History Any Stories About Hot Rods Appearing In Your Rear Mirror?

Hello,

We had seen this red 1940 Ford pickup running around the OC coastal area. But to see it up close was fun. It was nicely done with some custom touches and the stance was just right. Larger rear tires and small ones in front, plus whatever rake was involved made the 40 Ford truck look very cool.

Since we don’t want to look like tourists taking standard photos of neighborhoods or hot rods, we drove by and I quickly took several shots with my digital camera in the rear view mirror. Most old hot rods and customs cars can be easily shot into the infinity focus of the outside rear view mirror.

Back during our photo shoot days, I was contracted to shoot a fully extended front end motorcycle at a park. As we were getting to the park, a dead end road made us make a U-turn. When it was the motorcycle’s turn, the front end was so long and the steering angle was not a good as stock, so as he turned, the image went out of the outside rear view mirror. Luckily, I got the full motorcycle photo as I went down the street and the image got small enough to fill out the whole outside rear view mirror.

Jnaki

Just sitting on the long extended front end motorcycle was a chore. The front end was heavy and it always wanted to flop over. Taking photos of hot rods in the rear view mirror, inside or outside is a moving situation that gives a different look to “… a nice rear end.” YRMV

 

I was driving home from a junkyard appx 60-ish miles away from my house. I was carrying a freshly picked 8.8 rear axle for my recently acquired '40 Ford Coupe when this appeared in my rear view.



While it is So Cal, this is not a common sight on a weekday afternoon

 

Reminds me of driving my Nochop to work one morning. I pulled up next to a high school kid in a 60s mopar . We dropped the hammer and flew down the road….we have been friends for over 20 years

 

Hello,

The photo reminds me of the 405 freeway in the Huntington Beach/Costa Mesa area with the tall brick walls, along with the three wide lanes and car pool lanes. The large signs off of the freeway advertising various stuff and shopping centers stick out as their rules are a little less strict than some So Cal communities.

By the way, aren't you in the red 40 Ford Coupe’s rear view mirror and not the other way around? The front windshield dots are a give away and the action photo should be in the what is HAMB titled:
"THE ROAD THROUGH YOUR WINDSHIELD..."

Jnaki

But, I have been in that position seeing the hot rod in the rear view mirror in several quick sightings and then the hot rod is suddenly in front of me on the roadway.

This cool 55 Chevy sedan was in my outside rear view mirror, but I could not get lined up to take a good photo at freeway speeds. So, my wife tried to center the 55 Chevy in her outside mirror and in no time the Chevy sedan was in front of us as we moved over to the fast lane. YRMV

 

Hello,

My wife and I were out driving around looking for some old homes that were listed for sale in a coastal city in Southern OC area. Home prices are sometimes above normal, but sometimes, they are listed to sell and we saw some that perhaps could interest her sister to move to the coastal areas from far inland.

But, while we were going around some familiar streets, I noticed a lowered Chevy sedan sitting by the curb. The driveway was very steep and there was no way that the lowered Chevy Sedan was going to get up into the driveway and garage. So, we figured out the mechanism to lower the whole car was the “old school” method of a lock and chain. If it is/was too low, then no one would have the ability to come and drive it or tow it away in the middle of the night.

So, driving past the lowered Chevy sedan, just multiplied the stance and safety issues behind the street surface contact. A barrier of sorts and so low, no one could move it. True old school anti-theft action. YRMV

Jnaki

We did not find an old house although the ones we did find were a little over the top for prices and what was available. Being in a beach community has its obvious dividends. But, for some that still want to move to the shoreline area, there may be some hindrances. Although, the weather was pretty good for a late fall morning drive.

 

After a Saturday night of drinking with 3 strangers inside a bus on the 2021 boneville speed week, I started driving home on the 93.
I was the only one on that Sunday morning, after 30 mins in,I saw a model A catching up up me and an truck with a camper behind him..
They both passed me.
I hit the pigwistle and the go pedal and got behind him around 70mph.. I eventually passed him around 80 and kept driving 80 for 20 mins..then I felt my coe slow down,pulled over and saw my transmission was boiling and bleeding from the vent tube..
I had grenated my poor trans..
It still took Me home limping with only 4th gear in a 115 degree heat..
This is the car I was trying to catch

 

Bout eight years ago I was heading home from a 2nd shift job. It’s 12:30 am with no one else on the road. I was in my 41 Chev, built 283, Turbo 350, lowered with 4 wheel disc brakes and 5 spokes. I could break the rear end loose shifting to 2nd with 4 people in the car.

I see in my rear view mirror something coming on fast behind me from about 3/4 of a mile back. I’m running at 60 mph, just cruising. In less than a minute he pulled up next to me and matched my speed. My car lit up with light flashes as the passenger started shooting pictures of my old car. I waved and he pulled away. I thought that maybe we could play so I sped up and matched his speed. I pulled up next to him at 80. He shook his head and sped up. Again I rolled along side of him at 100. You could see his passenger goading him. He pulled away hard so I hammered it to keep up. Once again I came up to his door at my top end speed of 118. That’s all she’s got, there ain’t no more.


The driver shook his head and smiled, then waved and left me in his wake

 

I spotted this in the mirror driving through Sacramento 10 or 12 years ago. My wife got after the cell phone pictures. A little crude and a lot of cool!

 

Here is me coming up in my kids mirror.

 

Hello,

My wife wanted to go for a drive to get some fresh perspective on the bright, sunny day. She also wanted to go see this enclave of 60's architect designed homes that have some historic value and interest. Her sister has an investor’s mode going on and wanted to know if there were any homes in our area of the coast line. Since she lives quite far inland from the coast, we thought she might want to live closer to the beach, too.

So, as we cruised around to find the grouping of homes, they were perched high up on a hill in its own area with some nice views. Back when they were developed, they were small, architect designed homes catering to the ordinary folks looking for a “Beach Community Home.”

As we found out, they are quite small, but back then no one was worried about size for any type of home, just a little privacy, a nice view and community amenities worked out for most. Then, when the craziness of massive beach homes came into play, these little homes also shot up in value. Crazy as it seems, architect designed homes, even though they are small and old still hold value in this pandemic real estate community.

The beach community provides a quick access to several surf spots, well known and some hidden from view due to the massive oceanfront homes blocking the breaking waves. Just a short walk from these architect designed homes from a long ago, was a perfect mini park on the cliff top and gave a great view of the whole surfing line up up/down the beach. So, there is that…

Jnaki

As we were driving around, my wife saw a black roadster up ahead, as we were coming out of the architect designed home community. She has gotten better in identifying old cars, but a black roadster is not the most common of hot rods seen in the whole area. So, as we were heading for the major coastal highway, we bypassed our favorite “secret mini park,” just to see this roadster cruising around the coastal roads.

 

Got a long, scary story here. At one of the Sledscene East shows in Gettysburg, the Ohio rep, Bill Dawson (great guy, BTW!) came into town. He told us his 56 custom 4 door Olds, had broken down on the PA Turnpike. Within a couple hours, word spread around the fairgrounds, and help was offered.
Bill is a great friend of mine, so I offered to help go get it. Joe, Urshruch, then ownder of "Misty Blue" Merc, offered up his van and trailer to go get it. My best buddy, Rusty, and a couple other guys offered to accompany me.
It was supposed to be just a "few exits away", but turned out to be on the border of Ohio and PA. Looong ride. We got there, and with the help of some spectators, as the Olds turned out to be so heavy, even 4 of us couldn't push it onto the trailer.
On the long ride back, we kept hearing loud "bangs", scaring us a bit, until we found that the weight of the car, was causing the roof to buckle. It was also so heavy, that it was almost impossible to hold the brakes to slow the van going down the many mountains along the Turnpike.
On one of these downgrades, a particularly long, and steep one, I was hanging on to the steering wheel, praying we wouldn't jack-knife, we kept going faster and faster. My buddy Rusty turned pale, next to me, realizing what was happening.
At that point, a quick glance in the side view mirror, I see a lime green blur! (Bill's Olds was a light green primer) I try to stay calm and tell Rusty to see if he can see if Bill's car came off the trailer, and is trying to pass us! Luckily, it turned out to be a green S-10 pickup! What a relief!
End of story: I didn't bring my regular glasses, as it was so bright out, but we got into Gettysburg after dark, me wearing sunglasses. Everyone was relieved, and Bill was happy. Rusty, who had been a few years into AA, says to me "I thought we were going to lose it going down those mountains, but I didn't want to say anything and frighten you, Let me buy you a drink!". I told him, nothing could have frightened me more than thinking Bill's car in the side view mirror!
The next day, our exploits made the rounds in the fairgrounds, and people donated a rebuilt generator, a new regulator, and a bunch of wiring, as Bill's generator went south, and took some wiring with it. I spent the next day wiring up the car, and replacing parts in the hotel parking lot. Could not have done it without the generosity of the Kustom folks!

 

Photo by Vnak
Hello,

When we first met, my wife was not the most active in the photographic world. She and her trusty Brown box Brownie camera did take some cool old family photos, but it was mostly her mom and sometimes her dad that took the photos.

But, since I had two 35mm film cameras, one for color slides and the other for home brewed 35mm black and white films, it was a new direction. She got access to the cameras and began a road to becoming a person with a good eye for photo design, composition and a nice finished photograph that still blazes in our family photo albums. (Digital or otherwise.)

Jnaki

It was not an overnight thing, but a slow process of observing, seeing the obstructions in composition of a good photograph and identifying a thousand photos wherever we went on our long road trips since 1966. She surprised me with this photo of me and the red El Camino at our mom’s Westside of Long Beach house.

It was not a planned photo, but a point and shoot the moment. What was I doing on the concrete leaning against the garage door? Well, it was Summer and the sun was doing its thing… The “…Warmth of The Sun…” and all things that go along with that implication. We had just eaten a fabulous meal with our mom and it was one of those things to relax, afterwards. The warm sun was calling for us…

It was and still is one of the best photos around, in our collection. I converted it to digital images and have not attempted to change or modify the color or composition. We were married then and just spent the whole day with my mom. So, we were taking some time off from the barrage of local lore from the “old mom’s tales…and her constant advice.” Ha!

So, many years later, I saw a cool 57 Chevy in my rear view mirror coming up in the passenger side lane. All I had to do was to give her the digital camera, and she waited for the right moment to snap a cool action photo. YRMV

But, the topper is/was the more we see old hot rods and customs, the faster she is with my digital camera, only if I prep her for the moment of the photo. If she uses her Iphone camera, it takes a while to punch in the camera app, get the right prospective with the phone lens, find the button and shoot. By then, a lot of times, the moment is lost. Or I have to do a lot of adjustments in my driving.YRMV

On another day out for a cool drive to our granddaughter’s house to drop off some school stuff and presents. Going 55+mph is hard to adjust to the overall photo with the subject… a cool 55 Chevy still in focus. “OBJECTS DID APPEAR TO BE CLOSER…”
This one was fairly easy to shoot, but still required some adjustment for composition and focus.

 

I heard it before I saw it.

But it wasn't coming fast.

I was driving the big semi truck, heading north somewhere in Kentucky. Stop and go traffic. Sunny summer afternoon, window open. Bored as usual, tired of driving.
La la la la la la la...

All of a sudden from somewhere behind me...
RRRUMP!
RRRUMP!
RRRUMP!
RRRUMP!
RRRUMP!
Oh boy... what do we have here?

I was in the third lane over, he was in the far left lane, which was moving just a tiny bit faster than we were. Walking speed. It gradually got closer. And louder. Real loud. I mean, high compression, cammed up and wide open headers loud.
Finally, I could just see it now.
YES!

Not a newer car.
Not a muscle car.
Not a monster truck.
A hot rod!
And not just any hot rod.
A 1934 Ford 3W coupe.
Chopped
Channeled
No fenders
No running boards
No hood
Flat black
Flames
Just slightly rough around the edges. As it passed by, I could see the interior wasn't completely finished.
Can't remember exactly the wheels and tires, but I know they weren't non-traditional.
The small block Chevy was thumping strong.

I didn't bother the driver. Didn't even try to give him a thumbs up. That coupe sat so low and I sat so high in the big truck, that we really couldn't see each other anyway.
It very slowly passed me on my left. I sucked up every second of it. Enjoyed the HEAVY vibration as it shook the cab of the truck. WOOHOO!
Thank you, thank you!
Breathed the delicious fumes.
I was getting my very sorely needed hot rod fix.

Ahhhhh yes.

 

I have to say I'm usually the guy rolling up in someone else's mirror.

As I pull out to pass I typically arrange to change gears and get some scratch when my rear tires are lined up with the other driver's window.
I believe in marking my territory.

 

2009, I-25 south, saw this coming up behind us, must have been going 89+ mph as it passed! I ended up owning it about 5 years later.

 

Hello,

After the months of rainstorms and then, windy dusty days, our daily driver needed a car wash. The local requirements for water conservation/ecological disposal of run off water being kept to a minimum causes all of us old folks to go to the nearest car wash. Since our daily drivers are usually kept in a garage and then in an underground or covered parking structure away from home, the station wagons usually stay clean. But, not being garage queens, our local drives happen in rainy or not so sunny weather when errands start to get piled up.

After one of our drives, we thought a nice wash was due and afterwards, the drive to the shoreline to see the latest weather and ocean activity just made it worthwhile. But, the outside mirrors still had a few drops from the blow dryer not doing its thing in the final race of the countdown timer. So, it was a job to be completed once we got back home.

As we were driving around, there was a sight in the rear view mirror that I missed the first time we drove by as the traffic sometimes gets a little shaky. A very clean well preserved 1962 Chevy Impala convertible was sitting on the side of the road. I only saw it after looking in the outside rear view mirror. But, that caused me to get my digital camera for a quick photo opportunity as we rambled down the road.

Jnaki

It was one nice 1962 Impala convertible getting ready for the bright sunny days ahead at the time. But, a few hours later, the cold foggy wall started coming in from the ocean. The top down is the normal mode for most convertibles, but perhaps the owner knew of the impending cold breezes and foggy weather that approaches most afternoons along the coast. YRMV