the hood. I wanted that car so bad!

 

I about 63 my cousin Lonnie who was in the navy was living with us will he was home on leave. He had a hopped up 56 chevy. He kind of looked like James Dean and always had a pack of smokes rolled up in the sleeve of his T shirt. He would always take me down to the store or for a ride around town. While not the fastest car around it was awesome to me!

 

This would not be a hot rod by any stretch these days, but when I was 9, my Mom's boyfriend bought a brand new 1950 Olds 88. Our car was a '39 Dodge so you can imagine how I felt when he stabbed that huge 303 cubic incher. I guess that's why they called them rockets cause it sure felt like one back in 1950.

 

My first ride in a hot rod was at age 5 in 1963 in my dads 1949 gmc shop truck with a built up 331 Cadillac.

 

I don't remember ...

Youngest of (6) kids - my Dad brought home a different used car every week.

I do remember a pretty cool 63' Impala SS with front buckets
and a center console shift in a brown color I kinda liked when I was 5 .....

My Dad drove a 50' Dodge D100 with a wood stake bed as his
work vehicle - had a flathead 6 with three on the tree.


Jim

 

my first was in a hemi charger. 68 black on black four speed. it ruined me. i have been a hemi guy ever since. that was about 1978.