Neighborhood hot rods what was in yours??

Back when i went to middle school, had to walk by a guys house all the time just to see what he had. He always had a lowered short bed Chevy in the drive. He also had 32's, 33's, 34 3 windows, 5 windows. Always something. Now he and I are good friends. His name is Jim Rench. He builds grill inserts for all Hot/Street rods. Some of you might know him or maybe not.

 

My neighborhood had no hot rods but my small town did- most were Fords stripped of fenders- ran the bangers- do remember a finished 32 3 window but most of the finished cars were factory bought and motified- nice custom 1957 Ford- hot pink 1957 T Bird- built 1957 Corvette and my own 1953 Ford- purchased when I was 15- one nice 48 Ford convert- but we are talking 50+ years ago- good friend had a A sedan we painted two tone blue by brush- first "date" was in that back seat-

 

I grew up in Yonkers NY In the early 60's In 62 their were 5 gassers and a hot 60 vette all on my street .Three brothers lived next door to me they always had some kind of hotrods

 

Grew up in Detroit in the 50's. Down the street a guy had a 55 Crown Vic that really got my attention. Kind of a tail-dragger with glass pack and the Merc tail lights in it. Mandarin orange & white. I can still see it rumblin' down the street.
There was another house near the end of the block that had the mother lode sitting in the yard. It was one of those small houses that sat at the back of the lot & it seemed like no one lived there. But parked in the yard was a 37 Ford Coupe and next to it was a 58 Desoto (I think) with a 392 Hemi in it. I just knew someone was going to the obvious to it. Drove by one day and they were both gone. Always wondered what happened to them.

 

I'm disappointed at the lack of pictures in this thread.

 

Guy on our street in London Ontario dragged home a 30 chev sedan back in the 60's and hotrodded it. I was about 8 years old and did not realize until then many old cars were customiZed. I thought they just made cooler looking cars previously.

 

Funny thing about pictures Don. I have none of my first hot rod nor any of the early years. My mother, like a lot of mom's, cleaned out my room when I went in the Navy in '65, boxes of pictures and, worse yet, boxes of baseball cards went to the dump! And to tell you the truth at my young age I didn't appreciate the pics. Now I would love to have those photos. Only pic that survived, and I have in my scrapbook is the '49 Chevy that I had at 14 to tear apart and learn how cars worked (junk car) and one pic of me on my KH '55 HD upon which I learned I was not suited to two wheel transportation.

 

I grew up in an upper middle class neighborhood and attended high school, graduating in 1964.
No nice cars in my neighborhood other than swanky luxury cars, some European sports car and a shit load of 9 passenger station wagons. Occasionally you'd spot a Vette or some kind of coupe or convertible in primer, but it was rare in our town. One neighbor had a pissah black and yellow '57 Fairlane hardtop he bought new and dechromed it and louvered it in the first 2 months he owned it. He kept for only one year and traded for a white '58 Ford convertible. He trashed it less than a year using for his home building business.
My 4 best pals and I, all serious gear heads, took it upon ourselves to read all the right West Coast magazines, and absorb information from the greasers we met around the garages, drive ins and other surrounding high schools.
In time, our little "harmless" group became the people that our parents warned us about.
We got jobs in garages, gleaned tips from the kids in H.S. auto shop, siphoned gasoline, swiped wheel covers, swapped parts around, we bought some inexpensive tools, learned the black art of welding, applying body filler over holes left from dechroming, and haunted junk yard every weekend.
I lived for those weekly trips to the junk (SALVAGE) yards.
For my 14th birthday my dad, a Lincoln Mercury dealer asked me what I wanted.
I told him to take me and my collective gang to John Downey's Junk Yard. I was seriously hooked then. John Downey bought all the unwanteds from Dad's dealership, $5.00 each across the board for all those '50 Mercs, '49 Fords, '37 Chevys, '52, 3 and 4 Fords and hundreds more GM's and 50ish MoPar products.
And on a cold December Sunday, John opened the gates for us and we had at it. Automobile nirvana.
We usually hauled these cars to Sid's parents house, big back yard and a garage, and proceeded to give them our treatment.
We became the kids (greasers) for other kid to look up to now in upper middle class Winchester.
These days, neighborhood kids (and their parents, even) come to my house to feed their addiction to hot rods.
Can I help feed the next generation? I hope so.
What goes around come around! The '55 Pontiac pictured was a cherry 1 old man single owner with a factory stick. The '40 Pontiac was my pride. My first rod. Put a '53 Oldsmobile 303" in it. Sid's back yard, around summer of 1962 or 1963.

 

only 1 other hotrod in my neighbourhood

 

I could go on and on... A dude down the street when I was a kid had a white with gray coves, '61 'Vette, a purple '67 Chevy II, and a white Stingray (don't recall what year) with Cragars on it. There was a red primer A bone about a block away. There was ALOT of cool stuff around Ruskin, MO. where my grandparents lived too.
One car that sticks out was not a neighborhood car, but a car from Lees's Summit where I grew up. A yellow '57 Chevy sedan delivery. It lived back behind an auto auction place over by where I went to jr high. Years later I spotted it in Urbana, Mo. at a body shop with a few other tri 5s. Man there said it was his brothers and he wouldn't part with it. A few years later I saw it again, this time in Hermitage at a used car/ salvage yard, this was 15+ years ago. I was just married and had no $, so I didn't even stop. Been down that way several times since then, but havent seen the car again. I still wonder what happened to her.

 

Back in the 70s in my hood, there were, 62 vette 69 vette, up the road Mr sanders had a 56 chevy hot rod, a sunbeam tiger, and a 55 chevy. His brother lived across the street and had two or three hudsons, he was into restoring hudsons for a long time. There were plenty of muscle cars around, and a real nasty henry J gasser.

 

Every day I walked past a guys house on the way to school and back that had a 40 ford in the garage.

Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

My dad was always tinkering on some hot rod in our neighborhood, and usually they were running, albeit not very well, or for very long....he showed me how to drive sitting on a 5-gallon oil drum and 'not fall off' around corners till I could afford a real seat!----there is only 1 fellow now in my neighborhood who is into old cars, and his is a canary yellow 65 corvette, which has been altered...that thing is LOUD, and irritates the neighbors to no end....I have to keep it somewhat quiet, just to get a wave now and then from my garage, since I am in 'that' category, but it's getting better. Lots of foregin cars, and clunkers runnin' on fewer cylinders then came with them, but that's to be expected I guess in my neighborhood....there is a few 'restored' Model T's drive by in summer and ''ah-ooh-ga'' me, and that is cool.

 

I can't remember where I got these pictures, but this is the "Weasel" 55 Chevy I remember seeing in Ames, Iowa in the late 60's

 

I have been lucky.There have always been other rodders around. In 1959 the big kid up the street had a 30 Ford coupe with chrome reverse rims.By the late 60"s my best buddy lived with his brother inlaw who had big block chevys stuffed in everything.Up the road from me is a guy with a 56 handyman,and a A V8 coupe.If theres a fellow car nut out there I will meet them at some point.

 

Always had cool cars hanging out at our house in Phoenix, AZ. Dual quad '61 Vette, '37 Chevy slant back with
a 283" and Cad Lasalle 3 speed, silver tuck and roll, chrome everything, '56 Chevy, '55 Chevy, cool '58 Pontiac
Bonneville, red, factory 3 speed with tri-power, '40 Chevy with sbc, '37 Chevy coupe, just a few. growing up.
I got hooked on hot rods very early. Still am.

 

1975 era , Astoria , NY , Steinway park , 40 Ford coupe , yellow with flames....

 

Living in podunk Farmville Missouri with a population of 6,024 people, there wasn't much in old hot rods.
There were some fast off topic muscle cars and some pretty stock 50's-60's rides but no really "rods & customs". This 52 Ford truck was a staple around town and owned by an independent repair shop guy that was a friend of my dad's, had a built 455 pontiac under the hood.



The coupe belonged to another guy in town that's still building old cars, I never knew of him while growing up but I try and visit on my trips back home.

 

Dana VanDersarl usa#1 rocket dragster. Dana probably had a lot of influence on me becoming a hot rodder for life. Dana lived real close to my folks house that i grew up in in Thornton Co. I would ride my bike around Dana's house and admire his wicked dragster. he would be in his mom's carport working on it. i must have been around 14-16 years old then.e this counts.

 

My neighbor across the street had a nice '59 Chevy ragtop, white with a black top. Also a '53 Chevy wagon fitted with power windows I thought was cool.

A few blocks over there was a chopped '51 Mercury in black primer. It sat in a garage for years, rumor was that the owner went to prison. Every Halloween we would walk past the garage door and take a peek at it, one year it was gone.

 

My brother's roadster at our house in the late '50s

 

I was that guy who probably irritated the neighbors with loud cars, and engines being worked on after dark. I started when I was 13 yrs. old, and my dad was very lenient of my car hobby even though he wasn't a car guy.
If there was someone in the neighborhood who had something hot I didn't know about it. My first really fast hotrod was my 1940 Chev coupe I bought in '68, and when I got out of the military my buddy and I dropped a 413 Mopar, Torqueflite, and the Mopar rear axle all in the '40. We usually took it out Friday and Saturday nights to see what kind of trouble we could get into. It was loud, obnoxious, and fast. Everything we liked in a hotrod.

 

The first finished, drivable hot rod in my neighborhood that I remember is Bob Snyders’, RIP, ‘34 three window with a Hilborn injected 392, a drag car, I saw it in 1962 or so. Snyders later died in a dragster, but 60 years later his old coupe still lives, it’s been redone a couple of times, still full fendered but with a SBC now. The Barcus Brothers had a channeled ‘32 5 W that sat next to their garage but I never saw an engine in it. One bought a 409 Impala and the other a ‘63 421 Pontiac, I never knew what happened to the Deuce. Then there was a biker that always had ‘32-‘34’s around, some drivers, some not. The last car I remember him having was a ‘48 Merc coupe, it was lettered “Spaghetti Bender”, obviously for his heritage. Gary Dyer had a tuneup shop on Harlem Ave on the Summit, IL side of the street, early on he had a ‘33 3W with a blown 327 running B/GS. The next year he moved up to a 427 Comet partnering with Ed Rachanski, but soon switched to drive for Mr. Norm. Kenny Winkler had a black, pinstriped ‘57 J-2 with (I think) a Cad-LaSalle three speed. Another guy known only as Winky to me had a black, raked ‘40 coupe, SBC and the deck lid was lettered Black Martini. The first hot rod I was involved in was a friends ‘40 Fordor, I think that would have been the Summer of ‘64. Vic, RIP, picked up a 265 and adapter to early Ford trans, then he bought a ‘39 top shift box from the previously mentioned biker and we did the swap out on the street in front of his house. We couldn’t get it to fire, but an old guy (probably about 30!) would stop by on his way home from work to check out our progress. He told us we had the hydraulic lifters too tight, problem solved! A body shop near Midway Airport had a really nice chopped, primered ‘40 coupe sitting in their storage yard, never saw it move for years until one day it was gone. I bought a channeled ‘32 Cabriolet in 1967, traded it off a year to so later, no tools, money or even a garage to work in. Sept. of 1970 I bought the channeled ‘32 5W I still have. It was a roller, last on the street in Indiana in 1958. I did a frame up on it, still channeled, blown SBC, 4 speed. There were more, but you get the idea, the ‘60’s-‘70’s were a great time in my neighborhood.
Then there were the others, the Tri-Chevys, or ‘49-‘50’s Fords, a few early Olds coupes, and like that. The Chevys were common, too many to recall. One that was a standout was a ‘55 150 2 door sedan. Born as a six stick it got fresh black lacquer on its perfect sheet metal and a stroked 389 with dual quads and a four speed. Later it had a 2 x 3 tube front stub from the firewall forward with a straight tube axle and a Hilborn injected 426 Hemi to run Gas Class. The quarter panels were lettered My Baby Is Black, that was the title of a B movie. The brothers in the stands at US 30 near Gary, IN loved that car and probably wagered a lot of money on it. As far as ‘50’s Fords there weren’t a lot I really liked except the ‘57 Custom, I prefer the shorter wheelbase on those. A friend had a black one, 390 and an overdrive T-85, nice car!
I look back now and realize it was the Golden Age and I was able to live it.

 

@65pacecar from another thread

Interesting thread caption and photo. Our friend with his Oldsmobile powered V8 1934 Ford 5 window coupe was a regular at our Westside of Long Beach house during the early teenage years. He and my brother were good friends all the way back to early elementary school. As they grew up, they always had something between them as far as hot rods or cars go. Perhaps, it was the friendly bantering that most teenagers do with others. Fast cars, build techniques, what parts are favored, repairing transmissions and locked rear ends, etc, would have been the conversations during this time period in the So Cal area of California.


Hello,
We lived in an area of very old homes in the far reaches of Long Beach, CA. (Calif. at the time) While it was as far West as one could go, there were still old cars everywhere. But, as the 1950s rolled in, the old Model S, T's and other old models,+ trucks changed over to sedans for daily drivers. Only the younger kids drove old cars.

So, a lot of them were stored in the larger backyards under canvas tarps. As we walked to the neighborhood grocery store, we always saw a chopped, fully custom, 55-56 ford truck. It was exactly like those we saw in the hot rod/custom car magazines. Tahitian Red or Candy Apple in color, chrome reversed wheels, lowered, side pipes, all white tuck and roll upholstery and other items.

It stood out on the main street running through the community stores and shops, everyday, as the owner owned a shop that catered to most everyone in the area. The lowered chopped truck was parked out in front of his business every day. from the time as a kindergartener through high school, the custom truck was one of a kind for any neighborhood.

But, when I saw the black 1934 5 window Ford Coupe sitting in our driveway, it was so cool for a young kid like me. Other days if I were outside in the front yard, I could hear the Oldsmobile powered 34 coupe coming our way down the street. As the teenage gatherings multiplied at our house with other teenage hot rods, this 34 coupe was always front and center. He was the only one that raced in A/Gas at Lion’s Dragstrip and also used the coupe as a daily driver to high school and to his after school job.

I had almost grown up with doing some maintenance on all of the cars that showed up. Little money exchanged hands for some as they offered me short road trips to where I wanted to go in a cool hot rod, instead of taking the bus or walking. Who could say no to that offer. All it took was a little extra effort on my part cleaning, washing and waxing those teenage cars. Including the 34 coupe and my brother’s 51 Oldsmobile sedan at first and then the shiny 58 Impala within a year or so…

After I got my first ride in the 34 coupe, I knew I wanted to have this hot rod as my first car. Shifting the tall stick coming out of the floor, the sound of a motor winding out in all gears was real music to my young ears. So, I was making plans as the years rolled by. I also wanted my brother’s 51 Oldsmobile, but he had sold it to another friend. The 34 was still in my sights.

Within the year 1959, I was getting close to securing my future hot rod as word was out that the 34 was for sale. Family matters popped up and additional help was needed. So, I had some money saved, but not enough. The 34 was sold and moved on, out of our area. Aww…

Note:

Since I got my first ride in a 1934 Ford 5 window coupe when I was a little kid, I have always liked the style that coupe body presented. The swept back grille, the angle of the roof line and even the hood louvers. It made for a car that looked like it was going somewhere, fast. The windblown look. (not like the squarish, upright 32 coupes and sedans)
When we were starting our Lion's Dragstrip activity, the 34 Ford was already a year ahead in competition. 1957-59… Our friend’s black 5 window Ford Coupe running in A/Gas class with the big Oldsmobile motor.

Our friend built his 1934 Ford Coupe for his daily driver/ weekend Lion’s Dragstrip racer in the A/Gas class, there was no doubt as to what motor to use. A big Oldsmobile motor, multiple Stromberg carbs, pistons, hot cam, and a LaSalle transmission. Most of the local hot rod coupes at Lions had similar set ups to include Oldsmobile motors and Cad/Chevy powered coupes. That was the hot ticket in the early days of late 50s to early 1960. The sound of a “big” Oldsmobile, multiple carb motor on our Westside of Long Beach house driveway was tremendous and exciting.

My brother was envious of his friend’s hot rod build and wanted a car to match or beat the times at Lion's Dragstrip. He never said a bad word about his friend’s 34 Coupe, but deep down inside, he wanted a fast car to race and be victorious. When he saw the Oldsmobile Sedans of Harryman/Edwards, Doug Cook, Gene Adams and Tim Woods, he knew he could have a fast Oldsmobile Sedan and still carry the requisite 4 people when cruising.

Being friends, they never raced the 1951 Oldsmobile Sedan vs 34 Ford Coupe, or for that matter, the 58 Impala vs the 34. When we were finished with our first version of the 40 Willys coupe with the 283 SBC and Strombergs, the thoughts crossed his mind. It would have been a “no contest,” as the Impala was posting faster E.T. times. The 40 Willys Coupe? no contest as the times were dropped into the 12's where the 34 coupe stayed around 13's. But, the race never came about. The listed times from the Lion’s Dragstrip timing tickets were very similar, but, the friends just did not race against each other.

34 Ford coupe at Lion’s Dragstrip 1958-59
Plus, by the time we had finished the 1940 Willys Coupe, he had already sold the 34 coupe to help our his family financial situations.

Jnaki

Note 2:
The feeling was worse as my multiple ride(s) in the 34 coupe on the streets, were raw, bone shaking and fast. It was pure hot rodding in a home built, fast hot rod. But, as the thought of me owning it, faded fast with the sale, now I was looking at a nice, very fast 58 Impala just sitting in our small garage. YRMV

another time period at Lion's Dragstrip...

 

Local to my small hometown here in western Oregon in 1963 was a 50' Ford business coupe running a 421 Pontiac and dual four setup. The engine was setback a bit more than 10%. A real sleeper.

 

The year was Fall 1966. Dad gave this '57 Hardtop to my brother for his spring graduation. We took parts off a '57 wagon (engine, trans, front fenders. whatever it needed. Painted it in a shed. Of course it looked better at 50 feet and 50 miles an hour. But we had fun! As you can see, we live in the rust belt and used more bondo than metal in that old Chevy! lol There were a few nice cars but no real hot rods in this farming community.

[/ATTACH]

 

I grew up in a small suburb south of Chicago before the term suburb was thrown around so easily
as our home was on a gravel road with a corn field across the road.
Five years later as an 8th grader with a keen interest already the town grew and so did the amount of hot rods .Its 1960, there’s a family of 3 brothers who all owned a 49-50 Mercs. Down the street a beautiful 56 Ford triple black convert with spots,skirts and pipes. A few years later I had friends with shoe box Fords and work in progress 49-53 Chevys.The older guys were now driving 58-60 Chevys and on the next block my friends brother had bought a 62 409/425 Impala SS.
The demo ride I got in that car was truly memorable to say the least,pinned to the seat.
After graduation in 64 the new Dog&Suds was crowded each nite with Chevelles,GTO’s and a few Dodge and Plymouths as many including me went all in on factory muscle. The 55-57 Chevys
that were so popular just a few years earlier were being pushed aside.
Soon it all slowed down as marriage(for some) college and for those that did neither the draft all played a part in it.
I still wonder about the 40 Ford and model A in driveways across town with the “ not 4 sale “ signs painted on the glass for years ever found a new home…..lots of good memories.

 

I grew up in the small town of Hillsboro, Oregon. There were plenty 46-48 Fords with primer spots, and an occasional customized Ford Or Merc. But the lone, finished Hot Rod was a red 32- 5W Coupe. The owner, who raced Hardtops at our local dirt track, would visit the trailer court close to our house, driving the Coupe. It was absolutely flawless in every way. When the May 1960 R&C came out, there was a 4 page article on the car. I learned that the former owner/builder was a local named Ernie Martin. I moved 35 miles away the following year, the moved back to the area in 1967, and I never forgot Ernie's name. Back and involved in the local car scene, I would hear the mention of Ernie's name. I finally met him in 1983, and the first thing he said to me was "I am getting ready to start building another 5 window, and I want you to weld up the chassis" ! For 37 years we built and raced cars, and traveled to 7 different states in the process. As far as the original Coupe, I found it right here on the HAMB. I couldn't have had a better friend, and I met him because of that beautiful car !