Thread: How I got addicted, in 100 words or less.

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In another thread, a couple members mentioned their earliest efforts related to hot rodding. Seems like it would be fun for the "boomers" to talk about the "old days", and maybe some newcomers will see a little of themselves in these tales. Don't stretch the truth tooooo far. :-)

I'll start it off:

In '58 I discovered hot rod magazines through a friend, (at the age of 10), and switched from building military models, to car models.

Custom painted my bicycles, and started attending the nearby U.S. Nationals in '62.

First car, a '53 Chevy, at 15, and I immediately rebuilt the engine (with Dad's help), then repainted it in Grandpa's garage at 16.

A new project every 2-3 years, cruised, street raced, and helped build a street rod, and a B/Gas Austin by 19.

Worked for the local Chevy dealer, and decided I would be a Pro drag racer someday.

Went through an endless string of Chevys and Vettes, and discovered along the way that I loved custom painting.

Abandoned my race plans, and painted part time until '86, when I went full time. I've never regretted it. Now I can count hundreds of jobs in my scrap book. I gave up my own toys, since I get paid to work on an endless string of great builds!

Went to the drags in Alton, IL with my dad when I was ten or so. Started customizing and painting my bicycles until 13 or 14. Went to work in my Dad's service station, and hung out with the NHRA F Dragster champ. Customized a '52 Chevy with a Corvette six, rolled pans, split Pontiac bumpers, leaded hood and deck when I was 16. I was hooked early.

It's kinda funny, Hotrodpaint, but that's kinda what happened to me. I was always into cars cause of Dad's 49 Ford club coupe, but long after that in 58 I bought a Hot Rod Magazine and it got me really going. I was also 10. (small world).
My first car was a 52 Chevy in 62 when I was 16. Modified the heck out of it (within a teenagers budget) and have never stopped.

DOH. Just dawned on me I was 12 not 10 in 58. Man, I am getting so old I can't even subtract.

grew up with it, been going to the track since i was 5

it was in my genes this all started with my dads drag car and the sound of the hilborn injection 392 heim with zoomys. my dads street car was a 66 gto that has had many engines in it over the years . alot of big block chevys and some small blocks chevys . the sound of a big block chevy as i sat in the back seat of my dads goat as he went thru the gears . if i was lucy i got to sit in the front seat all i could really see was my dad shifting thru the grears . and watching .long before the age of 10 i knew abit about cars. maybe to much the first thing i ever said to any teacher was when she ask my name i told here my name is pat the racing man. that was kindergarten. after that day it did not get any better all the cars i ever had that is easy. i still have them. my dads /my car gto and my 50 chevy. i did have a drag car gto but soild it when i knew it was going to cost more money .then i had

When I was in my early teens (in about 1957 or so) old cars were everywhere, and cheap. I lived on a 3 acre little farmette, and had it pretty covered with old cars by the time I was 15. Every so often some kid would tell me about a friend who had some old car for sale, and the going rate was about $ 25 back then.

I also would call the local junkyards and ask what new cars they had gotten in (I didn't drive yet, so had to let my fingers do the walking ). They would tell me that such and such a car had just came in and it ran. The price was usually $25 to $ 35, and if you wanted the battery it was something like $3 more! (I never have figured that one out, why they wanted the battery as a seperate deal )

By the time I was 15 I had bought a Model A fordor (my Mom traded a sewing machine for it), a '38 Ford Fordor, a '37 Dodge four door, about 3 or 4 '50 Fords, including one MINT convertible, sans engine and tranny for $ 25 and he delivered it to my house, and a few more that I can't even remember. My Pop died when I was about 11, and the year before he passed he bought me a '32 Ford five window coupe, but sold it (without telling me) and bought me a 1950 Jeepster (that my Mom made me sell so I wouldn't kill myself at 11 driving it around our property)

The only time I got away from old cars was briefly from the time I got my license (all of a sudden dating GIRLS became lots more important ) up through the muscle car era of the mid '60's, when I got into GTO's. But my heart was always soundly attracted to fenderless hot rods and customs.

Had lots of false starts, and had lots of neat cars I had to sell over the years to support a hungry family, and finally about 20 years ago my life leveled off enough that I was able to start spending a few bucks to actually finish off and drive one of my creations. Now I am doing the things I couldn't afford to do in earlier years.

Don

PS: Good thread Jay, but I can't say anything in 100 words or less!! lol

Oh, here is a '32 Ford pickup that I built in about 1970. Cut the top off to make a roadster, Olds engine, Cad Lasalle trans, '57 Chevy rear end. Never could get it inspected in Pennsylvania, so I dismembered it and used the parts in a '40 Chevy coupe.

Doo

neat don i bet your mom had her hand s full with you and all your cars . my dad die very young to 39 years old .i was about 10 and my mom had a dead bolt on the garage door to keep me out when she was at work. i was always driving her nuts with cars and racing and coming home late . i was far from a saint . but i did stay out of some trouble that other kids my age were getting in

I don't recall a "light switch" moment when I suddenly became interested in cars. I can remember the summer road trips from Chicago to visit grandma and grandpa in Kansas where I would identify cars going down the road with us. I remember being intrigued by a Kaiser Darin pulling out of a parking lot when I was around 8 or 9. Used to hang around with one of my buddy's older brothers (when he didn't chase us away) as he rebuilt Cushman scooters. I recall begging that we buy a brand new Country Squire wagon (black with the "wood" siding and a roof rack) when the family went car shopping in 1957 just because I thought it looked so cool (no didn't win that one). I can remember being fascinated by an older neighbor kid painting his '50 Ford with a vacuum cleaner.

Then when we moved to SoCal in 1960 I discovered Rod & Custom in the little pages format and hot rod stuff seeped into my blood. Worked after school in a grocery store, and bought my first car, a '51 Merc tudor. Went through a couple more cars and fell into VW's for a while. Had a 348 tri-power '58 Del Rey when I went into the service. About a year later started on my first '55 Chev build up (even on a low grade enlisted guys pay), which started a "habit" that has existed for over 40 years now..............a "play" car (at least one) in addition to a daily driver. The '55 gave way to a '39 Chev coupe that ended up as an H/gas drag car. From there went through various phases over the years of old rods, some restorations, sports cars, 4 wheelers, trucks, a bike or three.....................all the yada yada, and then back around to hot rods. The gallery has at least one pic of the stuff that's floated through in the last 25 or so years.

When I was young,Dad had a gas station,and my two oldest brothers had a 33 ford p/u with a 303 olds. Now that I'm retired, I'm just getting around to building my first streetrod from the ground up. I've collected a lot of parts, and now it's almost time to build a chassis. Fifty years went by pretty fast. Hank

Dad raced midgets til I was 8. He quit and got all us boys started in Karting. Just a natural progression after that. Been Hot Rods and race cars ever since!!! Oh yeah, and Dad made his last pass on the dragstrip when he was 76....In my Super Gas car, he went 9.903 @ 142!!!! At age 63 he was bracket champ at Thunder Valley. It was his first full year of drag racing, said he'd always wanted to try it so we set him up a Maverick!!! Think he had more fun the 3 years he bracket raced then any of us "kids"!!!!!!

I've had the car crazies since I watched my dad and my uncle homer overhaul the engine of dad's 62 Chevy pickup when I was about 11. I've had so many cars (over 200) that i stopped counting and there were many I'd like to have back. Some got finished but most of them I'd sell after tinkering a while. I started into hotrods when I was in a catholic high school in the mid 1980's with a lot of rich kids. A lot of them were getting new Camaros and Mustangs. We didnt have a lot of money but we were happy and did fine. I had to drive my moms old 1970 Buick Lasabre to school with a crunched rear quarter and plenty of rust, but it did have a 455. After being made fun of for several weeks after I got my license, I took the old green Buick out to a stretch of hiway 67 where they all raced, and blew the doors off of all their new cars. That old Buick was always one of my favorites.

My uncle Jim, (the one that taught me how to curse, drink whiskey and play the fiddle) was always wrenching on some old car so that he would have daily transportation. He never was much good at holding a "real job", so was chronicaly short of money.---and as a result, he was great at breathing life back into cars that others had given up on. I thought he was a rather fascinating fellow (great role model stuff), and tagged along with him. I think my "mechanical gene" came directly thru my mothers side of the family from her brother Jim. Then when I was 19, I went to the city to start engineering, and one of the very first people I met was Larry Sommerfeldt---who was building a model a drag coupe with a nailhead Buick in it---and the rest is history.---Brian

Originally Posted by brianrupnow

My uncle Jim, (the one that taught me how to curse, drink whiskey and play the fiddle) was always wrenching on some old car so that he would have daily transportation. He never was much good at holding a "real job", so was chronicaly short of money.---and as a result, he was great at breathing life back into cars that others had given up on. I thought he was a rather fascinating fellow (great role model stuff), and tagged along with him. I think my "mechanical gene" came directly thru my mothers side of the family from her brother Jim. Then when I was 19, I went to the city to start engineering, and one of the very first people I met was Larry Sommerfeldt---who was building a model a drag coupe with a nailhead Buick in it---and the rest is history.---Brian

Now that is one heck of a good Uncle, Brian!!!! My Uncle Wayne always had a 1/2 pint stashed away someplace and never minded giving the Coke in your hand "a little tune up" as he called it!!!!! He also took me to his favorite tavern for my 19th birthday.....too bad it was only my 16th!!!! Sounds like he and your Uncle Jim had a lot in common!!!!!!

My mother was my influence. She worked for GM, her and my father drove the latest car out, a new one every year Vettes, Impalas, GTOs, Camaros, Firebirds, Novas. Crager S/S wheels were always a must for mom. I built model cars( alway buy two so i could combine to make one really cool one). Then off to work in the local body shop till I joined the USAF, where I was an field maintinance painter. Got out in 1980 and have been building stuff ever since.By the way she now drives a Malibu Maxx SS at 78.