Families and cars

So many times I read "My dad was into cars and so I got into them at an early age." But how many of you are from families who aren't into cars? Just curious to see how many guys and gals are pretty much on their own. I grew up poor and never knew my dad so I never got the chance to build anything. Except for a few models. I was into cars but no one in my family was. I learned to work on cars from uncles fixing their junk in the driveway no garages.

I realize that alot of you are into the scene because of your families but I have to wonder how many of us are pretty much on their own. My mom, I'm 33, always liked old cars but you know she didn't own anything cool unless you call a 72 Cornet cool. She always had junk. I've bought and sold a few cool cars but nothing to beat the door down over. And never have I built anything yet. I working on changing the last because I absolutely belong here... Thanks Godspeed.

 

my pops always built harley davidsons, starting with flatheads and moving up to stroker shovels, he also had a 427 55 when i was young but i never wrenched on anything untill i had to fix my own ride...84 2.8 liter s10 blazer at 16. and that was the car that i told myself, i will have a car with some balls. 14 years later a 55 sedan with a bbc 5 speed stick and posi 9 inch. not the fastest but one of the quickest! any stock car on the streets need not look at me! that was my motivation, that and a sporty i used to ride.

 

No one in our family was into cars. We didn't even own one till I was about 8 or 9.
When I left school I learned the hard way by fixing my own piles of crap when they broke, met some like minded guys and 40 or so years later I know just about enough to be dangerous

 

My Dad was an over the road truck driver and was not into cars nor did he do anything mechanical. He had a friend who was a machinist who helped him out from time to time or just paid a professional.

I started out taking my bicycle apart and then graduated to mini bikes and then eventually cars. I have built a few cars and am pretty much self taught.

I am however bringing my sons along for the ride. My fifteen year old and I just finished installing a re-built head in my 53 chevy.

He seems to enjoy it and doesn't mind cleaning parts!

 

I also am trying to get my fiances' son into old cars. He kinda likes them but he's sorta more into Mustangs which are fine just not my cup of tea but hey it is a car.

 

My father worked at Ford's Atlanta Assembly Plant at Hapeville GA for 30 years. He started in the body shop grinding lead back when they still leaded the seams and ended up working most of his career as a spray painter. He was a good painter but not the least bit mechanically inclined. He never even changed his own oil. I think there is a gearhead gene, though. It comes from my mother's side of the family. All of my mother's brothers, especially Uncle Clyo, Uncle Claude, and Uncle Curtis were the kind of guys who could figure out how to fix just about anything. They weren't hot rodders per se, but they could keep worn out old cars going long after most people would have sent them to the junkyard. Although neither of my parents understood why I wanted to fool with that '38 Ford pickup I bought for $15, they let me bring it home and have space to work on it, figuring it kept me out of trouble and I could be doing worse things. Mother worked third shift most of my growing up years, always said after I brought that truck home that she could sleep during the day without worrying about where I was or what I was getting into. Daddy bought me some decent basic tools, and he said "As long as you're working on that truck, I know where you are and know you're not out drinking, doing drugs, or getting into trouble." Daddy was a WWII veteran, and he did say that he couldn't look at my truck without thinking about how many '38-'39 Ford trucks the German army had, said he'd shot at and blown up his share of them.

 

Yep, one of 7 kids, but only one that got into cars and rods. Was able to get 2 of my brothers into demo derby briefly, but nothing like the 13 years I competed. But I was putting baby buggy wheels and axles on boards and running down hills before I started school. Always won the races because no one else was around to even pick up the pieces when everything flew apart at top speed, but it was fun.

My father hauled a Harley flat tracker across the country for a few years and set records that lasted forever. But no other member of the family ever got into rods with me. But all you have to do is hit the road in your rod, and you'll find family. Right?
Sir Woosh

 

my dad was not into cars,he might of when he was growing up,but not while he was a dad.
my older brother got me into car.
he had friends that had cool cars,and muscle cars.
my parents never understood why I had to have so many cars,and not just one nice one.

 

My dad did some repair work when I was a kid, but only to pay the bills. He owned a gas station at one point (my uncle was the mechanic), rode a harley, did some cool things that made him bigger than life to a 7 yr old. I found out later he's a great story teller, but didn't enjoy wrenching at all.

I started working on my bicycle to keep it going, graduated to the lawn mower. Got busy raising a family and did my own repairs on daily drivers cause I couldn't afford to take them to the shop. Developed some skills and collected enough tools to make it fun. 10 years ago I bought the 48 pickup and did a frame up rebuild to make it a dd.
Today I'm a pastor by calling, a carpenter by trade and gearhead as an enjoyable past-time.

 

Some shallow thoughts...

IMO, Fixing junk is the best way to learn and 72 coronets are a lot cooler than K cars. Not a bad background at all.

You can teach a person to appreciate cars, but anybody actually "into" cars knows it by the time they're six.

Conversely, some guys that appear to be lifers are that way because it's the only way they know. Much like watching football on TV, it's taught as essential to masculinity.

Never apologize for what you're working on. People who'd expect it are beneath you. Everyone else understands and respects.

Good luck on the journey

 

My stepfather(from the age of 2)was a borderline psycho control freak who's only interest was booze and drove modern euro/jap shitboxes when he was sober enough.When I was young I saw Elvis' 57 lincoln convertible in the movie 'Loving You',looked out the window at our Ford Sierra and realised something was missing from my life
Paul

 

My Dad was never into Hot Rods, I am the youngest of 5. My brother was into cars when I was younger he had a 70 Cuda, sold it and got a 70 challanger that I painted the fender Hemi orange and He about killed me. ( Thank god Mom stopped him) I was about 8 years old when that happened. I loved my bro's cars and always looked at magazines he had laying around. I built models until I was about 16. Then went on with the real ones. My Dad never was interested other than yelling at me about how loud the exhaust was.

 

Now that says it right there !

My Dad was into cars a a Teenager but really while i was groeing up, We did have a Vette 327 powered '56 Chevy pick up & a few other Old cars but thats just what my parents drove.

Had an Uncle That had TONS of Bad Ass Street Racer '55-'57 Chevys, but I met him when i was around 6 or so.

We lived on the outside of town, Not to many other kids around so my Dad gave me some basis tools & an old 283 that was on the Property when we moved in 1969.... I was about 3-4.... I spent Lotsa Time getting Greasy with that engine.

Bicycles, Mini bikes, Dirt Bikes, Home Made Wooden Go Karts, First car in 7th grade.

I had owned a '65 Chevelle, '64 Corvair Van, & a '55 Chevy 150 before i had a License.......

Wish i Knew what i was doing then ....

 

my dad was a hard workin southern boy with a little schoolin.work his ass off to give me and mt sister things his family never even dreamed about. mom was a capital bitch and would NEVER let him spend a nickel on himself so a hot rod was out of the question. i learned about car parts puttin models together when i was around 12.when i finally got old enough to hang around a ol man that live down the street from us in the chicago burbs is when my interest really took off.i loved doin the dirty work. he build drag cars, street rods hotrods,it didnt matter to him. he just loved cool cars.by the late 70s i was married and built myself one fast 55 chevy.when my parents came to visit on their vacation i took my ol dad for a ride that he said he NEVER forget, i guess not, since when i shifted from 1st to 2nd and the frontend hit the ground and his front teeth hit the dash.(uppers, they were store bought). after that hed call and what i was buildin next.and to make sure what ever it was that it had enough room for him.he never did teach me anything.he was to busy workin.but now i have a son.26 yrs. old and ive taught him everything i knew. he does body work,paints does custom painting, welding etc, he now is teaching me !is also my partner in our custom hotrod and bike shop.

 

No one in my family was into cars. I had to figure it out by myself, and I was one of those types that always got into trouble for taking apart ANYTHING mechanical to see how it worked. Fortunatley my high school at least had an autoshop (do any of them have that anymore?) so I had a little chance to learn. Even though I grew up in Southern California, being from a family that wasn't into cars I never even realized how much of a car culture or how much opportunity there was around me until much later in life.

There is no doubt that I'm dragging my boys in to the garage, whether they like it or not. One of them, fortunately, at age 3 is already very mechanically inclined. He'll watch anything that moves to see how it works. At Disneyworld he spent more time watching how the automatic doors open and close on the rides than he did watching the rides. That's my boy!

 

My dad didn't work on cars or have much interest in them, but he did get an old car when I was about 10, with the stated intention that us boys could take it apart when it quit running. Problem was I put it back together too (overhauled the engine when I was 14)

been downhill ever since.

 

My dad wasn't into building cars or repairing them. He bought a few cool cars new when I was a kid. 60 T-bird, 68 Dodge Charger, 69 Triumph Spitfire. Our neighbor and good friend did a lot of his own work on the family cars but didn't build anything. I guess it was good that I grew up in the Detroit area in the 60's. We were always aware of what was going down the road near us. This made me want to learn more, but I was never into muscle cars, except to ride in my friends cars. I Learned about hot rods seeing a few in our neighborhood. I grew up right by the GM tech center and there were car guys all over with all kinds of stuff. Now I'm the dad and my son and his friends are learning from me.
Red

 

No car history in my family either. We didn't even have a garage until I was 13. My Dad did everything himself, so I hung around and watched. He was the best woodworker I've ever known and we always built stuff together, so that explains the hot rod woodie I'm building. On winter weekends, I was a pit rat at the snowmoile races where my uncle had a race team. In the 70's, all the kids in the neighborhood had muscle cars. My 6th grade teacher drag raced and drove a GTO Judge every day. The influences were all around me so when my brother gave me his clapped out 55 Ford pickup in 76, I never looked back.

 

IM the black sheep in a green peace global warming family. My father wanted everyone to use mass transit. I have thrown my brother out of my house for telling me that im part of the problem as I am an R.V. Mechanic so I am promoting air pollution and global warming by working on R.VS. What can you do Dads dead and I dont like my brother any way.

 

I think you're "born with it". My dad wasn't. I remember as a little kid combing the neighborhood on my bicycle. I pretty much knew of every car being built within a 5 block radius from my house.

 

Theres people that aren't into cars????????

 

my pops was a hot rodder all his life,doing everything the hard way by his self ,he enjoyed the challange of starting from scratch with very little money. make it your self,he had a whole lot of cool cars over the years but as soon as he would finish one up,he would sell it to build something else, like more garage space,addition to the house and find another old piece start over again. he worked for the city we live in, like the mayor said on the day he retired "if it has wheels on it from a firetruck,police car,garbage truck to a lawn mower that man kept them rolling" I now sit at that same desk that he used for 35 years,I now have 33 myself, working with him was somtimes hard but I can can say that I'm a chip off the block I sure do miss him!

 

When I was young my older brothers both played around with cars, but now I'm the only one in the family who does. Been this way since the 80's.

 

I still find it funny that gearhead gene. Don't know where it comes from or how it gets here but it's here. I sat down lastnight drawing up plans for my fiance's little boy pinewood derby car. Showed it to him today and didn't give a rats behind oh well. His dad got him into comic books and video games. He likes motorcycles but not that well. Taking him to a car show is like pulling teeth for him. Geez what's a gearhead to do. Thanks for the replies.