What Are Your Earliest Recollections Of Cars?

[joehalford01]

no really cool stories here, in fact growing up, i could have cared less about cars and do it yourself stuff. My dad worked on cars when i was younger but got burned out on it before i got old enough to really appreciate it. He never tried to include me in it either. All through high school I played video games and worked on computers.

After highschool about four years ago I got a job at sears in the hardware section. I lied and said I was very familiar with tools and whatnot. After a steep learning curve i slowly became more and more interested in do it yourself stuff. A couple friendships later I was introduced to a blazer with a 427 in it, an old nova with a 350, and a 72 cadillac that i thought was garbage until i was told about the 472 under the hood and later heard it rumbling through a flowmaster. Ever since, i've been totally hooked to cars in general and can't keep it out of my head. (that 72 caddillac was also the first project i purchased, still have the motor and tranny.)

 

[chop509]

I think I was about 12 or 13; we had a neighbor kid that was kind of an outcast. He was heavily into the Rolling Stones, wore Beatle boots, greased back hair, and Elvis sideburns (he would have fit in o.k. nowadays).
Everyone used to say “stay away from that guy, he’s trouble”. Rumor was that he built model cars and would sniff the glue while he was working on ‘em.
Anyway, he had a ’56 Chevy (don’t remember any of the particulars about the car) that he was out working on in the street one day. I rode up on my Schwinn stingray and began to watch him, we exchanged a few words, then he finished up what he was doing, and asked if I wanted to go for a ride. I’m sure my eyes got as big as silver dollars as I replied, Yeah!
All I can remember about the ride is he nailed it a few times, and being pinned in the seat, like a carnival ride was all it took, I was hooked.
He obviously made an impression on me, as my first car was a ’55 Chevy, and have loved the tri-five cars ever since.
Never did think too much of Beatle boots though .

I also remember when I was in Junior High school, getting Library passes during study hall, just so I could go down and drool over the latest issue of Hot Rod Magazine.

Jeff

 

[Rat33pickmup]

when I was 2 years old I told my Grampa I wanted his 68 Chevy Impala and my Dad had a nasty 72 Chevelle those stick out the most and every time I look at my 68 Impala I think of Gramps and his 68 Impala that I took over the paperwork and car March 16th 1991 and April 16th 1991 my Grampa passed away. One day the car will see the road again but for now its covered up and resting till I get the heart to do it like Grampa wanted it MANY years ago in all black w/ black upholstery but with a Big Block and not the 327 ( I have it also and Grampa didnt need a Big Block, he was skeery enough with the 275hp 327)

Jim

 

[Tripper]

when I was 2 years old I told my Grampa I wanted his 68 Chevy Impala and my Dad had a nasty 72 Chevelle those stick out the most and every time I look at my 68 Impala I think of Gramps and his 68 Impala that I took over the paperwork and car March 16th 1991 and April 16th 1991 my Grampa passed away. One day the car will see the road again but for now its covered up and resting till I get the heart to do it like Grampa wanted it MANY years ago in all black w/ black upholstery but with a Big Block and not the 327 ( I have it also and Grampa didnt need a Big Block, he was skeery enough with the 275hp 327)

Jim

Jim,
Believe me... that will b a great tribute to u're Gramps!!! I have a '57 Ranchero because my Dad had one & when I drive it... i think of him! Well now that I'm gettin' older... I feel like him! Freaks me out sometimes!!! And nothin' wrong with a 327 either... especially since it's the one he drove!!!

BoB

 

[Tripper]

Playboy under cover!

I also remember when I was in Junior High school, getting Library passes during study hall, just so I could go down and drool over the latest issue of Hot Rod Magazine.

Chop,
We used to take the cover off Hot Rod & put it on a Playboy & take it to school. It worked really well & we never got caught! I think I still have a couple around in my car mag stach form the 60's! Great Mad mag collection too! ; - >

BoB

 

[chop509]

Chop,
We used to take the cover off Hot Rod & put it on a Playboy & take it to school. It worked really well & we never got caught! I think I still have a couple around in my car mag stach form the 60's! Great Mad mag collection too! ; - >

BoB

That’s funny, reminds me of the days when my dad took my brother and I to the barber shop to get a buzz cut.
While dad was in the chair we would slide Playboys inside a Field and Stream or Life Magazine.
Made it tough to check out the centerfold though .

 

[donsrods]

Some of you will remember that a few of the car magazines used to be smaller than the traditional size we buy now...........they are fondly called "little books." They were perfect for hiding inside a schoolbook. It's a wonder I know anything about math and english at all, because I spent most of my time reading those magazines..........well, them and the occasional girly magazine I could score.

When I was about 18, there was talk one day that two hot rods were going to drag race out in front of our school at a certain time. All of us gearheads were talking about it. One of the cars was a '34 Ford pickup. Chopped, full fendered, Olds engine, trips, etc. The other was a '55 Chevy with all 409 drivetrain. The owner of the 409 was a local badguy, and he used to brag he had $ 400 in the car, and was beating all these high dollar cars. What he failed to mention was that he stole a brand new dual quad 409 Chevy off of a dealers lot, stripped it, and used the parts to build the '55.

As the time for the race approached, every guy in class kept going to the window to sharpen his pencil, and would whisper a report back to the other guys that the cars were not there yet. All the time, the English teacher (a mean lady who did not mess around) kept looking up at us suspiciously. We were all sitting on our books, trying to be tall enough to peer over the window sill.........must have looked very strange, all these tall guys sitting there.

Suddenly, we hear the sound of two open headered cars coming down the road, and everybody is straining their necks to get a look. As they lined up, we all could take it no more, and ran to the window to watch the '55 beat the '34. The teacher was screaming the whole time to sit back down, but no one did. I think we all got extra homework that night, but it was worth it.

Oh, the guy with the '55...............I just found out a few years ago he was found in the trunk of a car, shot to death some time after that. Rumors were that he was selling drugs or something. I guess leopards never change their spots.

Don

 

[LordMaximo]

68 Impala

when I was stationed out at El Toro MCAS back in the late 70's, I bought a 68 Impala for $50.00 from this lady on the base. It had a 69 Corvette 327 Limited editon engine under the hood. 350 stock HP was a mean engine to run. I was offered several large amounts of cash for that engine. It was #47 of 100 made for the vetts back then. I built the engine and drove back to Orlando Florida back in '81. Great ride while it lasted. Many heated nights at the beach with that car.......lol........

Maximo

 

[Lakota]

I remember my first up close encounter with a car when I was 6 years old. I had seen them whizzing down the road, but they were far away and looked like colored dots on the horizon. You really don't get to see much when you live in a one room shanty on the end of a foot path on an Indian Reservation in 1953. Our class at the Indian school was chosen to greet some Gov Official when he pulled up. We all yelled "Good morning Mr ????" We weren't interested in him one bit. Our eyes were fixed on his car. Most of us had never seen one before. I remember the beautiful green paint. I thought this guy must be related to God or something. The car had lavish strips of silver all over it (chrome), and what impressed me the most was the amber cut glass Indian head on the very front. Yup, it was a 52 Pontiac Chieftain. I got to ride in a car a few years later when a friend of my Father stopped by in a 1920's Phaeton. It looked like two T buckets, one behind the other, with two windshields. That thing backfired, bucked and farted all the way, but it was the best ride I ever had. When we left the Reservation years later I learned that if I worked hard and saved my money, I could have any car I chose, and I did. And yes, I did have a whole box full of Pontiac hood ornaments. Since then I've been addicted to Detroit iron. I thought about buying a Toyota once, but I changed my mind when I sobered up.

 

[gassersgarage]

When I was born, I came home in a roadster p/u that had a cragar in it. My Dad was a hot rodder. Before the roadster p/u, he had a 39' Ford Coupe with a blown flathead. Anyway, every summer, me and my brother went to Reedley, Ca and stayed with my Aunt. She owned a Flying A gas station, across from Reedley College. All the kids in their hot rods would fill up at the gas station. 55, 56, 57 Chevys. One of the professors even had a brand new. 61' Chevy Impala with a 409 and 4 spd. Those tri year chevys got me hooked. My first hot rod, in high school, was a 56' Chevy wagon with a 394 Olds, tri power and hydro.

 

[Tripper]

Kool wagon!

My first hot rod, in high school, was a 56' Chevy wagon with a 394 Olds, tri power and hydro.

Garage,
Wow!!! Sounds like a really kool ride... any pictures of that beast?

BoB

 

[donsrods]

Yeah, I LOVE Olds engines, especially 394's.


Don

 

[DaJoker]

I had to go searching for what my dad drove when I was a kid. Turns out, it was a 1970 Bonneville. No mistaking that front. Was burned in my mind since I was about 5 (and that was in 1978) and thought it was just the coolest looking car I had seen. About the only things I remember about it was that front end, it was dark green, 4 door, and I remember my dad mentioning it had a 455 in it when he eventually sold it in 1980 so we could get a station wagon (5 kids and all makes even the Bonneville look small). When I got older and started driving I always wanted something older, and always talked to my folks about getting an older car, and just yearned for what they had when they were growing up. My dad basically had what I could guess would be considered a rat. A 63 Galaxie 500XL, primer black from a rattle can, bench seats recovered by my grandma with old curtains, all trim/emblems stripped from the car and all holes filled and smoothed. My mom on the other hand had a 69 GTO, bought new by my grandad for her when she turned 18 and graduated high school. If only they had kept either car when they got married in 1972 and had me in 1973 (when they sold both and bought the Bonneville as a "family car")

 

[gassersgarage]

Garage,
Wow!!! Sounds like a really kool ride... any pictures of that beast?

BoB

Unfortunately, I was a kid in college and never thought about pics. Primer wasn't cool in those days (1968).

 

[Bonehead]

When I was about 4, I traveled across the western half of Route 66 in the back seat of a 55ish Chevy. The back seat and area above the back seat was huge. I remember laying up against back window going down the road. None of those pesky seat belt laws for me.

 

[Tripper]

Back window!

When I was about 4, I traveled across the western half of Route 66 in the back seat of a 55ish Chevy. The back seat and area above the back seat was huge. I remember laying up against back window going down the road. None of those pesky seat belt laws for me.

Bonehead,
That is really weird because I did the same thing in a '55 Pontiac. Now how dangerous was that!?!?!

BoB

 

[Gastrick]

When I was about 4, I traveled across the western half of Route 66 in the back seat of a 55ish Chevy. The back seat and area above the back seat was huge. I remember laying up against back window going down the road. None of those pesky seat belt laws for me.

That reminded me of a childhood memory that I had forgotten. When me and my brother were small, my dad had an early 60's Mercury Monterey and the back glass was electrec and actually rolled all the way down. Me and my brother used to climb onto the package tray and try to sneak out onto the decklid. We would see how far we would get before getting yelled at. "Get back in the car you idiots".

 

[Bonehead]

I remember as a kid my cousin had gone to a car stunt show. Over the next month or so he got an old Pontiac (late 40s/ early 50s) and built a roll bar out of 4 inch square tubing and proceeded to roll that car about a hundred different times out behind my uncles house.

 

[Last-Call]

LOL, sorry guys, but I feel like I am hereing my dads stories when I read these. I was born in 81( the years of real bad cars) and I remamber it like yesterday. I was 5, 1986 and I was on my way back from pre-school. And my old man let me sit on his lap and steer the car home, it was only like 5 blocks. But when you are 5....that was huge. He was driving a 1977 Pontiac Grand lemans. And I have to say that it is still the best looking car I have ever seen. Thats just me, now days I happen to own that very car. He bought it bran new in 76 drove it for a year and put it in storage. He told me if I graduated with a 3.0 or better I could have it when I turned 16......yep I still have it. I will give my son the same deal.

Here is a pic.

 

[Tripper]

LOL, sorry guys, but I feel like I am hereing my dads stories when I read these. I was born in 81( the years of real bad cars) and I remamber it like yesterday. I was 5, 1986 and I was on my way back from pre-school. And my old man let me sit on his lap and steer the car home, it was only like 5 blocks. But when you are 5....that was huge. He was driving a 1977 Pontiac Grand lemans. And I have to say that it is still the best looking car I have ever seen. Thats just me, now days I happen to own that very car. He bought it bran new in 76 drove it for a year and put it in storage. He told me if I graduated with a 3.0 or better I could have it when I turned 16......yep I still have it. I will give my son the same deal.

Last-Call,
Great story, great car! I'm pretty impressed you've kept that car looking so good!!!

BoB