History Where were you in '62???

sounds like you were there too, rustednutz was a little young but on the money
most American never knew or will know how close we were. not just October but 53 days of Cuban Crisis. I was in VFAW-3 our detachment in Key West blew away anything in the water during the blockade. I was in the launch tower with the same Red Phone that JFK had in his office. We all thought for certain that it was going to ring. We were on 5 minute alert 24-7 (we didn't have that term back then)
that and nov. 22 1963 are two times in my life that time stood still

 

'62 . senior in high school . had the world by the ass , or so i thought !
flat top , duck tail .... fun times

 

I didn't come on the scene for another 19 years, but like Falcon Sprint, it's a time in history that has long fascinated me. A big thanks to you and everybody who toed the line and didn't blink when the Russian Bear came to the Caribbean.

 

I was 11 years old in 1962. On the way home from church one Sunday I saw this 1930 Roadster Hot Rod body sitting on the floor of a garage. Dad went back the next day and we go it for cleaning out the garage. Sold it around 1975, got it back 25 years later and it hadn't changed a bit, except a lower stantion was lost. It is my current project, goal is to have the perfect Hot Rod I could have built in 1962. It was a great era to have lived in. Bob http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=524321&highlight=basement+roadster

 

In the Hayfields of Oklahoma and yes we were poor but I don't remember missing a meal so we had it way better than a lot of People.Was a very good time in History to be a Kid and to the People talking about the Army There is a lot that you will never know.Veach US Army

 

Aboard the USS Galveston home ported in San Diego. EN3 in "A" division.

We weren't deployed for the Cuban missile quarantine, but we watched an amphibious landing force steam out bound for the canal and Cuba just in case. We spent most of the year either in the Long Beach yard getting upgrades or out firing missiles.

 

In '62 I was in the Navy serving on a sub tender in New London, Ct. In Oct. the ship headed for Key West to relieve another tender that was going into the yards. We were down around Cape Hatteras when the Cuban missle crisis started getting real hot and the ship turned around and headed back for New London. I guess with all the munitions and fuel we carried they did'nt want us anywhere near the area.

 

Had to be disappointing. On your way to the Keys with winter coming on and then having to spend it in New England.

 

Yes, I was looking forward to some fun in the sun.
Jim

 

In '62 I was 12 years old, living in Central America and surfing on a hollow plywood surfboard I made myself. The fellows and I were rolling in a friends '49 Ford mordoor flat black with X-15 painted on the door. Pre long hair man, Elvis was king.

 

I was all snug and warm inside my mother's womb, when all of a sudden WHAM! Along comes 1962...and then ...what year is it now?

 

Made my first motorized vehicle. A Flexy flyer with a lawn Mower engine. Man that thing was fast. Unfortunately, several weeks later a tree jumped out in front of me.
After I recovered from a broken shoulder, I put the motor into a Sidewaker Cruiser I built, complete with a 39 Ford Banjo wheel from my neighbor. The rest is History!

 

Stylin' in my plastic hat, hanging with my little sister.



Notice the look on her face as she is about to tag the photographer (my father) with a snowball. She still gets that look on her face, when she is about to start some s**t.

 

I know I'm posting late ( just now reading through ) But I was paying 26 cents a gal for Standard "Custom Supreme" in 1964 SoCal! 55 Chevy Gasser w/392 Chrysler Hemi remember it like is was yesterday cause I'm still doing the same things as then!!!!!BUCKD

 

N.S.W. Australia....

 

Late to the party like always,,

I was 12 years old and obsessed with cars,I scrounged bottles from the road side ditches,did odd jobs and cut grass to earn money.

Bought my first car at 12,,didn't clear it with my dad and he beat the daylights outta me,,I eat standing up for several days!

I was 16 the next time I bought a car and cleared it with my dad. HRP

 

Hadn't been on this thread for awhile - interesting to see what others were doing in different parts of the country. I have to say if you were around in the 60's, you probably lived in the best times. This country is spiraling down the tubes and we'll get taxed to death before we know it. What's ours will not be ours pretty soon with big brother looking over our shoulders so enjoy while you still can... I remember I used to complain when Chevron Custom Supreme was $.50 a gallon .

 

i was 4 years old , digging on my uncle carmines 56 vette under a tarp in the back yard...he went to college...wink wink for getting involved in a robbery gone bad...

 

four, damn it! but I did have a fiberglass corvette pedal car my grandfather won from a local dealer raffle. a ford dealer no less. wish I had that back!

 

I was a 2 year old in Australia giving mom an' dad a hard time....

 

In '62 I was a freshman in high school working afterschool and weekends for the local Studebaker/Jeep dealership - mostly in the body shop sanding, detailing, and cleanup. I had a ’33 Plymouth 4 door sedan that I had traded a television set for (we had only one channel anyway). Out with the six and in with a 331 Cadillac with a hydro, and as I wasn’t old enough for a driver’s license I had to keep to the back streets.

Every penny I made working after school was spent for clothes or on that car. It had been wrecked and left out in the weather unprotected. The top had rotted and fallen through causing the seats and the floor to end up on the ground (hey, it was just a TV and the car was complete). I had a woodshop class in school and I convinced the instructor to let the top and interior wood structure of the Plymouth became my class project. The local upholstery shop gave instruction on the makeup of the soft top and also sold me the materials to finish the top in white vinyl. In my earlier years mom and dad had taught me how to sew but mom’s old treadle Singer couldn’t handle the naugahyde material picked out for the interior. Again it was back to the local upholstery shop for the seats and door panels in dark blue naugahyde in the original large six inch pleated style with buttons. Carpet was dark blue plush.

As I said, the body was pretty rough, it had taken a light roll but the front fenders had seen several accidents prior. Working after school in the body shop I gained much needed experience and in my spare time I practiced on the ’33. My dad taught me how to gas weld and how to heat shrink. I picked up leading from watching dad and my older brother in the shop.

A couple of years of a little here and there and that car was looking very good. I had previously painted the dash and all the interior moldings as well as the door jams. One evening after work my older brother painted the outside, midnight blue. By the time I was legally old enough to drive I had the finest ride in town.

Dave.

 

Running around the schoolyards of Detroit playing baseball, singing "Duke of Earl" & dreaming about becoming the next Al Kaline.

 

Getting some learning lessons about life. I popped out in February 1962. I don't really remember anything !!!!

 

I was 1 year out of high school, working as a mechanic in a local independent shop, driving a '57 pontiac hardtop. We built my buddy's small block powered '40 ford coupe. Life was good. He still has the coupe. Wish i had the pontiac.

 

Great Stuff,

Well I got onto a dang fist fight the first day I got to this earth!!

And of all people a Dr. WTH!!!!!!

 

Newly married, first of four kids in the oven, driving a nice little '51 Ford Victoria and working 11 hour days, seven days a week for $77.00 a week. Still lucky enough to be with the same good lookin' woman, 52 years in March!

 

First grade at East Elementary in Logan, Ohio

 

A pre-senior Engineering student at Northwestern University driving a 52 4 Dr 2 Tone Grey Firedome Desoto with Tiptoe Matic and PS. The First Hemi for me and Desoto. Boy I loved that car, still yearn for one with a more sporty body style, even a long roof would be cool.

 

College sophomore wondering if Castro was going to send missiles my way.