1948 Ford I bought from the original owner when I was 16 , chrome wheels and Goodyear polyglas. I am told it has been in a barn about 20 miles from my house for the past 40 years, but so far a phantom. Sold for a 1940 that was also from the original owner, put two deuces, Fenton headers, Wiend manifold, and those Goodyears on it.
LOL I had a '55 Wagon until the week before my first real date with Mrs. Beaner. I had to sell it to pay bills (I was invited to leave when I was 14 so I was on my own when we started dating). I rolled up to her house on a '57 Norton. Her dad walked out, looked at the bike and said, "Well I am glad you didn't show up in that old wagon. "
Dad's technical first car was also a cherry one owner '48 tudor bought for $10. But, he was only 14 at the time and Grandpa made him take it back.
My first car, senior year 1984, a 64 Malibu Super Sport 300hp 327 P/S, P/B, A/C, Glide was already replaced with a TH350, dont remember 10 bolt rear end ratio? here I am all proud of it, shamying it off, after the High school drags the night before! One of the first things I changed, was taking those ugly wheels with the way too big front tires off(front tires rubbed bad) and put BFG, and Centerlines on it. View attachment 4905579 Still have it after 36yrs!........still not done
I was a senior in high school (63) when I got my first car, sadly I only have 1 tiny picture in my high school annual. 53 Chevy Bel Air 2 door hrtp. Nosed, decked, lowered, duals, tach on the column and a fenton floor shifter. It wasn't very fast but I thought it was cool. Drove it a year and traded it for a 57 Chevy black hrtp.
My senior year car was a '60 corvette. I worked at the local newspaper after school and one day Babette Bardot came through on a press tour. As the cameras were clicking she removed a garter and tossed it at us guys,....I was the lucky recipient........ it you look closely it can be seen on the rear view mirror.
My friends were laughing at me one night when I took my girlfriend to the drive in in my dads 65 Ambassador wagon. My 67 Bonneville's starter went bad so I borrowed my dads car. They weren't laughing when they saw me put the front seats down and they turned into a bed. LOL Actually that car had a Rambler 327 holly 4 bbl. I also dusted two of them on the way home that night. That Rambler had some balls, it blew out my buddys 289 Mustang and another friends 383 Dodge! The Dodge did have a loose torque converter and the owner was waiting for the new one to come in..
WOW She was a goddess!! My weakness in this world is blond German/Norwegian women. The one I married still makes me lust crazy after 45 years...
"High school hot rod"...yeah, right! When I turned 16 (1964) and got my driver's license, I was cleared to get my own car, as long as I paid the license and insurance and bought my own gas and parts. Since my '28 Model A pickup (phonebooth) was in a bazzilion pieces) I went on the hunt. For some reason, my Dad had objections to every single car I found (too beat up, bad tires, piece of crap, etc), especially the sweet little '38 Plymouth coupe with a baby hemi and automatic ("you'll kill yourself in that...too much power"). So, the solution? I could BUY his '56 Pontiac 4 door station wagon (316 cu in, 2 barrel carb, dual-range hydramatic) WTF???? That was the deal, those wheels or no wheels. So.... I didn't have a high-school hot rod, just a goofy old wagon. Actually, it was a good car for me. I ran it hard and it never complained (a valve stem wore through a rocker arm and dropped the valve into the cylinder, but pull the head, install and grind a new valve, and away I went)' I even managed to blow the doors off a few 265 and 283 small blocks. It was a good hunting, fishing and parts chaser, too. Sold it 2 1/2 years later when I got my first out-of-college job. I wasn't too excited about it at the time, but I'd love to have it today. And was my Dad left without wheels? Hell NO! I was his excuse to buy a late model pick up...crafty old fart! Sure miss him.
I had the honor of being invited too be a float at my Miami Sr High School Homecoming Parade ,by MHS Alumni Ass. with the hot rod I drove in high school back in 60,61,62. For 2018 Homecoming.
I am really enjoying all the posts of High School cars, but this one's got to top them all. Too Cool!! Myself, I drove a '63 Valiant Signet 200 and a '62 Austin Mini 850. Ron
My Dad found and wanted me to buy and drive first one of those ugly Anglias with the ugly headlights and slanted back window. Then he found an old Volvo sedan with a bad clutch, which could be fixed. Said I'd save a lot on gas at .25cents per gallon. Now I kinda dig the old Volvo that looks kinda like a smaller version of a '48 Ford if you have enough to drink. I ended up with my '65 Skylark convertible and next a '70 Duster 340
In high school, it always seemed my cars were broken or being built. This left me with a choice of my parents cars. Mom drove our family 55 Olds super 88 four-door...had a 202 HP 324 with a four barrel and that killer 4 speed bang-shift slant pan hydramatic. My dad's car was his "work pickup" as he called it. Was a brand new 64 falcon ranchero in black with red interior and a 260/4 speed. I very seldom got to drive his car so I'd borrow my mom's Olds. In my senior year I bought a red and white 56 Olds ragtop as a school/work car but I'd beat on it and it'd break, leaving me to borrow mom's Olds. I actually bought the car from my mom. put chrome wheels on it. When I'd drive it the guys were unmerciful! "Hey Rocky, how's your mom's BUICK runnin?" I put a transmission in it, changed out a bad rear wheel bearing and had to buy a brand new right rear snow tire to replace the one I smoked.
Black, 66 Charger somebody had dropped a 440/6pk, 4speed, dana 60 into. Got it after my junior year. That summer I worked 80hr weeks (3rd and 1st shifts) as a furnace operator in two separate steel foundries that were right across the street from one another. Kept the 3rd shift job all through my senior year. Only problem with the Charger was the interior. Pure white was a bitch to keep clean.
Ok. Showing my age I guess. Brigitte for us older guys, Babette for you younger guys. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigitte_Bardot
My first car! Drove it like this for the first year, 327 solid lifter cam, 3 speed, stock rear. Broke a lot of things! Bought the hardtop as an empty shell, and built it up, in time to drive it daily to college, while I fixed up the convert. Had my buddies at BBC build a roller cammed 302, added 4 speed, narrowed 12 bolt with 4.88's during the rebuild. Put every dime I made at a part time job into it. Drove it like this for about a year, and it got stolen out of Raceway Park, Englishtown, in '79.
Me 1966. 17 years old. My Dad was a Dr. and fought with me most of my teenage years over this and other cars I owned. 1930 coupe channeled over the frame. Corvair steering, sbc 283 and 4 speed from buddies wrecked '59. Narrowed Olds rear. Sold in 1972 after return from VietNam and got married. I saw it at a car show in Fon du Lac in the mid eighties.....nothing since. Where is it now?
Here's my 55 Chevy I drove to high school in 1970. Either a 283 or 265 in it not sure because that engine did not last. Put a 283 in it. Started as a 3 on the three then finally got my Hurst 3 speed floor shifter. Life was simple but I was poor.
I've owned it since I turned 16. Bought from.the original owner who still writes me every year at Christmas. He is in his Mid 90s now. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
My Dad took me to look at a '55 Pontiac on a Used Car Lot. It was a 2dr, white with chrome lug nut covers and the hubcaps on the back floorboard. But I hadn't had my license very long and Mom didn't want me to have my own car yet. Not long after that, I found the '62 Mini for sale in the neighborhood. I told Mom I was taking Dad to look at it and she said, "Don't think you're getting a car yet". I couldn't drive a standard transmission so Dad drove it home for Mom to see. She looked out the window and said, " That's cute!" Dad drove it to work the next day to get some opinions from others, as Dad wasn't a real car guy. He got rear ended on the way home. I bought the Mini, had the trunk lid repaired and the whole car painted Royal Blue. Sold it to buy engagement ring for girlfriend, now wife. The ring wasn't that big as I didn't get much for the Mini, I had pulled the engine out. After that I drove the '63 Valiant, Dad had bought it brand new. Traded it in for a new '70 Maverick when the transmission went. Just a bit of trivia about the Mini, when Mom's '66 Mercury Monterey was in the shop, my whole family would go places in my Mini. Dad was 6'7", Mom was 5'10", I was 6'4" and I had 2 brothers and 2 sisters. True story. I know this is a long post and maybe OT, but that first Mini had a large influence in my life. I bought another one in 1975 and started Autocrossing. Bought a few more and then in '77 joined the Air Force so I could go to England. I've owned over a hundred Minis and still have my Race Mini from England. I know many of you were influenced by your first car. You probably wouldn't be here on the HAMB otherwise. Sorry for the Novel. Ron
Can't find the Before picture of my driver (and X-class racer), a 1930 Model A pickup. X Eliminator at Colton – beat a Willys station wagon and a GoKart (chain came off). Here's the After picture, about 2 years later . . . It was Fontana's first 9-second Gas Roadster (started at the back fence – does wonders to your E.T., even if you run out of gas).
This was my High School Car (Hot Rod) 1959 & 1960. Straight 6cyl, headers & dual exhaust. I thought it was cool at the time!
The Jalopy Journal
