The photo of Cale & Derek over in "Projects and Updates" struck a nerve with me last night... especially with it being the 2nd Christmas without my Dad.
I'd have to say it was my Dad that got me involved and fueled my passion for things mechanical. He was a professional wrench for 20+ years, then owned a dealership. Whenever there was "tinkering" going on I was either in the way or holding the droplight (usually shining in his eyes or not where he was working). Spent my Saturdays as a 6 to 10 year old at the dealership bugging the mechanics or fetching parts for them.
Found a few pictures of my own as a little tyke - brought back a lot of memories.
#1 is me about 4 and Dad, at the dealership with the Formula Vee car. #2 I'm about 7, helping pull the boat engine. I had the smallest hands for a few bolts! (I even remember the mechanic's name - Jim "Murph" Murphy. One of our mechanics at the dealership who helped out) #3 I'm about 12, with the first engine I tore down and rebuilt - it even ran when I was done!
I pretty much got interested on my own. My Dad took me to the Street Rod Nationals a few times and some other shows here and ther as well. I would get magazines all the time and still enjoy reading car mags. My Dad was into cars when younger but didn't get a "toy" of his own until after I rekindled his interest with my own. The time we spend together now while enjoying the hobby with each other, nephews, friends, etc. are some of my favorite memories year after year.
Derek69SS said
Dec 22, 2010
I don't have any pics here, but my parents would have a bunch of them... Dad has always been into cars, and being a farmer when I was young, he was always home and working on something. I was in the way a lot, and lost a bunch of his tools.
Passing it on to the next generation...
69SSConv said
Dec 22, 2010
I would have to say it was my dad as well. He was a mechanic by trade and was always working on vehicles for others when I was young. He involved me early on, cleaning parts and eventually had be doing oil changes, etc. I got away from it in college, lack of money, and mostly no place to work on anything. It wasn't until 2 1/2 years ago that he actually started restoring vehicles. The first was a truck that he drove to school when he was in junior high and found it many years later still registered in his dads name. Now he has a couple lined up, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1971 Mustang, now that he is retired he has the time, funds are little tight though?
Tony Hoffer said
Dec 22, 2010
My neighborhood was full of motorheads..... Probably own a lot to my brother Chris...
I was hangin out with the motorheads on the block at a real young age... It was a different world back then...we didnt come home till the porch ligh got flicked on and off and our parents yelled out the door..
bowtie said
Dec 22, 2010
My dad was a little bit of a car guy, but not a hardcore one. He had a 57 chev in the '60s that was his dads. He later had a triumph. After I was born, he didn't have any hotrods, but would take me and a friend or 2 to car shows when we were kids. I remember going to a 50s car show at the old Thunderbird hotel in Bloomington when I was about maybe 10. We went to the Aldrich Arena shows and World of Wheels some too. I don't have any pictures of it, though.
What really got me into hardcore cars was a friend. I don't know where he got it-maybe it was just in him from birth, but I can remeber being at his palce building these cool 66 Chevelle street machines with flip forward front clips and flames. They had 2x4 tunnel ram engines, etc. Models were always fun but when it came to real cars, that same friend eventually hooked me up with the guy who sold me my first real car-a 74 Camaro. I (we) learned a lot with that car. I don't pretend to be a mechanic, but I got more than the basics covered with that car. 3 engines, a bunch of minor troubleshooting, etc. Its also the car that taught me how to navigate a junkyard. Viking Salvage in Northfield still had 2nd gen F bodies back then, and I was down there every other weekend for a whole summer picking them apart for stuff.
A couple projects later, and I stilll have him to blame (in jest) for getting me into this hobby and helping me out scheming what to do with them. Somehow I was able to turn it into a career and it really has become a solid part of my life I don't think I could do without.
Thanks buddy.
-- Edited by bowtie on Wednesday 22nd of December 2010 07:57:47 PM
Chris R said
Dec 22, 2010
Our neighbor across the street had a 68 SS Chevelle, I think it may have been sold from one neighbor to the other. So it stayed on the same block for at least 2 owners. But that really wasnt got me into cars, seeing Hot Rod and other car magazines on the magazine shelf in the school library when I was a kid really did it for me. That was when every car had a blower sticking out of the hood and huge meats for tires in the back was in all the magazines. I remember thinking how cool it was to see the big engine sticking up through the hood and giant rear tires. Which I still do today as well.
Dave Seitz said
Dec 23, 2010
My dad did somewhat, he did the basic repair work at home due to low funds in the bank caused by 8 children. Later I would hang around at the with some other kids who liked cars and minibikes. When we moved to Maple Grove the neighbor worked on chainsaws, snowmobiles and such. I was always over there helping and actually getting a few coins for my help.
Now the youngest is always "Dad lets go to the shed and fix the Chevelle" getting it the way and all the fun stuff. Best part both boys know "righty tighty lefty loosey" and do you want the one-two wrench or the one-two mm wrench you have to say dad.
SShink said
Dec 23, 2010
Great thread! I think it's 'nature vs. nurture' too. In other words, a person can be born with the 'car gene'. My Dad appreciated nice cars but never worked on them other than maybe change a battery or the air filter.
I was into cars from as long as I can remember. I was the kid that ruined all my hot wheels playing with them in the dirt pile in the back of the yard (along with G.I. Joe's of course....). Always wanted hot wheels or car related stuff for Christmas too. Growing up in the late 60's early 70's was a great time for car stuff!
Before I turned 16 I couldn't wait for the next issue of Hot Rod or Car Craft to come to the door. I blame most of what I know about cars from reading those mags from cover to cover. I ended up getting a '71 Malibu for my first car and the rest is history.
I grew up in small towns (1200 or less) and I was always hanging out with the other 'car guys' in town just soaking in as much as I could. As an adult, I still read the mags, still want the hot wheels, and enjoy the crap out of this club and everyone in it.
My 18 year old son didn't get the 'car gene'. Kind of wish he had more interest, but I understand it's not his bag too. Maybe he'll come around one of these days.
Derek69SS said
Dec 23, 2010
SShink wrote:My 18 year old son didn't get the 'car gene'. Kind of wish he had more interest, but I understand it's not his bag too. Maybe he'll come around one of these days.
Sign him up for an autocross at DCTC this summer with the Mustang, and I'd bet he'll come around. At the very least, he'll learn some car-control skills that they don't teach in drivers-ed.
SShink said
Dec 23, 2010
Derek69SS wrote:
Sign him up for an autocross at DCTC this summer with the Mustang, and I'd bet he'll come around. At the very least, he'll learn some car-control skills that they don't teach in drivers-ed.
I Have to admit I've shown him how to bring the rear around on the snow with the truck in 2 wheel drive and he liked it!!!
4-door Chevelle said
Dec 24, 2010
Dad taught me how to change oil and check the tires but that was about it. I got my first Chevelle in 1977 when I was 18 years old. Some 12 or so Chevelles later I still love em and am back up to 2.
I also remember having Hot Wheels as a kid and I have a pretty good collection going now. I figure when I am about 70 years old these cool old muscle car hot wheels I bought today for a buck I can sell for about five bucks at the car shows and swap meets ... my kind of 401k!
Nightshade said
Dec 27, 2010
For me it's as "simple" as I was recently divorced, my ex wife was keeping me broke with child support that was through the roof (california style) and my car died.
My neighbor and friend had recently purchassed a 74 Z28 with a BOP big block. He went to Las Vegas and lost his arse and his wife made him sell the car to me for peanuts. It needed ALOT of work.
That was in 1992.
Now I don't need the ex to keep me broke, these dang cars do the job well enough!!!
-- Edited by Nightshade on Monday 27th of December 2010 0843 PM
dashboard said
Dec 27, 2010
Webster defines hobby as.
"An activity or interest pursued outside of one's regular work primarily for pleasure"
He has some other definitions.
Compulsion "An irresistible impulse to act irrationally"
Obsession "often anxious preoccupation with a fixed idea or unwanted emotion"
Lost in the 60s said
Jan 1, 2011
dashboard wrote: Webster defines hobby as.
"An activity or interest pursued outside of one's regular work primarily for pleasure"
He has some other definitions.
Compulsion "An irresistible impulse to act irrationally"
Obsession "often anxious preoccupation with a fixed idea or unwanted emotion" And you're point is, that you have a compulsive, obsessive, hobby ?
I became to addicted to muscle cars as they came to market. I was 14 when my dad bought his 66 Chevelle new. Our next door neighbor had Pontiacs. My cousin had a 65 GTO, I was exposed to all this at a very formative time in my life and it was, as Tony said, a way of life back then. No one knew in the late 60's that the government and insurance companies were going to slam the door shut on our muscle cars . We just waited to see what the factories would unleash for more power each year. I used to cruise Lake Street and the St. Paul loop until the wee hours of the morning and you could hear the scream of tires and the bellowing exhaust of the engines all the time. What we consider rare cars now where everywhere then and it was very intoxicating.
Tony Hoffer said
Jan 2, 2011
The whole Idea of cruising and everything associated with it is lost on a generation.. I remember cruising the St. Paul loop (with older friends too young to drive yet) Lake Phalen, Nokomis and Robert street and other areas..
I'd have to say it was my Dad that got me involved and fueled my passion for things mechanical. He was a professional wrench for 20+ years, then owned a dealership. Whenever there was "tinkering" going on I was either in the way or holding the droplight (usually shining in his eyes or not where he was working). Spent my Saturdays as a 6 to 10 year old at the dealership bugging the mechanics or fetching parts for them.
Found a few pictures of my own as a little tyke - brought back a lot of memories.
#1 is me about 4 and Dad, at the dealership with the Formula Vee car.
#2 I'm about 7, helping pull the boat engine. I had the smallest hands for a few bolts! (I even remember the mechanic's name - Jim "Murph" Murphy. One of our mechanics at the dealership who helped out)
#3 I'm about 12, with the first engine I tore down and rebuilt - it even ran when I was done!
Passing it on to the next generation...
I was hangin out with the motorheads on the block at a real young age... It was a different world back then...we didnt come home till the porch ligh got flicked on and off and our parents yelled out the door..
What really got me into hardcore cars was a friend. I don't know where he got it-maybe it was just in him from birth, but I can remeber being at his palce building these cool 66 Chevelle street machines with flip forward front clips and flames. They had 2x4 tunnel ram engines, etc. Models were always fun but when it came to real cars, that same friend eventually hooked me up with the guy who sold me my first real car-a 74 Camaro. I (we) learned a lot with that car. I don't pretend to be a mechanic, but I got more than the basics covered with that car. 3 engines, a bunch of minor troubleshooting, etc. Its also the car that taught me how to navigate a junkyard. Viking Salvage in Northfield still had 2nd gen F bodies back then, and I was down there every other weekend for a whole summer picking them apart for stuff.
A couple projects later, and I stilll have him to blame (in jest) for getting me into this hobby and helping me out scheming what to do with them. Somehow I was able to turn it into a career and it really has become a solid part of my life I don't think I could do without.
Thanks buddy.
-- Edited by bowtie on Wednesday 22nd of December 2010 07:57:47 PM
I was into cars from as long as I can remember. I was the kid that ruined all my hot wheels playing with them in the dirt pile in the back of the yard (along with G.I. Joe's of course....). Always wanted hot wheels or car related stuff for Christmas too. Growing up in the late 60's early 70's was a great time for car stuff!
Before I turned 16 I couldn't wait for the next issue of Hot Rod or Car Craft to come to the door. I blame most of what I know about cars from reading those mags from cover to cover. I ended up getting a '71 Malibu for my first car and the rest is history.
I grew up in small towns (1200 or less) and I was always hanging out with the other 'car guys' in town just soaking in as much as I could. As an adult, I still read the mags, still want the hot wheels, and enjoy the crap out of this club and everyone in it.
My 18 year old son didn't get the 'car gene'. Kind of wish he had more interest, but I understand it's not his bag too. Maybe he'll come around one of these days.
My neighbor and friend had recently purchassed a 74 Z28 with a BOP big block. He went to Las Vegas and lost his arse and his wife made him sell the car to me for peanuts. It needed ALOT of work.
That was in 1992.
Now I don't need the ex to keep me broke, these dang cars do the job well enough!!!
-- Edited by Nightshade on Monday 27th of December 2010 08
"An activity or interest pursued outside of one's regular work primarily for pleasure"
He has some other definitions.
Compulsion "An irresistible impulse to act irrationally"
Obsession "often anxious preoccupation with a fixed idea or unwanted emotion"
I remember cruising the St. Paul loop (with older friends too young to drive yet) Lake Phalen, Nokomis and Robert street and other areas..