This may be OT...Just wondering if you folks had a person who really got you into cars as a kid. The holiday has me in a thoughtful mood.
I would like to honor the memory of my next door neighbor, a guy named Dan, who had an open garage...all the kids in the neighborhood showed up there in the afternoon. He always was great to us, called us by his nicknames. Teased us constantly, but we loved it.
He jumped into France on D-day with 101st airborne. I was very impressed with that as a kid, but much more so as an adult. He had no kids of his own.
He had lots of old car parts and was always welding some project. He had chopped and shrunk an old pickup to about 8 feet long and let the older kids drive it in the field. His garage was decorated with pictures of cars that I thought were not real, cuz I had never seen anything like that in rural Minnesota.
Anyway, I always wanted to pass that along to the young ones. Thanks for listening. Stevo :seeya

 

:cool:

 

Cool Story. I really don't have any one person that got me into cars...I've always liked messing around with them. I guess if it was anyone, I could point to is a life long friend of mine from my teen years (and his teen years also). He had a 69 Camaro and we build a pretty stout 350 for it while we were in High School. We had fun taking a stock 307 Camaro and making it into a street rod. We never did get a posi put in the car but it could spin 1 tire for about a 1/2 mile :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Good times.
John

 

I have to say my Dad, he tought me how to drive in the same 56 Studebaker 3/4ton truck his dad tought him in. He tought me how to maintain a car and do small repairs. My parents bought me my first car a 66 Buick Special Delux for $60 needless to say it took alot of work to get it on the road.Learned alot from that car. :(

 

My dad. :yesnod:

Taught me how to time, set dwell, etc, etc......now I get to read on the forum and teach him a few things.....it's working out well. :D

AC

 

I'd like to thank Mattel. (You know, the makers of Hot Wheels?) :lol:

Just kidding; nice story. :cheers:

 

I didn't really realize I was interested in cars especially until I got older, to me it was a way of life growing up. My Grandfather, Dad, and Uncles all used to dirt track race before I was born and still had a car or two when I came along. When I was about four they didn't have enough people in the hayfield, so they put me on the tractor and showed me how to guide it down the rows, when it got to the end one of them would run up and turn us around. :crazy: :lol: Then when they could stack stuff in the seat so I could see over the dash I started driving the farm truck around the fields. This was followed by souped up go carts and finally Dad's 65 when I was 16. I'm not much of a mechanic since I never had to be, too many fairly knowledgable people around who didn't want me to get dirty. :rolleyes: But I must be reliable in my observations since I can usually troubleshoot well enough to point them in the right direction, and Dad says he wanted me to have my current car because he feels he could talk me through most repairs over the phone if he can ever get me to move far enough away. :) So, long story short, it runs in the family. This board, with all it's shared knowledge, has been a great source of advice for all of us. Usually Dad would take everything apart and rely on memory alone, now I can print stuff out and it helps tremendously...plus it makes me feel good to be able to tell him something he might not know.

 

Again, my Dad. He bought me my first car for my 15th birthday, a 1971 Dodge Challenger. It looked OK but needed constant work to fix it up and keep it going. We worked on it together, upgrading as well as fixing things I had broken. From there, we refurbished a 1971 Camaro, then a '72 240Z. During my college years, followed by marriage and the birth of my daughter, I had no time for cars, but still had the urge. I bought my '69 in 1998, and Dad has spent innumerable hours here with me as I've slowly gotten the car into presentable condition. He'll probably retire in the next few years, and I've promised to help him when he buys his project, a '56 Ford Victoria hardtop, black with black and white interior.

Here's to you, Pop! :cheers:

 

I grew up in Southern California in the 60's ...:cool: :cheers: :cool: Drove a 57 Chevy to High school. Cruised Van Nuys Blvd many a friday/Saturday nights.

 

When I was six years old I met a fellow that worked at the corner Chevron station and he gave me a ride in his 70-72 Corvette (I remember the chrome fender grills), I don't know how he could afford it but that was the making of another Vette owner and I would really like to find that guy to thank him again.
My dad was into cars also, he had a 55 chevy that was bone stock, we had a lot of fun in that car and many others.

STW!

Linwood

 

My grandma turned me into a Corvette lover, as she owned the Corvette I drive now before I got it. She's had it since it came off the showroom floor.
My dad taught me to burn rubber, push the limits of the engine. I guess I inherited a lead foot from him.
As much as I hate to admit it, my friend Grant, a Porsche lover, probably got me into cornering. I used to peg the throttle getting onto roads and all that, but when I was cornering in the hills at the speed limit, he's the one who told me "to try it at 45" instead of 25. http://www.vettefinders.com/registries/shinobi/whoo.mpg

My friend Mike kept me interested in cornering, he takes me for all kinds of joy rides, and I return the favor once in a while, though I prefer to corner alone. He's the one video taping in above video. The first time I rode with him in the hills, he was the passenger, was probably one of the scariest moments of my life. The car started to understeer out of a hard right, drifting towards the edge of a cliff. I got it under control, but I was scared out of my mind. I've since learned how to control the car a bit better. :)

Another big influence in my life would be Tom Woehr (TSW71), he's got me convinced now that I can do just about everything to my car, as long as I've got him watching over my shoulder to make sure I don't screw up. I'm sure after we're done building an engine together, I'll be just about ready to do anything you guys can throw at me! (except heater core. :) )
Tom was also the one who taught me to believe that while more is good, even more is better. That's why my dreams went from 265 hp to 400+. :)
-Steve

 

My thanks go to a neighbor named Charlie, when I was about 13 or so and cars began to get a lot of my attention, Charlie was always working on something in his driveway. I would hang around and ask a lot of questions that he did not seem to mind answering. He did some amazing things, adapting a later model rustang floorpan and drivetrain to a model A, Restored a 57 retractable, and numerous other projects.
Although being a true and true Ford man he would let me work on my Chevy’s at his place.
I learned mostly not to be afraid to just tear into something and learn from the experience.
In retrospect I don’t know how he put up with my endless questions, but the results last a lifetime.
Thanks Charlie.
:chevy

 

Every single person that drove by in a hotrod as I was on my way to school in our stationwagon added fuel to the fire that I would have an awesome car someday :D