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

I'm 51 grew up working on hot rods. My father and I was always in the scene while my friends was playing football and such
I was building with my father built several cars. We built a 32 3w while i was high school that I now own. I grew up
car shows in summer swapmeets in the winter. I lost my father almost a year ago which me and my grandson will
carry on the same tradition. My grandson will someday own the car and he knows it so that keeps his intrest. So I hope that's
A hot rod family.

 

The entire family is sure there's something mentally wrong with me. "Why is he so obsessed with his cars?"
Pretty sure it's actually they who are screwed up. Just don't tell 'em.

 

My rod dripped a dime spot of oil on the driveway apron which was actually county property and on a bus line anyway, not a pristine estate neighborhood. My old man kicked my ride. The shit was on. The old man was 6'5" and had been into weight lifting but this 17 year old was 6'2' 250 and had enough. Figured I could box a bit. Mom was screaming from the porch for us to stop. My old man was from NYC and liked the subway. He wasn't a car guy.

 

I grew up right off of Forest Lane during the late '60s/early '70s in Dallas, so all of my buddies and I definitely wanted street rods. We lived in a fairly affluent part of town and lot's of older guys had pretty tough rides. I had spent every trip to the grocery store with my mom reading the hot rod magazines in the magazine racks. I built replicas of hot rods out of my model car kits, but when it came to getting an actual hot car my dad vetoed the whole idea.
I do recall taking him to look at a '71 Chevy SS Malibu that I wanted, but there was zero chance that I was getting that.

Since I turned 16 before my immediate friends I was allowed to drive my best friend's mom's Cadillac. We could at least cruise Forest Lane in grown-up style.
My friend was only 15, but he conned me into doing bleach burnouts with the Caddy... It would spin one wheel quite well!
They had a LONG driveway and his mom let him drive the car up and down it until she objected to the rubber stripes. The old Cad's rear tire would put out some serious white smoke with the help of some bleach.
Hell, we even tried adding a bit of dish soap to get things spinning real good!
He had a cool mom...

I also had an older friend who grew up in the late '50s and he had a FED in the early '60s.
He drove every car like he was on the drag strip...
He came from an insanely wealthy Texas oil family and had insanely fast street cars. He had a FAST '63 Pontiac Tempest, a '69 Charger, another '69 Charger to replace the first that got t-boned, a Trans Am and on and on... (he is in his '70s now and STILL has a hot Mustang.)
My other friends had pretty tough cars and more tolerant parents.
Lee had a '63 Vette with a mild cam, positrac rear end and a Mako Shark-like body, Philip re-built a '65-ish Mustang in his garage and Largent had a nice '71-ish GTO.
Billy Bob (the neighborhood hillbilly) had a Chevy Nova II that he hopped up a bit.

However, the guy with the hottest car was Mark.
He conned his dad into getting a bare-bones '71 Mustang and having it professionally built into a hot street car. I can't recall the exact details, but it was built by Plaeco (they built actual dragsters.) It had a 428 Cobra Jet with a hot cam, high rise manifold with dual 4-bbls, 4-speed, was tubbed, had a full roll cage. It was more car than any teenager ever should have had. He owned a Trans Am, too, so because he was a bit intimidated by the Mustang it was a garage queen. We took it out on Forest Lane on occasions, but it attracted the attention of the police pretty soon, so they watched for it.
There was also another kid who wrapped his hot Mustang around a light pole and died at about this time, so the police watched Forest Lane pretty closely.
Mark's Mustang sounded like a dragster and not a street car, so if he opened it up everyone including the cops knew about it.
The police knew where he lived, too... The long rubber stripes in front of his house - conveniently across the street from our high school I might add - were a dead give-away.
His dad wisely realized his error in judgement and made Mark sell that car.

Me? I was given my mom's '64 Valiant...
Within a few years Lee had sold the Vette (too much work) and bought a GTO. It was totalled one night on Forest Lane when a guy rear-ended it going about 60 mph. I wasn't there for that, but somehow all three survived unhurt. The "goat" had it's rear bumper pushed up into the back seat and it burned to the ground.
Philip wrapped the Mustang he lovingly re-built around a tree the day he got his driver's license.
Largent drove his GTO for a few years until his Grandfather agreed to buy him a new Vega GT.
The GTO had become un-reliable, so when it came time to trade it in for the Vega GT, Largent refused to drive it to the dealership. Billy Bob offered to drive it and we all headed to the dealership with Largent's dad. Billy Bob took another route... to put the car through it's paces.
He ended up straightening-out a curve on a new street and ripped the front end off of the car.
It seemed like a big deal at the time, but I am sure it barely affected the price of the Vega GT.

So, after a few years passed none of us had hot cars. My buddy's '75 Vega GT didn't count as a hot car even though it looked nice (green with a tan interior.)
I was given a '71 Ford LTD for graduation and I have to admit it was good for "dates" with my girlfriend (it had a BIG front seat.) It was also good for hauling-around band equipment.
Hot rods became less important because I did manage to get my parents to help buy me a '68 Les Paul Custom and a Marshall 100W amplifier. If they weren't going to let me have a hot rod I was going to be a rock star.
So, my hot rod obsession was replaced with guitars and recording studios.
The reason that I still know my older friend from the oil-bidnis family is because his uber-wealthy dad backed our recording business until 2001. Recording equipment was MUCH more expensive than street rods!

I have stayed in the music/audio business all of these years, but when I turned 60 I bought my daughter a junior dragster. I figured that I had waited forty years to go fast and a junior dragster was affordable (wrong...)
If I had the money I'd buy a Super Comp dragster, but none of my friends would help me with it so we stay with the junior dragster.
It sure is fun!

 

Old cars and trucks have been pretty well received by my parents over all. They both understand I have a passion for them, and pretty much let me be. They gave up their garage and driveway space to me when I lived at home, so I can't really ask for much more.
My dad's a very clean guy, so it took a lot for him to accept the oil and grease stains on the garage floor...

 

I am 66 My Dad and Mom were bikers but had a 55 chevy that I remember. My first ride in a real Hot Rod was my older brothers 32 Plymouth coupe chopped, no fenders, black and white interior, primer and a 409 . I was excited as hell 14 years old felt bad ass until the cops were chasing us for speeding. Man that thing flew now I scared as Hell LOL. We got away hid behind my Grand Paps house and watched them go by. Well my brother got his girl fiend knocked up and had to sell it I had just turned 16 and did not have the funds to buy it $500 was a lot of money back then, (still is today lol). Guy that bought it wrapped it around a bridge abutment. Been A Hotrodder ever since the ride. Now I have a 29 Delivery, 32 5 Window Coupe, and a 34 Pickenup. Thanks Mom and Dad and Brother Tom Happy Holidays to All HAMBERS

 

Hi all, the vision is getting a little misty reading some of these stories. Like a number of others, my dad never showed any real interest in the '55 Chevy's I had. He was more of a European car guy. I remember coming home from a dirt bike ride one day and telling him we found an old Minerva in a shed. He told me "now if you were working on something like that I could get interested in it". The only positive comment I recall re the Chevy was when I built a center console for it (hey, this was the early 80's). Dad taught woodwork among other things at technical school and told me I'd done a good job on it. I don't recall him ever riding in the car. Mum on the other hand was more supportive. She paid for the first one and helped me get a bank loan for the second one. She drove both and enjoyed them. Both Mum & Dad are gone now (thanks to the Big C) and I'd gladly give the '55 I have now to have either of them back.

 

sigh...

 

My Dad never hot-rodded cars, and took a rather dim view of my uncle and some of the fast cars he owned (340 Dart, a 240Z, and a '69 Z/28 Camaro)...was even less impressed when my uncle gave me a subscription to HOT ROD Magazine! VW's were my thing, though, and Dad did what he could to discourage me from modifying it; his view was that a car was designed that way for a reason, and there was no sense in modifying it to go faster.

One time, we had to take the Camaro to a body shop for my uncle, so Dad drove that and I followed in my VW. Along the way we got stuck behind someone doing 35 in a 55 zone, and Dad wouldn't pass him, so I passed both of them, and eventually Dad caught up with me. When I asked Dad why he didn't try to pass the slow driver, he replied he didn't think he could make it. "But Dad, you have nearly 400 horsepower - use it!" I'll never forget the look on Dad's face when he heard that. "FOUR HUNDRED HORSEPOWER?????"

These days, though, he is much more charitable toward my various projects, and even laughed when my brother took him for a ride in his '70 Torino and did a few burnouts.

 

Bought 29 Ford 2 door in early 70's. Genuine barn find. Battery and gas and drove it for 2 years. Dad said it was just and old car and he had plenty when he was a kid. He didn't get the old car hobby. He is passed now, but I think he would love my Ford.

 

Dad was always a car guy and interested in anything I drug home. Heck of a mechanic and could make anything run. Lost him about 6 years ago at 85. Wish I could still ask him gearhead questions. He always had the answer. He helped me buy the 36 Plymouth in the avatar in '64 when I was 14. Still have it. Ran the '55 chev in high school. He even challenged me to the quarter mile south of town with his 65 Galaxie. He came home with new respect for the '55. He Didn't know I had swapped the 265 for a ' 62 vette motor bored .30 with 2 fours. Sure miss him.

 

Grew up in a family of 12 kids I was the 7th of 9 boys .my older brothers would scrape out cars using an ax that got easier for them when they got a oxy acetylene torch kit for Christmas one year.Dad never had any interest in hotrods but my older brothers did . Bob had a 40 coupe with a 347 Pontiac in it was fast but sure was hard on those early ford transmissions and axles. Bill had a 46 chevy coupe . I remember them telling stories about putting a flathead ford in it because someone told them you can't do that they did said it never really ran that well so they put a olds motor in it and that really woke it up. So when I brought home my 33 Plymouth coupe at the age of 16 it just seemed natural .Drove my 40j convertible home in 1971 at the age of 17 had a 303 olds and a hydramatic. Still own it today . Mom always liked it when something was wrong with her car one of us boys .could usually fix it.so hot rodding at our house just seemed like a way of life.

 

My old man didn't know which end of a screwdriver to use, so wasn't real keen on having junk cars in his perfectly manicured yard. My first car ( at 15) was a '40 Ford Coupe with a '56 Olds motor with tri-power. Carbs all needed a rebuild and I had neither the money or knowledge to fix them; gas leaked all over the lawn and it soon had a for sale sign on it!

 

Grew up farming and my Dad fixed everything that moved. I helped and learned alot about mechanics from him-he could fix anything and make it run. He would help me with my cars but wasn't crazy about me changing cams etc but went along with it and helped. He knew I was street racing all over from the local cops and warned me. He was not happy about it at all. He was right-finally got caught and spent a little time in the can. He continued to help me with cars after that BUT I was not allowed to drive any vehicle of theirs for a long long time!

 

My dad liked cars and he always had something cool and talked about his old cars. I recall his '54 Ford Mainline, his '59 Ford Ranch Wagon and his '59 Chevy Parkwood. He always talked about his hot '46 Mercury and his '50 Desoto.

I had hoped to find a '46 Mercury to restore while he was alive, but never came across a nice one. I bought my '59 Ford after he passed, but he would have liked it.

 

My dad was a farmer/horse guy and never understood getting greasy on a old car. But when i was 15 he loaned me the 75 bucks i was short for a 61 impala, 348 with four speed. He thought that was a kewl car. He had a 67 new yorker with a 440 that hed punch on when my brother and i were with him without my mom. Hed kick the four barrel in and just grin as that hood seemed like it was gonna get sucked into the carb. Just last summer i gave him a ride in my ol 53 chev shortbox with a 350. I kicked it down and out of the corner of my eye i cud see hom grinning from ear to ear. He always had 49-53 chev/gmc's. All he said was "i dont remember em running like that".

 

My first car, in high school, in 1958 , was a 49Olds 88 ragtop. Of course I customized it: lowered, steel packs, frenched headlights, nosed & decked, louvered hood, real cool! My dad was a hs teacher. Occasionally he drove it to school. The kids thought he really with it, especially when he honked the wolf whistle at the girls or the lady teachers. Speedshifter Greg

 

I am 3rd generation hot rodder, my family is text book hot rodders , before and after the war my grandpa had a model A coupe with a hot v8 flat head , and ran a "hop up" garage . Somewhere in about 1955 + 6 months he got his doors blown off by a 55 Chevy, after that he was building and putting small block Chevys in everything and for everybody , he had a 1949 Ford convertible as his daily driver pulled out the flathead and put a Chevy in it. Started drag racing D gas in a 55 Chevy and built his own version of the 4 speed Hydro and got into the Rochester fuelie's. My dads first car was a 32 5 window with a Rochester injected small block ,this would have been about 1961 at 16 years old. Fast forward 10 years , now dad is married has on daughter and mom is pregnant with me , the 5 window body is traded for a sedan . In the late 70's the sedan is sold and he builds a 57 Chevy still with and injected small block, I didn't know what a carburetor was until I was around 10 years old , lol. My first car ,that i have had since 1981 is a 55 Chevy. 2012 I finished a 32 3 window with , of course, a small block Chevy, it was injected until the stared putting too much ethanol in the gas . So to answer the question ...my whole family aproves and I feel extremely blessed by my hot rod family history. When people see the small block Chevy in my Ford they don't understand I didn't put it in there because thats what "everybody does" . I put it in there because that is what the Davis's have done for over 60 yrs .

 

Dad was 85 when he died, never owned a car in his life. I took him for a ride in my coupe one time, he never said it but I could tell he didn’t care for the experience, too noisy and fast for him.

 

My dad was a hot rodder of sorts but always careful with his money. When I got old enough and got interested in cars he didn't like the idea of me having a project car. Fast forward a few years now I'm in my 30s, married with our on house I got in to hot rodding and was kind of surprised I didn't get to much grief from my dad or Grandpa. They almost seemed pretty impressed

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Let's just say I had to park it in the street and not the driveway.

 

My family was interesting when I got started. Dad was an A to B person; if the car got you somewhere and started reliably, you were good; if it didn't, it belonged in the scrap yard. He did his best to keep me away from his dad and his uncle once I understood what people were saying, while my mom was indifferent to cars (unless it was one of he grandfather's). Needless to say, my dad's attempts to continue his break with the family habits failed. I became the first person in the 5th generation of my family to be a "car guy", a demeaning position in my dad's view. Once I turned 16, I heard all the stories about my late great uncle and his Roadrunner on the strip in Milan, my grandfather's hazardous repairs to Gremlins he bought for why nots, my father's misadventures in his LTD (turns out he knew how to hoon that barge in high school), and all the cars my great grandad had owned. I ended up finding my Tbird not long after (a 1966, technically not HAMB worthy, but very similar to the 1964) and driving it across the country in the Great Race last summer. Putting the engine back in it Saturday, and driving it in the Hot Rod tour in Kentucky this summer. Dad appreciates my car gene some now, as I have gotten him out of a few pickles in the past with his car, but I still have to park the bird "anywhere but the driveway".

 

My parents weren't into anything fast, no hot rods, no motorcycles. When I was about 12 a friend and I started building motorized bicycles. They were crude, but fun. Had to keep mine at my friends house. Never got caught by my parents, but was accused. I was mowing lawns and such, had a paper route. My parents insisted that I save the money.....put it into the bank. I was clever enough to only tell them about 20% of the money I was making. When I was 15 I bought a '47 Ford coupe which had a 401 Buick in it (and a lots of problems)....kept it at my friends house, too, as his parents were cool. Never got caught by the cops, but a neighbor told my parents that they had seen me driving the coupe and knew where it was parked. My parents went to the house......and long story short, my dad said sell it, or I will have it towed to the junk yard. He gave me a week to sell it. I sold it, and lost a few bucks, but I never lost the love of engines and speed. When I was 16, my parents let me buy a '55 Chevy, which was a 265 Powerglide. Within a few weeks it was a 283 Power Pack with 3 speed stick. Took my dad a while to realize the changes, and insisted that I put it back to stock. Parents finally gave up on trying to change my attitude. In a few more months it was a 301, dual quads, 4 speed. My dad took the car to the grocery store, when I was in school. When I got home, he read me the riot act for having way too much power and a shifter on the floor. They never understood, but finally tolerated my hobby. As others have said, the simply did not understand why anyone would modify something that was simply designed as simple transportation. Through this whole period I was not allowed to drive my parents cars. Years later I admitted that I was banking (in my sock drawer) about 80% of what I was earning.....they didn't think that was cool.

 

Ha! My dad was a closet hot rodder on a Harley.....he loved his Harleys and in the 40s he and his buddy joined up with an outlaw biker club..
When I was 15 I'd had a few jobs and always worked....had my own money so my dad and I started looking around for a suitable car. My best buddy had a 50 ford so I bought a 50 crestliner my dad found in the local paper with a cracked block for 50 bucks. He was delighted to help me with the 53 merc motor I found for it...another 15 bucks and 36 bucks for rings/bearings/gaskets. He helped me rebuild it and after 6 months I decided the 50 was just too new! Found a cherry pie 41 tudor sedan super deluxe with a bad motor and he helped me transplant the merc motor in the car..
But after I parked the crestliner at his place, bought a 50 parts car and parked it on his property, had the 41 there and then went out and [with his help] bought a 56 olds convertible school car, he was getting a little "distant".
Then I could NOT pass up a decent 40 tudor from a drunk classmate for only 8 bucks...drove it home and parked it with all the other fords and the rag top..
The ol man come home drunk and read me the riot act....gave me a week to get my shit off his property...let me keep one car and the merc motor. I thought he hated old cars and hot rods at that point.
Later in life he found a bunch-a-old fords up in Northern Oregon where he lived and built a flatbed 37 ford. He bought a 68 mustang parts car, then another one and soon his property looked like it did when I was living with him in high school! I gave him a huge load of shit about it too but he told me "My propitty-my rules"
Next he restored a 30 closed cab pickup. Damn! I wish he'd been more interested in old fords when I was a teen ager...he'd been a lot more fun!

 

My Dad died when I was 5 year old, so it was my mother and younger sister and my mother did not understand my hot rod madness at all, so the answer is NO NO AND HELL NO, cause me to have some really bad years.

 

Well received?!?! Heck, my dad BOUGHT it for me! He figured the trouble it got me in would pale in comparison to any of the "other" things I could get into!

BTW...He was sly! Go read post #34 on the "Best Burnout" thread below for "the rest of the story"!

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...the-best-burnout-you-witnessed.1094806/page-2

 

My grandfather on my moms side built dirt track cars in the 60's and 70's, and my grandfather on my dad's side restored model T's with his brother. my dad was a hot rodder since the early sixties and he also ran a part time body shop out of our garage, i guess i really didn't have much choice...lol. i got my first car at 13. a 1968 impala wagon (rusted half way up the doors) i traded a fiberglass go-kart body for the car. it was ugly and rusty but it had a V8 and a power glide... literally drove the wheels off that car in the field behind my grandparents house. i learned the art of the powerslide and difference between understeer and oversteer in that car...lol
my grand dad would get so mad at me for siphoning the gas out of all the tractors... from then on it has been a long road of buying, fixing, trading and selling cars with some pauses along the way for military service, wife, kids, etc....

 

"Was your hot rod well received by your parents?

I never got to the hot rod stage that early. I brought home a '62 Harley Sportster in 1964 when I was 16 and a junior in high school. Funny coincidence there: the motorcycle arrived the very same day that I was booted out for having a motorcycle. As I recall there was no discussion but just an ultimatum. Funny thing about ultimatums: you have to be prepared for whichever way it goes.

 

First became hooked (addicted that is) when I was 10 years old. Five years later I got what was to be my first hot rod(the F-100 in my avatar). Now being a mopar guy dad couldn’t understand why I wanted it. But 30 years later he’s happy I did.


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Well, lets see. First car I had was a 63 Chevy two. Purchased two chrome wheels from Johnny's Speed and Chrome. Got a lecture from my dad about wasting money. A few months later I purchased two Cragar wheels and got a lecture from my mom about irritating my dad. A few more months passed and purchased two Casler racing slicks (now called retreads). Got a lecture from both parents about irritating both parents. Then purchased a floor shifter that meant cutting a hole in the floor, both parents just gave up.