Hot Rods Neighborhood hot rods that influenced you

There was a 38 Chevrolet Coupe with a cross-ram 413 and Push-button Torqueflite 2 houses away. A 57 Chevrolet 210 Delray with a cammed up 283 and 3 speed (I actually bought that car for the engine/trans 3 houses away). My older sisters, boyfriends car, a 64 Chevrolet Impala 2 door hardtop with a 327 and Tri-Power and a Powerglide that was a real dog until it got past 50 MPH. A 57 Model 150 2 door sedan with a 425 HP 409 and a 4-speed; guy would't sell it to me (a "kid") and I had the money ($800.00!) about 2 miles away as the crow flies. And probably a few others I've forgotten about. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

First and foremost "The Blown Hearse"



I was a big Indy fan and had my future career as an Indy driver all planned out in my 9-10 year old mind. UNTIL was at school one day close to the D&E garage and heard the Hearse start up. That did it had to see what was making that noise and from that moment on I forget all about Indy and wanted to go Drag Racing.

A bit later the Hearse was succeeded by this Willys by the time I had hung around and became their gopher.





Turns out our little (maybe 4000 people) town was Drag Racing central. Next door neighbor had 56 Chevy 2 dr sedan with 283 and found out what 4 barrel carb was LOL.

My 5th grade LADY teacher and her two sons dominated Modified production with several 55-56 Chevies.

Another neighbor had a 1961 Chevy with a 409 4 speed.

But the one that sealed my fate was in late 1961 the local rich kid that lived down the street got a brand new 1962 dark blue Chevy HT 409/409 4 speed and he drove it like he stole it right past my house every day what a sound those two quads make when they are wide open.

The local Dr's kid convinced him to buy a 1963 full sized plymouth with the new 426 super stock engine.

The one that made up my mind

 

I remember seeing a Model A coupe with a modern rear axle with parallel springs which meant a V8, probably a SBC. It had Model A front wheels and I have wondered about the brakes ever since. There was several A coupes with 1935 Ford wheels. A neighbor had a 1950 Crestliner with a SBC in 1962.

 

Both these cars were in my neighborhood when I was growing up, Grabowski lived in Sunland Ca where I live and Ivo lived in Burbank, my stepdad was Ivo's movie agent and got Tommy to take me for a ride when I was 13. Very fortunate to grow up in so Cal. where these cars were in the neighborhood. JW

 

In 1965, (I was 15), a fellow 2 houses below me had a '57 Chevy "Gasser" in progress. It was high in the front and rear, probably a straight axle. It had ladder bars with I believe a broom stick or rake through them to hold the exhaust up. And I think it was in primer. One day on my way home from school, he picked me up and I got to ride in it for a couple of blocks. He had been down at the local Gas Station. I took 2 pictures of the car before he traded it for I believe, a '58 Vette.
Around about 1972, I was at a Junk Yard picking up a part for the Service Station I was working at and I saw my former neighbor working there. Got to talking to him and said I had pictures of his '57. He said he would like to have them so I gave them to him. I can't remember if I gave him the negatives or not, but I found a box of photos and negatives from that time frame about 20 years ago and looked for them with no luck. Now I can't find that box. I sure would like to find those negatives.
I have always liked old cars and hot rods, but I think that '57 is where my love for Gassers came from. Ron

 

That's me in the passengers seat of John Fleckenstein's DeSoto powered T way back when I was 15 and he was 17.

 

That's cool I posted that photo here on the HAMB a long time ago and never knew the story.

 

Dave`s Merc

 

Having grown up in Southern California in the fifties and early sixties plus having an older brother and sister, there is no way that I could pick one. They were everywhere!

 

When I was in high school in the 1960's and before I could drive, there was a guy who had an Anglia gasser with a SBC that ran the streets around town on occasion. I think it was barely street legal, and whenever he showed up at cruise areas it got everybody's attention! Rarely did anyone think their car could be faster, so only saw it run a couple times on the street, and both times it easily beat whoever thought their car was faster.
But that idea of a V8 in a tiny little car never left my mind. I owned a lot of American cars with big V8's, but it took 50 years before I finally scratched that itch. I was retiring a decade ago, and helping a neighbor build a '48 Austin gasser for the street. I went home one afternoon and sat down at the computer and instantly found an older Austin sedan. It was on Ebay, but only 40 miles away, and a Buy It Now price under $2000! I searched the seller's user name and found his business phone number by chance at an equipment supply place. Ten minutes later we were headed out with the trailer to pick it up!



About 18 months later I was done.

 

If you lived in Garland Tx in the mid to late 70s and were a teenager, you knew the silver Studebaker pickup (dont remember what year it was) that was named "Little Annie's Fanny"........bad ass truck back in those days.

 

When I was a kid growing up in Bakersfield Ca. we had a lot of Hot Rods around town and a few of them really made me who I’am today it wasn’t really about the car but more about the guys who built them. Squeak Bells Roadster he was a legend to me and always will be just a class act and always treated me very good since I was a little kid going to his shop. The other Car is Lillard Hills 34 Coupe to me Lillard is the ultimate guy I looked up to, he can do anything and everything he touched was bad ass just a all around great guy. Shelly Anderson had a huge impact too Famoso used to have top fuel test and tune once a year my dad took me one year and the event pretty much got rained out the big names weren’t really making passes but we stuck around the weather kind of cleared up and Shelly Anderson was able to make a 300 mph run the crowd that stuck around went crazy and to this day it was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen I’ll forever be a Shelly Anderson fan.




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Back in the early 60's there was an airplane mechanic by the name of Al Kruger who lived two doors down from me in Leechburg PA. He had a 36 Ford coupe with I believe a Pontiac engine. He was a realy cool guy with a beard,I believe he moved to California. That's how I got into hots rods and growing a beard. I know it's a really long shot biut I wonder if anyone esle knew him.

 

In the 60s and early seventies the Laplace Dragway was still operating
just West of the New Orleans area. There were several top fuel racers
in the area, two of which were within blocks of my house. That along
with literally hundreds of other drag racers in the immediate area.
Many of these vehicles did double duty as street racers as well.
There were a couple of other drags strips along with a circle track
in the not to distant surrounds as well. That along with the vehicles
I encountered while living in the Bay area of Hayward California instilled
an appreciation for hot street and track cars that I still enjoy today. Although the more modern hot cars are mostly late model high tech,
the principle is enduring. There are still plenty of old school hot street
cars around these parts, lots actually. Now they are occasionally driven
to cruise nights or a few special annual events by older die hard guys.

 

when in Junior High my Family lived on Oahu, Hawaii - High School guy across the street had a '57 Ranchero with '60 Chevy headlights mounted vertical - later when we moved back to California a neighborhood High School neighbor bought a clean '52 Ford from my Dad. Had a beautiful paint job done, and Tijuana, Mex custom tuck'n'roll interior - but, rode like a brick from cutting springs to lower

 

I’ve alway loved Rhinebeck and Red Hook.
Eventually I hope to put up a house and shop in Upper Red Hook., hopefully sooner than later.
My idea of heaven on earth.
I love the scenery and the roads in Dutchess County and hopefully will be there soon to drive the wheels off my ride.


Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.

 

I turned 16 in 1971 and from about 1963 to this day anything that was modified for looks and performance was and is and inspiration for my Car, Motorcycle and truck addiction! Larry

 

I’ve got a contribution to this post, although it isn’t an exact fit. When I was a kid, my grandfather rented out a building on his property to a gentleman who was a welder and fabricator. Actually, this individual was a very talented artist with a welder and a torch. He also was tolerant of inquisitive kids, and I lived about 50 yards away. I suppose I became somewhat of a pest for showing up at this shop whenever I could, but he never turned me away. Anyway, he built a number of projects including a miniature jeep (Crosley based) , several garden tractors, and a miniature American LaFrance fire truck, based on a Crosley chassis and running gear. I was thrilled to ride along on the fire truck’s maiden voyage out of the shop. He took this vehicle to local carnivals and sold rides on the “NeverMakeIt” fire truck. I’m told this vehicle was purchased by an amusement park in California many years ago, but I haven’t been successful at tracking it down since then. Anyway, this individual passed away many years ago (1973), and I wish I would have had the opportunity to express my thanks to him for his patience with me, and the opportunity to watch a true craftsman at work. He sparked a desire in me to pursue cars, metalworking, welding, and fabrication as a hobby (amongst others), and I will be forever grateful to him for that. I am at best, still a novice at this sort of thing (at the age of 72) , but nonetheless, I enjoy the challenge. If this isn’t a good fit for the post, I apologize, and please just delete it. But it seemed like a good opportunity to pay tribute to Roland C. Bower, a man I had much respect for.. RIP my friend!!

Finally found the photo of the fire truck!!!

 

My next door neighbor was always messing with cars. Late 70s-early 80s so a lot of what he had were X-frame GMs, early A-Bodies and a few 60-66 G.M. trucks. Engine swaps with a come-along and a chain over the rafters in the garage, Big car engines in little cars, make it work kind of stuff.
A special bit of fun was a go-kart with a small motorcycle engine and transmission in it. Chains on the tires and running it up the main drag during a snow emergency.

 

In my neighborhood in the late 70’s early 80’s it was almost all novas, camaros, gtos even a plymouth superbird. Two houses over a guy had a 57 chevy that i could see from my bedroom window. It sat there for years long enough for me to be old enough to buy it but when he finally gave me a price i was broke and couldn’t sell my 68 (fake) GTO in time. I only remember a few 30’s 40’s cars, not enough to get my attention. But when i was 10-12 my Dad took me to his buddies house, he had a blown Moris minor pickup that made quite to impression on me. Oh yeah Dad had a 57 vette dismantled and buried in the garage. I now have the vette.

 

When I was first married I always had an older car for our second car - 64 Tempest, 66 Dodge Dart, 64 Impala, a 66 Impala, then a really clean 62 Impala 6 cyl/auto. I learned how to fix them and keep them running little by little. I 4really loved driving that 62 Impala though. For awhile there, all we had was a 62,a 64, and a 66 Impala. A friend of mine at work had several old cars and was really into them. He convinced me that a 62 Impala was nothing without a 409 in it. I then, over time, found the right engine, intake, dual carbs, 4speed, dual exhaust, shifter, shift plate, and all the clutch stuff to convert the car. Once I had everything we made the swap in his garage and I still have that video. It ran like a bat out of hell and how I never blew up that 6-cyl rear still baffles me! But that was not the real spark that stuck with me ....

He was in to hot rods and I will never forget helping unload his 32 5-window fiberglass coupe body off the truck at his house. 6 months later he had a running, driving street monster with a blown hemi with two fours, bigs and littles, 4-speed, and I will never forget the heart stopping performance of that car from a standing start. I was hooked. Funny though, he always talked about what he was building - he had a 63 corvette split window with a big block and 4 speed, a 57 t-bird with a hard running Chevy 386 in it that surprised many when he street raced it, but he always, always talked about flatheads and they really were the first real hot rod engine (now that’s what he always said so I do not want to offend anyone).

I never forgot his cars, especially that 5-window. When I sold my 66 and then the 409 Impala, I replaced them with a dechromed and smoothed 40 Ford coupe, all stock with a worn out flattie and three on the tree. We took the kids all over in that car and we always felt like the Waltons when stuffed in it. From there, I never looked back and stayed in the hot rod world, forgot about trophies, and I was I it for the journey .....

Btw, his name is Bob Barager with all those cars and he was living in Lindenhurst ,LI, NY when we lost contact. Any Long Island boys reading this, I would love to get in touch with him again ... if you know him send me a PM.

 

Hello,

It has been over 65 years since I first saw a full custom pickup truck cruising down our main street on the Westside of Long Beach. We were walking to the neighborhood bakery and grocery store. The cool looking truck was different from all of the rest of the trucks in the neighborhood. Most of the trucks were work trucks and ones that belonged to little shops for deliveries and pickups.

We were little kids that took that sidewalk that connected to a larger park for recreation and games. So, daily, we saw this Candy Apple or Tahitian Red color pick up truck parked outside of the small shop on the highway. It was different. The top was chopped at an unusual angle, it had white tuck and roll upholstery, chromed rims, whitewall tires, and a cool stance for a truck, lowered and slightly lower in front. A different version of what people would call a cal rake. The lowering is noticeable, but the slight rake was not to most people.

Our parents knew the owner as he was the family optometrist. He had a thriving business and proudly displayed his custom truck everyday in front of his shop.

Similar in look, but the front grille had tubular bars, delete those slot wheels and add in chromed reversed wheels with small smoothie hubcaps.

The front had multiple straight chrome bars across, from headlight to headlight. The chopped top was at a slight angle with the front windshield taller than the rear. The roofline was slightly sloped. The view out of the front windshield was still wide and open. It did not feel like being squashed. Although, being a little kid, I would not notice the view difference.

Jnaki

I have been on the search for photos of this Tahitian Red custom truck since way back in the early years. When we moved out of Long Beach, the truck was also gone from our memory for a while. But, over the years, being in contact with the then, retired optometrist’s family, they had no information on the whereabouts of the old custom truck. By the time I had contacted them a couple of years ago, the owner was getting on in age and his wife was in no condition to search for photos.

The sons, also had no recollection of where the truck went or a stack of photos. In late 2019, the owner took a fall and passed away. So, the family stopped all contact with everyone.

I do not have a collection of old hot rod/custom car/truck magazines, but it was too nice of a custom from the time period of the mid 50s and into the 60s not to be featured in any magazine. So, if any people out there in HAMB world wants to spend a fun time looking through any lists or actual magazines from 1956 into the mid 60s, please do, have a fun time and contact me asap. LOCATION: Westside Long Beach…

PREVIOUS POST:
Hello,

I wish there were cameras back in those late 1956-58 days so we could have taken photos of the customs that were in our Westside Long Beach area. I have written about the 1955-56 Ford custom truck that was owned by a local businessman and was one of the tops customs in the whole area.

Tahitian red paint, a radical chopped top, pure white tuck and roll upholstery everywhere, chromed reversed rims, wide whitewalls and a lowered California rake. I am sure there were plenty of other things that were on the custom truck, but there are no photos in anyone’s collection. It had to be in a magazine as the owner drove it everywhere. But, it is a mystery.

I have contacted the family from Long Beach and the remaining sons have no clue about the custom truck. Sadly, the owner passed away in 2019 and contacts were graciously stopped for the family’s sake.

The look was very unusual and I am sure that the owner (our family optometrist) wanted a chopped top, but a “better vision” out of the front window. (There is a pun in there somewhere…) As a little kid, I was given a drive in the truck, to deliver it back to his optometrist’s storefront office, from our neighborhood mechanic’s garage. That was a memory of a lifetime for a little kid.


The sad ending:

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/friday-art-show-10-18-19.1169240/#post-13288102

 

1. The inspiration for my Willys build.
2. The original "Barnes Brothers" Willys - it still exists.
3. My Willys inspired by them.

 

In high school it was a 1954 skyliner candy apple red slamed lake pipes tuck and role In 58 dad hired a guy to help with harvest He drove a 55 Belvedere that had a 345 hp 341 Desoto 2 four motor. He took me on a ride I well always remember Dad had a 56 custonline 312 overdrive that I thought was fast until that Plymouth.

 

Since I am just a young pup and lived in a pretty rural area when I was real young, my love for cars started mostly by some cars right in my little neighborhood of about 8 houses. My house was the center of most of that since my dad spent a few years rebuilding mid-60's vettes. Between his own cars, his buddies cars, and ones he painted for other people, that was just a way of life. I used to love going to Bloomington every year looking out the back window of one of my dad's cars or possibly a buddy that didn't have kids. Anyway, there was also a neighbor kid who had a pretty late model (at the time) Mach I (yea, I know OT, but it was a "hot rod" to me) with slot mags sitting in his driveway. I, like many kids, was attracted to noise and speed and that kid drove that car pretty hard. I remember one time riding my bike by his house likely just waving or something when he commented how his car would pop a wheelie. Being a kid in about 2nd grade at the time, I had never seen a car pop a wheelie like I could on my bike, so questioned him on it. He obliged me by taking me over where the blacktop started to show me. And, sure enough, that car lifted the front tires a few inches on launch. To this day, I am still not a fan of the actual car (71-73 Mach I), but the whole speed and power deal pretty much set in about then...

 

I grew up around car related exposure, (my dad, unkle, grandfather) In 1981, i was in fifth grade, our elementary school was just kitty corner from a guy that was a circle track racer. My brother & I would look in amazement at the crudeness of the current pile in the driveway, bubble gum welds, no glass, no interior, but, come lunchtime (or whenever the hangover wore off) we would hear that no exhaust engine fire up. Im sur the teachers hated it, but, i thought it sounded awesome.
We also had a friend that lived a block away, that had a neighbor with a 66 mustang, 67 impala, a lifted f150, 59 T bird, & a garage full of old AMT, MPC, & REVELL model kits. He even let us sit in & watch as he put together a rebuilt small block for the 67. Even now, I get a little nostalgic when i see a nice orange small block with chrome timing cover, oil pan, valve covers, & stock 2bbl intake.

 

When I was young, many year ago, while my Father was station at Offutt AFB, Nebr. I would help, well stand around in the garage getting tools while my Father work on his 1951 Nash. We live in Bellevue, off base, while next door lived a airman with two, 57 Chevy's, a hardtop and a convertible. I would go over at the age of around 10 and help him, not only get tools for him but he really let me take things apart and put them back together again. Man, it was great, just like a mechanic. After that helping my Father on his Nash really did not seem to exciting. Well it did get exciting once, when he let me warm up a spot repair with a propane torch and I set the bondo on fire, after that it was back to just getting tools for him.

 

THE FIRST TIME I SAW THIS DEUCE WAS 1958 BUT THE PICTURE I POSTED WAS 1961, SECOND WAS FROM WHEN I OWNED IT 1978/1989, THIRD WAS IN BRISTOL ENGLAND 1989/2021...

 

In the mid fifties my mother was in a Des Moines, IA hospital for a "procedure", she had several days recovery time and got well acquainted with the patient in the next bed, Marie Brown. From time to time we'd travel from SW Iowa to Des Moines to spend time with Marie and her husband, Ralph. Ralph was a mechanic on Army Post Road in Des Moines and "out back" there was a white 34 Ford Coupe, I can still see it sitting there. I think it may have had a Y block but sixty plus years dims the memory (and it's getting worse Fifteen years later I am living in Las Cruces NM and someone in a Street Rod 28-29 Roadster pickup drives by, it was a very nice car. Finally by the early 70's I have a little more money and a two car garage, I'd been looking for a 34 Ford but stumbled over a 38 Chevy (that I still have). I still have a soft spot for 33'sand 34's but an empty spot in my wallet

While living in Atlantic Iowa in the late 70's, a high school friends son, David Schlotzhauer, lived just down the street. Although I don't remember it, he told me that he spent lots of time with me in the garage working on the 38 and he told me that I was what gave him the "car sickness" David did lots of modifications later to many different cars. He was just plain handy. His last car was an off thread 70 Challenger, a very nicely restored car that he was trying to keep factory stock (and not enjoying it), he spent the last few weeks of his life in my shop before he died of cancer. He wanted to build a hot rod. He just didn't live long enough.

 

In 1977, I just started Trade school when my dream car went up for sale, for $700.00... This Poncho used to spot cars a quarter at PID and blow past them like they weren't even moving.. It had a 455 with 6X heads, turbo 400, 390 posi, it was seriously fast..