Howdy, Guys & Gals. I guess It's time I posted sumthin' on this here sweet & spicy glazed H.A.M.B. I live here in So. Cal., in the S.G.V., (that's the San Gabriel Valley) about 20 miles east of down town L.A. I wanna tell you, the old cars & parts that make us salivate, are still out there. I wanna share a hopefully long story made short. I'm 43 now, and when my twin brother and I, (see: Juke Joint Johnny) were around 8 or 10, we would ride our bikes up and down the street we grew up on. At one house we could look down a long driveway and see in the back yard, an old coupe. Even at that age, just looking at it got our little hearts beating faster. You see, our dad was a Hotrodder who now had to concentrate on raising a family, but always let us look at his Hot Rod mags, took us to drag races at Irwindale & Orange County, stock car races at Saugus Speedway almost every Saturday night from '65 through '67, (our uncle Jerry raced there then) and bought us our first model cars at the age of 5. I still remember it fondly, my model was a '67 GTO, and my brother's was a '67 Mustang; brand new cars then. I think we built them in less than a day, unpainted all-white styrene plastic, and that good ol' brain-damaging Tester's model glue all over the window glass. I can smell it now! So.... anyway, you can see why at even an early age, we were destined to gravitate to all things HAMB-like. We're the family we all knew were out there somewhere! Getting back to the subject of "they're still out there", and still trying to make a long story short, I recently wound up being the owner of that little coupe I remembered from my carefree childhood. Now, this is southern California, where stuff like this is long gone in our typical neighborhoods. But, about three years ago, I decided to drive down the old street where we grew up on. I only live 5 or 6 miles from there now. I remembered the house where the old coupe was, so I parked in front, and looking through a small gap between two gates that were put up now in the rear of the house, I could barely see the coupe way back in the back yard, where I remembered it so many years before. I remembered the coupe being mostly white, but now was a "beautiful rust color". And now I could see it was a '31 Model 'A'. I couldn't even get to the front door because of a locked wrought iron gate, so I left a note on the mailbox saying I wound be interested in taking "that old car off their hands, if they wanted to get rid of it". Well, about a year later, I got a call from a man who's mother still lived in the house, and he told me that the car was his car while in high school in the early-mid 50's. We talked about the old neighborhood, and all the people we knew in common (despite a 25 year gap in our ages) and he eventually told me he was going to give the car to his grandsons. I told him I'd be interested if he ever changed his mind. So.... anyway, after about another year, he called me earlier this year and told me his mother had passed away, she was in her early 90's, and asked me if I was still interested in the coupe. He said he and his wife were going to move out of state, and said before going, he would have to take care of all the stuff that was still there on the 1/2 acre property, most of it belonging to his father who'd passed away sometime in the 80's. During the next few months, while having long phone conversations, we became friends. One day we were talking, and he told me he was ready to get rid of some stuff, and asked me what I was interesed in. I told him I really wanted the coupe and anything else automotive related. He asked me if I could come next Saturday morning, and if I could bring my truck & trailer. I said "sure", and he said see ya then. All this time he never said how much he wanted for the coupe or anything else he had. I showed up that next Saturday morning, and while opening the gate so I could back my trailer in, he stops me, and says in a very serious tone, that I can have the coupe and anything else automotive we dig up back there, in trade for a new battery for his Mustang. Well, I was doing my best to contain my shock, when he told me if it wasn't too much trouble, he would like an Interstate brand battery. Can you believe it?!! I told him I would gold-plate it for him if he wanted!! So, that Saturday I loaded up the coupe and several old car parts including an original '32 grille, Columbia 2-speed rearend, a flathead V-8 blower his dad built out of one from a 30's Graham in the 50's, old license plates, etc., etc., etc. Sunday morning I was back at my new best-buddie's house with my venti Starbuck's, and the best Interstate battery I could get for him. The best $92.00 bucks I've ever spent!! That whole day we just talked while going through stuff and loading up my truck again, it was wrecking yard Nirvana! Everytime I see cool, very well done Model 'A's like the one my friend and HAMB member "Royal Shifter" is building, or one's like it, I wanna plop my coupe body on a deuce frame and go traditional highboy with it. But,....there are so few full-fendered traditional Hot Rods around, and done right, they can look soooo killer! Besides, I agreed to buy a complete set of very cherry fenders, running boards, aprons, etc. from my brother, that came off of a very nice '31 'A' he bought from an old farmer in Fresno. See "Juke Joint Johnny's" profile picture for the rest of the car in the back of his '52 F-1. I've got a bored out '50 Olds 303 that I'll put in the coupe. This is a back-burner project, as I've got other cars I have to work on first. So, one of these days (years?) I'll post some photos as the project progresses. But for now, here's what the old coupe looks like now, after sitting in the same spot for 50 years. P.S. Here's a hot tip. Get friendly with the people who read your utility meters. I've got 3 of 'em. Tell them you're interested in any old cars they might see in people's yards during their daily work. Tell 'em you'll even kick down some dough to them if they give you the low-down on something, and a deal pans out. Remember,....they're still out there!
Wow, great story. Not because you got it for a battery, that kind of takes away from it. Welcome, Kurt
The Jalopy Journal
