There is a guy that recruits physicians here for us who grew up in MN (now lives in ND) and I have talked to him on and off the last five years. One day he stopped in my office and seen my car pictures on the walls and said “You like hot rods???” I said you bet. He started off telling me he had a Chevy coupe gasser when he was a kid and raced all over MN, ND, SD, and even down in TX a few times. Then he was drafted to Vietnam and when he came back someone took everything off the top of his engine, gutted the interior and took the trans. He said he sold it after that. He also ran a Mopar called the Grumpy Skeeter. I couldn’t believe five years went by and I never knew this guy was an old hot rodder. He also had a 56 Chevy 4 door that he painted yellow and stuck a hopped up 283 out of a vette in and would scare the pants off of a lot of unsuspecting challengers. Take a look at the pictures….I was bugging him for 6 months to bring these. I asked him if he has any cars now and he said he has a 32 Ford 2dr sedan him and his dad hot rodded in the early 60’s and a couple of muscle cars and a hopped up model a coupe. He said I should stop out some time so now I just can't wait.
Back in the 60's E.J. Potter (The Michigan Madman) from over the east side of the state raced a sbc powered bike. Check these sites out. http://www.crazyrider.com/historypage1.htm http://www.thefang.co.uk/v-8s.htm http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2006/05/08/ej-potter-michigan-madman/
Had a guy come into my shop and ask about a 32 5-window I was building for a customer..Wanted one like it..conversation got around to him telling me that Thursdays was his only day off if I wanted to call him..I asked what kind of work do you do.He lowered his head a little and blushed a little and said" I'm a Physician" Needless to say I built him a coupe and he is now MY Physician.......... Forgot to add that when he came in my shop the first time he was wearing Jeans,a SoCal T shirt and a baseball cap
Tom who would I ever bring that would own a roadster .......He said he would dig out more pictures and bring them next week. He said his brother got a picture of his chevy coupe yanking the front wheels he has to find....Super nice guy and I couldn't believe he was a hot rodder. The other funny part was he said "You looking for model A parts??"....he said oh I got all sorts of stuff in the shop.....I wonder what he has stuck in there.....Dang cool!
Cool pics. Yea, be nice to us old guys, you never know.lol It's like I always say. "Tease me about my age and I'll whack ya with my cane."
I can relate a different kind of "You Never Know" story. I was told this past weekend at Columbus that a fella I know approached a well-known California engine builder to talk about flatheads, Arduns, and their parts and services. The grumpy engine-builder blew off my bro like he was nothing, and probably lost a sale. Another guy I know approached another parts-monger about the Cad-LaSalle transmission parts he had for sale at the same event, and got the same type of reception. Another lost sale. Neither one of these guys I know are dirty, stinky, full of attitude, or broke. Too bad for those businessmen with the short attention span.
Same thing happened in one of my welding classes. This guy (late 50's-early 60's) sat through the entire semester and barely said anything. One day he hears me talking about my model A. Then he tells me him and his buddy used to bomb around in an old hot rod pickup. I didn't think much of it till the next day when he brings in all these black and white photos from 1962. Turns out it was a chopped model A truck with a four deuce Cadillac mill. Totally badass, I stared at the pics all day.
The Jalopy Journal
