History
At age 12 my 18 year old cousin took me for a ride in his black 1940 Ford deluxe coupe. From that moment on I was hooked. That was 1955 in Kansas city, Kansas.
By the time I turned 16 I could wait no longer. I found a 1940 Ford standard coupe for $30 that ran but had a broken diff. Spring of 1959 in So. Cal. and I was in grade ten and already had my 1st drivers license.
Bought a 1940 Ford 4 door for parts for $10 with a good diff. and deluxe front clip; straight as. What a magic find. I smiled all the way home steering the car while my dad towed me with a rope.
Within a week I was driving my now deluxe 40 Ford coupe. A week or two later I had painted my first car primer red oxide. Added a set of used moon racing discs to my white wall tires. Learned a lesson here as the discs were the s**** on type and I used a s**** that was a little too long. Bummer.
Imagine my pleasure driving my car to school. I never rode the bus again.
As luck would have it �� my dad got T-boned on his way to his petrol station. Car was wrecked, pride suffered but no injuries. He gave me the new rebuilt flathead from the 1950 single spinner. Yahoo. My 1948 Mercury lattie was very tired and needed replaced. During the swap I met an older guy who had rolled his 40 Ford coupe on a run to Las Vegas. I got from him, at giveaway prices, complete black naugahyde interior with chrome window frames. Included in the deal was all the speed equipment from his built flathead motor. 3 Stromberg 97's on an Offenhauser manifold with the matching Offie heads. Mallory dual point ignition system and I had just entered Hot Rod Heaven. The carbies each had a small chrome air cleaner shaped like a German helmet from WWII. Several chrome accessories for the coil, generator and the regulator. The new motor with all that bling was a growd pleaser. Ran very well after the boys at Scotty's muffler, who ran a drag car, taught me how to rejet and syncronise the carbies. Learned a bit about advanced ignition systems and timing secrets. Seems like everyone I met in the hot rod world was keen to help to have another hot rod on the road. Gives you a pinch in the heart.
I used to go cruising with the bonnet off to let people see the detailed engine compartment. On occasion I would put on a set of used racing slicks to give the car a mean go fast look.
While keeping up my grades at school, I worked part time jobs and full time in the summer. Fuel was 17 cents a gallon and I used plenty of it feeding those 3 carbies. Lucky for me I never ran out of gas. I sure came close at least 100 times. I did save up enough to buy all the stuff so my neighbor could paint my car metallic red in his garage at home. Was a very good end result. Looked good with the chrome small baby moon hub caps and thin white wall tires.
One weekend while away with friends without my car, my dad rewired my car front to back. Another magic moment.
Sold the car in 1961 when my grandfather gave me his last car. It was a 1954 Chevy Bel Air. Wish I still had my original 1940 Ford Deluxe coupe flathead V8 and all.
Modifications
Mods are listed in the body of the history.
