Hot Rods Was your hot rod well recieved by your parents/family?

My obsession began in 1963 when I bought a 1932 Ford 5 window coupe,suffice to say it was not well received by my dad and at that time hot rods were not looked upon favorably by the general public or the police.

I am in my mid 60's now, my parents passed a long time ago and times have changed,the general public really doesn't notice hot rods and the police are sometimes our fellow hot rodders.

My dad finally warmed up to the idea but continued to be stunned with my obsession,my younger sister still refers to me as her Geriatric Delinquent brother. HRP

 

My dad had the idea hot rods were very expensive and I shouldn't be wasting my time and money. Utill I sold a couple for several thousand dollars that cost me a few hundred to build. His tune changed rapidly.

 

My parents were okay with it since we turned out some nice cars along the way. Everyone in the family likes the Ford.

 

My father was a OG hotrodder from the '50's.
I didn't have a choice. My father and mother were very active in the hobby and as a child I went everywhere with them. All our family friends were hotodders too so I thought everybody had hot rods and old cars in there lives.

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Danny my experience has been pretty much the same as yours. And they were even more horrified when I went from street driven hot rods to oval dirt tracks

 

When I brought home my '47 Ford with the Lincoln motor in it I had to park it in the farm lane next to the house!
My step-dad equated hot-rods with juvenile delinquents.........

 

Dave,I would think most of us 'ol greybeards experienced similar disdain for our chosen means of transportation.

Parents that had lived through the depression understood trying to make something last but spending money unnecessarily constructing a hot rod was inconceivable. HRP

 

NOT AT ALL...But it's never too late to have a happy childhood!

 

My 61 Impala was the first family car as my dad never drove and after he died and we moved to a bigger city my mom decided it was time to get a car and I was the designated driver. The only stipulation was not to have the car out of service too long because she really had gotten accustomed to this new found freedom. This car had a 348/3 speed and it had five spokes when bought and about the only real hot rod mod was the Hurst shifter I put in it so it was never down very long. That changed when I got my 57 Chevy though because I had been absorbing everything I saw in the car magazines and once I started making a little money from yard mowing and paper route it seemed like it was tore down constantly. I kind of learned what it's like to be a flat rate mechanic because mom always kept me on the clock but seemed to like the attention the 57 got when it was done, not that it was ever done as the car magazines had something new every month.

 

not unlike DDD
but add ,SNOW shoveling ,raking-n- mowing , and paper route.
(when we lived back east)
My Dad said it was me getting into trouble and not the car,
until i said ya then you drive it to work and see how that goes for ya.
he came home and said he was stopped, i said see its the CAR not the DRIVER...lol

 

My parents whole heartedly supported my obsession, even funding projects at times. The thought was they knew I was in the shop and not out getting in trouble, I'm lucky though, possibly the best parents a person could ask for!


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My Dad didn't get it then, still doesn't, He's 89!
My Dad was into sports, playing, watching, reading about, I never got that!
We are polar opposites, Thank God my Wife and Kids get it and have neat cars of their own.
KK

 

Well HRP I'm 29. So I was born into it. My father said in the 80s when his friends were getting hitched and having kids the 57s and the gto's and whatever else got sold.
My father decided to just park the 55 and 57 chevys and forget about them.
My uncle Stan did the same with his 70 Bee and 70 imperial.
So when I was old enough my father and I brought them back out and now we are still driving the cars he bought when he was in his early 20s.
Most family and people in general just can't wrap their heads around it. How can you go to work 10+ hours a day then come home and go straight out to the garage till midnight??
I just tell em it's a passion. If you cant understand it then it's not for you.
The only people that bug me are family who try to tell me I'm wasting my time and money. I "should" be doing something else.
I just ignore it.


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My dad told me about loading his friends up in his 1935 Plymouth sedan and running down the road. They would get real close to the guardrail and pitch the car sideways so they could shoot sparks off the rear bumper. That would have been early forties. My Mom talked about the Buick that he milled the head on and blew up the motor. I have pictures of the 1940 Pont conv that he rolled with my mom and his cousin riding with him. He also raced at Dayton Speedway here in town as an amateur. After he had us kids [4 sons] he never really did the car thing any more. I guess that is why he never questioned anything I did. I do wish I would taken him to some shows before he passed. I do not think he even rode in any of my old cars.

 

My mom had 8 brothers and 2 sisters..my youngest uncle from her side was 2 months younger then me..hey it was hill billy/ country thing...they all had hot rods..64 impala..gtos...early 50 chevys...my mom had a 64 impala ss convert...283 4 bbl with bucket seats, console..but was ordered as a 3 on the tree...ut worth a bunch today...
But my first street car was her kid sisters (my aunt Stella) left over 64 lemans 2 dr convert...3 on. the tree..but was a 6 banger...my moms younger brother Jimmy scored a 389 3 deuce with the 4 speed complete from his buddy who had been rearended in his GTO...it almost made it into the 64..but my step dad kilt that..claimed insurance was tooo hi for a 16 year old...makes my wonder if the swap had been done..if id survived it...had lots of fin with moms 2 dr 68 Catalina..3 on the tree..400....convert...it'd roast em till ya lifted... I knew cause at just over the 2000 mile mark, i over revved it and collapsed all the lifters...mom didnt buy it when they got there to have it towed to dealer..told her it just quit running after i pulled out of mcky d's....me n my friends coasted it a good half mile down the road before pulling over..buy t the stink of tires n clutch tipped mom off..she walked back up the 4 lane road, Glenway ave, heading towards the golden arches..right smack down the center of the road...till she found the two long, long tire marks from roasting 1st n 2nd..that cost me another year before i was permitted to own more then 6 cylinders......so me n my buddies got together n bought a 4bbl adapter for the 6 banger manifold in the 64...had to switch trans over to spark-o-matic floor model as column shifter was shot...burned rubber preety darn good

 

HELL NO! My dad was a road-race/sporty car guy, he HATED it!
My first car was a total shitbox flat black pinto with a fender shaking, window rattling 11/1, 246@050 solid lifter 302, my Grandma gave me her low mileage one owner '67 Falcon on the condition that I "didn't make it sound like that awful black car". That would be the one that's getting a rowdy solid lifter Boss 351 clone right now...

 

No problems from my family for me. Dad was a racer, my Mom put up w/ racing 40 years , I grew up going to dirt tracks, Cruising/Street Racing for me from 16-21, At 21, Started in his Midget and went on for 21 years ending w/ Winged 410 Sprint cars. My second and current wife (32+ years) understood my passion(racing/obsession) and supported me, when I stopped racing, she was very happy (relieved) likes the car hobby, it's less stressful, safer and you can participate at your own level, $$$, what ever that may be. The Car Hobby Was, Is and Will continue to be my interest to my end. I have been very Fortunate/Lucky, Have much to be Thankful for through the Holidays.

 

Dad was a racer, drag racing and circle track. I was born in 69 and grew up around sprint cars and hotrods.

 

My Dad loved old cars and trucks, Mom too, but they liked them mostly original. When I got my
35 ford sedan, it was a bone stock, 36000 mile car. I drove it over to my Dad's house, so he could
see my new ride. He looked it over and said, "Son, that's a nice car. I suppose you're gonna f*** this one up too"

 

My Dad was all about practical, cars were for transportation, trucks were for work, that's it. So yeah, he never liked my cars and hated it when I started building hot rods and customs professionally. Wanted me to do something "worthwhile" with my life. Mom on the other hand was always supportive, sometimes a little too much. I was doing custom paint in the 70's in the home garage, she would come out and critique my work since she read in "Hot Rod" how it was suppose to be done. Mom also talked my Dad into loaning me the money to open my first real shop.

 

"Well Received?" In my family (with 3 older brothers and a car enthusiast dad) it was EXPECTED! I had 3 cars before I was legally able to drive. Of course living in the country helped a lot as well as the time I grew up (I'm 64 now). I used that time to learn things about cars that maybe I hadn't learned from my older brothers. By age 16, I had completely rebuilt 3 engines, a transmission, and a transaxle. I had a 59 Volvo with fenderwell headers and a 283 Corvette engine. That surely led me to my 39 Ford 2 dr with 389 Pontiac (similar bodyshape). This was all before I was 18. Nothing has changed except for being older!

- EM

 

My first car came free (1958-59) as it was originally my dad's first new car in 1929, and had been in the family ever since, and came back to me/my dad when my cousin went into the Navy. Dad insisted it not be driven until I got hydraulic brakes on it, and I slowly got it straightened out and running by the time I was old enough to drive. It was a mild hot rod, still with the banger motor, but I still got a couple speeding tickets fairly soon after I got my driver's license. My parents did not understand my hot rod addiction, but did not strongly discourage it. My dad helped me a little on the cabriolet, mostly with replacing a minimal amount of body wood.

...and I still have the same car, 57 years later, all fixed up and pretty now, and I know they would be proud if they saw it now.

 

Sisters never liked idea but mom loved it

 

NO!!!!! If it did't have anything to do with hunting, fishing, or camping, I was "discouraged" from doing it. BUT, you can't fight a car guys "drive" for everything mechanical/automotive. My Father was a career military man, then a Washington State Drivers License Examiner (back when they were still an extension of the Washington State Patrol). He did drive my 70, 340 Dart, Vitamin C Orange with a twin scoop, blacked out hood, lifted up, Cragar S/S wheels with big and little tires, headers into 16 inch Cherry Bombs, and a big Sun Super Tach hanging from the drivers sun visor pivot (seeing him in that car was a "SIGHT"!!!). Other than that, and coming to one drag race event to watch me and my front engine dragster, I think he considered me a hot-rod-hoodlum. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I got into stock cars after losing my license street racing, it was a as-good outlet, maybe better. Met a lot of great people that are friends today. My dad was okay with it and even gave us a few bucks to buy tires now and then, we lettered his name on the car as a sponsor.

 

My dad loved it when I got the Poncho - he proposed to my mother in the same model/year of car. My wife - she's grown to like it. My 2 girls - well they said it looks like a turd (kids can be rough) and wouldn't be seen in it. So ever since, its affectionately been called "The Turd". (And I think the girls have warmed up to it a bit over the years)

 

Growing up, my dad was a car guy, but building a hot rod never happened. Raising a family always got in the way. So, when I got into cars, he was all for it. I went through a few muscle cars and he thought they were cool. Sadly, he didn't live to see my T Bucket. He would have loved it.

 

My Dad never approved much of hot rods or motorcycles,he would always tell me that"you will get killed in that damned thing and your mother will never speak to me again".His XK -120 and early E type Jags were "different" of course according to him.One day when I was about 15 my Mom was going through a box of old stuff and came upon a picture of Dad in 1930 in or around lafollette Tennessee standing next to his SPRINT CAR! She handed me the picture and said "go show this to him and ask if he remembers it".He never said much after that for some reason.

 

My dad raced motorcycles, so playing the "that shit'll kill you" card was a non-starter!

 

As long as I lived under my parents roof I was forbidden to own a motorcycle but I was hell bent and determined to own one and almost as quick as I moved out I bought a 1956 Panhead,seems my parents were smarter than I thought and their prediction that I would end up getting hurt fell on deaf ears....

They were right about motorcycles. HRP