How did you get hooked on to old cars ?

when i was 6 , i got a ride in a chapparral from a guy who was friends with jim hall,, i was hooked from that point on even worked around his shop just to stay close to them , he had a stable of lotus,s and 3 chapparral,s, never forget that ride

 

Don't know where I got it from, just always loved cars. Guess it started with Hot Wheels, Revel scale models, drawing and old Hot Rod magazines I found. Was never much for the muscle cars of the seventies would rather cruise around in big chrome finned cars of the '50's.

 

My dad is why. The only thing that sucks is his car might come out once a year.

 

HRP-that is a GREAT story about Mr. Burton's 32 Ford 5 Window! If anybody skipped reading that you NEED to go back and read it NOW!

 

i feel, or should say a felt your pain! many a time! that was my folks weapon of choice too, johnny lighting black track was used only for real badness!! my friends and cousins couldnt figure out why our track was always limp and wouldnt hold any shape, haha! to this day me and my 3 brothers have refused to buy any of our kids or neice's n nephews any hot wheel track, cars, sure all they want, no tracks.

stung? im an expert on ass beatings, oh yeah they stung! thanks for the laughs!!

 

I was made in this car, that's why.

 

my dad did me the same way, found a 55 chevy 110 handyman wagon 2-door, mew black tuck and roll interior, new teardrop scoop, and 4 new redstripe recaps on it. no motor or trans, painted a cadillac gold color for 100.00 found a 57 chevy with a 4 speed muncie and a rebuildable 283. he cosigned for a 1000.00 for the whole deal. had a built 292 ci. small block, balanced, m/t crossram and two fours, every thing. it would haul ass. he had a 4th grade education, but was the smartest man i ever met. he did not care anything about cars but supported me all the way. he had just got out of the hospital and wanted to go to the drags in al. that sunday to see our altered run. mom wood not let him. good thing, first pass the chute did not open and went thru the fence into a herd od cows. he probably would have croaked on the spot. ruined some new fruit of the looms. i drug out the photos remembering this like yesterday.

 

I got hooked onto cars. Then the cars got old.

 

I blame it all on my father- bought me "my" first car at 14- another new one for "me" about every two years- took me a while to figure out it was "mine" sort of- I was good and handy cheap labor- but fun times spent with dad and learning experiences- "my" cars always got sold before "my" next car showed up- haha!

 

Really not sure,when I was young my grand dad had a 64 chevelle ss and my dad a 68 chevelle 327 4 spd but neither spent much time in the garage being (upgraded). my dad did spend a little time tweaking the chevelle but soon lost interest and sold it. I had always had a love for hot rods as earley as I can remember and a fascination with engines. when I was about 8 or 9 I got a toy for christmas that kind of looked like a walkie talkie but played small vinyl disc like a mini record each about 1 min long. one of them was the narration of a top fuel race with real recorded sounds of the cars through a 1/4 mile run. I listened to that one over and over and could'nt get the sound of the fuelers at full song out of my head.at about the same time I bought my first hot rod mag with allowance money and had been reading my grandads chiltons manuel reading and learning. it has been wide open throttle since, I believe some people are born with the passion, I am now 45 and still can not get enough of hot rods of all kinds(pre70s for me). I remember my dad saying (you will grow out of it) but I hope I never do.

 

I was born among them!! (1941) ...so all the "Old Cars" now were " New Cars" when I was growing up... Kinda like keeping all your old ties, eventually they come back into style..

 

When i was a kid my grandpa had a shop. Loved it. Loved being there. Loved hanging out. My old man was also a mechanic and did some side work on high end old ferraris and what not. Always heard stories of my grandpas old 40 ford and him drag racing and what not. My dads stories of his old vette and figure 8 racing. Just loved old 57 chevys. My favorite hot wheel! Still have it. Then i became a mechanic and learned a thing or two and just bought my ford.


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Unlike others on here, my parents actually had no interest in cars, didn't even own one!
But we do have a lot of car people in both sides of the family, so it must be in the genes. I'm from Europe and grew to love the big american cars. My mom's boyfriend had a Chevy caprice classic and let me drive from time to time, I think I was 8 or 9 back then. It wasn't an old car (maybe early 80's model) but it's a classic nonetheless and the direction was set right there.

Come adulthood I did my internship in California in the late 90's and bought a 1978 Ford Bronco, which I still drive daily, have like 420k miles on it now! Of course in the meanwhile I've acquired a lot more and older cars.

Besides the style of the old cars I really like the simplicity and the absence of regulatory involvement (I.e. Nader era). I have an allergy to government rules, inspections, etc.

I like the styling of some of the newer cars as well but they have too much plastic and wiring. Back in the day the engineers just did what made sense instead of having to focus on meeting govt requirements.
So what I like about driving the real old cars is the sense of freedom from government meddling - emissions, seat belts, padded dashboards, ABS brakes, you name it. Unrestrained, able to express my ingenuity etc.

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Interesting how many of you tell similar stories. I too was a tyke standing in the back seat of the family car, naming the makes of the cars as they went by. Too young to remember, but my folks told me about it many times and the story would always come with a smile.

My first behind-the-wheel experience happened when I was maybe 5 or 6 years old. My dad had gotten out of our '56 Buick to open the garage door (no remote openers back then you know). Adventurous little soul that I was, I promptly slid behind the wheel and put the car in gear. Of course I couldn't reach the pedals, so the big old boat was just idling but it nudged into the still-closed garage door and cracked one of the panels as my dad backtracked like crazy to get out of the way. I still have this mental picture of a '56 Buick steering wheel that was about as tall as I was, and a slowly-approaching garage door. The experience must have made a big impression on me (as well as in the garage door!) because I still love slidin' behind the wheel and puttin' the car in gear!

Then came the summer of 1963. I had tagged along to the grocery store with my folks and was investigating the newsstand. Seeing a bright yellow magazine cover with a bunch of hotrods on it (August issue of Car Craft), I conned my mom into buying it for me. Back home, I ripped out the subscription card, filled it out and asked my Dad if he'd loan me 3.50 for a year's subscription. He wrote the check and never bothered to ask for payment.

That was when things started getting serious. I grew into adolescence absorbing every detail of those hot rods, drag cars, cycles, customs, literally anything with wheels. I built model cars. I tore apart and re-painted bicycles. My O/T VW project took over our single car garage whilst the family car sat outside in the weather... and my folks were cool with the whole scene.

My dad was not a "car guy" per se, but he and my mom supported my passion. Dad even borrowed my car once in awhile. One of the coolest things I ever did was to take my folks out for their 50th wedding anniversary celebration in one of my hotrods. They loved it.

DNA? Predestination? I have no idea. But whatever it was, I'm sure glad it happened.

 

Like several here, I was born in a "car family". Grandpa and uncle ran a wrecking yard, Dad restored(s) antique cars, older brother had neat cars too. Got a Honda z50 when I was 4, so I started on 2 wheels. Even Dad's regular cars were cool. '64 impala 409 4 spd, 65 porsche (bought it in europe and brought it home before most had seen the "new" 911/912 style. Mom convinced me to get a 4 speed in my first car (64 chev). All standard stuff I guess. My s.i.l. tells my wife "he won't cheat on you, those cars are his mistresses!"

 

my dad and his toys got me hooked,...drugs would have been cheaper!

 

unfortunately i was born with an addition to anything that moves. I put 15 by 12 cragers with drag radials I found in my friends barn on my 60s lawn tractor when i was 8 haven't stopped tearing up old junk since. flat black, pin striping, strait pipe, painted white walls i was cool mowing the grass lol

 

I allso was born into it, i totally blame my father(car restorer, metal wizard) and mother for driving just American 60´s cars, and yard allways full with 30-60´s cars my father restored and had. And another twist is my grandfather did the same thing, in the 30-40´s so im a 3 generation gearhead

 

I've always liked old things. Daddy encouraged it for sure. Genetic? I don't think so. Instilled-absolutely.....

 

In the exact words of my dad:

"Well son ... I have done my job. haha You say, what job? And I did it so inconspicuously. I never said "son, don't want to be a Hot Rodder?" No, I never did. The ground work was laid, I watched and listened. Some subtle hints aided in discovery of the slippery path. The hook is set and you can not get away. If you don't build a hod rod soon, you will do it later. Old cars are just fun stuff and full of interesting people."

And now...at age 25...I have a 1937 Ford pickup project in my garage!!

 

I like old cars because modern cars are un-reliable pieces of shit with no personality.

 

When I was a kid I was into new cars, they are old cars now!!!!!

 

I was trying to find out about my father, a man I never got the chance to know because he died so young ( a drag racing accident). In order to discover who he was, I had to understand what he loved to do and that was building hot rods...now I'm hooked.

 

When I was little I played trucks and cars. Ha Ha
After that I was hooked. Isn't life grand.

 

went for a ride with a friend in a 33 plymouth sedan with a hemi and 4 sp .he had a seat with a lap belt. i had a milk crate. i said i thought this thing would run he nailed it .my milk crate turned over it took 7 stiches to sew up my head. my mother said all my common sense must of ran out. that was 50 yrs ago .still playing with cars

 

Childhood acquaintance named Tony Tellier (highly respected off-roader now) was about three years older than myself. He bought himself a baby blue 41 Ford coupe with some hot rod flavoring (dropped axle, dual exhaust, R&P interior, etc). One trip around the block with him was all it took. Soon as I was able, I bought my first fat-fender, dropped the front end and got me some "twice pipes" and I haven't looked back since then.

 

i built a chromed out pan chopper and was going to Sturgis Rally and there are a lot of rods on display some ratty ones and started looking for a car
and after 2 cars i realized i really liked wild cars when i was a young un in 61 and bought a radical custom and started doing shows did the GNRS on the second show on the Rivera, I guess I really fell off the deep edge and never looked back
this is about year 6 on my car thing
last year i only did 44 shows due to fuel think i will slow down some and enjoy it

 

My Great Uncle always drove his 40 Ford around and my Dad would always be working on it for him. I helped do what I could. Basically they had me polishing what ever to get me out of the way. I used to go to swap meets with my Uncle and we'd drive his car. I was already in to tearing stuff apart and old vehicles, this just put the icing on the cake. At age 12 I purchased my first 39 Chevy Sedan from my Uncle. Now, several years later, I have his 40.

 

They were new when I started I just never kept up with the times!!
But it really was my Pop's that set me on this long path to ruination LoL

 

That's my boy ... JLB3 ... A third generation car guy. I (JLB,Jr.) got started in the old car hobby by accident. My dad, JLB,Sr. and I started fixing my car as a necessity. I had a 1960 Healey 3000 that needed repair constantly. A hunk of junk English tin can, purchased for $400. I drove it to high school (1974) for 1 year and college for 3 years. I added about 100k miles to her. I bought 2 parts cars and 2 rear halfs to keep her going. She fought me all the way. It broke down all the time, and it seemed like I had to trailer it home at least once a month. Finally she quit on me 3 times in one week, 2 times in the same place. That was it. I parked her. She is still with me but rusting away. I have dreams of restoring her, we will see.

Dad (JLB,Sr.) bought a 40 Ford truck for my brother about 1975 and he loved it. It was ex-navy with a funky blue color. That is what I towed the Healey home with most of the time. I would love to have another 40 truck. My son's 37 Ford truck will fill in nicely for now. My dad and I started a chrome shop in the 80's. I worked my A- - off. We had a good following because we could repair or resurrect potmetal and did a fair share of Pebble Beach cars. It burnt in 1990. Anyway, Dad loved Midget Racers and I gravitated to that and I am still there.

Getting old is not for sissies, my wrinkled face has patina.