So I have in my signature "Take a kid to a car show" to keep the sport of cars going and growing.
My interest was started back in 1957 when a local guy took us in his new Buick station wagon to a hockey game in downtown Toronto, Later in 1958 my parents took my to car racing events along the lakeshore , it was an exciting time! The guy next door had a hopped up 34 three window Ford coupe, this was the start of a life long love of hot rodding and my Grandfathers dark blue 35 Buick with red rims and WWW's set me towards Oldblue!


Now what started you off on the path of cars and hot rods?

 

I inherited the passion from my father who always had a love for cars. My brother, is 4 years older than me, helped me learn and develop the skills to work on them. He also helped me keep that passion going after our father passed away.

 

My dad kept buying me toy cars when I was younger. Now I'm buying real cars lol

 

You've got me beat there. I had my first car at age 11 but it was long gone by the time I could legally drive.

 

With both of my Grandpa's, they did all their own maintenance, and they were "Motorheads" in every sense of the word. By age five, I was doing simple things like winding out spark plugs, changing air filters, and waxing their cars. Grandpa Joe's Dodges shined like new pennies, and Grandpa Red's Cadillacs gleamed when I'd done with them.

Plus, growing up down the street from the Earnhardt Clan and hanging around bench racing with Ralph(before his passing), and a young Dale, plus his brothers Randy and Danny.

I still remember that sad September day in 1973 when Ralph Earnhardt passed away, and sitting around on the porch of the house at Coach and Sedan streets after the services seeing Dale crying on his Momma Martha's shoulder.

She's still my Unofficial Grandma, and we make sure Miss Martha is doing well, even though she's stubbornly refusing the hip replacement she really needs, tough and stubborn as befits the Earnhardt name.

So the short answer is, I'm a guy born in a neighborhood called "Car Town", on V-8 Street...How could I not love cars?

 

Age 8 bought 1957 Caddy 2 door hard top 87,000 miles $300.00 , my Dad drove it home for my, I washed it, cleaned the interior, steam cleaned the engine bay, waxed it and sold it 2 weeks later for $1,275.00 to a friend of my Uncle Norm.

 

That's a good question.
No one in my family was car oriented. The earliest I can remember was in 3rd grade about 1962 at West Point NY , after school I would wait around for the Black janitor and help him lower the top and snap the boot on his shiny red 1960 Chevy Impala convertible. That was the coolest thing at the time. Then watching Route 66 and Cannonball ( that got my passion for big diesel trucks going) on TV .Followed by many model cars. The rest is history! ...john

 

My Dad, took my brother and I to a car show when we were on vacation in Ohio and that planted a seed. But Dad was not mechanically inclined at all. Once after a tuneup on his car at a local gas station the car was starting running really bad a few miles from the station so we went right back. The mechanic was looking over the car for about 15-20 minutes a totally stumped. He was not a happy camper when I noticed a loose spark plug wire. At 8 years old I had no clue that is what to call it but it was just dangling there. Turns out I was right and the mechanic had egg all over his face..

Later in junior school my best friend's dad had a 29 Model A and a 36 Ford Phaeton. He sold the 29 and bought a basket case 31 Model A. We helped him restore it and went to car shows with him when it was done. Then in high school he sold both the 31 and the 36 to buy a 56 T-bird that needed a restoration and we were at it again.

What a thrill at 17 on the first day I received my license when I joked with him about driving the T-bird and he tossed me the keys and he walked back into the garage. It was a beautiful summer day, top down, wind in my hair a smile from ear to ear. I was sold and motor oil has been running in my veins since.

During this time I had a passion for building model cars. I always enhanced them with adding thread for spark plug wires and brake lines!

A bunch of friends in high school had Camaros, Chevelles and Mustangs (I had a 6 cyl Skylark), I was turned onto muscle cars for good!

 

Great stories, don't be afraid to add an experience or two, or more and stop by to read others stories.

 

Looks like I'm splitting Oldblue and sleeper up the middle, my first vehicular purchase was at age ten.

Hmmm, sleeper, unhooking the governor on a Go-Kart engine and finding out just when Briggs & Stratton's finest would become a fragmentation grenade. That's a right of passage unknown to these past two generations of button pushing gamers.