Was Anyone Here Actually There?

I was 16 in 1964. Drove a 1959 Ford rag top with a 352 2 barrell, JC Whitney barrell headrests and baby moons. The biggest event in town was when Antonelli's 63 GTO went up against a new 442. Even race - on the street - until the end and the GTO won. Roy Orbison hit it really big with Pretty Woman.

 

Oh man I was ther grew up in Yucaipa Calif just east of LA and west of Palm Springs 1950 left ther in 1969 what a time I dont remember much but I was ther I realy was

 

I'm 62 and still living the dream

 

In 1964 I buy my first car, a 1957 Bel Air Conv. with dual exhaust and glass packs. I was 19 yrs old. The first customize job I did was I nose the hood.

 

Them's were the days. Like so many, the draft got in the way of some of my plans. I almost finished this 34 but at 19 I had to put it on hold.

 

Went to to my 50th class reunion this year in San Pedro, Ca. The first thing I did was cruise Pacific Ave. form 6th street to Cabrillo Beach. The cruising in the late 50's early '60's was great, it didn't last much longer the cops closed it down. We would cruise The A&W in San Pedro & Torrance, Harvey's Boiler in Downey. For me the cool times were from '52 to '62 before Hippies, drugs and muscle cars. I dislike the '60's and all the anti-war B.S., drugs that was going on around the country.
The car Kulture to day like Santa Maria (WCK) is very cool and the cars are better then ever for the most part. Would I go back in time and stay in the period from '52 to '62 you bet in a minute. There's an old saying that goes " You can never go home" it's true, but I sure can try by driving an old '52 Chevy.

Like my signature says.................

CRUISIER

 

I was there because my father was into it, got to hang out in custom shops,and race car shops, I was hitting the hang outs with friends by 69, nothing like it. My brother said it best one day a couple of years ago as we were riding around, Thank God I grew up on Long Island when I did.It's not the same and it never will be again.

 

Grew up in Motown. Got my license near the beginning of the muscle car era but I was a 50's kind of car guy with my 56 Meteor Crown Vic. That all ended when I got drafted. When I got back in 71 I "updated" to a 63 Galaxie 427. Showed alot of those factory muscle cars who was king out there on Telegraph. What great times they were.

 

There are plenty on here who were there....My mother knew I was a car nut when at 5 I stole the neighbor kids pedal car and hid it in the garage !!!!
Bought my first car after I found it in a barn on a farm while deer hunting with my Dad in 1963 when I was 15...a 39 Ford Sedan for $30, Traded that even up for a 55 2 dr belair post when I was 17, traded that off for a 62 Chrysler 300 2 dr HT with a 413 at 18....still at it today at 63

 

Sure can tell who had the money back then, I got caught in my first stolen car at 13, I guess it looked stupid for me to be drivin at 3 in the morning dad gone and mom at the bar had too much freetime, reform school 3 times and then the 60,s dont rember much, music , muscle cars , first trip to the strip about 64 hooked ever since,hell cars cost me my first family, too many drag races, car shows and travlin around the country but met some of the coolest guys, and many now ledgends,it was good time would not change a thing!!

 

Roscoe, I dont think money had anything to do with stealing cars back then, no different from today. LOL

 

I was in high school in '58 to '62. First car I owned was a hotrod '34 Ford Pickup. And I never grew out of it. I think we're living in the best of times right now. If you want to use a time-based theme for your build the choices are infinite. The creativeness and attention to detail in cars being built now is better than ever.

 

I was there riding Motorcycles & Bought my first Car
for $15. dollars drove it Home & started to Take it
apart while going to School in the late 40's
sold it after I Finished it, still Riding cycles
in 51 bought my Merc (the one in my Avatar) and in
52 was Drafted in to the Service
in 54 came out Finished fixing the Merc
and Crusied all of the 50's & 60's
than opened a Shop in Astoria,NY

 

Leominster, Mass, graduated HS in '66. I remember helping(to name a few)
Danny with a '56 Chevy, built 283, could bounce the front off the ground in 2nd gear
Rick with a '23 bucket, 389 pontiac
Midnight auto at Ollie's
Al with a '58 Vette, 283 4 spd, also had a 392 Hemi in the garage
Dennis with a '32 5 window started with a 283, went to a 409
? with an MGA/283,
George with a '46 Merc woody
Debonis Garden Center '40 Willys B or C/Gas
There were others, but most were getting into muscle cars.
I had a '57 VW, but lots of dreams.
RB

 

Graduated HS in '65 in So Cal. I drove a black 2dr ht '56 Merc Montclair w/ red/white tuck and roll. Yes, it was a great time to grow up, one of the best. Life was considerably more civil back then...for a kid anyway.
I remember when the '63 Corvettes first hit the dealer floor. I was a sophmore in hs and I FLEW down to the dealer to check it out after school. And there it was....a beautiful, shiny, sebring silver with red interior, fuel injected 327, 360hp Corvette. The sleekest, slickest, missle ever to hit the showroom floor. I had to see the sticker price.....HOLY COW! Just over $4000.00........my god...that was a ton of money back then to a 16 year old kid. Especially when you made like $1.35 hr. Needless to say, I didn't buy one. At my age and income, a new car was way down the priority list.....cruising and getting laid was at the top. Hey, I was 16...it's what we did. Hell, it's what I still do...more or less...only slower and less often. Ain't life grand...

 

YEP!----In hi school 1946-1950---18 trapped in 79 year old bod!!!!

 

I'll be 66 years old, yup lived thru it.
Some good , some bad, like everything else.

 

72 and lived it, loved it

 

The question asked in American Grafitti was, "Where were you in '62?", ...66yrs now, Class off '63. So yeah, I was at the hop, hangin' at the drive-in, or draggin' the gut, in the late 50s thru the 60s. First ride was a '54 Bel Air, paid $125 for it [big $s for a kid, but it was fairly straight]; did it on the cheap, ...blocks, whacked coils, rattle canned rims, baldys, mickey whites, and tossed the nose & deck junk [kept the holes, didn't have the bucks or ability to fill'em]. More than once Dad asked when I was gonna outgrow that "hot rod shit", I already knew the answer was "never" but I wasn't ballsy enuf [& maybe just bright enuf] to know that gettin' smart with Pop wasn't a real good idea, ...especially since I was pushin' the envelope most the time anyway.

 

I was there and feel so lucky to have been born at just the right time.

 

I had a 67 GTO in 1967. Lots of Mustangs, 442's and Chevy's and even a couple of Cobra's in our group. The cop in our area drove car 13 and had a black cat on the rear bumper whose eyes would light up when the brakes were applied. He said he would give $100.00 to any of us who could steal the cat off the back of his car. He never had to pay up. We would meet every Fri and Sat nights at Bobs Big Boy and sit with all our hoods up so motors could be seen. If someone got up a race, the cop would block off the street with his car so we could race without traffic getting in our way. They were pretty cool in those days. Great memories of cars, girls, burgers, and the Beach Boys. Birmingham was a great place in those days.

 

I was born in '44 so that makes me um ... lets see ....... OLD. But like all of the other seasoned citizens on here I still feel 18. I started driving back roads and anywhere the cops weren't in '56. In my small town there weren't may full blown hot rods and customs around. Dirt track racing was popular so a lot of the gear heads spent their time and money on their race cars. We still spent a lot of time cruising the main drag but we did it in the family sedan or, if you were lucky, your own car. Mine was a '49 Chevy (six cylinder with three on the tree). Most of us could only afford portawalls and some primer to spray on where we nosed and decked it. They only completely finished we ever saw were in the little pages. We coud only dream about owning one of them. And here it is 50 some years later and I'm still dreaming about hot rods. The only thing is now I've been lucky enough to own and enjoy a few. And when I'm driving my hot rod now I still feel like I'm 18..... I just don't look it!! But I don't care because I'm having a ball.

 

All I remember, was standing on the front seat, next to my father, looking out the windshield as he drove down the road in our 64 Impala !

 

I was there in the 60's. Went the Hearsy when the flea market was behind and under the bleachers of the old stadium. Helped my dad service the Packard you see in my profile and still driving it. Had a 51 Ford for my first car then in 65 moved up to a 62 Chevrolet Impala SS. Still into building and driving old cars and trucks.

 

All the old farts are right...Youi had to be there to really know what it was like. Drove my 49 merc to Salina high from 55 thru 57. Then built a 31 roadster. Took it to the drags in great bend, Ks. in 57. Sold it when I went into the Navy. Wish I still had it.
Those were the days. Still into hot rods with a deuce sedan and a steel deuce roadster and a 40 ford. Trying to buy a 32 3 window so I can start another build at the cool age of 73.

 

I saw a T bucket in London,Ont. about 1972/73. It had an Pontiac OHC 6. Don't know anymore about it. Another T bucket, V8, in Belleville Ont. about 1968. That Guy's name was Faulkner/Falconer? Ring a bell? Also, south of Belleville, a '56 Chevy with a Ford Super duty hood scoop, can't remember his name. Model A or Deuce coupe in Sarnia Ont. about '66. It was blue with red windows? A brown/beige Model A or Deuce sedan with 2x4 bbl's, rear carb under cowl that was early 70's, in London Ont. Remember Cam Wadsworth's Topolino from Ailsa Craig, Ontario? Cam is at Horton Hot Rods, Milton ont. Don't seem to be too many Ontario memories in this thread.

 

It's been 6 years since my first reponse. Since then I copied this picture off of the net. With the exception of the wheels and the cowl mount antenna, this was my hot rod from the 60s. Mine was identical but it had chrome 6 lug reversed front wheels I paid 350 bucks for it with no engine or trans...same stance and black paint. I got talked into putting my 383 Chrysler in it, took it to the track and spun a bearing. First set of headers that I ever built. I redid it with a 327-340 4spd. When I got my "greetings from the president" (nobody will remember that phrase) I sold it and joined the Navy in 1968. I had no choice.

 

If you were there in the day as I was, You'd have to admit our lives were a lot like those in American Grafitti. Most of us can watch that show, insert names from our hometown and see our lives unfold before our eyes.

 

Boy Chaz did you hit the nail on the head!! East Tenn. was lousy with late 40's, early 50's fords when I was in high school (1961). I'm like some of the other guys worked a Krogers for a $1.10 an hour getting only 20 hours a week. My old worn out ford was lucky to get gas.
Wouldn't trade it for anything!!!

 

I was a cross between Toad and Richey. Cool, but not to the Cheerleader / Football Hero group. Class of '62