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History Hypothetical Question, for the greybeards ~ then & now

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by HOTRODPRIMER, Jul 12, 2016.

  1. dan c
    Joined: Jan 30, 2012
    Posts: 2,579

    dan c
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    unlike porknbeaner, i always wanted a '55 chevy when i was a youngun, but, it's true, the rich boys had 'em! all us poor boys had flatheads. late-'40s buicks were butt ugly. '40s-early '50s mopars were almost free. ramblers? yuck. we liked v8 pontiacs and oldses. as far as fords went, you couldn't give away a '37 or '38. one car i've never developed a love for, though, is the '59 cadillac! just too over-the-top!
     
  2. OahuEli
    Joined: Dec 27, 2008
    Posts: 5,243

    OahuEli
    Member
    from Hawaii

    I can remember my mom picking me up at school in a '58 Ford dealership loaner and thinking what an ugly car it was. This was '63-'64 I guess. Fast forward to now and I wouldn't mind getting hold of a Ranchero of that vintage.
    I grew up mainly interested in drag racing and looks weren't as important. My older sister had a boyfriend who drove an early '50s Chevy kustom. I thought it was cool but never did care for the whitewalls. Nowadays I appreciate more the work that went into building kustoms, but I still want a '56 Crown Vic gasser with a 427 side oiler, top loader and 9 inch.:D
     
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  3. Engine man
    Joined: Jan 30, 2011
    Posts: 3,480

    Engine man
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    I've gained an appreciation of later model cars and women.
     
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  4. 68hillbilly
    Joined: May 10, 2007
    Posts: 158

    68hillbilly
    Member
    from KENTUCKY

    I never would have thought twice about any wagon when I was younger, now I love em.
     
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  5. Hahaha.... I disliked everything from 58 up! Now I'd kill for a 58-70 wagon.... Lived all my childhood years riding in the back of my Dad's wagons!
     
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  6. well some how I knew it would be a Studebaker....after looking at a first year Cuda/1964 - and a 1940 Plymonth coupe (that the guy would take my 90cc motor bike in trade ) both my dad said no to....I tried to buy about three or so Stude coupes on my paper route...no go...dad steered me to a Stude truck....my first runner....funny the next one - would be a another 1964 Cuda he would steer me to.... I finally ended up with one of the coupes in 2008....still holding out for the 1 owner 55 coupe that's still in the garage at the house I'm currently mowing the grass at....
     
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  7. oh...and just never been a Lowery coupe lover....they were just there sitting....and were different.....still want a stock Henry J.....
     
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  8. modelamotorhead
    Joined: Dec 24, 2011
    Posts: 487

    modelamotorhead
    Member

    '62 T-birds, hated 'em then, Love 'em now.
     
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  9. k9racer
    Joined: Jan 20, 2003
    Posts: 3,091

    k9racer
    Member

    In 1964/65 I had a 59 Rambler station Wagon . It came from the factory with lay down seats. All my friends would let me drive their chevells/gto/ and other hot cars while they used my wagon. Best 85 dollar car I ever owned. But it was and still is ugly.
     
  10. steinauge
    Joined: Feb 28, 2014
    Posts: 1,507

    steinauge
    Member
    from 1960

    I was one of the "wrong side of the tracks" crowd and we didnt have any money.What we did have was free run of a BIG junkyard.As I remember what I really liked was any car I could own and drive the shit out of.The combo of that and the junkyard made for some interesting times----;) Thinking on it now none of that has changed.
     
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  11. PM me... There's one I know of for less than $4k
     
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  12. Smokin Joe
    Joined: Mar 19, 2002
    Posts: 3,770

    Smokin Joe
    Member

    In high school it was light weight 2 door and a V-8 if you could afford it. Spent too much on drive trains and rear tires to afford paint most of the time back then altho I did paint a few. Now I have a model A coupe Hotrod with a 302, a 50 Chevy I'm customizing, and a 70 Chevelle Muscle car. One of each I guess. I seem to be open to any good car now. When I was a kid it was all about how fast I could get it thru the quarter or a street race. I'll still take a Hotrod over a Streetrod any day. Funny thing tho is the car I'd most like to have back was a 55 Nomad wagon. That's right, a wagon. Now they're cool, but back then nobody wanted a wagon. A wagon was your mother's car. Of course it did do hella fast quarters with the built 427, acid dipped bumpers, fiberglass front end, mostly sheet aluminum interior and Halibrand quickchange. My mother never drove mine...
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2016
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  13. ..........Can't imagine what your friends might have been using those lay down seats for!:rolleyes:
     
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  14. Ron Brown
    Joined: Jul 6, 2015
    Posts: 1,737

    Ron Brown
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    image.jpeg image.jpeg Great thread Danny....I grew up on 55 Chevies and wanted nothing but 55s. I was obsessed with them and couldnt give two shits about 56 or 57s let alone the god awful 58. This was in the mid 60s. That was then, this is now. While I still have a fondness for the 55, which was more "utilitarian" in design, the body lines of the 56 is to me, now, one of the prettiest cars ever made. A hot rodded 56, correctly raked absolutely drops my jaw. And, though I still rate the 57 as number three in the tri5 lineup, the 58, as little use I had for them back then, I would kill for today. Alot of people are fans of 32s, 34s, fat fenders, pickups, Vettes, you name it, all are standard bearers for good reason, but, a well built 56 or 58 Chevy, to "me", is the epitome of classy styling. If I had more garage space I would have a 56. Cant afford a 58. For now, my little ol Tudor will have to do.
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2016
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  15. Greasy64
    Joined: Nov 1, 2008
    Posts: 198

    Greasy64
    Member

     
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  16. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 10,442

    jnaki

    Hello,

    Your mother would have blown the socks off of others on the strip or street in your car. There were several times that my mom would take my 58 Impala to the grocery store or the Lakewood Mall. She would come home and tell me about these boys in a loud car that came up to her and asked if she would like to race. My answer was…did you? I knew that 95% of the cars at the time could not beat my 58 Chevy in a race. By this time (1960), it had a C&O hydro, 4:56 positraction, modified straight through mufflers, Racer Brown cam and solids, ported/polished, more than 280 hp to the wheels, and the height was just right for a floor stomping run from the lights. The sound was a mean rumble with those mods.

    But, she said that they revved up their motors and took off for the next light. As she rolled up to the next light, they did the same. So, I said put it in “D” and just stomp the gas pedal. You will win the next time…she said she was scared. Mothers…ha… This scenario happened everytime she went to the Lakewood Mall near some of you “Hambers” out there. Funny, when I drove the car, I never got challenged on the street…but several times during Spring Break (Easter Vacation back then)…ahh that is another story. Fun times...

    Thanks,

    Jnaki
     
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  17. jvo
    Joined: Nov 11, 2008
    Posts: 286

    jvo
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    My tastes have not really changed a lot. I like all early hot rods, but I have never truly understood the love of the 32, even though I do like them. Funny though that I don't much care for almost any car from 49 to 54, but love all of the 55 through to 70 models, especially the tail fin Chryslers. I thought that the ugliest car on earth was the bug eyed 57 Ford when I was young, but now I am building a 57 Ranchero.
    My uncle gave my brother and I a 59 Ford 4 door sedan, and told us it would be a good car for us boys, ( I was sixteen), all we had to do was rebuild the oil burning motor, install new brake linings, put some new tires on it, new seat covers, install a new windshield and we would have an excellent car. He was a real cheap sob, and bought a new car every 7 years or so, and never put a nickel into any of them while he owned them. We took it directly to the auto wreckers where the guy took his chop saw and cut the roof off it, as we really wanted a convertible. You should have seen his face when he saw us in it a few weeks later. He never gave us much after that though. It was fun to drive for a while, but we couldn't open the doors after about a week of bombing around, and the smoke from the oil burner out back was choking us. We junked it after driving it for about a month in the summer.
    I've never much liked any 4 door car, except for station wagons, and still feel that way. Interesting thread. I read the whole thing. Keep it coming.
     
  18. thanks Wingnutz....the one I know about and have been chasing - a Henry J - ran well up to the late 80's around my work place....one of those - he says - my son is going to fix it up....currently in a lean to next to the barn....
     
  19. As a kid, many of us grabbed up those '62-64 Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs and Cadillacs. They were cheap, powerful and had great interiors for the drive-in movies. Priorities... It was a crap shoot to get one with a good engine and transmission that was reliable. But for $200, it was the best we could do. If you had $500, that catapulted you to the next tier of cars, 5 year old Impalas and Galaxies.
     
  20. Fat47
    Joined: Nov 10, 2007
    Posts: 1,524

    Fat47
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I started driving/building on a limited budget in the late 50's. As I look back the desirable cars seemed to be influenced by the region you lived in. In the Seattle/Tacoma area at that time the do die for cars were the 40 Ford and the 49-50 Merc's. I don't remember the 32's being a lusted after car but there were a fair number of T and A's. My dream was a 33-34 Mopar. Finally picked one up about 5 years ago. Actually have a build thread here on HAMB.

    At that time 4 doors and wagons would never receive a second look. Today I have a 60 Brookwood that I have driven all over the Country. And while I still can't get into the 4 door's I have to admit that a lot of the younger guys are doing some great things with them.

    While personal preference differs from one hot rodder to another I have learned to appreciate good work on a wide variety of cars. That is the lesson of age.
     
  21. Larry T
    Joined: Nov 24, 2004
    Posts: 7,897

    Larry T
    Member

    One of the few times you can easily make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

    1957-frc-01-c.jpg
     
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  22. Raiman1959
    Joined: May 2, 2014
    Posts: 1,427

    Raiman1959

    I ''hated'' the look of the Nash Metropolitan as a kid!!! My grandmother drove a red & white one, and she was the cat's meow driving with her 'cat eye' sunglasses and white silk scarf, honking at everyone and terrifying me with bad publicity in Junior High School!!!. I am going out on a limb now, and saying " I don't mind them at all now"....funny how times cause a person to re-think...my wife wants one badly, and has visions of ''too-doo-looing'' around town with ''her'' cat-eye sunglasses and honking at everyone....yup, I've gone over the deep end now:eek::D:D:D 1960-nash-metropolitan-convertible-002.jpg
     
  23. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,619

    Atwater Mike
    Member

    Yep, Beaner. Same ol' Brother-of-mine, with the Tri-5 bias!
    Yes, they were the rich kids' rides. Dad's $$, and they wanted to race. Bad thing was that a flathead HAD to be at least a 5/16" by Quarter to beat a 283...:(
    But I usually had that covered...3/8 X 3/8 and my 304, the big one didn't last long...

    Bill Burnham published a LIST in one of his Street Rodder columns in the '70s, (or early '80s?)
    It told the story of what was cool and what was not. I roared when I read it, because it echoed the rules of the '50s!
    Let's see...
    '28 was NOT cool, but '29 was. '32 Super cool, '33 not. '34 cool. '35 not. '36 cool, but NO '37, 38, but '39 semi...'40 Cool! etc. Wish I knew where that list was,,,(I copied it, had it on my office wall in my shop for years!)

    Yeah, Beaner...I'd buy a Tri 5 if I could find a cheap one. But...Flathead or 'Y' block? :D:D:eek:
     
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  24. Phttttt I'd put a Y block in a '55 belair just to piss in someone's corn flakes. :p :D
     
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  25. thunderplex
    Joined: Nov 27, 2007
    Posts: 1,182

    thunderplex
    Member

    A guy in Atlanta around 1965 put a bad ass Chev 327 in his white 63 1/2 Galaxie fastback. I didn't know him but talked to him at "The Varsity" several times. He indicated he won more money proving he was running a 327 instead of a 390 cu in fe as advertised on the side of his car. People thought he was a dumb-ass and had no idea what engine was in his car. His car ran like a scalded dog.

    Sent from my SM-N910V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2016
  26. thunderplex
    Joined: Nov 27, 2007
    Posts: 1,182

    thunderplex
    Member

    1966. Another guy around the Atlanta airport put a small Cummings diesel in his '57 Ford. Why? I have no freaking idea!! I pulled up beside him at a red light and heard all of that crap coming from his car, I just had to ask him what he had under the hood. So, they pulled over and showed us. Noisy and smokey...!!!

    Sent from my SM-N910V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  27. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 19,517

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    in my youth I never met an old car I didn't like... now that I am old and 70's and 80's cars are considered old there are many old cars I do not like. that is about the only difference in my tastes....
     
  28. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,339

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Pha! No imagination...Gotta be a MEL...or better yet, a 6x2 packard.;):D
     
  29. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 20,657

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    Reminds me of that line in some movie.
    "it does have a little wang to it"
     
  30. Dago 88
    Joined: Mar 4, 2006
    Posts: 2,365

    Dago 88
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Dragged this '34 coupe utility home in 1970 & used it for parts to build a '34 5 window, now who in their right mind would want to hot rod one of these things. LOL :( 3420Ford20ute.jpg
     
    C. John Stutzer likes this.

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