Hot Rods .....how did you first get involved

Got it through my father. He worked at service stations when he was young and then became a dealer, which meant he would travel to service stations and take them over when there sales were falling, and then to being an owner of one. The smell of gasoline was just an everday thing. The whole time I was either pumping gas or wrenching or bench racing with the local hotroders. He would buy and sale cars all week long, can't remember him ever having a car for more than a few months. Lot's of street racing back then also.

 

in my blood, born with it.

 

at 12 years old,my father took home magazine called CUSTOM CAR,a very popular magazine here in the U.K. and that was me hooked.

 

My uncle had a ot 1966 Chevelle 327 and 4 speed he would stand me on the console and shift.We would take that car when we went to get hair cuts and he would do a burn out all the way down our street.It's been in my blood ever since.I miss him and that car more everyday.

 

My dad; is a former aircraft mechanic and now works on diesel equipment. Remember helping him out in the garage repairing the family cars and his projects. I wrote a blog about it:

http://hotroddergreaserexperiences.blogspot.com/

Scroll down to "What Got Me Into Cars".

 

ttt

 

Dad has been racing sports cars since before i was even a thought in the back of his mind so naturally cars are in my blood but when I was working in a car yard as a mechanics helper at 17 when a 35 ford highboy roadster rolled into the yard, not traditional by a long shot but back then it was the coolest thing i'd ever seen which started the progression into traditional rods and customs.

Now I'm building an aussie 56 desoto (same shape as a 53/4 plymouth) and a 27 t model lakes modified.

 

i was born in 70. i have always had it. my old man would read hot rod and car craft to my mother, while i was in the womb (no shit, true story). i came home in a 58 impala. he was a first gen z/28 guy, and we made ALL the muscle car shows. in 1979 we were at the street machine nationals in indianapolis IN, we were parked next to a duece roadster, 392 hemi, gmc blower and 4 dueces. i was completely amazed, could not take my eyes off that car! sun morn
the old man who owned it took me for a ride. i was done, a camaro never has meant the same since. at nine i made the transition to hot rods, every model car, and hot wheel afterward were hot rods. i have carried a 36 ford hot wheel with me since then, it and my pedal car are the only personal items that have survived my two very nasty divorces. i now own a 32 tudor sedan, and a 36 five window coupe (both in the building stages). this is all i have ever known, and i care to know, i am a hot rodder!

 

I grew up working on cars with my Dad. He was all about old MOPAR muscle cars. I got into the Hot Rod thing because although I'll always love muscle cars I'm just not that anal about building cars, lord help you if you put the window crank from a 69' on a 70' or use a flat head where the factory put a Philips, and I just like modifying things rather than just re-creating what the factory did.

 

Just always took stuff apart and some time even got it back together too,not always as it was. From ABC blocks to Tinker Toys,Lincon Logs and Ereaktor Sets,Bikes,toy trains ,than Cars lets race.
Now days the vidio games for the younger guys are in there some were

 

Started off with models when I was fourteen. I remember the local Mom & Pop store in Oxon Hill, Maryland. One day I saw this guy hand painting white flames with black outlines on the hood of a baby blue 40s Chevy or Plymouth coupe in the parking lot. I was totally fascinated by what he was doing.
I was so inspired I took apart my bicycle and painted it spray bombed it candy blue and painted white flames on the fenders.
Then in 1959 we moved to southern California and who wasn't into hot rods then and there?

 

No one in my family was ever into cars,but when I was in 7th or maybe 8th grade I got a copy of Hot Rod magazine. I read that thing maybe 20 times and was fasinated by the black,full fendered 32 5 window that was "car of the month".I can still see that centerfold pic,a right front 3/4 view in a curved driveway with a flagstone retaining wall with a hedge on top of it. I HAD to have one. Never got a 32,but the 28 chev 3 win came along a year later,my grandmother bought it for me for $400. It was a real nice original car too.We only had a little 14x 24 old school garage ,the kind with hinged doors and a flat roof.My dad started bringing home tools from sears,and it was there that my first "build" began. It ended up as the car in my avitar and this winter will be my "last build",spanning a time frame of 54 years!

edit) as a side note,I still have some of the tools,notably an ac180 tombstone lincoln and an IR 1/2" drive impact.I did all the frame mods with that old lincoln and a set of used torches that he brought home from somewhere. I remember him takeing me to Linvers,a surplus/scrap yard on saturdays to buy the steel I needed.So many great memories.

 

I blame my father :
http://www.wix.com/fredsslides/fredsslides

Poverty leaves an impression

 

Mines a different kind of story,I grew up with cars,Then family got divorced I got heavy into drugs,Around 22 I met a good friend ,His name is ed ,I had a garage with no tools,My dad gave me a 72 chevelle .It didnt have a motor ,Anyway Ed taught me the basics of bodywork.And My other friends helped me with mechanicals,Anyway I detoxed myself off the speed and coke and eventually pot and turned my whole life around,Id be dead if it werent for the garage and my friends,Now the garage is stocked .Im married with 2 beautiful daughters,Put an addition on where I grew up and house has been rebuilt by me and my moms boyfriend,,,Life is good Worked my ass off to get here ,But it was worth it......Thats when I got involved ,Became a way of life,Even got into boats,Learned bodywork ,Paint .Motors .All self taught thanks to my true friends

 

Me? I was trying to build my first car, a T bucket, subbing it out to various shops, doing what I could, with limited resources and tools, got ripped right off by a shop, looked him square in the eye, told him I could do at least as bad, and devoted my time to learning everything I could, to the point where I put him out of business. My dad was a car guy, but he died too soon, I just always wanted a rod, all thru high school, never could afford to do one, never had friends into it, just always followed my passion.

 

Back in the early 50's before I could drive it was Hot Rod mag, carcraft etc. In 1954 I got a '40 Plymouth coup with a dodge truck engine. I milled the head, split the manifold for loud duals then decided I needed a "real" hot rod. I found a '34 5 window and at a friends dad's shop (he was a welder) I channeled it put on juice brakes installed a full race Olds engine and got it street ready. Never got it out of primer and then decided to go racing. 2nd time out the clutch and flywheel decided to expload at about 110 MPH just before the traps. Since I was going to college I didn't have the money or time to build a new engine so it was sold. Marriage, kids and climbing the executive ladder didn't leave time for hot rods so I just bought cool new cars. My son is into cars and he had his '47 chevy fleetline stored in our neighbors garage while Boeing had him in Japan for 3 years. When he was moved to South Carolina I finally had a place to store something and decided I wanted a old truck that was a finished project that I could work on improving. So I now have a '41 chevy 1/2 ton lowered with a 327 corvette engine 350 turbo trans nice paint and interior etc. It's nice but not a show winner but a lot of fun.

 

My Grandpa is where it all started. He had a 1956 Ford Custom and a 1947 Chevy Business Coupe (Still has the 47). Been Going to car shows since i can remember and been in the garage with him since i was probably 4 years old. Then He brought home a 31 Ford Coupe when i was probably 6 or 7. My uncle has a 41 Willys that got me to LOVE Willys so i guess those are the main loves; customs and willys.

 

I saw American Graffiti at the drive in when I was just a kid and it just stuck. Could not get the yellow coupe out of my head. The music, the cars and atmosphere. It just all come together at that point. Thirty or so years later I'm still totally into the 50's. Especially the cars. Nothing is finer that cruising the country side with my family by my side just enjoying the ride. the music's loud, the small block is rumbling and the road is long. Man its so good.

 

The first I remember was in 1956, my Dad had a 55 Dodge Coronet and my Moms car was a 36 Ford 2 dr. sedan. He had several other cars out in back of the house, ( 29 Roadster, 34 4 door, and I think a 38 or 39 Chevy ). I was always hanging around him when he was working on them and couldn't wait for the chance to help out. He started his car club that year, ( Interceptors Edgewood ). I got to join in 1960 when I was 12. I still run with the club plaque to this day and have had it on every one of my cars ( hot rods ) ever since. My brother on the other hand was never around the garage, back then or today, all he ever learned was how to put gas in and where to send the payment. So it was my Dad who got me started 56 years ago and the passion has never left. Thanks Dad ( RIP ) and Happy Fathers Day!

 

my Uncle took me for a ride in his 70 Chevelle SS396 when I was about 8 or 9 years old. Bright orange with black stripes. It made some God awful (cool) roar and Pinned me back to the seat when he stood on it. I was hooked!

 

I followed my dad around when I was able to walk and one of my first car memories is being down at the local Shell Station on a Saturday while he and his buddy painted his 41 Buick sedanette in the wash stall of the station.

My step father traded for a 52 Ford Victoria hardtop that ran a 56 Thunderbird special 312 in the late 50's That car had held the C gas record at the Ellensberg Wa drag strip at the time. It was one of the hottest cars around at the time and to a ten year old kid it made a big impression.

I built hundreds of models in my early teens and got a subscription to Hot Rod magazine from my grandmother for my 12th birthday that she bought for me every year until 1975 when she passed away.

 

Like everyone else I was basically born into it. My dad had many cars before I came into his world and consumed every bit of energy. HAHA! My grandpa used to drag race my mom's first car before she got it ( a 1969 corvette 427 4 speed). Then throughout my early childhood, my neighbor had a vega with a big block and would start it up at 7:30 in the morning every sunday. Loved that sound. Dad got back into the builders stage again when I reached high school. Been going strong ever since. I have seen everything from a 1969 chevelle to a 1937 ford truck all rusty and smacked together come through his garage. He has been a true inspiration to my new addiction. I love what he does to an average car. His original appeal to every vehicle that leaves his garage.

 

My earliest influence can be traced to building model cars and a teenage neighbor of my granddad,,he was definitely a big influence,,no one in my family cared about cars other than transportation. HRP

 

Genitics,I have pics of my granpa leaning up against his hopped up A sedan when he was in WWII,I have them haning in my daughter's room,then my dad built a '65 tr4 that raced laguna seca ,he bought it at age 13,he had everything from A's ,T's,buicks ect while i was growing up,now I have his A and a '32,my daughter is 1 month old and has been to 4 car events so far,is it nature or nurture?

 

I am not sure how it happened for me as my family wasn't in to them but having 3 older sisters they did date some guys who had cool cars. So I wound up riding in '65 thru '71 Mustangs, a '70 396 Chevelle SS, a '68 Camaro, a new '67 GTO convertible (this guy's dad had a dealership), and a '68 Super Bee. Even had an uncle who had a '65 Chevelle SS. One brother-in-law had a '50's Studebaker in our driveway for a while - good to practice cruising in. It was a good initiation and then it just kinda blossomed from there. I can remember playing out front of the house, watching and hearing the hot cars go by while "peeling out" on my tricycle leaving black marks on the sidewalk thinking to myself "when I am old enough to get a hot car I'm taking the hub caps off!". I guess I thought that's what all it took. Also, a sure sign of spring was the guy a few blocks away firing up his '68 Roadrunner! The passion continues to this day.

 

My Father hated cars and was a doctor. His sons were going to be doctors (all three). Well after building lots of models he got me a vw with a hole in the block at age 11. I worked on the car for several months and couldn't get it running. As I was about to give up my moms dad (pretty much my dad too) came for christmas. He found the problem and told me for my xmas gift we would go to the junkyard and he bought me a new used motor. By the time he went home the dunebuggy was running. At 11 years old I was the shit. Drove it and crashed it. Fixed it and crashed it again. Got to be a pretty good driver over time and when I turned 16 I had already had 27 cars. Been hooked on them ever since and I don't think my father ever forgave him. Gramps is gone now but I think of him often and when my daughters are in the garage working on there hot rods with me I can't help but feel the pride he must have had so many years ago. Thanks gramps and when you look down just know I'm still tearing it up!!!

 

In the late '50s, I started off on AMT/SMP 3 in 1 kits before I was a teen. I got my first car at 13, a Model A Ford I still have and is my current project. Besides models, Hot Rod magazine was an early influence. My father was not a car guy, but he had a lot of opinions about what was wrong with Model As as originally built, and he helped make sure I fixed those things.

 

Your a lucky man to have the friends and family you have. You living proof our hobby and or way of life is good. Keep turning them wrenches brother.

 

I got into it out of pure neccessity. When i was growing up the family didn't have a lot of money, so the familiy car was usually a barely running heap from the late 60's early 70's that we got for liitle to nothing, and me and my dad would have to get into running shape for him to get to work ( ironically he hasn't had a current driver's liscence for 30 years...). we couldn't afford to take any of our cars to get repaired or serviced so had to learn how to do it our selves (thank you chilton's and haynes). now i can build them for fun