I too like this picture. I have a framed copy hanging in my shop. I think that all of us can put a name to each kid under the hood of the "50 Merc !
My wife bought one at Hobby Lobby and gave it to me for my birthday. She saw me looking at it every time we went to Hobby Lobby and figured it would make a good gift. She was right!
The pic that sticks in my mind is 3 kids in a roadster with no screen cruising , looking like late 50s ,all with smiles a mile wide. Been trying to find it but no luck. Think 2 guys and a gal, no screen on the roadster.
One of these six has to have a solution. I'm liking the spacious house garages in the background. Who needs a two car garage or a sidewalk? Hell its the 50's, and where the hell is the hood lip?
when i was first on the road there were a half dozen of us that crawled under every hotrod that pulled in... not many of the guys crawling under rods today...
I don't think we ever had that many under the hood of my 51 in auto shop in 1963/64 but we came close a few times. One of my favorite photos like that.
Ha! That’s funny. I was doing a garage tour cruise on Saturday and this picture was hanging in a shop and my dad says, “ I’ve always liked that picture”. I had never seen it before and have no idea where he had, but it was cool he said that.
Pretty sure I have had a framed version of that picture for about 40 years now. I just need to find it and hang it in the shop.
I've told the story of my very first hot rod influence. One of my earliest memories. I was about three years old toddling around the kitchen. I heard a roar from outside, looked out the window and this picture is basically what I saw. But it was a black late 40s Ford coupe with the hood up. And there were only 3 derrieres instead of half a dozen of 'em... the greaser neighbor boy and two of his friends leaning over the engine compartment and revving the hell out of the flathead V8.
The boys with the '51 Merc photo was taken by A.Y. Owen in 1957 and was in Life magazine. A.Y. Owen was from Cheyenne, Oklahoma and his given name was A.Y. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=OW002
I get why this pic is cool, but all I can see is a 51 Merc being obscured by a bunch of dude's butts.
Well darn, I can never find my favorite, the old shot of a roadster at either B-ville or El Mirage with the girl in pedal pushers with her butt hanging out of the driver side door cutout. So, until I find it (hint hint) this will do!
The Jalopy Journal
