History Who remembers the car club plaques from the 50s...?

I was a charter member of this club around 1958. Don't know if they still exist.


Myself and a few others started this in 1964. Still in operation


These guys are local, been around since the '50's. Still in business, I think.

 

YIKES!

It's been almost 10 years since I started that thread and I think it's time to start a new one since a lot of the photos that were posted are no longer there. I continue to add photos to my new website and it now has over 9,000 different plaques shown. Many are from HAMB members that posted a photo of their club's plaque on that thread.

 

I saw an ad for an unfinished project here in Phx. that said: "Does not include dragplate". I asked him what's a "dragplate". He said it was the club plaque that he had dangling under the bumper. I said "Hmm...learn something new every day." He said "Well you just learned something old." He's in his 20's and I'm in my mid 60's....Anyone remember these ever being called a "drag plate" back in "the olden days"? I only remember them being displayed in either the rear window or above the bumper. Never dragging the ground.

 

Depends on where you lived back in the 50's and 60's. I think Drag Plate is a term that was used on the east coast and possibly the midwest. If you grew up in California, you probably never heard that term. In So Cal we mounted them on the "gravel pan" or inside the car on the "package tray" so they would show through the back window.

 

Back in the Midwest we hung them below the rear bumper. My friend Roy in his 50 Merc. got a ticket for Plinking, which meant the plaque was hitting the roadway.

 

Thank god you guys are still around to explain this shit

 

Cam Grinders , only one I ever owned , gave it to a buddy , he gave it back to me and I gave it to another buddy....mmmm. Think I may want it back again....

 

I'm Thinkin.....anyone have a pic of that one..

 

A cross of two cams ..I think it was Mineola NY

 

Thought i post a pic of our jacket : sk

 

I used to live in Norwalk, Ct. and I was wondering who the members were back in 59?

I lived there for 15 years and I knew many of the guys into car clubs and drag racing.

Thanks for you help. Jim Hill

 

Jim. I am still gathering info on the club. From what I know the club was formed in 1959 and went to the mid 60s. I became friends with a founding member and reformed the club in 2017. I have wanted to start a time line of Norwalk clubs. When we go to car shows it would be nice to have a display of clubs and history. It has been my mission for a long time to get the younger generation envolved. Showing old Drag plates, jackets, club cards and photos would be a nice way of grabbing the interest of the public. I will pm you. Skip

 

LOL my memories from the '50s start when I was about 4 or 5 in the late '50s and the old man called them "drag plates" not plaques. I do not think that it was a derogatory term on his part, but its hard to tell.

They are cool, always in my mind they belonged on a custom but they make for a nice touch and even better if they are original and the owner has some connection to it.

 

I always took it to mean that the plate would drag on the pavement if mounted low. Sk

 

Skip: Thanks for calling and it was really nice catching up on everything going on with the local car shows.
Looking for forward to seeing your car and the old decals on the windows.

Jim

 

They were popular with the Pachukos in the bay area and they were supposed to drag. "Hey mang check at my low Chebby." "Simon[e]"

I just found a pick of an old tag topper from a local (KC) racetrack that I happened onto a couple of years ago. Its not club related but I think its pretty cool.

 

I had one that I bought for my 50 merc which hung Below the
Rear Plate "the Lone Wolf" I still have the Chain that was used for it
A couple of Years ago I was Selling Most of my Stuff & I sold it
on ebay along with all my AMA Pins & other Stuff.

Just my 3.5 cents

Live Learn & Die a Fool

 

a50merc: call Dennis and get a new plate for your car: nothing looks cooler then to see a car flying down the road with a drag plate dangling in the wind: tag toppers are cool too: sk

 

Dennis O'Brien has a bunch of CT plaque patterns including these from Norwalk .....

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Here's the new thread .....

Car Club Plaques​

 

I found this Throttle Stompers plate 40yrs ago in a pile of hop up gear that was imported into Australia from a long closed speed shop in the US.......does anyone remember seeing one now or back then..........I've assumed that Long Beach is the California version........thanks, Andyd

 

Sunland/Tujunga Calif. Verdugo Hills High School Car Club Plaques from the 50's

 

Jim: great to talk to you: sent pics via email: Bill: thanks for pics: it is my hope to get original plates if i can: easier said then done: i also need to make sure they are from Norwalk ct: there are a few other Norwalks out there: i hope this thread stays alive so we can see more plates: sk

 

I'll help,
My town but I was only about 7 when this club started!
There is a continuation club loosely going now!
Check out the F___book page.
This is my re-pop from the '80s.
It's still a treasure for me.
Added: These could be dragged on the road.
See the chain mounting?
Usually only tail dragging customs could actually drag
them on the road.
I can still remember the sound it made!

 

Our club, The TACH-MASTERS, formed in 1957.

 

Posted this on for sale from Chicopee MA.

 

This was the home town club that I looked up to as a kid. Had some relatives in it and still in existence today!

 

I received a email about the Tarantula C.C. plaque for a defunct club that was here in Anderson,South Carolina.

I had given up hope finding any information short of what Dennis O'Brien offered and that was where the plaques were cast and he speculated them to have been made during the late 50's to the early 60's at Metal Craft in Chicago.



I got a email from a gentleman named Jim and he said he was a member from 1957 to 1962 until he moved away,hopefully I will get a reply soon and I can fill in more of the blanks.

Jim,also told me that 4 of the past member got together for a mini reunion,some hasn't seen each other in 60 years.

He sent me a photo of a original plaque. HRP

 

FYI: The foundry was actually Chicago Metal Craft in Port Chicago, California

 

Road Romans, Reading PA