Art & Inspiration Art of the Vintage Car Club Coat...

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Art of the Vintage Car Club Coat...

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The original jackets are in the fine art prices, for good reason. And the other problem is the those guys were small teenagers so unless you are a real small person, or a woman, they are wall art.
My favorite modern is the wool long coat that Morty did for the 18 HOP UP members back in the days of the River City Reliability Runs (yea Kevin and Gad Man, I'm talkin about out you).
I have looked into hook and loop embroidery and those artists are few and far between.
But I love em.

 

Club jackets and plaques may seem lame today but they were very cool back in the day. In SoCal, where I grew up, every red blooded gearhead wanted to be in a car club. Even the guys that the car clubs didn't want in their clubs had the Lone Wolf patch and plaque.

 

Man have times changed.

 

The Handler's Racing Association, operators of Bremerton Raceway since 1959, were originally a "car club", of sorts. They stepped in, along with a couple of other clubs, to start Bremerton Raceway in 1953, and took over completely in 56'. I still have my two jackets from my 88-92 years of membership; a heavy coat and a lighter weight jacket, plus the shirt. My wife has a jacket as she was considered an associate member. I won't wear them anywhere any longer because someone always wants me to sell them, and that's just not going to happen. There are a few older jackets and plaques still out there, and I'd love to come into some of them to hang on my shop wall, along with an old sign I have from the track. ^^^^ is right, times have changed. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

If you want to be a total Poser and a Dork, wear an old car club jacket you have no business wearing. I'd feel more comfortable wearing a pair of MOM jeans.

 

Still have my T-Timers Jacket and Plaque from back in the '60s. Membership "Gold Card" too.

 

This pristine condition car club jacket patch from 1956 just came up on EBAY and will soon spend its remaining days on display at the Woodland Auto Display Museum in Paso Robles, CA.

 

I get that, I think. But... isn't wearing an old jacket a bit like driving an old car? There's something very cool about the art. I have some surf decals on my car, from board makers whose boards I haven't ridden. In some ways, yes that makes me a poser. I prefer to think that I'm sharing the art with others, not pretending to be someone I'm not.

That having been said, my theory on the current, pitiful state of affairs is that things first started to go downhill with pre-washed denim!

 

Sticky Beaks!????! Bahahahaha. I don't believe I could be a Sticky Beak member. That's worse than my club's name...The Pile Drivers.

 

love the old jackets, too cool!
but can someone explain what is going on in this picture?

 

I got this one when I joined the Road Runners in 1960. Still hanging in my closet, but no longer fits.

 

Along the "same" lines. I was doing a pre-op chest X-Ray on a patient admitted for surgery. His admitting diagnosis was hemorrhoids, and his occupation was pile driver. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I love the old artwork! My favorites are Glendale Stokers and Burbank Road Kings.

 

I see no harm in wearing an old club jacket as a tribute. Same as throwing on a favorite sports team jersey. And better than letting them go to a landfill...

 

I'd rock a "Hollywood Knights" jacket if I found one to fit. Names? Well, Singlefinger Speed Shop is new, and taken of course.
I thought "Pubic Intruders" would be kool but I think that's taken as well, but not a car club (!).
Some names are a bit trite, things like Piston Pushers, The Crankshafts, The Lifters, etc. This is the place to get creative so c'mon bros and sis's let's get to it. I'll start and ask in advance to be forgiven for any, well...
Starship Enterthighs
The Ballers
Midnight Mayhem
Fire and Ice (for snowmobile fans with summer hot rods)
Last Laugh (for fans of N2O, must have "juice" to be a member)
Hiway From Hell (maybe a bit too 'biker'?)
The Metal Flakes (just for fun, no offense to actual flakes)
The Crossbones (with some Ford 'bones in the logo)
The Fuel Fossils (or Fossil Fuelers if you thnik nobody'd get it)

Ok, your turn

 

My all time favorite is the Dingle Berry Bandits.

 

Can't beat the "Dingfods".

Mick

 

Hey Fellas, we used to have a place in Washington do our jackets. they had a huge fire and had to close their doors. (...???..sash company??)
Anywho, they turned all their customers over to Suzie's Sewing. We recently had a few jackets done by her, for new members, and can't say enough about how nice she was to deal with. Work turned around in a timely manner and prices that were very reasonable, in comparison, to anyone else. I even bought Dickies work jackets online and had them shipped to her. Check them out.
406-587-1719
[email protected]
115 Arrowhead Tr. Bozeman, MT 59718
https://susieslettermanjackets.com/

 

I'm a member of the "Sultans of Sarcasm"...I'd show you our jacket, but then I'd have to kill you.

 

We were once a "gang" of street racers called Michigan Street Unlimited. We got legit too soon and became a club of nice guys.

 

funny....most hopefully picking up a 70 year old club jacket of my uncle's next week.....funny it doesn't have anything on it...but you can just tell....and why he kept it.......hopefully meeting with one of the founders as well....

 

I watched ebay for over a year, and finally found a vintage wool jacket that fits the bill. And it has no artwork, so I shouldn't tread on anybody. We'll see if I ever come up with a concept worthy of the commitment required to risk ruining a really nice vintage jacket. As stated above, finding one that will fit a chubby middle-aged guy is pretty hard.

 

When the Piston Pounders was formed in 1957 in San Diego, the first priority was plaques. The price of jackets was kind of stiff for high schoolers so we opted for shirts. Besides, living in SoCal, who needed wool jackets?

 

I guess all the guys that weren't around back then that are into old cars now are posers. i'll happily be a poser. I Love the old cars.

 

Isky's "Bung Holers" was the best ever!

 

Still a work in progress but here’s my Dads old Top Hats car club plaque from the 1950s that he had in his 50 shoebox now it’s in mine. Still in the original paint he put on it as a kid.

 

I have his car coat too! It’s a little rough on cuffs but real nice in black and white. It use to fit me when I was younger (wore it trick or treating) but that was a long time ago and about 40 lbs.

 

For as small as Redlands was in the 50's there was a quite a few clubs,,,
And a bunch of them show for the Saturday morning Donuts and Lugnuts at Karen's donuts on the edge of Mentone.