Hot Rods What did ya do back in your day,local car hop hangout?

In the early 60s we had Skippy's Drive-in and Pizza Palaces in Hialeah and NW Miami. All 3 were major drag racing hangouts and home to some insane SOBs. Soemtimes we would venture north oe south looking for races, win some, lose some. In 64 I had a 57 vette with a 327/360 in it & in 65 a 57 Ford with a 427/425 in it. Then I got tired of the rumpity cams and bought a new GTO in 67. I guess it was sort of fast but no compared to what I was used to. It was a 400/360 that I put a hangon AC in because I sweat all day and wanted to be cool at night

 

I LOVE this....ROFLMAO!

 

Met up with two other hotrodders last nite,desided we all run to a place we had gone a lot back in the 60s, thats been making pizza on Bird Road a long time{started mid 1950s an still going,Frankie's Pizza. Never had carhops but always lots of parking an super good pizza.

 

The top two are what we used to cruise at the local drive in places and the beach. The others are the actual cars with their stock looks. Both cars saw plenty of travels around the drive in, cruising "circuit" in So Cal.
Hello,

After driving around in my 58 Impala and my 40 delivery to the beach in high school, I had the opportunity to drive another car in our family. Just a few days before graduating from high school for me, my brother had purchased this 1949 green, sunroof VW bug. He had this bright idea to buy cars and fix them up to resell later. It had a cloth sunroof that folded on the outside, semaphore turn signals, split rear window, a roller gas pedal, and a stick shift that did not have synchos, so the shifting always needed a “double clutching” to shift smoothly.

There was no gas gauge, just a lever on the firewall that one flipped over to the other side when the car started sputtering. It gave the driver another 1.5 gallons to get to a gas station. There were many times having fun driving around that this car sputtered. We had to make a quick pit stop, wherever we were… Balboa, Malibu, Laguna Beach, San Diego.

I still had the 58 Chevy Impala and my 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, but those cars took a vacation when my brother gave me this car. He had recently sold a custom camper VW Van for this 49 sunroof bug plus money. So, he was in the process of getting a newer, more powerful, empty van for another conversion. We drove all over So Cal with this different cruiser. With the sunroof open and cruising around the beach cities, it was a hit wherever we went. But, at Harvey’s Broiler inland, we were outcasts. The reception was cold to say the least. In Balboa/Newport Beach, we were the coolest guys driving around in a rare car. At every stop down the coast (Grissinger’s, Hody’s/PCH, and of course, Merle’s), we were asked a zillion questions about the car. Those cool, car hops just loved hanging around this little cruiser. It was not a hot rod, but in the beach cities in So Cal, it was a cool cruising vehicle. It fit right into the drive in scene alongside of the hot rods and cruisers in the lots.

Jnaki

By December of 1962, we sold it to another high schooler for his first car. Then it became a fixture at Grissinger’s for the next several years. Today, it is a very sought after, valuable car.

These photos from the internet are the exact color and look of our 1949 VW cruiser. Pea soup green…

 

We all used to hang at the Dunkin Donuts in Clark, NJ on Westfield Ave. Back when we had The Hellcats car club, those were some fun times.

 

You just KNOW someone is hunting up the code for this colour to hose it all over his hot rod right now...

 

Quick story. We used to hang at the Capital Plaza Hot Shoppes in Landover Hills, Md back in the day. Seemed every place to cruise had it's own protocols and this place was no different. Regulars all knew that you only cruised through in ONE particular direction even though there were no arrows to indicate which way to go and you ALWAYS turned off your headlights and only left your parking lights on as you cruised through because......well THAT was the protocol. I was so embarrassed one evening! I was parked at one of the curb service spots (backed in of course because.....well that was protocol as well). Lo and behold, who comes cruising through but my Mom and Dad.......going the wrong way and with their headlights on. At least they didn't stop, though I know they saw me, even though I was slumped down in the seat as far as I could go. No matter, everyone knew it was my parents. It took forever to live it down.

 

Great stories guys. I'm still laughing at the turtle walking story. You can't make shit like that up, impossible.

 

1956 my friend eddie got a 40 pu from his dad that they used when building the fl turnpike, the bed was off so we decided to take the doors off also. one sat. nite we decided to go up to ft. pierce to the stock car dirt track ,so eddie and i were in the cab and 3 of our friends sat on the gass tank on the rear w/feet hanging out, we always ran wide open 75+-mph when we got to the track there was a line of cars going in so eddie went around on left, parking was on the right, the pits on the left, we were left. the entry onto the track was on turn 3 when we came on the entry, eddie pulled onto the track on the parade lap for the first heet, wee were the last of about 12 cars [37-40 coups], the flag man flagged them off, when we passed him in that trk w/3 guys hangin off the back,he about crapped he pulled every flag he had, we pulled off at xit on turn 2, lent our carb. to a guy to used so we had to wait till races were over to get carb back..on way home there was an A&W drivein on so. side of town, the storries were that the red headed car hop didn't were underware so we wipped in to investigate.this was a dirt lot, i crawled under the car around the hot pipe to get my head under the running board so when she came up to take the order i could stick my head out and see if it was true, she came up and i stuck my head out and.....gotta go wife called

 

Grew up in small town Chester, NJ. Guys would hang out by the IGA market then the Dairy Queen when it came to town. A big deal then. Raced at Flanders flats. When I came home later in the 60s made my 1st trip to Sip N Sup (the Sup) in Parsippany. I'll never forget pulling in the lot and there is an early vette jacked up putting slicks on. The racing was done right outside on rt 10 as Frank Carey said on page 2. He being a Livingston guy right down the road. Hey Frank ever go up on unopened I8O?

 

Have to admit I did do a double take on it.

 

Fun thread, Dana, surely there are some more great stories out there. Post 'em up fellas.

 

We used to go to Vst in NE Washington DC to watch the street races. Some seriously fast cars would show up and get in as many runs as they could before the cops came. They would call in the Fire Dept. and hose the street down trying to prevent the racers from coming back later. It was a narrow street in the warehouse district and cars would run side by side with very little room for mistakes. Its amazing people didn't get killed. The cops finally had enough and installed concrete barriers every 50' or so and turned the street into a slalom course. This effectively ended a long going battle.
I never owned a car that could compete with big time racers but an occasional race on Riggs Rd might be in order. I was loosing a race there one night and saw the flashing lights in the rear view. The other guy pulled over and I just kept going with my foot to the floor. The lights kept coming but not really gaining on me which was a big surprise considering the awesome power of my 289. I was in stupid mode, running stop lights and driving on the wrong side fleeing for my life. The lights finally disappeared and I ended up in Montgomery county about 10 miles away before I detoured back to find my pals. Found them at a local hang out and learned that my pursuit car was an ambulance. They never would have known about my antics but I was so jacked up I had to tell them. They thought I was just pissed at loosing and took off. Took a while for the ribbing to go away.

 

^^^^Great story^^^

 

Following this type of thread is big fun for me, brings back many good memories. I have posted stories from my past, started driving at 16, 1964, a great time to be a car crazy "Kid" for many of us, myself a city boy (Milwaukee, Wi.) to reading stories about small town fun to country farm kids, we all lived in the best of times, AND we all were a little wild and crazy, cruising, street racing, HUGE FUN ! But for me back then (64-70) times, life changes, got married, kids, bought a home, job responsibilities, mortgage, going
to some friends funerals (killed in street racing accidents) and spending a night in holding cell for drag racing, eluding Police, it was over, except cruising in my grandpa type car I went to and changed my hobby to dirt track open wheel racing, a new and much bigger addiction than HOBBY street stuff, a hobby that becomes AN OBSESSION, 21 years of FUN, MANY Stories from that deal and no regrets ! I came back to car Hobby and still loving it, 50+ years now, no wild and crazy stories anymore, just really great people/friends and this HAMB deal is the BEST ! Everyone keep posting, this AM, I wanted to Thank everyone here.

 

I Lived a sheltered life. It was between that one and the Motorcycle/Dog story.

 

Mid 1960's in Louisville, Ky. we would go to Frisch's Big Boy on 3rd Street, then over to Jerry's on New Cut Rd., if you didn't want to park, you would then follow New Cut Rd. in to Taylor Blvd., over to 3rd. St. then over to 4th Street and take it all the way downtown to the Ohio River, there we would cruise through Kingfish, then head back over to Frisch's or Jerry's and park, and eat, and B.S. Jerry's was the place where you would debut your new car. If it was bad you would cruise through, then, cruise through again, then park. By that time everyone would gather around to check out the car. I was 17 when I traded a 58 Chevy Impala with low compression for a 56 Chevy 210 2dr. post. It had a 58 Corvette powertrain. Engine was bored, 3-2's, 4 speed Muncie, and posi-traction rearend. It had a lopey cam in it, and as I entered the drive-in, I would rev the engine, slip the car in 1st and let the cam idle and lope pull me through the drive-in. Lope, lope, lope, then pull in a spot and wait. There was always some asshole that wanted to raise your hood without your permission, and see what you had under the hood. So I kept mine chained down. It was always so funny to see some guy grab the hood and start to jerk it up, and get slammed back down in about a second. If they wanted to see what I had it was $20 and a trip over to Strawberry Ln. It kept me in tires, and gas money. Damn I loved that car.

 

Xhotrodder, your story tripped a memory, my first car, 57 Chev 210 2 door, friends and I put in a 348 tri-carb junkyard motor w/ 3 speed and I about wore out the hood bolts taking hood off/on so everyone could see the tri-carb set up complete w/ chrome air cleaners opposite of your story, street raced this car quite a bit and did OK w/ it, did not take long to figure out where it fit in, had recap Street slicks on Xtra wheels, would put them on, take hood off and go play. The local police finally gave me a ticket, apparently there's a law about hood on car in Wi. I Traded this car away, a neighbor had come home from service and brought back a beautiful 56 Chev ragtop from Calif., Thought he was crazy and BSn me for a while, but when he showed me the title one night at a cruise and said let's do it, raced home, got my title and traded. He did not do well (street racing) and not very smart as he wrecked/junked car, loosing control of it, met him in later years (business conference) and enjoyed listening to his stories of all the cars he beat street racing, good example of " The Older we get, The Faster we were" Sold another KOOL car a few years later, same type result as kid wrecked/junked car, that one was a Kustom, one of the few I wish I had now, (super conversation piece) but 40+ plus years is a long time ago and NEVER had the foresight to save a car or buy Microsoft stock when it was a penny stock.

 

.........................Still waiting for the Motorcycle/Dog story.

 

I told it here long ago, they didn't believe it and an animal rights lady got angry.

 

I hung out at Ed's Diner in Doylestown, SE Penna. One summer night somebody got the great idea that we should stand on the parking meters - 6 or 8 guys in a row standing on top of parking meters on the side of a main street is a weird sight (and it ain't easy!!!!).

 

I could tell some stories but I might incriminate half of the ol' "We kill 'em in Chillum" gang.

 

I have probably related some of them on the Mighty Mo threads. Our area was a pretty hot cruising area with the Mighty Mo and the biggest Drive-In movie screen in the world in the same block. There was a car club right behind both, two auto parts stores, a Ford dealer and many speed shops and bike shops within ten minutes of the location. There were several cruise spots within a ten or fifteen minute drive to drum up a race or more often just talk mega trash. There were so many antics that we could do a Hollywood Knights East I, II and III.

 

^I heard a lot of those stories from the younger brothers of the guys you hung out with. The Mo was gone by the time I was driving and the cruise scene was a lot smaller. We still hung out at the drive-in or sat on the Palmer Ford wall when we were short on funds.

 

We used to run Viking Way, it was nice and wide, but there was a level rail crossing about 100 yards past the finish line! The trick was to brake before it, then tap the gas as you crossed it at 90mph, to lift the front end a bit!

 

When I look back at some of the things I did, I ask myself, "Did you really do that"?

 

Do you remember when they evacuated the whole area because there was fear the big natural gas tanks on Chillum Rd might explode after someone threw a manhole cover down onto a high pressure gas line? No, I didn't do it, but I was there.

 

"We kill 'em in Chillum"..........I love it! I'm sure guys from other parts of the country are thinking WTF??

 

Those tanks were huge. I never knew about that but I seem to remember seeing every fire truck in MD blocking off Chillum Rd. I was young, mid 60's maybe?
I remember the 68 riots and all the men in the neighbor hood teaching their wives how to shoot in my neighbors back yard. Firemen, Police Officers and utilities workers that were going to be at work for days. Some scary shit for a ten year old.

 

Sing them that Lovin' Spoonful song you told me about. "Hot town, Summer in the Manor back of my head gettin' hit with a hammer."
Sorry, I'm getting way off track here. Back to the fond memories.