Very cool story !!! Makes me want to pack my boards up, grab my girl & go surfin' again. Last time I was out 2004. Biggest time out, Seaside, El Nino '81, wicked 15+' closing out to Swami's !!!
Cool Thread! My dad grew up in Hermosa Beach in the 50s and his older brother (my uncle) was a glasser for Greg Noll and knew Dale Velzy personally. My uncle had a 40 ford that was pretty hot from stories ive heard. He borrowed 300 bucks from my grandma and didnt pay her back right away. so my grandma sold the car for 300 bucks and didnt tell him.
OH YEAH i am so glad this thread back up from the grave... My life bleeds 1950s/1960s Surf nostalgia, hot rods and Kustom Kulture. I am 23 years old but have done alot of research about the hot rod/surfer cross over in Australian history. By all reports through internet, magazines and conversations with guys who lived in that era- it was a rare intergration of cultures over here. Surfers were generally poor, but a car was essential to find good waves, pick up girls and be cool. American cars were and still are very sought after. They were one of the few things surfers and the rockers (bikers, bodgies or now commonly reffered to as 'greasers') shared a common infatuation for. The obvious benefit being the power of US built V8 engines vs Australia's comparativelygutless 6 cylinder engines at the time produced by Holden and Ford. The Slant 6 in the Australian produced Chrysler Valiants were most desireable in the early to mid 1960's until Ford and Holden upped the stakes with the XR and HR models. I have alot of cool photos of 1940s- 1960s surf vehicles in mostly stock form in the day, but it has been really cool to read this thread and see rods and kustoms owned by surfers. Thanks Matt
Here's another one: The late Otis Chandler- publisher of the L.A. times was a world-class car collector who was known to actually drive his cars. In fact in 1998 he was injured when he spun out whilst driving a Ferrari on the road in Oxnard, Ca. He was 71 at the time. What is not as well known is that he was an avid surfer. This from a memorial in the L.A. Times: "At his apex as publisher of the Los Angeles Times, Otis Chandler received a message one morning from a fellow surfer. Waves were cresting at 12 to 15 feet off Dana Point, "the largest Southern California surf of my lifetime," he would recall 30 years later. Chandler was a busy man, in the midst of catapulting The Times from mediocrity into the front ranks of American journalism. He was probably the most successful newspaper publisher in the country, charging briskly through a button-down world of meetings and speeches, presidents and corporate chieftains. "Within an hour," he said, "I had gathered things up in my briefcase, told my secretary, 'Well, we can shine those afternoon meetings off,' and headed for Dana Point. " From a family friend I heard thatback in the days before reliable surf reports/forecasts were easily available he cultivated a friendship with a groundskeeper at the Times bldg who was also a surfer. If the surf came up the groundskeeper would raise a particular flag up a flagpole easily visible from a window in Chandler's office. When the flag went up meetings got canceled, and Otis went surfing.
My ode to West Coast surf wagons, Nomad paint shceme and woodies-influenced bamboo interior. Love it or hate, I did it my way.
I love the bamboo mate, cool as. It is a different style of build for the car, but i really like it. Good work!
Nice Ole's Mike! Had the pleasure of meeting Bob a few years back at his shop on Maui. Hope to get one of his Bumble Bee models someday soon. Thanks for your post.
Cool thread! Hot Rods and Surf Boards definitely go together. Lets not forget to put the Rock 'n' Roll in the mix too! Its really cool to cruise a hotrod with a board on top, anticipating what you are doing... but when you are doing that and going down the road with music like the Beach Boys, The Ventures, The Astronauts, Jan and Dean ... you know what I mean!
In the late sixties, early seventies, a lot of the aftermarket companies were running ads in SURFER for wheels and bolt on stuff. It was a waste of money as the hardcore surfers weren't about to waste money on a set of CRAGAR S/S wheels! I did some work for Hobie Alter and in my opinion he is the Steve Jobs of the leisure time industry.
Had to bring this up again. Was just reading a Ganahl piece on Velzy, and am hoping someone posts some photos of his coupe.
Hey thats a sweet van! I have two young boys and I take them to the beach often. Just a couple nights ago my wife and I were talking about how much I enjoyed living in Midland Texas. My youngest, without missing a beat, looks at me with a bewildered look and says, "Why? There's no beaches there!"
This guy can't swim either: Hall of fame surfer Peter Pan. He runs a surf school in Rhode Island as well.
The Jalopy Journal
