Thread: Hot Rod Stories

Tweet

Hello, everyone.
I am new at this, so bear with me. I am Robin Millar of Pete Millar DRAGcartoons. My mother & I are trying to perserve Petes legacy & bring back the fond memories of your youth! Show the younger generation what hot rodding & drag racing was all about int it's hey day. Many of you who read CARtoons & DRAGcartoons know that dad got his stories from what was really happening in the pits & streets. It's 10 years ago we lost Pete Millar & 50 years ago DRAGcartoons was started and I bet you still LAFFYERASPGALT when you read or remember some of the stories from those days!

Hello Robin.. I do remember Car'toons, haven't seen one in quite awhile but, it was good when I read it.

Good to see you here and how about a pic of the Mustang???!!!???

I read the magazine religiously as a kid... and some after that. :-) Still have many fond memories of it growing up.

Here are a couple short tales, but I don't know if they might make a story line...

Just during and after high school I was building my own cars, but I spent a lot of time helping a friend with his projects. We lived in a farming community, and were building his toys on his parents farm. Due to the lack of funds, we often used whatever was available. I remember a couple "low buck" decisions.

Once we were working on a '55 BelAir convertible, which we found had totally worn out front suspension! My friend's solution was to pull the front axle out from under a '56 Ford pickup behind the barn. It went under the '55, and I have to tell you it was sky-high in the front!!! '55 Convertibles are not exactly gasser material... and the choice was really financial in nature. I always wondered how long it was before a future owner was totally red-faced from cursing us for that decision!!!

Another story was when we were building a high boy street rod. We transplanted a '57 Olds engine into it, with an adapted Muncie 4-speed. We needed to fab a transmission cross member for it, so my friend hunted around the farm for something to use. I found him burning up drill bits trying to drill holes in a spring leaf. He had also welded some mounting plates to the ends. I told him I thought it would flex too much and eventually break... but he was determined to finish it. The next day his dad saw it, and put a stop to that idea. Later my friend bought some tubing and did it right. High schoolers can be inventive, but sometimes in a hurry! :-)

BTW... I ended up a custom painter... and my buddy a custom upholsterer. {:-) We both still work in the hot rod field 45 years later!