Hot Rods What was the 1st car that "wowed" you

I was about 10 years old in 1969...my father gave me his 1941 Ford Pickup which was midnight-blue color...it sat out behind the pump house behind our house for years....I used to sit in it, and the musty old smell of faded seats and cardboard headliner is still in my mind. It would be another few years before I got it running, but I knew it was 'unique' ....it had those big fenders and pointed hood & grill, and it really made me feel kinda special, knowing it was mine (heady stuff for a kid)....I was always out turning the steering wheel and humming engine sounds, ...even though blackberry bushes grew all around it--------at 16, I got to drive it in high school, and finally got to show off something kind of 'cool' as compared to other cars in the H.S. parking lot.....16 was a good year for me and set me off on a life of old cars ever since!

 

This one, it was June 8, 1963 at Puyallup Washington, what "Sight, Sound and Fury" !!!!!!!

 

My inspiration was a 40 Ford black 2 door sedan sitting in a used car lot along the Lincoln highway just west of Lancaster, Pa.. It only had 38K miles on it and it was mint. I tried to trade my 56 Chevy for it but the guy wouldn't trade and it was only $595 but I was too poor for two cars. I have never forgot that car.

 

My father was a renowned professor from Texas A & M university.He would teach every summer in a different state;in 1964 we spent the summer in Denver and one day ate at McDonalds(it was a drive in where you sat in the car) and we parked right next to a new 64 Ford Thunderbolt that belonged to Rick Hern and you could view the whole undercarriage of the car because it was sitting on a car hauler truck chassis.The car was brand new and I studied the undercarriage for 30-45 minutes while we ate.

 

the first one that wowed me was at 10 years old,a o/t car 1970 sassy grass green plymouth superbird. that rear wing made a statement! a classmate's dad was a crop duster and bought one from the local plymouth dealer, i can remember him saying what a deal he had gotten on it because it was 2 yrs old already. drove it like he flew the duster, wide open.

 

For me it was my uncle's brand new 57 Chevrolet. I was only 4 at the time and I think it's why I've always liked the 57s. The next would have been the black and white 59 Chevy Bel Air with red interior that another uncle bought new. In 1962, a new neighbor moved in that had a yellow 59 Cadillac convertible with a white interior. I still think that's the most beautiful car I've ever seen. I'm a fin lover.

 

This Car. My Dad still owns it. He bought it in 1972.

 

Gary Kessler's Yellow 32 Ford Highboy roadster. Started something that has afflicted me for 45 years.

 

Tough to pick just one. Uncle had a stock clean model a, he give us kids a ride in, that was cool. We used to call the old cars from the 20s and 30s and older, funny cars. One of the kids from the neighborhood would hear a banger coming up the hill by our house and yell, "HERE COMES A FUNNY CAR". We all run out to the side of the road and they would blow the oogah horn. We thought that was pretty cool.
But I guess the first one that really got me was owned by a teenager down the street. He had a 63 Chrysler Imperial. Man that thing was beautiful. It was a dark metallic green and he kept it spotless. I was about 7 yrs old and just loved the way those chrome headlight buckets stood out. When he come down the road I would just stop and stare.
Sad thing is, that young man died in that car on a cold night. Sitting behind the wheel at our local hang out. He fell asleep with the motor running.

 

I was fifteen in 1960 and already had the bug, for some reason I knew that a 40 Ford was at the top of my list but a neighbor had an A coupe so that was what I looked for. I worked in a grocery store and a couple of older guys would go to local drags on their Sundays off and I sometimes got to go. I was standing at the fence watching the races when this red/orange 40 tudor pulls up. White tuck and roll interior, strong flathead making good sounds. I'm in love. Out steps a school mate, also 15, but his Dad gives him the 40. [My Dad was absolutely against my having a hot rod].It was his older brothers who had stepped up to a 41 tudor with a dual quad 283. I can still see, hear, feel that 40 like I just saw it last week. He did not have the 40 long because his brother was off to collage and he got the 41. He street raced that 41 often and I helped remove/replace many stock trans and rear ends. I never even got to ride in the 40. I recently saw this guy a couple of years ago and asked him for a picture of the 40, he nor his brother have any. Neither are car guys today. It was about two years after seeing the 40 that I bought one. Worn out oil burner, but in my mind it always looked like the red/orange tudor. Have had several 40 tudors and am building another currently. It may be red/orange.

 

'57 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser...couldn't get over how much chrome they laid on those cars back then.
Saw one for sale in Peoria IL for $500 back in ’65 ....of course I probably had $5 at the time.
This one was all black w black & white interior. The gold perforated inlays in the rear quarters really stood out.

Re "girls" ....once went out with a Barbara Hyman