Hot Rods Are any of your high School friends still involved with Hot Rods & Customs?

I know of only 1 guy, he always had some nice cars like a '65 Impala SS and '64 Nova SS. I saw him at the last reunion, but didn't get to talk much. One of my college buddies, actually 2 of the closest have nice cars, one a '32 Ford (glass body...) , the other a '70 Nova.

I'm not on FB for various reasons, I took some ribbing from HS alumni since I have decided to stay in NY while they are down south. I pretty much told them that I can afford a house in NY and down south.

 

I think I'm the only one of my friends from HS that is still involved in old cars... one was killed in a motorcycle accident a couple of days before graduation and the rest have passed away or have moved on to RV's and spending the winters in Arizona. I know a couple of them would like to get back into cars; but they are married to "practical" ladies that would not see the necessity of having one...

 

Hello,

There is direct correlation between hot rods, drag racers and customs. They all require time, money and satisfaction. All of my friends from high school are no longer into mild customs, hot rods or drag racing, other than possibly watching a TV show or two about hot rods, etc. They have all had their time in the teenage scene and for them as well as most, it was time to move on in life. So, most have. (From 1962??? What??? Most have gone on to teenager places in the cloud...)

When going to those class reunions, the closer to high school it is, like the 20 year reunion, the more active one was or is. But going to several reunions later, it was just nice to talk and see those that we have not seen in 30+ years. The last big one we went to was the 30. Then skipped the 40 due to our son’s wedding on the same day and finally the 50. The sheer numbers have fallen each year and surprises popped up in conversations.

So, in 2017, I was invited to the grand opening of the original Lions Drag Strip Museum at the Price Transfer Industrial Complex. There I was reunited with one of my class mates from the 1959-64 era. He had a nice hot rod for the daily driver, became interested in drag racing, met some great people, married a girl from a famous drag racing family, built a race car, joined with some famous drag racing teams after high school and learned a trade, all while growing up. His path was a little different than ours.

Having gone to junior high school with his drag racing partner, Doug Fisher, (bought my first 1940 Ford Flathead Sedan Delivery from Doug Fisher) then high school with both, there is some hot rod/drag race history there. Doug is now gone, but Jerry Bivens is still active in those Nitro Nights, Nitro Revival, Cacklefests and Lions Museum Foundation opening events. With his current re-creation of the famous “Checkmate” FED, there are reminders of his late partner, Doug Fisher in bright lettering on the definitely, creative paint job.
2017 fire up in the afternoon...
SOUND 2017

A delightful sight, sound and eye watering event in most So Cal Cacklefests...

The most current on the video conferencing extravaganza:

at 2:24:43 http://aaafamosoraceway.com/national-day-of-nitro/

So Cal hot rodding/drag racing memories at its finest… Way to go, Jerry!

Long Beach, Bixby Knolls, old time hot rodder/drag racer...

 

Several Players Left And Mel Leads The Pack...

 

I was at Brenda's shop this morning and she took a order for a plant that could be planted in the yard for a birthday, she mentioned the name and it was a old high school acquaintance so I told her I would do the delivery.

The recipient was Johnny T. and I really haven't seen him since high school, he just turned 70, the reason I am posting this is when we went on Christmas break and returned to school in '66 to my shock Johnny was missing his right arm.

It seem's he was diagnosed with a problem and the only alternative was amputation, any way his dad told him he would buy him any car he wanted and shortly after he returned to school he wss driving a '66 Shelby 350, it was a automatic.

He drove the car around town for several years and got involved in politics and the car waas parked under a pecan tree in his grandmothers back yard.

Sometime in the late 70's or early 80's a old friend of his bought the car for next to nothing and got it back on the road and drove it for a few months until a local collector and president of the Mustang Club of America flagged him down and bought it on the spot, I had kept in contact with Joe since he was a artist and bought supplies from me, Joe said it was a lot of money at the time but it was less than 10 grand.

They are considerably more expensive now. HRP

 

A number of school buddies stayed car guys to the very end. Most slowly lost interest, but a few were life long gearheads like me.
I buried them all one by one.
Don't forget to keep track of old friends while they are up and still kicking.


Sent from my SM-G981V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

My father has his old car and sometimes it feels like he loves it more than family haha)) His close friend also has one, but for real I wonder how much they like it and care, it is like the whole era for them, as the great memories of their young years. I was so interested in their stories while working on the college project and especially after reading https://samplius.com/free-essay-examples/memories/ I decided to ask them more about how it was. These free essay samples let me understand the importance of memories. So, when I was talking with my father and his friend about their young life, they were so happy, like they were living it at the moment.

 

no
they were never

 

None of them were then. None of them are now.

 

The only friend I see from high school, still has the truck he had then...and yeah, he still messes with them some.

Maybe the reason we stay in contact is that he likes doing some stuff I like doing?

 

Yep! My buddy Mike... We've known each other since we were 12 years old.... I sold him my first car just before a family trip too Italy in '78.... Problem is, he won't sell it back..

 

Here's a picture of a my friend's 33 and my 32 at his cabin from a few years back. We go all the way back to high school 1964 and have stayed in touch all through the years, our lives ran a similar parallel course, racing/car hobby, he still plays with cars like me but age/time now has us both in the more talk than do class, just keeping them up is enough, I'm down to 3 hobby, he has 7 hobby cars. A lot of people have come and gone in my life and our acquaintance/ friendship is at 56 years now, we met street drag racing 1964, his 57 Plymouth, my 57 Chevy, I won that one and we have had fun through the years, we haven't raced in years. Thinking/typing this I just realized he's been around longer than anybody in my life.

 

Heck , most of them are dead or in oll health...some got married and all of a sudden they cut the hobby loose..never could understand that...marriage can be the ball and chain for sure...separated from wife over 10 years ago...still have my 49 Dodge 3 window though....ha ha ha

 

I don't know if you would call him a "Hot Rodder" but I have one friend that still plays with his Mustang and a '57 F-100. I think he's actually becoming more of a hands on guy since getting the Ford pickup. We go back to the seventh grade, I own/operate a machine shop, he's a stock broker. I think he copied me with his truck. We get along pretty well still.

 

I have to add that of all my "car friends" in HS the one that I learned the most from was my auto shop teacher. He was a true car guy and "Hot Rodder", he even had a T of his featured in Car Craft in 1966. Good guy all around who encouraged me to carry on in the automotive field when I had no real direction as to what I wanted to to in life. Very happy to say that I recently got re-acquainted with Mr. Graff (Bob) again after all these years. Happy to say he is still a Hot Rodder and we actually met at a swap meet in Bakersfield a couple years back. He's playing around with a 34 Tudor and a Model A Phaeton. His son is also into the hobby, I remember Bob bringing Matt to the shop class as a little boy. Great guys both of them.

 

My best friend, Mike, that I met Oct 17, 1957 and went through 16 years of school together still messes with iron! Mike earned a degree in teaching and taught auto body at the college level. Has many first place wins! Taught my stepson his trade, he now has his own business!
Mike and I are both retired now playing with our toys!










Bones

 

Hello,

Besides the few left in the So Cal NITRO/Cacklefests, we have all moved on in life. I am sure that an inkling in our memory blanks of those cool times as a teenage hot rod builder, customizer, cruiser and owner, still exist...how can it not? The times were ripe as cars meant freedom for teenagers. It did not matter what anyone drove, as long as it started and got where you wanted to go for a short or long roadtrip.

But, if the friend that had the 57 White Chevy Bel Air Hardtop was still around, he would have been the closest to keeping the spirit alive. Later on in life, he, too, whittled down his cars and started doing custom machining on a small lathe. He was now building custom made pens and pencil sets, out of wood and metals.

Jnaki

We have all gone on to other things since being “snarky” teenagers. Some even ended up in the U.S.A. highest ranking level in the military, plus several others involved in old style drag racing Nitro Nights. The others, well they are still alive and living the best that we all can during this pandemic crisis.

Since we are all in the most susceptible category, most of us still stay locked in place until it is all clear.