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Customs What were your grandparents driving when you were a kid?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Lebowski, May 21, 2016.

  1. Buddy Palumbo
    Joined: Mar 30, 2008
    Posts: 3,871

    Buddy Palumbo
    Member

    When I was growing up, my grandparents drove us around in either old Mustangs or grand pop's old Chevy station wagon. My grandpop also collected vintage firetrucks, so we got to ride around in them too ... Pretty normal, really :)
     
  2. This is a little off topic but funny-

    My great grandfather (Pop) was a Cities-Service distributor his partner owned a Cadillac dealership.
    After a few years he built himself up enough to buy a used 56 Cadillac (he traded his Hudson Hornet) in '59 or '60.

    When my great grandmother (Grandma) saw him pull in the driveway she meet him at the door and said "Harold!, what will people think us owning a Cadillac! Putting on heirs owning a Cadillac!

    She would not ride in the car for almost a year, Pop had to take her to church in the 3/4 ton Chevrolet truck.

    Pop had to take Grandma to Albany and she had to ride in the Caddy, she decided that Cadillac was very comfortable and she liked it. To the point she let him trade for a 1960 in 1962, then buy a new 1967.

    The funny thing is everyone else in the family was very happy for him when he got the first Caddy because he came from a blue collar working call back ground.
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2016
  3. My Grandpa worked as a Milkman for Sealtest in Milwaukee. He first delivered with a horse and wagon, later years drove Milk trucks. My uncle filmed him with his trusty 8mm film camera - he wore the traditional uniform wearing a bowtie and cap.
    The cars I remember he drove was a '64 Rambler and a '66 Plymouth Fury.
    The Fury I remember the most.
    I spent some time as a kid with him at his home in the Wisconsin north woods. We cleared land chopping down trees and the chaining the stumps to the bumper of the Fury. After we dug around to expose the main root, the car had balls enough to tear 'em out of the ground. The car had another duty to drive Grandma to town.
    My Grandma was backseat driver, so my Grandpa always had to drive the Fury about 5 under the speed limit. Long line of impatient drivers massed behind the car. Of course, he and I were embarrassed moving so slow. The car never saw its potential until Grandpa and I drove into town for groceries. I reminded Grandpa that "Grandma is not in the car"...he hit the accelerator and with a huge cloud of black smoke, the car was flying'! We were laughing while speeding down the open country roads.
    I'm glad to have spent time with him, I cherish the memories.
     
    Last edited: May 22, 2016
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  4. Raiman1959
    Joined: May 2, 2014
    Posts: 1,427

    Raiman1959

    The LT Mack was my dad's...the 2 Peterbilts were grandpa's....grandpa wasn't too fond of the Mack because it was ''too fancy'' he used to snicker...I think he didn't like the smaller cab! Dad bought the LTL in Portland Oregon, and it was documented as the very last LT made by the manufacturer....this was a 1957 model (the model was discontinued in 1956) and was a customer order by special request, and dad paid dearly for it!!! Grandpa had to drive up to Portland to pick it up (wasn't too pleased), and drive it back ...because dad didn't know how to drive a twin-stick at the time....but boy, dad could sure polish the truck with car wax like a fanatic till he learned! It eventually went over a steep cliff about 1967 and totaled (nobody hurt...log road gave way):(....I'd love to have an LT Mack myself...but they are rare nowadays, and very expensive....grandpa stuck to Peterbilts & his old Ford pickup :D
     
    Last edited: May 22, 2016
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  5. GeeRam
    Joined: Jun 9, 2007
    Posts: 557

    GeeRam
    Member

    Great thread with some interesting stories.
    Wish I could contribute, but none of my Grand Parents ever owned a car.........in fact none of them even learnt to drive!!
     
  6. vtx1800
    Joined: Oct 4, 2009
    Posts: 1,709

    vtx1800
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I have a picture (somewhere) of my dad and his parent's & siblings in an open touring car, probably before 1920, no idea what it was (not a Model T), dad's folks died a year after I was born so I have no idea what they drove, however, the first car that I remember my other grandmother had was a 38 Chevy two door sedan, she traded for a new 53 Bel Aire demo car and then in about 63 she got a new Rambler wagon, my daughter said she drove fast, I'd never ridden with her:)
    Dad told the story when he was just a kid that the whole family was in the car on the way to church, his brother was driving, suddenly they swerved into the ditch and came to a stop. Grandpa asked why he did that and my uncle handed grandpa the steering wheel, it had came off:) Another time dad was riding with a sister and she had a wreck, he got broken glass in his eye and lived from that time on with little vision in one eye. I guess going to the doctor wasn't big on the family list.
     
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  7. olcurmdgeon
    Joined: Dec 15, 2007
    Posts: 2,289

    olcurmdgeon
    Member

    I never new my fraternal grandparents, they passed early. But I do remember my mother's parents who lived in CT. Grandpa was a Chrysler man and he had a "Howard Cunningham" type 1948 four door sedan when I was about 5 or so, first new car he bought after WW2. He always took a drive somewhere on Sunday after church and when I visited I got to stand on the front seat next to him (how did I survive without air bags and a car seat?).
    675625_1.jpg
     
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  8. jetnow1
    Joined: Jan 30, 2008
    Posts: 2,152

    jetnow1
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from CT
    1. A-D Truckers

    mom's father never owned a car, lived in NYC, Dad's dad also lived in NYC but drove a trolley car does that count?
    Dad had a 36 ford that had a worn out flathead, he put in a rebuilt shortblock for $100. Traded it for a 52 chevy
    after they got married, they were broke one month and could not make the payment so they traded it in on a 53
    so they could skip a month. Drove that one till they bought the 63 ford.
     
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  9. tazareno
    Joined: Jul 21, 2010
    Posts: 49

    tazareno
    Member

    This was grandpa's 1953 Buick. A little before my time lol,back of photos say "1953". He always drove Buick's until the late 60's he switched to Cadillac.

    Unfortunately he passed this year.
    I'll always remember the Sunday drives we took when I was a kid.

    Grandma never drove nor had a license,preferred to be a passenger. ImageUploadedByH.A.M.B.1463942482.195668.jpg ImageUploadedByH.A.M.B.1463942494.885843.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2016
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  10. Sadly mine were are gone by the time I was 5 years old so have no clue.
     
  11. mrspeedyt
    Joined: Sep 26, 2009
    Posts: 989

    mrspeedyt
    Member

    quote... (last LT made by the manufacturer....this was a 1957 model (the model was discontinued in 1956) It eventually went over a steep cliff about 1967 and totaled (nobody hurt...log road gave way):(....I'd love to have an LT Mack myself...but they are rare nowadays, and very expensive....grandpa stuck to Peterbilts & his old Ford pickup.)
    that Mack probably had a million miles on it by that time....
    and taz... that's a 1953 Buick pictured. amongst the first V-8 buicks.
     
    Last edited: May 22, 2016
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  12. My dad's mom had my cabriolet from 1930 or 1931 until she died in 1954. My dad bought the car new in 1929 and gave it to her when it was still almost new. I got the car 4 or 5 years after her death.

    My mom's dad bought his 1949 Cadillac new and that is the only car I remember him having. I do no remember his previous car.
     
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  13. Grandpa drove a '49 shoebox coupe. He couldn't hear anything so always revved it uo to 3 grand and slipped the clutch for the first 100 yards until he finally got it going.
     
  14. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Saying LTL to a vintage truck nut is like saying "'32 3 window" to a hot rod guy. About the only thing better is a chain drive Sterling. Great story, very cool that it was the last one. Sorry to hear about its demise, seeing as most of the LTLSW's were sold in the NW, a lot of them probably wound up at the bottom of a gully back in the bush.
    When I was a kid in the late sixties, there was a yellow B-61 that RDM Logging owned, used to go down our little country road 3-4 times a day, steam hissing off the water-cooled brakes, jake on and off all the way down the hill, man you could hear them all the way down to the corner at 232nd about a mile away. We would hear them coming, and run out and stand on the side of the road and reverently watch them go by till they were around the corner and out of sight. It was really something, even though we saw it every day. When we were kids we used to go up to where they were logging, and watch the spar pulling the logs in and watch them load the trucks, that was way better entertainment than watching bugs bunny on the boob tube. It was a pretty remote rural area, the drivers knew us local kids, sometimes the guy that drove the B-61 would offer me a ride back down to our place on the corner. Man, what a thrill! Was it ever loud with the jake on!
     
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  15. Raiman1959
    Joined: May 2, 2014
    Posts: 1,427

    Raiman1959

    ^^^ :D:D:D ^^^ I remember those simpler times!
     
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  16. 2OLD2FAST
    Joined: Feb 3, 2010
    Posts: 5,215

    2OLD2FAST
    Member
    from illinois

    Grandpa was a dentist , loved olds , '50-'52-'54-'57 [he had to have the j-2- '59 -'62 -'64 , retired & the last new car he bought was a '68 cutlass [biggest engine available]
    dave
     
  17. arincee
    Joined: Dec 2, 2007
    Posts: 54

    arincee
    Member

    My grandfather bought a new '49 Mercury right around the time I was born. It's the first car I remember riding in. Gramps always bought new cars starting with a 1926 Star when he was twenty years old. He drove for sixty years and only owned nine cars in his life. I think it's safe to say he got his moneys worth out of every one.
     
  18. This is a photo of my Grandparents, long before, my mom was born. I remember my granddad having a 50 Studebaker pickup, when I was about 8 or 9. It was so beat up. And lucky for me , because I would drive it on his farm, without him knowing. So when I hit stuff he really couldn't tell. ha. ha. Ron... 20151230_154931_001.jpg
     
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  19. When I was a Kid, my Grand Father had a 49 Olds and a 57 Chevy. The 57 I still own.
     
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  20. 55Belairman
    Joined: Jan 11, 2013
    Posts: 445

    55Belairman
    Member

    My Mom's father had a 58 Ford 4 door with a 6 and 3 on the tree. I one time I remember driving it, he firmly told me never to start out in first gear. He said he always start out in second gear. I can't remember what he said about why he did that.
     
  21. 1930 A
    Joined: Apr 8, 2006
    Posts: 133

    1930 A
    Member

    I have a picture of my grandfather with his brand new 1928 Chevrolet sedan, but I don't remember that. I do remember his 1952 Ford 2door sedan. My other grandfather had a 1950 or 51 Mercury 4dr
     
  22. ken bogren
    Joined: Jul 6, 2010
    Posts: 1,056

    ken bogren
    Member

    My maternal Grandfather worked the Ford plant in St. Paul, so of course he drove Fords. My first car ride after being born was going home from the hospital in his 1939 coupe. Next up for him was a 50/51 coupe. Years later after Gramps passed my Grandmother bought a base 1960 Falcon, which she drove until she passed in the late 1960s.

    My paternal Grandfather drove a rapid succession of used Chryslers and Buicks with an occasional Plymouth thrown in for good luck. The rapid succession was probably the result of his driving habits. He often repeated that you were supposed to "drive as fast as the car would go, otherwise they wouldn't build em to go that fast".

    He taught me to drive in the early 1960s, which frequently included exhortations to hurry up and push the pedal to the metal. Occasionally quickly followed by some ... uhhh ... "colorful" comments about how my driving was gonna do us both in. :) Many of these lessons to place on two lane highways on the way to his lake cabin 150 miles from home, and of course tooling around the back roads around the cabin.
     
  23. Mark Hinds
    Joined: Feb 20, 2009
    Posts: 616

    Mark Hinds
    Member
    from pomona ca

    Pops 29 Cabriolet Picture doug 1 159.jpg
     
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  24. MARKDTN
    Joined: Feb 16, 2016
    Posts: 147

    MARKDTN

    My dad's parents had a '58 Plymouth Savoy 4dr with a 318 and a 69 Dodge D100 pickup with 318. Both are still on the farm today. The Savoy was parked in 1975 and still sits behind the barn. The truck is in a different barn. It still runs and has 42K miles. My mom's parents had a '71 Buick Wildcat 2dr with 455 and a '74 F100 with 360. I was supposed to get the Wildcat as a HS graduation present but my cousin needed it worse than I did. He promptly pulled the engine and smushed the rest.
     
  25. My maternal grandfather died early and my grandmother never drove. The earliest car I remember that my dad's parents drove was a '46-'48 step-down Hudson. After that was 2 or 3 Ramblers until they both quit driving.
     
  26. My grandparents had a 48 Chevy and a 52 Chrysler. Grandma drove the Chevy from her apartment in Southwest Missouri to their farm just south of Kansas City once a month while she was still working, then they got the Chrysler, a more comfortable over-the-road car. A hail storm in 1960 broke out the windshield in the Chrysler, but not the Chevy, and even though the hailstones were the size of baseballs, didn't dent either car. Ruined the roofs on the house and barn, though. Old steel was thick and strong.
     
  27. Hnstray
    Joined: Aug 23, 2009
    Posts: 12,355

    Hnstray
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Quincy, IL

    I was born mid '40s......my first recollection is my Dad's Mom drove a '35 Packard coupe and later got a '50 Ford Club Coupe. In '56 she bought a St Louis Blue Plymouth 2 door.....six/stick.

    Ray
     
  28. Retrorod
    Joined: Jan 25, 2006
    Posts: 2,034

    Retrorod
    Member

    My Grandparents had a Willis coupe and later a Henry J. I remember my Grandpa rebuilding that Henry J engine. He killed the whole set of pistons after a few days soak in some kind of "cleaning solution" he mixed up in the basement. I never knew what he cooked up but the last I saw of that car it was being towed away behind a Studebaker pickup...with all the engine parts piled in the bed.
     
  29. 1936 5W
    Joined: Aug 22, 2015
    Posts: 42

    1936 5W
    Member

    I don't remember my paternal Grandfather ever driving an automobile; I don't think that he ever had a driver's license, however he did drive a stagecoach in the early 1900's & delivered mail. He did drive a 1948 Farmall Cub Tractor on his small farm, which was the first vehicle that I remember driving ( while sitting on my father's lap)Whenever my Grandparents went anywhere, my Grandmother always drove an early 1950's Chevrolet sedan, than a 1959 Ford Galaxie 4 dr. sedan. On my mother's side. my Grandparents drove a 1955 Packard (yellow with white top.) and then after my Grandfather passed, a 1961 Chevrolet Impala hardtop. In 1972 my Grandmother gave me the Impala(still a beautiful car) if I could get to L.A. and drive it home to N.Y. but being young , stupid & more interested in a girlfriend at the time I passed on it. And we all know about hindsight.
     
  30. 50Fraud
    Joined: May 6, 2001
    Posts: 10,101

    50Fraud
    Member

    My granddad drove a '36 Pontiac. He was a very funny guy, and he named his car "Pontius Pilate".
     

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