Hot Rods What was the 1st car that "wowed" you

Most younger guys probably never heard of Tommy Fosters Channelled 32 with full dress flatty..saw it at Cincinnatti car show,1951

 

Went to a car show in my teens and saw Roths Beatnic Bandit and heard it run---WOW1

 

I was just finishing high school at the end of the 50s and I guess while I saw a lot of cars in magazines and a few around town, the car that had the biggest influence on me was a '37 Chevy NASCAR coupe, built and owned by Gordon Ross of Ross Welding. Gordon was a machinist and welder, the coupe was built neatly and won a lot of races. It occupied its own little room at the weldshop, up on stands and clean as a whistle. I can remember going up there from my parent's grocery store just down route 9 and just looking at the coupe and all the speed equipment on shelves in that room. Gordon ran the open events at Langhorne and Oswego so there was Hilborn and blower equipment for the car. Anyway for some reason Gordon took a liking to a kid who just wanted to hang around and learn about cars. Soon I had bought his "mule", a '47 Ford tudor that he broke engines in with by pushing his welding truck with the tudor up and down route 9. I got the car and the offy adaptor for the princely sum of $50. Then I got a 283" from Volce Salvage in Poughkeepsie and pestered a patient Gordon to give me advice as I rebuilt my first motor. It turned out great, my tudor was one of the few hot rods in our little town, and that started me down this long road of building hot rods that has lasted to this day. Here is a picture of Gordon (on right) with driver Buddy Krebs (center) at one of his many wins at the NASCAR track in Agawam, MA (now a six flag amusement park).

 

Carl Stone,s B/SR the rolling stone. I lived a in the area and went to high school with his brother Ronnie Stone. Saw the car often. The outher car was Charlie Adams roadster . And have a good friend wbrw32 that worked at Custom Automotive on Pearl street. And the T on the TV series 77 Sunset Strip. Frank

 

When I was about 4 years old my dad bought a small runabout boat. They guy delivered it to our house with a brand new '59 Impala convertible, red with white interior. To this day, I can remember looking out my second story bedroom window as the guy backed into our driveway. I ran down stairs and out the door, right past the new boat to admire the car! We lived in rural VT and my dad had a VW bug at the time so to see a big cool car like that was pretty impressive. While I am still a boater to this day, that car has always stuck in my mind.

Years later when I was around 13 or so I rode my bike into town to a shopping mall parking lot. There were two '67 big block Vettes and a Deuce coupe parked there. The coupe was a yellow Graffiti style car but this was a few years before the movie came out. I must of spent hours staring at that car, taking in every little detail. For some reason the thing I remember the most was looking at the headers and how on one side the rear pipe was farther forward than on the other side. I knew how engines worked but had never worked on one or rebuilt one so never realized that the cylinders / connecting rods couldn't be directly opposed to each other and had to be one in front of the other. Funny how you remember little details like that. Anyway, that car had a big influence on me as you can tell from my avatar.

So those are the two real life cars that impacted me the most.

 

I was 13 or 14 when a coworker of my dads told him of a 47 ford coupe he had for sale, we went to look at it and I fell in love with it. Didnt have any money but I daydrempt about that car for years. I did get a 47 when I was 20 in 1988 and still have the old girl.

 

HI Frank,,I wish I could take credit for the T on 77 Sunset Strip,but cant,,That one was Grabowsky's

 

Three cars I wanted my cousins 1957 Fury with a swapped in 354 In High school there was a 61 401hp starliner and 1962 Savoy Max wedge in town.

 

At a local Ford dealership in Sistersville, WV, was a absoulty stunning '56 Fury that was traded in on a whorehouse red, T-Bird Sports Roadster. They had the Fury in the showroom until it sold!
Another that impressed me, was a mildly customized, Marina Blue, '54 Pontiac Conv, called "Sweet P", at a indoor car show in either Parkersburg, WV or Marietta, OH in the early '60's.

 

I was about 6 years old, my parents and I went to visit my brother who was stationed at Pensacola FL.
We were in our 1959 Olds Dynamic 88 near the base when I saw a Chopped 49 Merc, in primer, my dad was a car guy and explained why they chopped the top to make it look different than the other cars. Must have left an impression, I still remember and that was a long time ago. When I was in grade school my time was spent either bothering the teenager with the 55 Nomad drag car or the guy with the "Late Model" stock car 62 Chevy with a 409, those W shaped valve covers were as cool then as they are now!

 

See my avatar. Hands down the coolest car I have ever seen. I actually used to play in it as a kid.

 

It is the car in my avatar. 1948 chevy business coupe. My dad put me in the front seat to steer the car while my uncles and him pushed it out from between two fences. The car is now mine.

 

Mine was '40 Ford 2dr sedan, I was about 8 years old riding the big yellow school bus in a small town in northern Michigan. A teenager had a baby blue sedan, whitewall tires, baby moon caps, flathead & glass packs. I got in trouble for hanging out the bus window drooling! lol

 

64 Max Wedge.

 

My Dad loved road racing and we went to a lot of races from the mid 60's until the early '70's. For me it was the Cobras. SCCA A production(big block)and B production (small block) Cobras. Still love 'em.

Kevin

 

65 Plymouth A990, aluminum front end hemi. When the cat started it all heads turned to that direction! The ground shook. It consistently ran 10.50 on a 11.08 record. It was offered to me for $5,100. I could not because my wife would leave. In hindsight 2 birds with one stone .

 

This. when I was a kid!

 

Well, hell! Growing up in a drag racing family, there were a lot! But the first one I have a clear memory of was a either Candy or Metalflake (can't remember which, but it glowed) Emerald Green '34 Ford show car that belonged to one of the mechanics at my Dad's Texaco Station. I was in elementary school at the time, so I wasn't more than 8-9 years old. The next thing was the Red Barron Monogram model kit (my first) I built in the office of the same Texaco. Still have a fascination with with T-Buckets 40+ years later!

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Growing up in the San Gabriel Valley, seeing Cal Tanaka's coupe was pretty much IT for me!

 

Ok--I gotta play the "2nd car that wowed me" card here. You'll have to go back to my first post, then you may see a pattern here.
Around 1970 (16 yrs old) I'm driving down a street I hadn't driven on very many times (just got my drivers license) and in the distance I hear something that was very unfamiliar to me.
I get to the scene and "what do ya think I saw", just some Plymouth sitting in a driveway, not all that much to be excited about so I go around the block to explore further, nothing, come back to "the scene" and guys getting in this car, keep in mind this was at a time when a car had to be a hardtop for me to take much notice in.
The guy starts this thing and just as 270dodge said THE GROUND SHOOK.
Ok, I just had to stop even though I'm just a kid and I know I'm gonna ask all kind of dumb questions, long story short, this Plain Jane Plymouth ended up being somewhat of a rare car(even back then), a 1966 Belvedere two door sedan factory Street Hemi car.
This car had everything I had seen in magazines that was cool, Hemi engine, headers,
two carbs, four speed, Hurst shifter(bench seat), Dana 60, slicks, big tachometer, etc.
I could go on and on but this is supposed to be a "first car that wowed me" thread so I wont. I'll just say this; that car was every bit the legend that they grew to become.

 

My pop's '70 Mach 1. Like this:

I remember riding in it, hearing the 351C and toploader going through the gears.... unable to see over the dash. =)

 

I was 7 years old in the late 50's, my next door neighbor had a teenager with a lot of friends. Every weekend, the parents went to Lake Tahoe for gambling and the kids had wild parties on Saturday night. Lot's of 32 flatties, roadsters and 1940's coupes. Candy and scalloped paint jobs and loud exhausts. My neighbor had a '53 Starlight Coupe, deep Pearl Purple with white scallops, jacked up in front and dragging in the rear. That's my first car that wowed me.
Oh ya, when the cops came about 2:00am to bust it up, every week...and I watched them pulled the drunk half naked kids into the squad cars. The rest ran to their cars and lit them up. That was a real sight for a 7 year old!

 

My dad took me to see the Batmobile at a car show at the civic auditorium when I was really young, got me hooked on car shows for sure. However, my first real car obsession came when my brother got a VHS duplicate of the movie Cobra (gotta love the 80’s). Stallone’s character drives a nicely modified 1950 Mercury and I have always loved that stance and how those cars look. I also remember how upset my dad was when they trashed the car in the movie, he kept saying over and over, why would they trash a car like that??!!

 

I dont even know the make it was an early 30s coupe with a blown hemi sticking high above the grill shell no room for a hood or sides. It was probably honduras marroon. It wasnt fancy no perfect gaps or paint but it shook the ground when it came in to cubbys in hackensack one friday night. A crowd gathered around as it parked and puked coolant. My hairs on end just thinking about it. I went to cubbys friday night cruise just about every friday and never saw that car again. I hope its the same and not some billet easter egg.

 

What car did you own that wowed you would make for a good thread, no matter how many there is always one that was just the cats whiskers.

 

Besides the obvious SWC Willys and Ohio Georges', this was one cool hot rod owned by the late Gary Beaumont, that used to visit our house. This pic was backing out of our drive, just before our families left for Memphis Nats '75. Second pic is how it appears today via hamb pic I ran across .

 

Mine was this 62 sport fury which I first spied around 1979. Was the first spark for my mopar passion and as fate would have it I was able to purchase that same exact car just last year.

 

A 1956 Ford Mainline Business Coupe. Still have one!!!

 

Had a model of this one , when I was a kid, and now Bruce is a friend of mine!

 

RE: What was the 1st car that "wowed" you

Blame my dad.