I'll admit that Ed Roth was a huge inspiration for me. As a kid I loved drawing cartoons and always tried to duplicate the cool factor that he so easily conveyed. On the racetrack it was The Snake, Don Prudhomme...something about his white Mustang Funny car or the Yellow Cuda...didn't matter. Hot Wheels were my favorite toy, by 9 I had my own set of ratchets and wrenches and by 12 I could rebuild a carb. But when it really comes down to it, it was my father. Whether we were watching Bullit for the 20th time, flipping through parts catalogs, shopping for tools, waiting with baited breath for the next issue of Hot Rod, or tuning the same Holly for the 10th time, he was the man that got me hooked on old iron. Heck, I was conceived in the back of a 56 Bel Air, driven to school in a 56 F100, my first car as a kid was a '66 GT350 clone that he approved of and I bought with my own hard earned money, and we always had 2 or 3 projects around the property. One memory that sticks out is the time that we were racing up a mountain road to one of his buddies garages in his '35 Dodge pickup (425 under the hood) and we took a sharp left turn. The passenger door flung open and his big bear claw came slamming down on my chest, grabbing a handful of sweatshirt and a bunch of chest hair with it. My eyes were as big as saucers and when he yanked me back in he laughed really loud and said, "son, we aren't there yet...patience". It was friggin hillarious.... What a man, a great dad and a huge passion for cars. Who inspired you guys?
The Custom Chariot's of Waterbury, Conn. a 50's club, they had car shows in the Waterbury Armory. My cousin Joey was a member, he had a 56 Merc. custom. He has another 56 Merc. today, & still has their club plaque that he designed. Joey was my bigest inspiration.
While growing up in B'ham Al, we lived in a suburb called East Lake. Around the corner from where I lived there was a guy that had a channeled 32 roadster with an olds. He was working on it one day, and I ask to watch, told me to hand him some tools and it started there. Don't remember his name and never did get to ride, early 50s.
I got to hear the stories of my grand dad racing on long island back in the 50s and 60's. Then grew up when i was young watching street racing on long island with my mom and then moved to MD and had to work on junk to get me back and forth to school and work.
My mom has photos of me in my carseat on the hood of the '56 Bel Air at the Freemont Drags. My dad would race on weekends and always blew his transmission. Luckily my grandfather owned Palo Alto transmission and would rebuild the spare for my dad to install on Sunday afternoon so he could drive the car back and forth to work and have something to blow the following weekend. Gramps was an inspiration too...man thay guy knew a thing or two about cars.
My Father.My Father always had a slick ride while I was growing up.We went to all the shows we could go to.He got the cancer 14 yrs ago and fought it like hell to the end and I lost him X-mas time last year.Ive got his 48 Chevy Hot Rod now.He was burried in a yellow/black flannel and a Jegs hat to match.That was my dad till the end.Even with no strength or energy he would be out there working on one of his cars until he couldnt anymore.Miss ya man something awful.....Here he is and the ride...Cruise in peace Pop and thanks
The Jalopy Journal
