What Are Your Earliest Recollections Of Cars?

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donsrods

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2007
Messages
10,476
Location
fort myers florida
Since it is a Holiday weekend, things are kind of laid back more than usual, so I thought I would throw this out there. What got you turned on to this hobby? What car(s) inspired you and stick with you today?


For me, the very first hot rod I ever saw was a '36 Ford Coupe that would be called a rat rod today. Year was about 1957 and I was probably 12, but was playing Sax in the High School band. We were coming home from a football game one Friday night, and the bus stopped at an icecream stand so we could all buy something. Wnen I got off the bus there was this '36 Ford coupe sitting there. No fenders on front, no hood, bobbed rear fenders, gray primer with red wheels, flathead with one carb and a chrome aircleaner, and homemade sidepipes with chrome motorcycle mufflers.

Everybody else was buying icecream, but not me. I spent the whole time taking in that car, just staring at it. It was far from a showcar, but it was COOL. I was hooked.

About that time the TV program 77 Sunset Strip was popular, and Norm Grabowski's T was featured in many of the shows. When it would appear, I can't explain the feelings. This was the greatest car I had ever seen (I still think it is the best) and from then on I was a roadster guy. Over the years I have had a bunch of starts and false starts, and lots of other cars during those years, like a couple of GTO's, a Mustang, and more '50 Fords and others than I can remember. But my very first running, driving. licensed roadster was my '27. Of course, it had to be built 1950's style, as that is where my love lies.

That's me, what about y'all??? :)


Don
 
I'm not sure just how old i was at the time 10 or so. My dads cousin had a 32 duce coupe candy apple red. I will never forget him giving me a ride it i was hooked from that day. Always said i was going to get one but I'm still dreaming at age 48 i guess. My mother always told me if i ever fell and busted my head open wouldn't anything but piston and rods fall out she still says that to this day. I wished now i had some of the money i wasted on racing dirt track cars over the years my dream may have came true.
 
I was 10 and my neighbor across the street was a circle racer. He had five old heaps and 3 very nice daughters. Guess it was around 1969 when I was just getting into the old stuff, mid 30s' coupes were my favorite of choices.
I enjoyed the wild rides he would take me on after a thursday afternoon tuning session. Back then the cops were more loose on the racing scene.:eek:

Maximo
 
When I was a wee lad of about 6 or 7 my grandparents took me traveling a lot, a couple of trips across the US. I was lucky enough to have traveled Route 66 a couple of times, may have been young but still have vivid memories of the trips Burma Shave ads and all.
Anyway my grandmother and I would have a game to see who could identify the make and year of a car just by the taillights as cars would pass. I became very proficient at then the game got more intense when we would start to guess the make by a glimpse of chrome behind a fence or a grill or hood ornament peeking out of garage or on a side street. My grandfather made more than one trip around a block just to find out who was correct.

The TV show Bonanza was on Sundays and was sponsored for a time by Chevrolet. In 1963 I saw the first ad for the new Corvette Stingray and it was all over. I saved lawn mowing and snow shoveling money and when I was old enough I got a job at the local Texaco station and was able to save a bit more.
The summer before I turned 19 I was able to go to Appleway Chevrolet and paid the princely sum of $2,100 for a used 1966 Corvette coupe complete with 427, 32gal tank and close ratio 4 speed. I learned after I had traded it off for a 67 roadster that it was 1 of 500 built to qualify Chevy to race in the SCCA races.:eek: One like it sold at JB auction awhile back for 200k.

Heres a picture of it after I ran into the work bench at a 76 station I worked at. That's a whole other story. BTW the other rigs were fellow employees cars, a 52 Chrysler limo, 55 Ford wagon, 55 Nomad and 46? Dodge truck.
 

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Mine is still etched in my mind like it was yesterday, but it was in 75 or 76.

My dad had a 70 GTX. 440, pistol grip, airgrabber, etc.
I was around six or seven, which by the way is the age of my son.
I think that's why I'm so fired up about getting him started, memories like these.

Anyway, I can't remember if it was the first day he brought it home or the next, but he decided to take my two brothers and myself for a GOOD ride.
I know my mom wasn't around....lol

We had just pulled out and was rolling alone and without warning, he stabbed it. At the time my younger brother was sitting on the rear fold down arm rest. After the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rearend swapping gear change, he was on top of me and I was in the floor.
Well, the amusement ride started. I got on the arm rest next, taking turns back and fourth.

Even though I got off track in the following years, I believe that moment was the biggest reason I have this love for cars today.
Big blocks...gotta' love'em!
 
Kelsey Hayes of some sort. Only set I have ever seen.

Yeah...can't say I've seen any of those either.:cool:
I do love rare wheels.

Now, let me ask you another question.
Since you bought that car back in the day, did it feel (power wise, tightness), any better being "new"?

The reason I ask this is because it seems like modern day cars lose power with age. Even though you may rebuild them, they just don't seem the same as when they were first new.
 
Yeah...can't say I've seen any of those either.:cool:
I do love rare wheels.

Now, let me ask you another question.
Since you bought that car back in the day, did it feel (power wise, tightness), any better being "new"?

The reason I ask this is because it seems like modern day cars lose power with age. Even though you may rebuild them, they just don't seem the same as when they were first new.

Well it was only two years old. In 4th on the hiway at 60 if I punched it the secondaries would open and spin the wheels. Fastest I dared go was 140. I would imagine the tires had a much lower speed rating.:D
But I think you're correct. Never seem to be as good or better.
 
Thanks Harley Earl!

My Dad was a big car freak. He had a lot of cars & was always wheelin’ & dealin’ for another one... sound familiar? In ‘53 he traded for a fat fendered Buick Roadmaster with those big ports on the hood... I’ve *always* loved that & thank you Harley Earl! The Buick had a straight 8 but my Dad thought it need to sound better. He heard about a guy in California that specialized in splitting the manifolds of straight 8 cars & that’s all it took. My Dad would use *any* excuse to get in the car & hit the open road... he love to drive & he loved to drive very fast! Off we went to the coast... I was just a small boy but I could tell all this attention to cars was very cool & I’ve been addicted to anything with HP every since! Anyway, after we got back... that car sounded so good that everyone always asked my Dad what he had under the hood. He always said... “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you” & walked away! And yes... he had a steering wheel knob, spotlights, curb finders & one of those looking glass deals to see the red lights (what ever they're called).

Hot rodding... I came by it honestly!!!

BoB
 
This is sort of a tough question for me to answer, as my dad had been an avid hot rodder since the mid 1950's and was so when I was born in 1963. One day after I was born, my first ride ever in a car being brought home from the hospital was in the family car. The family car was a new at the time 1962 Impala SS with a dual quad 327 and 4:11 rear that my dad raced on the weekends. But I don't remember that.

I would have to say that my first real vivid memory of a hot rod was when I was about 3 or 4 years old. My dad and his friend were building a Henry J gasser in the garage. The body was off of the chassis and was sitting on the floor with no doors attached. While my dad and his friend were working on the chassis and engine, I remember riding my tricycle through the door openings of the Henry J body shell as if it were a tunnel. I can still remember the red oxide primer that covered the old Henry. When my dad and his friend were not working on the car, I would pick up some tools and pretend that I was building the car. At the time, I had fully convinced myself that I was an equal partner in the gasser venture.

With my dad and what seemed to me as a child to be all of his friends being involved in hot rodding and/or drag racing to some degree, I thought this was the norm. I thought that everybody on the face of the earth owned hot rods of some sort. Much to my dismay, I quickly found this notion to be untrue. But none the less, growing up, I went to the races and car shows like most families went to the zoo or the amusement park. I suppose that these events cemented my automotive desires that have followed me throughout my life.

And on this holiday weekend, 40 years after my first real memories of a hot rod, I spent the day in the shop with my dad, and you guessed it..............working on hot rods.
 
427 'Vette smokes 'um!

The summer before I turned 19 I was able to go to Appleway Chevrolet and paid the princely sum of $2,100 for a used 1966 Corvette coupe complete with 427, 32gal tank and close ratio 4 speed. I learned after I had traded it off for a 67 roadster that it was 1 of 500 built to qualify Chevy to race in the SCCA races.:eek: One like it sold at JB auction awhile back for 200k.

Cycledog,
About a year ago I was cruisin' on a beautiful day in my '62 Nova with the top down. I was coming up to an intersection to turn left & looked in my rear view mirror & saw a silver Stingray behind me with that distinctive hood scoop that says only 1 thing... 427 inside! He was gonna turn right but when he saw me he pulled across 3 lanes & pulled in right behind me. Ok, I had no chance but just for fun I started power braking my car & smokin' the tires. He did the same! We both started laughin' our ***** off! When the light turned we pulled around the corner & took off... well... HE took off! He unleashed that monster & smoked the tires all the way down the street & left me eatin' dust & hot smokin' burnin' rubber! I hadn't seen anything like that on the streets in years & had a smile on my face for weeks... ; - >

Thanks for the pictures!

BoB
 
Well I'm not sure how old I was but my dad had a detail shop and did a lot of work for wendle ford.

One day he was there picking up a car to detail and in the back was a 1960 caddillac 4dr hardtop.Im not too sure on the details but he got the car and the first time i seen it i loved it.

It was green on green and a fam of 4 could sleep in the trunk.
The coolist thing about that car that i remember was the whamy bar on the radio and cruzin around listing to paul harvey.

Someone out there might have a pic of the car........
 
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One day he was there picking up a car to detail and in the back was a 1960 caddillac 4dr hardtop.

The coolist thing about that car that i remember was the whamy bar on the radio and cruzin around listing to paul harvey.

Someone out there might have a pic of the car........

26,
My Dad had a '60 Coupe 'de Ville. The things I remember besides that HUGE grill were the auto headlite dimming module & when u went to pass & hit the gas... there was a big whooshing noise & that sucker would pass *anything* on the road!

BoB
 

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I guess my early teens there had always been bikes around ( though my mother made sure very few if any parts got into the house ) Between those the 4x4's and tractors kinda hard not to learn a lil something.All the people my father rode with also had ton's of stuff so,,think the first car that I took a liking to was a 70's blue Cuda that had a shotgun rack on the console :),,and biker folk were always friendly and would explain things to ya,,so in time I learned..My first bike was a servi-car ,,frame was chained to a barn wall and the rest was cardborad boxes and milkcrates ( the old metal kind ). Was told "you want a Harley ,,ok here it is ",,lol they after how ever long it took the day I took it for a ride I guess that was the key,,that I had made something out of a bunch of parts,,from then on I looked at everything as parts and if I could get parts to work together they could make something,,,:)

not sure if I answered the question but I just woke up:p
 
I can remember every car my folks had when I was growing up. THe first car that made an impression on me however was when I was around 10 in 1962. We had had gone to the the river to see the 4th of July fireworks....as we were walking to the car to go home on of the cars pulling out of the parking lot was a dark colored 59 Impalla, dual mirrors, dual rear deck mounted antennas and a set of glass packs. He just kind of rumbeled out of the lot.......I was hooked.

I do wonder what my grandsons memories will be. He's a bit over 4 now and part of his Sunday ritual is to come out to the garage and drive grampa's car.
 

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I have a brother that is 5 1/2 yrs older that me. He used to get to stay out later that me,when I got old enough to "hang around with him and his friends, they all used to get soo excited every friday night. You see, there was a late model driver that lived 4 blocks down the road and he used to tune his racecar the night before the race. I remember the first time I heard that thing roar to life. What a rush..

Been hooked ever since...
 
26,
My Dad had a '60 Coupe 'de Ville. The things I remember besides that HUGE grill were the auto headlite dimming module & when u went to pass & hit the gas... there was a big whooshing noise & that sucker would pass *anything* on the road!

BoB

And it would float down the high way.
I got to think'n and another car my dad had that got me hooked even more was his boat tail riv with the rolodex speedo.That car would fly.
 
My dad was in the navy when I was young, so we always travled across the country with him tohis new stations. Once we lived up in Virgina beach, Va. back in 67. He came home with a 67 Chevelle convertable for his new ride. Mom hit the roof, but my sisters and I really dug the beast. I can remember the family goeing tothe beach with the top down and all the pretty women checking out the old man with the hot car.....lol.....mom was never really into all the excitement. It was grand while it lasted.

Maximo
 

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