I grew up in northrn NJ about 30-40 miles west of NYC. There was very little "real" hot rod activity that I can remember. In '64 I paid $50 for a '54 Chevy 2-door sedan. I put a Hurst shifter in it, baby moons, and STP stickers in the window and I was stylin'. We used to go to Island Dragway a lot where the '54 ran blistering 21 second times. In my high school there was a guy with the sweetest '60 Impala. Black over red, running a 348 with tri-power. Nobody that I knew in those days had the money for things like mag wheels or any real speed equipment. After my '54 died, I got a '58 Olds 4door hardtop. I had a line on a factory J-2 tri-power set up for it but before I could get it the guy's garage burned to the ground and destroyed everything in it. I took the Olds to Florida with me when I enlisted in the Navy and sold it to a buddy and then helped him put the entire Olds drivetrain into his '55 Chevy sedan. It was actually easier than it sounds and it ran really well.
Late 50's early 60's In my part of South Carolina........most of the " hot rods ' were working cars.....you know..tankers. Moonshine was and still is a big business . Stock looking 39 - 40 Fords with a Olds, Caddy or SBC engines. My uncle had a 270 HP 57 150 2 door 57 Chevrolet.....from the factory. His was a tanker too. My neighbor had a 32 Ford coupe with a J2 Olds in it. He was a policeman. Sometimes, when it was cold...he would give me a ride to school.......instead of having to wait for the school bus. The 32 was noisy, fast and smelled of gas .........so I loved it. I believe his coupe is the reason I have DEUCE fever today.......
Dad's first car was a 57 ford truck with a 312, mid sixties he traded up and got a 64 skylark. He wasnt a real hotrodder but he was mowing yards for money and saw a 60something caddy wrecked in someones backyard, made a deal mowing the grass for them and took the engine home. He had the local mechanic help him wedge the caddy engine in the skylark and worked for the mechanic changing tires until he earned the money for a 2x4 intake for the caddy engine. He filled the frame rails with lead so it would handle the curvy roads in his part of Missouri better and said it would throw the ac belt if you gunned it from the line. Later after he married my mom he traded the skylark in and got a 66 impala with a 283, he was pissed though. He had put money down on a 66 chevelle w2ith a 396 and his future father-in-law sold it out from under him at the dealership because he thought it was too much car. Paul
1964, my dfad and uncle had a Conoco station where most of the "hot rodders" if you want to call them that, hang out. There was no prewar stuff and anything that had a 6 volt battery in it was worth looking twice at. So there was a really sweet 61 300G with 2-4s, a 64 Malibu 283 that got thrashed real hard all the time. A 58 Ford 300 with a 312 and overdrive. A couple 57s with "fuelie" heads. At least 2 new 409s and a 631/2 427 galaxy.
In the Sixties my Dad had a '55 Chevy with a 301 and a Rochester fuel injection he had gotten for free. In his college years he couldn't afford new tires so he used some off of an abandoned truck. According to my Dad it was one hell of a fast car and would beat anything on the street. Being that he was in Pueblo he was close enough to CDR to go out there every weekend. One day a 55 Chevy with a 413 was up against a Ford Thunderbolt. The Thunderbolt did a real long smoky burnout and came back to the line. In a flash the flagman lifted the flag and the Chevy was haulin ass while the Thunderbolt did the same, but in a different direction. The Traction bar system caused it to lift the front end as it backed right up into a Biscayne at 40 miles per hour! My Dads love for the Drag strip was such that he had gotten in fist fight with his boss because he wouldnt let him take that day off!
Wasn't around in the 60's but the only hot rod in town now days and the only hot rod thats ever been drove to my school is my 34 5 window.
I graduated in 1965 around Sacramento, Ca. I had a 56 chevy 265, a 57 plymouth fury, a 58 impala 283 fi. The hot cars were muscle, vettes, GTO, etc. We cruised every friday night on "k" street, (American Graffiti) and you would see everything. We stayed away form the merc. and coupe guys, they were in car clubs. It was a blast, GOOD CLEAN FUN. I miss those days.
Well My Dad in the mid 60's around Monroe WA bought his first car a 32 5 window out of the local newspaper it was $75 or trade for 283 and he gutted the wiring from a 56 nomad and was going to put the 265 into it He channeled it to where he could see from rear tire to rear tire and chopped the top but he never finished it His second car was a 55 nomad with a canary yellow paint job with cobb webs witch had been owned by the Toppers car club
I was kinda young but I can remember a hoodless black 40 coupe with a super charger that would sit at a muffler shop on Stockton bl. in sac. Iv always wondered what happened to it. Another one that influenced me was a black with flames chopped deuce pick up that I saw one night when my dad took me cruising down town for the first time. It seems like there was a lot of 55 56 & 57 Chevys. I can still see (in my head) a beautiful candy panel painted nomad that got pulled over by the cops. Then there was the black 41 willys coupe street gasser in Santa Cruise...............now im a junky.
I wonder if this thread is active, my dad was active with Nigg and Mahaney. I would like to see some of Hutchins photos
Actually it is posted by a Late Hamber and I thought he (No Chop) was looking for that MSN group that led nowhere and I found a thread with the group info on that link... My Apologies The OP is still active here its another one that has passed within the thread.
hers another link that may help... http://racersreunion.com/paul-hutch...y-nigg-al-mahaney-hemicrosley-sioux-city-1961 There is a Crosley site on FB that I found this on... @nochop I hate FB too but you can navigate it without logging in or having an account but just clicking Not Now when that annoying thing pops up and it goes away... https://www.facebook.com/Crosley-dragsters-717321841712419/
@nochop I think I may be posting old ones to you but I snooped around and see you have posted the pics above I hope the one below is a new one... https://ahrf.com/blogs/jims-news/posts/i-guess-once-you-are-a-car-nut-you-are-always-a-car-nut
I found another thread and you mentioned your Dad's name and I couldn't find any hits. Did he race only in the Crosley?
He raced with the Nobles club. They also ran a injected Olds rail. I’m not sure if the Hemi in the Crosley was before or after the Olds. When we moved to Cal. In 62 the Olds came with us as it belonged to my dad.
I think the "formula" for "hot rodding" has remained constant through time... At least it has in my family and most "car" families I know of. You start with the current year, now subtract 12-18 years, buy a car of that vintage, modify it with parts available from other factory cars or the aftermarket. do the work in your garage, a buddies garage, under a tree, in the street, whatever it takes to get it done. I.E.: My grandad... home from WWII in 45. hot rodded early to mid 30's cars My dad graduated HS in 65, built 48-51 cars Me, graduated in 86, built a number of 75-78 cars Kids today, building early 2000's cars. I know we here at the HAMB like to concentrate on the first and second time frames on my list but "hot rodding" is "hot rodding" no matter the year of the car. Chappy
In 1963 I had a 55 Chevy coupe with a 283 .040 over Duntov cam, 3 speed with a Hurst shifter. In 1965 I put that engine and trans in a 1960 Valiant using Hurst mounts made for the swap. I guess to be a hot rod it had to have a Hurst Shifter. Joe
No offense intended, I was joking about a old thread and using the walking dead analogy in light of Halloween fast approaching. Sometimes my mind wanders. HRP
Thank you......the content of the past in so many cases is timeless and informative. Many times even the pics have stood the ravages of the Red X fiasco...so bring them back to the top...and I see a fair bit of that going on... I can't help but think while reading many of the posts wondering how the members are doing.
The Jalopy Journal
