Why are you a gearhead?/ Your first ''real'' car

[Dr Crankenstein]

What made you a gearhead? For me, it was the first car I owned that had some decent horsepressure. (Also, the reason I took my first bank loan).

Let's see your first "real" car, or the one that inspired you.

Here's mine. '67 Impala SS. 327/300, Muncie M21, Posi rear.

 

[PilotHouseMopar]

For me it was my grandfather, as far back as I can remember I was always out in the garage turning wrenches with him.

 

[CR55]

63 Falcon with a 289 and a factory 4 speed. Ran uncommonly fast. Followed by a series of GTO's. Always been a gearhead since I was young enough to read any car mags...

 

[42chevy]

No pics, but my first "real" car was a 1957 Chevy 210 2 door hardtop, red and white. It had a 325 horse 327 with a Muncie and a 4:11 posi. I think it is still the quickest car I ever drove. I was a gearhead from birth though. My mom and dad tell me when I was 5 I could tell most old cars apart and said I would have a '57 Chevy one day. I have always liked engines. One of my favorite memories was riding in dad's friends '56 Nomad , it was rootbear brown with flames and an alcohol injected 327 and 4 speed. It has all been downhill since then.

 

[gassersgarage]

My first vehicle was a '49 Chevy 3100 P/U. The year was '66 and I was the first one of my friends to have wheels. Then I bought a '54 Buick Super 2 door for $50. Then in '68, I bought a '55 Nomad for $500 (theft recovery) and traded for a '56 Chevy wagon with a 394 Olds and Hydro. I had to get into old cars because it was all I could afford plus I had to work on my own cars.

My Dad was a rodder from way back. '39 Ford coupe with a blown flathead. Once the overheads came out, I had to work on his cars since he only knew flatheads.

 

[babyface]

My first car was a VW Beetle, I loved that car!

BF

 

[rainman]

This might sound a little strange to some, but I honestly think I was born that way!!! Everything I've ever owned, I've taken apart and painted it or modified it from the time I can remember!!
Did my first engine swap (by myself) when I was 13. Put a 318 in an old plymouth in place of a slant 6, got paid $100.00.
My first car I bought by selling a go cart I had built, it was a 64 ford 6 cyl. 3sp.
I counted one time how many cars I had owned,once I got over 200 or so I started remembering the ones I had forgotten about, I really have no clue!!

I do know I've owned over 7 at a time more than three different times! And there are many I wished I had back. But the ones I've got right now I plan on having for a looooong time!

BTW I was 14 when I got my first car!!

 

[sgtpontiac]

My sisters boyfriends 54 chevy with a 327 4spd....

He had swapped a 327 and 4spd for the 6 with a 3 on the tree...and it sounded really cool...Had me help him do a tune up and oil change, then took me for a ride... what a ride!!....must have been about 12 at the time.... from that time on.....I was hooked.... my sister dumped him!!!

 

[Willowbilly3]

I was born a gearhead but they didn't let me have a car for several years.

 

[dmw56]

My first car 1950 Studebaker Champion. My dad bought it in 1969 for $50. He drove it a few months and parked it. I got it running and drove it to high school 1972-74. Continued to drive it off and on between then up to 1982 because for some reason my muscle cars always needed work!

Been working on it to make a street rod.

 

[Linkan]

1 one

Ford Starliner-60

 

[Linkan]

2 one

GTO -71 400 ram air 3,M23

 

[chipper]

Mine was a '63 Impala SS black with red interior bucket seats twin antenas on the deck lid. I was 15 and had just got my learners permit I spotted it at a local dealership, 199.00 sticker on the windshield I was working for a farmer that lived 18 miles from my house. I stuck my thumb out every morning to get a ride to work made 50 dollar a week payments before I could drive it off the lot then he tould me I had to have ins. and plates tooso out goes the thumb but when I did get that car you never saw a happier boy I drove the wheels off that car always messin' with it (and was introduced to what a backseat betty was [ddev

 

[donsrods]

I think some of us are just born to be hot rodders. As far back as I can remember I was always nuts about all things mechanical. Even when I was 9 or 10 I would get my butt beat for taking my Dad's tools and tearing something apart that I could never get back together. I drew cars constantly and would use my allowance to buy the 25 cent little books when we went to town.

About 3 months before Xmas when I was 11 my Dad paid $ 25 and bought me a 32 Ford 5 window coupe. It was to be my Xmas gift. Every day my buddy and I would sit in it and dream of building a hot rod like the ones in the magazines. When Xmas morning came my parents gave me a "better" car, a 1950 Willys Jeepster that was mint. When I realized they had sold the 32 to get me this "nicer" car, I started to cry and my Dad was PO'd because I was ungrateful..............he just didn't get it.

In between then and when I turned 16 I had a bunch of cars. A model a 4 door sedan, a 34 Ford roadster, about 3 1950 Fords, a 37 Dodge 4 door, a 38 Ford 4 door, 3 Crosleys, and some I can't remember. We lived on 3 acres so I drove them around the place before I got my license.

My first highway car when I turned 16 was a 57 VW beetle, all 36 hp of it. A year later I traded it for a bugeye Sprite, and lost my license for a year for drag racing (I was racing a classmates VW ) While I had no license I swapped a 289 Ford into the Sprite with Cobra goodies, and because it wasn't done when I got my license back I bought a 64 Chevy convertible that was my date car.

Since then I have had GTO's, Mustangs, hot rods, and everything in between, and am just as nuts about cars today as I was 50 years ago.

Don

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

Thanks for sharing Don. This is why I started this thread. (For the stories).

To add to my own background and addiction, I was always fascinated with mechanical things of all sorts, and especially those with wheels. Anybody remember the Meccano toys?

Anyhow, my leadfoot parents determined my fate. My father was proud to demonstrate to me "the buried needle", when I was about eight years old, I believe. (He was an ace mechanic, and had built a "hot" 327). I can only hope to live up to him.

My mother had the heaviest foot in town, and loved to leave as much rubber as possible. Thanks, Mom! Us kids loved the squealing tires. (Oh, and thanks Mom, for the spun bearings in the 283 I inherited).

Thanks to them, I'm a certifiable nut for the small-journal SBC's.

I can't tell you how many cars and trucks I've had. I lost count many years ago. All I know for sure, is I loved every one of them.

Gears, gasoline and rubber, it doesn't get any better.

 

[Tripper]

My 1st car was a '48 Chev 3 window PU! The clutch slipped, the brakes were bad and OMG did it have patina! Finally sold it & bought a beautiful fire engine red '52 Chev 5 window PU! Always loved cars & have had lots of them from beaters, trucks, Beetles, muscle cars, ragtops, sports cars to lux cars! Hopefully I'll kick B4 they take my keys away!!! Never was into boats though but my Dad was... he was in the Navy during WWII & *never* got seasick! I on the otherhand...

BoB

 

[bob w]

When I was in grade school in the late 40's and early 50's I would see copies of Popular Mechanics. There were ads in the back for plans to put a gas engine on a bicycle or soap box derby type car. I longed to do one or the other. But I was just too young. When I was in about 5th grade I was walking home from a playground after dark. Up a long narrow driveway was an old garage with the doors propped open. There was a single dim light bulb glowing from the ceiling. Two older boys were bending over something I had never seen before. The shiny red paint was stunning. I remember there was no roof and the body looked a lot older than the new cars of the time. Then it struck me. It was a hot rod! Oh, how I wanted to walk up that driveway and have a better look. But in that era and in that neighborhood, little boys didn't dare bother big boys.

In the few years we lived in that neighborhood, I went out of my way to walk past that garage a hundred times and it was never open. I never saw the hot rod again.
But, the damage was done. I was forever changed. Never wanted anything with a motor in it except a hot rod. No motorbikes, scooters, or anything else interested me.

I got my permit on my 15th birthday and my license 3 months later. A week after that I bought a '48 Chevy Fleetmaster 2 door for $125.00 with paper route money. I wanted a '50 Chevy 2 door hardtop but I didn't have enough money.

First came primer spots in order to tell the world this was my car, not my Dad's. Then a vacuum eliminator for the shift linkage, in order to speed shift. A set of lowering blocks were next followed by a Smitty muffler, which got me my first ticket.

After that there was a series of cheap cars, all of which would be collectable now. The best was a '35 Ford Tudoor for $65.00. I put a modified flathead in it, which had seen a season of dirt track use on alcohol. Had to use 50 weight oil in that one. It was pretty exciting as I still had mechanical brakes.

I was about 18 before I actually started building a real hot rod. Got a '31 A pickup for a hundred bucks and drove it home. In the next few years I put a flathead engine in it, followed by a 303 Olds and finally a 265 Chevy. I started with a combination wrench set, a 1/2" drive socket set, a hack saw and a 1/4" drill motor. I would clamp parts together and take them to a welding shop. Toward the end of the flathead installation, I fashioned a tow bar and took the truck to Gorowski's Welding to tie it all together.

Shortly after that I bought an "antique" 65 amp stick welder. From that time on I was unstoppable. Except for a period of time where I got into distance running and bicycle racing/riding. But, I returned to my first love several years ago and don't intend to quit until they pry the wrench from my cold dead hand.