Thread: How I got addicted, in 100 words or less.

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neat don i bet your mom had her hand s full with you and all your cars . my dad die very young to 39 years old .i was about 10 and my mom had a dead bolt on the garage door to keep me out when she was at work. i was always driving her nuts with cars and racing and coming home late . i was far from a saint . but i did stay out of some trouble that other kids my age were getting in

I don't recall a "light switch" moment when I suddenly became interested in cars. I can remember the summer road trips from Chicago to visit grandma and grandpa in Kansas where I would identify cars going down the road with us. I remember being intrigued by a Kaiser Darin pulling out of a parking lot when I was around 8 or 9. Used to hang around with one of my buddy's older brothers (when he didn't chase us away) as he rebuilt Cushman scooters. I recall begging that we buy a brand new Country Squire wagon (black with the "wood" siding and a roof rack) when the family went car shopping in 1957 just because I thought it looked so cool (no didn't win that one). I can remember being fascinated by an older neighbor kid painting his '50 Ford with a vacuum cleaner.

Then when we moved to SoCal in 1960 I discovered Rod & Custom in the little pages format and hot rod stuff seeped into my blood. Worked after school in a grocery store, and bought my first car, a '51 Merc tudor. Went through a couple more cars and fell into VW's for a while. Had a 348 tri-power '58 Del Rey when I went into the service. About a year later started on my first '55 Chev build up (even on a low grade enlisted guys pay), which started a "habit" that has existed for over 40 years now..............a "play" car (at least one) in addition to a daily driver. The '55 gave way to a '39 Chev coupe that ended up as an H/gas drag car. From there went through various phases over the years of old rods, some restorations, sports cars, 4 wheelers, trucks, a bike or three.....................all the yada yada, and then back around to hot rods. The gallery has at least one pic of the stuff that's floated through in the last 25 or so years.