Did your Father influence the type of classic antiques that you own today ?

[STEVE POLLARD]

My father passed on December 25th, 2000.. I was 35, but in those 35 years, he was a huge influence on the type of antique vehicles that I have today. Mostly GM ( there was that time he purchased a '77 Cougar XR7 for Mom ) but in my early years / teenager years, it was Chevrolet.. he took the time and shown me the basic maintenance on how to do a tune-up, oil changes etc...later years, he saw me start the restoration of a '69 Impala, but passed before seeing it completed. So now I have a few antiques, all GM in my collection, they all take me back to a simpler time. So thanks to my Father, I'm hooked on this hobby and GM !

 

So, did your Father influence your passion for specific brand of antiques ?

 

Steve

 

[John_S_in_Penna]

My father didn't really influence me.  I was practically

born with an innate interest in old cars;  his interest

was more modest.

 

It has been said, "Take a kid to a car show" to get him

introduced to the hobby.  For me, it was the opposite.

I was the one interested.  I took HIM to car shows!

[Steve Braverman]

My father has owned a Franklin since 1967. He introduced me to the Franklin Club, and now I own three Franklins and two Corvairs (it's the air-cooling).

[Gunsmoke]

My Dad was a long time mechanic, trained just before WWII and after a Canadian Navy stint worked for a local Ford Dealership. In his spare time he worked on cars for his friends in our backyard wood floored garage, where I passed him wrenches and cleaned parts when I was 8-10. I still remember the day he gave my own set of keys on a ring, although I have no idea what they originally fit. He was a dedicated FORD guy, driving primarily Mercurys for all my early years, he loved their strong and reliable power plants, and their ability to go fast safely. He would often talk about 2 cars, (1) the 1936 Auburn he owned pre war and had stored in a friends garage when he joined the navy. He often said it was the best car he ever owned. A friend contacted him in 1943 looking to buy the tires which were impossible to find during the war, and he reluctantly sold him the whole car. He said it was the biggest mistake he had ever made. (2) The 2nd car he dwelt on was his friend's hot rodded 1931 Big Black Chrysler Roadster, a classic 1952 era souped up job, Caddy V8, LaSalle Tranny, Auburn Dual Ratio rearend. You can read more about my efforts to ressurect that car in my Diary in the Chrysler General forum. 

 

So yes, my Dad influenced my interest in old cars generally, his love for speed, and certain models specifically, and reinforced to me the importance of good road handling, strong power trains and well maintained mechanicals. I hope he realizes his lessons have been learned.

Edited January 18 by Gunsmoke (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

100% influenced by my father. He drove a 1941 Buick Super 56S coupe to work every day for many years in the 1980s--kind of a renaissance man. Hence the 1941 Buicks in my collection.

 

Here's my father in 1973 with his newly-purchased 1934 Ford sedan, "our" first old car:

 

And the two of us last summer with my very similar-looking 1935 Lincoln (I wasn't attracted to this car by accident):

 

The one thing I'll note is that I'm a much better mechanic than my father. Driving one of his old cars was always a gamble and we spent a lot of time stranded. He had a great knowledge of how things worked, but his practical application of that knowledge was lacking. You know when you see hardware store turnbuckles holding your clutch linkage together? Yeah, that was my dad. He thinks I'm a lunatic for driving my cars long distances simply because his cars could never do it. I'm proud to share my cars with him now and he's learning to relax when we're driving--my stuff works like his never did and to him it's nothing short of miraculous.

 

I also tend towards Full Classics whereas my father liked the cars of his youth: Buicks, Fords, Chevys, and the occasional '60s Cadillac. He never owned a big Full Classic, although he came close a few times. I look back and wish that he had bought just one great car instead of a dozen mediocre ones, but I think he just liked the variety.

Anyway, I'm into old cars because of him. If not for his influence, maybe I'd still be racing Corvettes and Mustangs and talking about building a chopped '32 Ford coupe or a lightweight Cobra replica. Or maybe I wouldn't have been into cars at all. What, exactly, do non-car guys do with all their time and money?

[John Byrd]

I guess he did, but in a round-about way, as he really didn't have a passion for cars, just wanted something to get back and forth with. However, he worked at one Ford dealership, four Studebaker dealerships ( two of which also sold foreign cars ), and one VW dealership !  He was the parts man at each and knew every number on every part they had seemed like, but I don't remember him ever even washing or maintaining our cars !!!  I loved everything that came thru all the places he worked, as well as everything I spotted on the streets tho', lol.  

[KVP]

Cars were strictly transportation to my father.  His influence came from the Oldsmobiles that he purchased and that I drove as a teenager.  My avatar reflects the first of the family Oldsmobiles that I drove, albeit a Super 88 this time around.  Still looking for a suitable 1961 Dynamic 88.
 

[Joe Cocuzza]

No influence AT ALL

 

When I first started into the old car hobby mine used to ask my mother:

"When is he going to get rid of those junks in the backyard and why does he need so many?"

He didn't understand "the disease"

 

[dship]

I was influenced by my dad to the car hobby but not the types of autos.  He was strictly a Ford guy while I'm interested mostly in Buicks and Cadillacs.  He did teach me a lot about auto mechanics during my youth up until I left home in my twenties.  

[JACK M]

No,

My dad had zero mechanical skills.

I was once needing a hand to move some dirty thing and asked for some physical advise.

He grabbed my ski gloves to keep his hands clean. That was the only time he put any effort into my car stuff.

He thought I was a genius because I could fix a car.

He walked 18 holes twice a week though.

He would buy a two- or three-year-old Lincoln every few years.

He is gone now, but my brother is exactly the same. Golf and a fairly new Lincoln.

They all wonder where I went wrong.

My brother and I kid each other about having boring lifes.

 

[Marty Roth]

Absolutely !

And I appreciate his guidance, support, and mentoring every day. 

His mechanical skills were surpassed only by his reasoning ability, encouraging me to stop and think it out.

His Model-T was so hard to start in Plattsburg, NY winters that he walked to college every day.

Once married, and back from WWII service with 6th Special Battalion, SeaBees, he soon dumped the Willys Americar for a '35 Chevy, then '35 Packard oil-burner, and a '37 Chevy, settling for his loved pre-blackout 1942 Chevy. That being wrecked by a drunk in a Hudson, it was  succeeded by a short-lived 1950 Nash.I also found him a great 1952 Chevy, used as a "second" car".  His first brand new car would have been a '57 Chevy, but unimpressed with the styling he opted for the Plymouth. Reverting to GM products, there was a string including a '59 Olds and then a '61 Olds, a new '67 Pontiac, and ultimately his 1972 Cadillac Sedan deVille. Following retirement in Florida, and Mom's unfortunate utility pole incident, the "Condo Car" of choice LTD didn't float his boat, but he settled for a 1992 Grand Marquis which I bought when he got his new 1995 Grand Marquis which I still use on tour.

Edited January 18 by Marty Roth (see edit history)

[dalef62]

Yes, when I was looking for my first antique car, he had quite a collection at the time, he told me of a Crosley that a friend of a fellow club member had.  He told me it wasn't much of a car but we could look at it if I wanted.  The rest is history, owning over 10 Crosleys, still having 7 in my fleet.  He at one time owned a 58 Ford Retractable at one time and I told him if he ever sold it I wanted it.  Well he sold it, well really traded it for a motorcyle and trailer and sold those and thought he made out really good on the rusted out retractable.  So several years later he came to me a club Christmas party and said a member is selling his 57 retractable, bought it and still own it. 

His real love was convertibles of any make and I sure have been influenced by that love. 

I am so glad he got me into the antique car hobby!  

[jpage]

No, not at all! My dad was not into cars for anything but transportation. When I drug home a Model A doodlebug and told him of my intentions, all he said was " Get it the hell out of the yard!"  I was seventeen at the time and I knew he thought I was going to waste a lot of money and time playing with it. Sure it hurt, but in the 10 years it took me to restore the car, he softened and I don't know who was more proud when I finished it, him or me! Everyone has different bents and interests, what looks foolish to one may be a great opportunity for others!

[Steve_Mack_CT]

My dad has always been a collector but really not cars - although he was supportive of my interest and allowed me to buy my first car at 14. 

 

He taught me the basics but more about the collecting culture. 

 

Whether it's cars, gas and oil (he had/has some great gas and oil for someone who didn't ever have a collector car), railroad, or other stuff - whatever, the personalities and culture are not that different.  He gets out less these days - we recently attended a meeting of New England Antique Arms Collectors, I knew half of those guys from old cars...

 

Influences included a couple family friends with old cars - a chance to get a ride here and there, etc.

[TexRiv_63]

My Dad definitely influenced me to be interested in cars in general and in working on cars. He was born in 1915 and directly experienced most of the prewar car period, starting to drive in late 20s and learned to keep cars running on the cheap during the depression. Later, when I was growing up I watched him work on older cars and just assumed that was what everyone did. He never had the time or the money to collect or restore cars but he would take me to car shows and drool over mid 30s Packards. I dived into working on and flipping cars at age 16 and never looked back, he thought I was a little nuts to spend so much time and money.

[1912Staver]

My father was very interested in Vintage cars, but never owned one except when a young man driving what were just " used cars " at the time. But he took me to lots of shows  and other old car related events. The cars he was interested in varied quite a bit. Late 1930's Buick's and LaSalle's, 49-51 Mercury's , 62 Old's Starfire's and a number of others.

 He worked at a GM Dealership all his life. But as a parts man , and mainly the medium duty and larger truck end of GM.

He did almost all of his own maintenance and repair, right up to ring and valve jobs.

 I became very interested in the old car hobby as a result. 

[theconvertibleguy]

The impression that I always got was by the time that I came along, cars were jsut to get from point A to B with him. I found out later in life that he was known as a bit of a rodder in his youth, but that simmered down once he got married, and died off almost completely after my uncle, who was the real old car afficinado in the family, was killed when his Roadrunner rolled on him going way too fast. We did a few old car shows when I was a kid, but I got frustrated that we always looked, but never touched. He thought of doing one of those fiberglass kits that you could get back in the day for a 32 Ford or what not, but by then I was too much of a stickler for having the authentic article, and being a teen, I knew I'd never be allowed to drive it if my mother had her way, so the moment passed.

 

In my family Dad was more into 60's Canadian cars, like Beaumonts and what not. He was a Chevy guy, but owned Fords for most of my life. We never owned any sports cars, but we did own some big rigs that nowadays would be hard to find classics in that world. Think 60's, 70's Smokey and the Bandit type stuff. My grandfather was more the old car guy, as he worked on anything with four wheels from his 20's right up until computers started being a major thing in the early 90s. Oddly enough, he never owned an older car either that I ever saw.  I sense that was because of his son being killed in one.

[60FlatTop]

My Dad always liked cars and was a great influence. He bought a new Chevy in 1953 and traded ever 3 years until he died quite young at 58 years old in 1978. I was 29 at that time. He had a short life. He worked at Eastman Kodak from around 1949 after he came back from WWII. He was trained as a corpsman and went to an Army Air Force Base in southern England, one with a huge field of gliders along the entry road. He was prepared to die after driving past those. The guys all knew they were wooden coffins. No one said a word. He told me that ride was the quietest time of his life. Everyone was too scared to talk. He was raised by my great grandfather who retired from the post office and ran the garbage route in our town. The Army found out he had a chauffeur's license and he stayed on the base as a truck driver.  In 1955 his mother and step father moved out of the city and bought a farm on New York's Ridge Road, The Honeymoon Trail to Niagara Falls. His step father opened a tire shop and used car lot where he worked part time all day Saturday and after supper regrooving tires Tuesday and Thursday nights. He bowled on a Kodak league Wednesday nights. Pretty full schedule, Cat's in the Cradle stuff.

Luckily I started working at the tire shop when I was 11 years old so we had all those rides, short break times, and repair jobs we did together on the used cars. I got a car when I was 12 and he never said anything when I overindulged, big yard and lots of pines to hide them behind. We had two special outing together, the 1963 Watkins Glen Gran Prix and the February Atlantic City Car meet in February 1976.

We took his new Ford to Watkins Glen.

 

He always had Chevies until 1962 when he bought a Ford. He had his heart set on the 1962 Chevy Anniversary Gold Impala two door, but couldn't get the deal he wanted. He bought a black '63 Galaxie. Once he bought the Ford he could never get enough for his trade to get back into a Chevy.

 

Not only was my Dad an encouragement but I also had support from my mother, my Grandmother, the matriarch of the family with her Buicks, all of my uncles, my mother had 7 sisters and two brothers- all into cars. Family gatherings were quite the car shows. The whole family was into them.

 

Once one of the family left their lights on when they went into a store and ran the battery down. Word of it sifted through the family. My mother remarked that if they didn't drive such a dog of a car they would have looked back to admire the car and seen the lights were on. She always looked back at the black Buick she had at the time. That's the thinking I come from. A whole family of possitive car influence still carrying on the tradition.

[Andy J]

As far as my Daddy was concerned,a car was something you had to have to get to work.There was no brand loyalty.He bought Plymouths,Dodges,Mercurys,Fords,and Chevys,nearly all being used cars.They were just a tool to him.

 

I've loved cars since my middle teens. The only thing I remember him saying about a car was "don't buy on with more than one fan belt because there are too many things to go wrong." So that meant no power steering or A/C. When I got grown,he relented and bought a brand new Plymouth station wagon with PS and A/C. I guess he got tired of sweltering in the Mississippi summer heat.

[TAKerry]

No. He had a soft spot for Studebakers for reason unknown to me, I would love to have one ca. 1930sh or even a hawk and or avanti. But no real influence on what I have now. As a side note, my uncle (dads brother) passed on Dec 25, and a couple of years later Dad passed away on Dec 27. A couple of incedents in between. Not a good time of year for my family.

[JV Puleo]

My late father had zero interest in cars aside from getting him to work. In fact, he regarded my interest in early cars as a minor embarrassment. To his long term credit though, he never made any effort to stop me from pursuing my interests...all of which he regarded as a colossal waste of time. He had a long standing aversion to anything to do with car-related work as well. As a child, in the 20s, he'd lived next to a combination garage/speakeasy with trailers out back that were worked by local prostitutes. It was loud, noisy and the scene of fights and police raids. That impression never left him. He'd have me change his oil but always added "I hate to see you doing this kind of work." One funny story though...When I sold my 29 PI RR he answered a call while I was out. When I returned he told me, in a somewhat amazed voice, "You got a call on the car and the man sounded very intelligent...I think he said he was a doctor!" It was a revelation to him.

 

He always drove 2nd hand luxury cars..saying they were the best buy. He favored Chrysler products because he thought of them as reliable but his last car was a Subaru which is still in my back yard until I can sell or junk it.

 

Shortly after I sold the Rolls I stopped to see my uncle, my father's older brother. I'd worked for him for a few years so we were friendly. He was even more caustic about the Rolls when I got it saying I might as well have burned the $3500 I paid for that piece of junk. I stopped mostly to say I'd sold it and I'd more than doubled my money. He was impressed but his reply was "now you can buy a good car, like a new cutlass".

[avgwarhawk]

May dad just wanted a car that propelled itself under its own power.  However, by and large a GM man. We had Olds in the 60s and moved to Buicks in the 70s.  My most fondest memories are a 73 Estate Wagon and 78 Buick Regal. I eventually purchased the 78 from my mom.  First car for me. I had a second 73 Estate Wagon I purchased in the late 80s.  I guess my first classic car. From then on I always admired Buick. 

[keiser31]

Yep. It's my Dad's fault. He worked for Chrysler Corporation for 37 years and taught me how to use tools. He was an executive supervisor for the Export-Import Division. He came home one evening telling us that a show car that he had shipped to America from Italy went down on the Andrea Doria. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was 4 years old in 1956, but I remember him talking about it at the dinner table. He took our family to the annual Greenfield Village Old Car Festival for years to see the old beasts. I fell in love. He gave my my very first real car, my old, 1931 Dodge coupe. Most of the cars I have owned have been Chrysler products. I have my Dad's 35 year pin from Chrysler with a photo of him receiving it hanging in my living room. Thanks, Dad....

Edited January 19 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[39BuickEight]

100%.  I would not have any old cars if it weren’t for him.  He was a car guy, a problem solving genius, could do anything with his hands, and a perfectionist.   I wish I had half the automotive knowledge and problem solving skills he had.  

[Fordy]

6 hours ago, Joe Cocuzza said:

No influence AT ALL

 

When I first started into the old car hobby mine used to ask my mother:

"When is he going to get rid of those junks in the backyard and why does he need so many?"

He didn't understand "the disease"

 

Ditto - and he actively tried to discourage me by regular tip runs with MY treasures. Didn't work at all as 60 years on still bringing home rust.

Steve

[mikewest]

My dad bought his 1930 Franklin in 1958 at the Watkins Glenn Grand Prix races. He loved the power and was hooked on the Franklins. When I was growing up dad still had the car until i was 10. He sold it in 1968 to a local electrician . He let the car sit , at least in dry storage, until I convinced him to sell it to me. I still have  it. Dad had  2 different Packard in the early 30s, but prefered the Franklin to them. Yes he influenced me. 

[zepher]

Absolutely.

Both my father and my grandfather owned prewar cars before I was hatched so I grew up around antique cars.

I was always around when they were working on the cars or just driving them around.

My grandfather was a machinist before he started the egg ranch he owned for decades so he was a real hands on kind of person.

He spent WW II building ships in San Francisco since he was a machinist at the time.

My father was mainly a Ford guy but he bought a brand new '64 Malibu SS hardtop because he was working in the parts dept at Arrow Chevrolet at the time.

Growing up in that Malibu is what turned me into a Chevy guy when it comes to 50's and 60's cars.

At one time my father had 3 '64 Galaxies and a '53 Ford. I helped him maintain all of them and I have to admit they were nice driving cars but I never caught the Ford bug.

I inherited both my grandfather's and father's prewar cars.

In the early 60's my grandfather had the chance to buy a Duesenberg Model A but my grandmother overruled the deal. She told him he already had one old car and didn't need another.

Sure wish he would have picked up that Duesenberg, it would have looked real nice sitting next to the Pierce Arrow.

[PFindlay]

Orphans ...   my dad liked any old car, especially pre-war, but his preference was for orphan marques.  Today I find myself very content with a small collection of cars and motorcycles, all orphans, so I guess that's part of dad's influence.   If parts are hard to come by, I probably like it.  Also anything historically significant, particularly Canadian.

Peter

[3macboys]

Not just my father but my grandfather.  I never knew my grandfather as a working mechanic, but he had a shop at my grandparents house in Ilderton, Ontario.  By the time I came along they had moved into London, Ontario but the only car in the lane was always a Chrysler.  That has stuck with the family, may father's siblings either currently own or did own vintage Mopars.  Fast forward to now and we even have a former Chrysler dealership as our shop and not only my parents but both myself and both of my sisters drive Chrysler products of one sort or another.  Fortunately for me my wife was also raised in an old car family, though decidedly GM - her great uncle owned a small town GM dealership, but I've brought her around to the right way of thinking!

[jerry k]

If it had a motor, engine { steam], or trigger my father was interested.  I certainly inherited those genes !

[8E45E]

My dad was NOT a 'car guy'.  To him, a car was simply a conveyance to get himself, others and goods back & forth.  Indirectly, my dad & mom had a 1950 Studebaker Champion as a second car, and perked my interest in Studebakers, which ended up being my very first car, a 1964 Daytona sedan.  My dad had no real interest in vintage cars, though he did take me to an antique car show in 1970 when I was 10 at my insistence.  At the time, he did know a few vintage car owners who were in attendance and showing their car that day.  He would visit with them while I looked at the cars at the show, and I suspect if they were not there for him to socialize with while I made the rounds, I would have had to go on my own.

 

Craig

Edited January 23 by 8E45E (see edit history)

[alsancle]

You won’t find a bigger car guy than my old man. Although he was a lawyer, by profession, he had a fully outfitted garage ito perform most tasks. Although I will admit, definitely not at the level of a trained mechanic or body man. He gas welded the quarter panels onto my GTO when I was in high school in our driveway.

 

He bought his first “antique” car in 1955, anAuburn convertible coupe. Was a member of the ACD club then, and  a few years later the classic car club of America. Over the decades, he had dozens of different cars. All of them we would probably consider pretty cool.

 

When I was young, I was into muscle cars, but as I got older, I gravitated to the stuff he liked, because we could do it together. Then, as I got older than that, I went off in my own directions, which are definitely different than things that he like. For example , I would buy a sedan in a second. He considered all closed cars were parts cars.

 

Also, I’m interested in cars pre-1932, which was basically his earliest cut off. But otherwise, I would say, the apple did not roll too far from the tree. 
 

 

 

 

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Two quick things about @alsancle's dad:

 

1) pleasure to meet Big Al a few times, super nice guy.  Bringing the Packard Darrin to our rinky dink CT show was a very cool thing.

2) AJ still has marks on his backside for buying the REO Royale "parts car".

 

The look on his face at start up says a lot!

[alsancle]

11 minutes ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

Two quick things about @alsancle's dad:

 

1) pleasure to meet Big Al a few times, super nice guy.  Bringing the Packard Darrin to our rinky dink CT show was a very cool thing.

2) AJ still has marks on his backside for buying the REO Royale "parts car".

 

The look on his face at start up says a lot!

Steve, I’m glad you noticed the look on his face. He was always busting my balls that my cars didn’t run as well as his did. 

[28 Chrysler]

After the war my father would pick up old outdated cars to scrap. Drove most of them home, the interior was gutted and the tires taken off then they were set on fire.

He drove late 30s Dodges or Chryslers through the late 50s. In January 1960 he bought a white & red 1958 Plymouth wagon. He was not a car guy.

[plymouthcranbrook]

My Father only thought of a car as basic transportation. I don’t think he ever owned many cars before he married my Mother in 1943 having only mentioned a Model T when he was a teenager.  My parents bought at a Post Office auction a Model AA Ford postal truck(I posted about in the Parents car thread a while ago). He bid on two of them and then got both. A big rush occurred to sell one to pay for the other.  After that he owned Plymouths and a couple of Dodges. Only one Chevy, a 62 or 63 two door sedan that in a short time he learned to hate. He got rid of it in less than a year. He would only have a six cylinder with a three speed manual except for his last car a 63 Dodge Dart which had an automatic. He couldn’t find a car he would buy at the time with a manual. He was a mailman in a fairly ritzy area of our town and when those folks wanted to get rid of a car he often knew about it before they put it up for sale. And they would often give him a good price on a really good used car.  That said his automotive policy was to drive it till it died and get another one.  He added fluids when they needed them but that was the extent of his maintenance plan. My folks almost never went more than 20 miles from home mostly my Dad to work and home with a trip to Wisconsin for beer once every two weeks or so as it was cheaper there.  He killed every car he ever had usually by blowing up the engine by throwing a rod(often through the block).  He even killed a slant six in a 60 Dodge. He thought I was nuts to be so car crazy as I was and although he disapproved of my having extra cars around he didn’t complain too much. My Mom might have had something to do with that. He gave me a 54 Plymouth that even he gave up on and I drove it for a year in high school till it finally died. My Dad did all his own work on cars and was pretty knowledgeable about them. He just wouldn’t spend a dime on one if a penny would get him by.  So as someone else said, he couldn’t rely on his cars to start or even get him accross the street it they did start. Many cold winter mornings he would walk two miles to work, walk all day, and then walk home.  So from all this he did teach my by example not to ignore maintenance and instilled a love of Chryslers at a young age. I still own two, a 1952 Plymouth and a 1980 Plymouth. Sadly my love of Chryslers ended in the early 1980’s with a K car and continues to day due to the current crop of junk sold under that name.  

[1935Packard]

No, but my 10 year old recently told me that when he's older he's going to have our Packard restored and he's going to bring it to Pebble Beach, which makes me think there may be some influencing of that generation.

[Joao46]

Dad grew up in Brazil and his first car was a DKW.

But he liked the cars he saw in Brazil as a kid but couldn’t afford like MGTD and 50s TBirds.

He taught me about cars and I developed that skill restoring various cars.

Today he is 85 and retired, we have worked together on his 86 Mercedes 560 SL, 56 Jaguar XK140, 57 TBird and now are hard at work on his 31 Chrysler Imperial.

 

I have certainly changed my tastes in old cars and seem to be going backwards in how old they are.

 

And dad and I have certainly gotten closer through the experiences. 
 

To him though, antiques are pre war cars. Post war are just old cars.

[Roscoe]

  Kinda- I tend to buy old trucks because that's what he had- by necessity.  My Dad liked cars but they were more transportation to him than anything. Circumstances beyond his control meant no money for hobbies while raising six kids and various grandkids, and an old truck was all he could afford. The closest I remember him "fixing up" a vehicle despite being an excellent shade tree mechanic was a 1967 Chevrolet pickup he'd bought to drive when his old Dodge quit, around the time I was 12 years old.  A strait enough old truck, it had fenders of four different colors, as well as a hood of yet another color and a cab that was still yet another color. Hideous.

  He pulled it into the back yard, sanded it down and watered down the dirt road in front of the house, and painted it with an airless sprayer and a gallon of baby blue Rust oleum. White spray paint took care of the trim and the steel wheels, and he rustled up a set of hubcaps from somewhere. Surprisingly it looked really good, and had he the proper equipment, I've no doubt he'd have made a decent paint and body man. I saw it several years after he'd gotten rid of it, and it still looked decent, although the Rustoleum had faded to the now-popular "patina".

  He thought my '46 was overpriced, enjoyed tinkering with my '52, and bought a '56 Studebaker for he and I to redo in the last year of his life, when he had a bit of disposable income. He passed before we did anything with the old car, and now its on my someday maybe list..

Edited January 19 by Roscoe (see edit history)

[PONTIAC1953]

Sort of, Dad bought me my first car in real late 1972, I wasn't involved in him getting the car, it was a 1962 Chevrolet Impala Sport Sedan (four door hardtop) with just a 235 six and power glide 2 speed automatic, after driving it for six months the head gasket failed, causing to run rough, I was saving up my money to pay for the repair, $40.00, but came home from school and the car was gone, Dad decided he would sell it since it was just sitting except for being moved on Monday and Tuesday to avoid street sweeping parking ticket, Well Dad said I was going to buy all my cars since I "tore up" the Impala, but whatever I selected to buy couldn't be powered with a V8 engine, Thanks Dad, Not knowing anything about old cars other than my Maternal Grandfather had bought new in 1947, a 1947 Pontiac Streamliner four door sedan, and then he passed away in 1950, six years before I was born, When I seen on a local grocery store's bulletin board a index card hand written, For Sale 1953 Pontiac, and a local phone number, So I was thinking well Grandpa had a 1947 Pontiac, maybe I would like a 1953 Pontiac, I went and found where Dad was selecting groceries for us in the store, and I asked him "what kind of engine does a 1953 Pontiac have ?, Dad answered " a Pontiac six or a Pontiac Straight Eight", Huh I asked "what is a Straight Eight ?", and he explained, and then I said "OK, that's not a V8" shaking a pointed finger at him, LOL, So we got home, I called the number, they lived about 4 blocks away, we drove over to see it, we walked to the back yard, and there she was, a 1953 Pontiac Chieftain Custom Catalina, a TWO DOOR HARDTOP, Yeah, Straight Eight, Power Steering, Dual Range Hydra-Matic Drive, a FOUR SPEED AUTOMATIC ?, Yeah, Guide Spotlight on the driver's door, lighted hood ornament, and the factory approved CONTINENTAL KIT !!!, I slipped onto the driver's seat, looking at this BIG 18" steering wheel, and the most beautiful car dash and instrumentation of all 1950s cars, Dad could tell that I was really liking the Pontiac, so he asked the Gentleman how much was he asking for the car, the seller replied how much would you give me for it ?, dad handed him three $50.00 bills, and the seller said You just bought a 1953 Pontiac, Two weeks later, when I got my paycheck from my job, I paid my Dad back his $150.00, and I made him promise, that he wasn't going to sell it when I wasn't home liked he had gone with the Impala, When I turned 18 in January of 1974, I went to the DMV and put the Custom Catalina in my name. I still have this Pontiac Chieftain Custom Catalina today.

Edited January 20 by PONTIAC1953 (see edit history)