I wish I had something better to add to this thread. My dad I are not very close, and both of my grandfathers were long deceased before I was born. Nobody in my family was very into cars, and since they all lived in Jersey City, there wasn't much of a reason to drive a lot. But my great uncles were all "men's men", they loved tools and tinkering, and were all mechanically-inclined. My Uncle Anthony taught me as a 5 year old how to change an electrical outlet, and how to do a basic tune up on a lawnmower. He passed away when I was 7, but his lessons sparked an interest in mechanical stuff that has never left me. I still have all of his tools, and that lawnmower, which still runs perfectly.
Here is my grandfather KB I believe he is in front of a Buick, but not positive. He had my truck originally. This is my eldest uncle in 1946 in front of a 1935 Packard I believe. Strangely my dad worked way too much and did not have the car gene. I guess this is my version of a red barchetta. My youngest uncle found the truck that my grandfather traded in on a Studebaker. I get to keep it for a while now . Joel
Here is the man I called Dad Bob More (passed on 3 - Jan of this year. He was my greatest mentor and one of the few constants I could depend on. He influenced my love of all things old and turning wrenches. The 32 pick up pictured, he drove home from California in 1956. A close friend of ours preserves and owns it now. Sent from my SM-G975U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
My Grandad and Grandmother with their Model T Ford. My dads first car a 49 Chevy. I still have my Dad. He's 87 now, and in great health.
My dad only had practical cars, he did own a 1956 Chevy sedan delivery and it was for work and the family transportation. His dad owned a automobile dealership in Columbia,South Carolina called Hampton Motors when I was very young, he passed away when I was about 6 years old. My moms dad was a jack of all trades, he worked at the foundry here in town and his part time job was working in the untaxed liquor business. He owned a 1940 Ford convertible. My granddads son was a motorcycle cop during the time my granddad was in the illegal liquor business in the early 50's and I have also been told he actually sold it for my grandad. This is a photo of my uncle Charles(seated on the Harley), one of his pals and granddad's car. This is Charles on his Police HD and the kid in the background with his bicycle is yours truly, incidentally I ended up with the Police bike after Charles bought it at a police auction when he decided to get rid of it. HRP
Considering my grandfather's were born in 1910 & 1914 they drove most of the cars we love when they were brand new . My fathers first car was a 33 Ford coupe he bought for $25 when he was 15 years old in 1950 it was just a Jalopy ... Fast Forward to today ..I'm driving a 53 coronet like my father drove in the late 50's ... He bought it used in 57 for $250.00 sitting in the back row of a used car lot in in Norfolk Virginia .. Red Ram Hemi powered with a GyroMatic
Here's my grandpa, Powell Dickerson at El Mirage in 1947. I have a thread that I started about him with more pictures and info. I sure miss the crazy old guy! https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/my-grandpa-40s-hot-rodder-powell-dickerson.1076490/
Never met my dad's dad, he died before I was born. Knew my mom's dad only a little, he died when i was very young. I do remember he always had a buck for me. Here's my dad and his 59 Vette, complete with his ever present moccasins and jacked up tube socks, with a glass of beer in his hand. He had a rowdy 58 with dual quads and a 3 speed he traded for this 59 back in the mid 60s. The 59 is still in the family today, my sister has it. 230hp 283 with a glide and a Wonderbar radio. I grew up in this car. My first time behind the wheel was in this car. Drove this car to my first job interview. Took who I thought was the love of my life for a ride in it one time and all she could do was complain about her hair getting messed up. Thankfully that didn't last.
My uncle - who was like a Father to me, on the left, 1980 or so, installing the 283. Car ran a '39 trans and '40 rear at that time. The fella on the right ("Zeke") was extended family, via the old car world. That's a super rare Milwaukee tri-power too.
My dad grew up in northeast PA, the son of a coal miner/postal worker. He went on to graduate with a chemistry degree from Lehigh. Went into the Army as a bomb disposal officer in WWII and then onto to work at Oak Ridge after the war. Developed several processes of which the government patents are still classified. Wasn't really a car but he rewired my Italian motorcycle when I was in HS without a second thought. The first car he bought new was a '51 Ford woodie. Still talks about it to this day and he turns 100 in May.
My Dad was born in 1919 so he would have been 100+ years old by now. Here's his 33 Dodge he had when he was a young man in S.F. He and his friends were in a "gang" [unlike today's gangs] and they were called The Skulls. They all had skull gearshift knobs, pretty funny. Wonder where they bought those? In later years we had a sweatshirt made for him with this same photo and The Skulls written in front, he loved it, Mick
My grandpa in about 1924 or 25 with Sal Betuluccci (Dick's uncle ) - at the family shop. My mom would come along in 1927 and the little roadster had disappeared. Got his name and the 30wt gene from him.
My Dad's '40 Plymouth with hydroplane he raced. Seattle Washington 1943. Shipped out to the pacific and sold the boat. My Mom drove the car back to ND and spent the rest of the war at home.
My grandfather was Under Sheriff of San Mateo, Ca. He bought the '49PU that I have new. Somewhere there is a picture of it loaded with marijuana piled as high as the cab after they found it growing in a vacant lot in the 50's. My dad was a farmer and the only hotrodding he did was stuffing a V8 into an International Deuce and a half we had on the farm and stuffing 3-71's into the two Allis-Chambers tractors we had. He could fabricate anything and people used to bring him welding jobs that others had done that didn't hold. Both gone now, vets of WWI and WWII respectively.
Left to right - Mr. Sanguigni - my grandpa - at 20 yrs old - my great grandpa and my great Uncle Sal at the shop in Sacramento - 31st and Y street 1929.
My dad was born in 1940 Hominy Oklahoma, but grew up just outside Los Angeles in Lynwood CA, graduated Lynwood High School in 1958 went to Compton College for a couple of years then went to work for my grandfathers construction company where he stayed until he retired. He was a car nut, an aviation nut, hunter, fisherman, you name it. He started my love of cars and helped me get my first car a 1964 Pontiac Grand Prix (wish I still had that car) took me to air shows got me into WW2 aircraft. He was my father, my best friend, my mentor, and if I got out of line (which I did often) he’d whoop my ass back into line. My dad hated California and finally he and my mom moved to So. Idaho in 2018, he passed away last August, he always said he didn’t want to die in CA and he got his wish. I miss him every day, he was the koolest kat I’ve ever known. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Think my grandpa had this shop the longest and he had acquired a customer with a small fleet of grocery trucks to maintain. My great uncle Sal had moved down to Oakland to take on a fleet of furniture trucks.
My dad was a real hotrodder in his day. Having built a flathead V8 32 high boy to run at Muroc. and a 1926 turtle back T with a DO Fronty head, his own home built tubular steel rods and fuel metering system. All ran in the 30's befor the WW2. After the war he worked the rest of his days for Buick in North Hollywood Calif.
This is photo of my Grandfather's first car - 1914 Saxon Runabout. This photo was taken somewhere around 1918-19 in Matador, North Dakota. Frank Rybicka immigrated to the US from then Dobrovich, Bohemia in 1908 at the age of six with an aunt, and reunited with his parents on the great plains of North Dakota. He bought the car from earning made as a postal carrier at age 16. Like many of us he promptly stripped the car of fenders, hood, windshield, top, and by the looks of it replace the original grill with a more streamline model. In 1919 my great-grandfather shipped Frank to St Paul, Mn to be trained as a Mechanic at the Automobile and Tractor School on University Ave. with hopes he would return and they could open up a repair shop. My grandfather graduated in 1920, but never left Saint Paul ... Interestingly enough he brought the engine from his car to rebuild while in school, but never made it back to get the rest of the car but hung onto the engine to he passed away in 1994. I hung on to it, and actually for the first time last year I fired it up - First time in 100 years!!!! Had to use parts from this and that to make it happen, but got it running
Lots of cool stuff posted already. My dad has been, and is, a great car influence on his 5 sons and many others. He grew up in SoCal when drag racing was just getting its start. He and his unknown-to-me buddies did a bunch of hot rod stuff back then. Dad never talked about it to us much, but had 60s, 70s, and 80s muscle cars and always helped us with our cars even to the present time. I added photos of one of the cars he and his buddies raced at Santa Ana (on the right - from one of Ganahl’s books) and another one with me and my ‘31 A chassis last summer. He’ll be helping complete the A in a few months. Quick story of the ‘doodle bug coupe’: wasn’t competitive in the roadster class so they added cardboard top and raced as a coupe. GMC six with rear tires from the front of a tractor, because they were tall and enabled a better top speed.
Fantastic story! I'd suggest you take Grandfather's engine, source a Model T chassis (or period equivalent) or build a channel frame, and start replicating his Hot Rod of 100 years ago!
OKC 1940 Great Great Grandpa Hello, This Grandpa is from my wife’s mother’s side. First it was in Tennessee, then the majority of the time, in OKC and finally, the move to the West Coast in Santa Monica and the OC. He was a character and was at our wedding with his wife. It was a pleasure and honor to have them at the small private ceremony. They told us that they were too old to go to L.A. for the festivities of the family reception at a big restaurant. The G-G-Grandpa was a scholar and Professor of Philosophy. He was my wife’s favorite grandpa as he could see that my wife had her own way to look at things and should be given the right to decide what is best for her. Wow… that was way before the popular theme of right to decide, but in an educational matter. (“she does not have to go to honors classes if she does not want to attend…” etc.) We used to go to their old house in Santa Ana after he retired and he still was the man of the house. A feisty old guy that carries a Christmas tree out to the street, while all of us are still in the house opening presents and having a family get together. He explained that he did not want to miss the tree pickup day. Santa Ana 1958 Jnaki I am sure he was a terror in that roadster and also all of his cars over the years. We saw him blast into a very narrow 30’s driveway into a small garage in Santa Ana. It was scary as the car was a big 1958 Buick, one of the largest GM products made to that time. At least it had a ton of chrome, but squeezing into that narrow driveway was something to watch. The blue Buick went by the small side windows so fast, that it was scary. He was in his 90’s, too. No, there was not a loud noise coming from the small garage in the back. But, we never drove with him to the store or other places… it was a little “shaky…” As much as we like driving for giving us independence, who knows how long we will be driving…85-95? My wife’s dad was 90 and still driving until it became a liability with a few scrapes.
This is my Great Grandfather, Ernest. He was born Jan 18, 1891 in Missouri. This photo was taken of him in Nebraska with his 1930 Ford Model A Sedan. Clearly, he had great taste in cars. It was after I purchased my Model A coupe that I learned he owned one as well. I guess our family has a thing for Model A's.
My Dad , Was an old school auto body man , metal finished most repairs , 1st pic=his shop in the early 50's in San Pablo Ca......2nd pic Mom & Dad on the road . 3rd & 4th pics = With Miniature ten wheeler he built at his shop in Sunnyvale Ca. mid 50's ( Rod&Custom Nov. 56 ).. . 5th pic him & 1917 T. 6th pic= on his 82nd birthday @ Genoa Nevada with Sagebrush Chapter Model A's . Last pic = Metal finishing @ 83 yrs of age . He passed June 7th 2009. Every day something comes up ,That I wish I could ask him about
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