My Early Car Days
I discovered cars in 1956 at the age of 15 when my friend down the street got a '40 Ford coupe. We would sit in the thing for hours, talking cars and wishing we were cruising. Since then I have owned hundreds of cars and just recently sold my last rod, a '34 Ford that I had for 30 years.
I started attempting to build cars while still in high school. I would have probably done a lot better if I had taken auto shop. My first attempts were pretty pathetic. In 1957 I rescued a '40 Ford coupe body and frame from a wrecking yard and over summer vacation, assembled a running car. I drove it to school until I ran out of money and had to park it. The following year I put a "50 Olds engine and hydramatic in it, but never got it finished. Made a couple trips around the block and that was it.
Since then, I've built dozens of cars, and went through the muscle car era buying some ready made hot rods that were far faster than anything I built.
Got tired of the '40 and had a chance to pick up a '50 Olds that I had been watching for awhile. It was sitting on the street for months, so I asked the guy if he wanted to sell it. Sure, he says, 50 bucks. I bought it, then he told me he had already called a junkyard that was going to pick it up next week and give him 10 bucks for it. Oh well...........I fixed it up a little, put 4 carbs on it, and when the hydramatic blew up, I installed a '37 Packard 3 speed floor shift transmission. Had a lot of engine pieces chromed and it looked a LOT better than it ran.
Next thing I knew, I was in trouble for driving without insurance and lost my license for a time. I decided to tear the Olds apart for a rebuild, but never finished. Off to the junkyard she went....After I got my license back, I bought this nice clean little '50 Ford. Good transportation, but not too exciting. Started doing the interior in tuck&roll, but found a '55 Chevy that looked a lot neater, so sold the Ford to the neighbor who promptly destroyed it and neglected to pay me. Ah, another lesson learned the hard way.
So, now I had a '55 Chevy like 100,000 other guys. It was a bone stock 265 with a 3 speed. I bought a Corvette floor shift linkage from the Chevy dealer and bolted it on. I'm sure the car ran faster now.
Since I was in Car Aquisition mode, I soon traded the Chev in at the car lot for a really sweet low mileage '57 Pontiac. I painted it, lowered the front end and put on a loud dual exhaust system. Unfortunately, the car payments left me with no extra money for chrome wheels which I desperately wanted. This was a great car and I kick myself till this day for selling it.
Oh, car acquisition syndrome....All my pals had faster cars, so what's a guy to do? No money for engine mods, but lots of credit. Enter the '60 Plymouth Fury Sonoramic. Remember these? The first year of the MONDO cross ram intake. This thing was so massive that the carburetors almost hit the fenders. Man, it was cool lookin'. Actually ran pretty well too, for a big old tuna boat. I think it had a hard life before I got it, and soon the transmission failed. Got it rebuilt, but never was right so............
Anyway, I was at the Ford dealer, and there was a '62 Galaxie with a 406 and it had me drooling. Not too long after that, I was reading a Rod mag and they were showing pictures of a '63 Galaxie fastback. Oh, I loved it. 2 guys in town had bought them with 406's and they were sweet. Well, when they announced the 427, that was it. Couldn't resist and ordered one. Oh how I loved that car. Of course, by the time I had 9000 miles on it, I realized it wasn't the ideal family car, so when some loser broke into it and stole the tach, I figured it was a good excuse to trade yet again.
Seems my cousin had bought a '62 Pontiac Grand Prix with a 4 speed and it was really neat. Nowhere near the power of the 427, but a lot tamer and more luxurious. I just happened to spot on on a used car lot, white with black interior, 4 speed......well, you know what happened.
So, now I had a nice cruiser, but my darn cousin who was in the car repo business turned me onto a '59 Corvette at a price I couldn't pass up so I bought that too. I did keep the GP though. The 'Vette was a little beat, so I rebuilt the 283 and painted it.
These were fun cars, but now I was building a house and money was tight. I sold the GP and took a '57 Olds hardtop in trade. Sold the "vette and took a '58 Chevy in trade. From here on, I was trading cars so fast. I rarely took pictures of them. One goodie I picked up was a '57 Plymouth Fury with a 318 and factory dual 4 barrels with a 3 speed. It was pretty well used and I unloaded it. Also had a '63 Plymouth cheapie with a 383 and 3 speed which was a good runner, Got to scan the pics of these. I had 3 or 4 of those early Mopars and they were a lot of fun. More to follow... Below are some of the later entries which will get organized later.
Here's a before and after of my 1934 Ford Coupe.
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