42 replies to this topic

[1930fordpickup]

Dads side, grandfather was an Olds man . He had a few nice 50's Olds . I am still trying to find pictures of his work trucks.
Moms side, grandfather drove a Model T , A 39 ford that was still out back when I was kid. Early 60's Galaxie big block with a couple carbs and a 4 speed top loader, that must have shaved drive time to the hydromatic plant. It was a long 3 or 4 miles.

[Craig Irwin]

My dad's father had a '58 Chrysler Windsor 4 door with a Hemi when I was a kid, traded it for a 61 IH pickup! I hear he had a 32 Chrysler roadster with dual sidemounts when my dad was young. My mom's mom rode a 45'' Indian Scout back in the mid 20's, might have been a 101, who knows now. My grandfather bought her a 60 Corvair 4 door when they first came out, that worked out so good for them it was soon traded for a Ford Fairlane and they never owned a GM car again! They drove Fairlanes and Torinos untill their passing.

Edited by Craig Irwin, 15 November 2012 - 03:48 PM.

[Fat Brian]

Wow, such interesting old iron here.

My grandfather on my moms side is pretty mechanically inclined, he can't work a computer or a cell phone but give him a wrech and a pair of pliers and he can fix about anything. He joined the Navy in 57 or 58 and became a jet mechanic on an aircraft carrier servicing the first generation of Naval jet fighters. When my mom became of driving age in about 1976 he decided he would build her a car instead of buying one. He bought two old Vega station wagons that had been company cars at has job and combined the best parts of both of them in to one complete vehicle, of course her classmates in the neighborhood saw him piecing together her car so it became a huge source of teenage embarassment even beyond the usual Vega variety but it was resourceful nonetheless.

[Tonioseven]

'66 Cadillac convertible, a Falcon 2-door wagon, '70 LeMans wagon with a 455, '66 T-bird, a Hudson (not sure what model), a Packard, '55 Chevy convertible, '73 Caprice 2-door and that's all I remember right now.

[MicroNitro]

Grandpa had an Indian motorcycle I saw pictures of. I remember him always riding a old Honda Dream. He also had a 66 Chevelle SS. He passed away two years ago. He had a cool life he came to America in the late 20s and had adventures his entire life. Grandma is still alive at 93. She is a 4' 9" tall American Indiana that is still going at 110%. The only car she ever had was a 71 Pinto. I must have fixed that car 15 times after she got in fender benders.

[von Zipper]

[darquewanderer]

I don't think my maternal grandfather ever drove. Died in '46 so I never met him.
My paternal grandfather's cars ranged from a 1920s Willys-Overland to his last car a '67 Plymouth Fury I "Police Special' 4 door sedan, new from the dealer. Dealer had ordered x number of cruisers for the local cop house and they reigned on the last two or three cars delivered. So he got the last one. Hemi powered and all. The only change the dealer did was take off the cop caps and replace them with full caps. One other thing. The car came with chromed trimmed sedan posts on the right side only. He left it like that.

Neither of my grandmothers drove.

Edited by darquewanderer, 16 November 2012 - 01:49 AM.

[1972coronet]

My grandfather (1897-1989 ) built his own motorcycle in the late 'teens (e.g. , 1916 or so) out of parts from various crashed Harley Davidsons . I've seen photos of it ; it was belt-driven (early H.D.'s were belt-driven and had pedals ; truly a Motorised-Bicycle !).
In addition , he had one of the very first H.D.'s (1906 ?) wheich he bought upon his return from his service during WW1 .
His mother "made" him dump all of his "dangerous toys" ! Ha ha ha ! Imagine him being a veteran , and being told by his mother that his motorcycles were dangerous !

Subsequently , he owned an EMF (Everet-Moure-Flanders , if I remember correctly) which he called an Every-Morning-Fix-it , as its tyres would constantly roll-off their rims .

I can't remember what he'd owned from the late 20's until ...
... circa 1934 , he bought a then-new Ford . The V8 was new in Fords that year .

In 1948 , he had a Buick Roadmaster .
My dad said that it had the "hang-on (to the door frame around the rear door's window)" air conditioning .

He and my grandmother took a trip around the world in the late 50's / early 60's . In Germany he bought a Mercedes to drive around Europe in . When they returned to the states , he had the Mercedes shipped over to San Pedro (Los Angeles' "South Bay" shipping port).
I still have its German license plates in storage !

His 1964 Cadillac Fleetwood was getting too big , so it was traded for a '67 Buick Skylark .

In late '68 , he bought a new '69 Dart Custom (the trim level between the 270 model and the GT) two door .
It was for my grandmother to drive around town in . It had a 273 , auto ; a/c , AM radio and power steering (and junk manual drums brakes) . White with green interior .
When my grandmother got pulled over for driving the wrong way on a one way street (she was in her early 70's at the time) in 1971 , she gave up driving ("If I can't remember which direction the streets run in the city I've lived in since the late 20's , then I shouln't be driving any more. ").
They gave the Dart to my parents in '71 or '72 . That's the car that I grew up around !

After my grandmother passed away , my grandfather remarried . My step granny brought a '68 Mustang coupe to the party . She bought it new at ___________ Ford in Pasadena . It had the 289 / C4 . It was painted a special order colour , a pastel green .
She sold that car in '78 and bought a '79 Honda Civic .

Aside from the various trucks and tractors and various construction equipment (he and his brother owned and operated a construction business) , he'd owned a variety of other cars which I cannot recall right now.

[MachinistMark]

Oh, dad and I have a 73 camaro, my uncle has a 66 impala and an aero coupe t top bench seat factory ss 87 Monte Carlo and my other uncle has a original ss 66 impala

[PistonDog]

The cars I remember are:
Grandpop's : 1959 Cadillac and 1966 Impala
Dad's: 1964 Galaxie 500.....then 1973 Ford Country Squire wagon complete with vinyl seats and faux wood trim

[Skip]

Grandparents (Mom) Small Farm / Ship Yard worker,
A Gaggle of Model "T's" & "A's"
'29 Ford Pickup (bought well used)
'34 Chevy Master Delux Coupe (new)
'37 Chevy Pickup (used)
'38 Plymouth Pickup (only Mopar on the list) (Used)
'50 Ford F1 Pickup (Used)
'53 Ford F100 (flathead V8) (Used)
'55 Chev Handyman Wagon (New)
'56 Ford F100 (Y Block) (used)
'57 Ford (2 door) Ranch Wagon (Used)
'63 Chevy II Wagon 283 V8 (New)
'65 Elcamino 327 V8 (well used)
'66 Chevy II Wagon 283 V8 (new)
'74 Chevy Heavy Half Ton Pickup (454 Used)
Then a bunch of lame '80s stuff

Grandparents (Dad) Owned Water Well Business &
worked oilfields in Texas and California
'34 Ford Victoria
'40 Ford Delux Tudor
Dodge Power Wagons (Several)
War Surplus Deuce and A Half (Multiple)
War Surplus flat fender Jeeps (WWII vintage)
'59 Chevy Sedan Delivery Wagon
'50's Vintage Ford and Chevy Pickups (all used)
Well Drilling Rigs Mounted on 2 ton Truck Chassis
'57 Olds 88

My Mom & Dad Shipyard NDT inspector, Mom stay at home mom like everyone else's mom.
'34 Ford Coupe, full fendered & Hot Rodded! my nearly deaf Grandfather told me it had a really loud set of pipes (Dad's High School car)
'56 Ford (Big Back Window) Pickup (used)
'50 Olds Coupe (used)
'55, '61, '63 VW Bugs (all well used!)
'62 Impalla (bubble top with 6 cylinder!) (Used)
'67 Olds Vista Cruiser
'70 Chev 4Half Ton
'74 Chev 4X4, Camper Special
90's T-Bird (new)
Ford Taurus SHO (new) He got a couple of speeding tickets in that one! Then traded it for something a little more sedate.

Edited by Skip, 16 November 2012 - 06:27 PM.

[JM485]

My Grandfather had a 57 chevy 210 in high school. He always tells me stories of how he used to go cruize and occasionaly race. He had it painted Nassau Blue when he got it, but sold it long before I was born.

[oldscool]

My mothers mother had a 58 Plymouth exactly like Christine except it was metallic green and a two tone blue 56 Ford custom four door. She drove but my grandfather did not .
My fathers father had a cream colored Lark at one time and used to park it in the nearby creek to wash it. Back then the creek water was crystal clear and free of charge.

[Deathgoblin]

My grandfather had some interesting ones. My Uncle was the one with the cool ones, though. He had a 1970 Plymouth Superbird. He bought it wrecked, parked it for years and still ended up selling it for a lot. Some of the others were a 1969 Chevy Nova, 1968 Road Runner, 1973 Satellite Sebring, 1970 Chrysler 300, etc... Unfortunately, by the time I was old enough to be interested in getting any of them off of him, they were all piles of rust. I think they've all been hauled off, now.

[vypurr59]

The cars I remember gramps having was a 1956 Mercury, that he only drove to work and back everyday, and grocery shopping, he traded in at a Mercury dealership for a 1966 Mercury Monteray . The owner of the dealership saw the car only had 15000 miles in 10 years, just gave gramps the car even trade. Then when he hit 60 years old he bought a 1966 Triumph TR-3. My grandma took over both cars when he passed. She sold the Triumph at auction and got a good amount of cash. She traded in the 1966 Merc, for a 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass.

[disabled modeler]

My Grandfather owned...
23 Gardner Coupe(I still have it...not running)he quit driving it in 1935 due to a bad wheel barring which I have now.
75 Ford pickup
79 Ford pickup
72 Plymouth Fury II or III sedan(retired police interceptor)
65 Mercury Parklane wagon
69 T-bird HT
cant remember the others right now

My Grandmother owned...
66 Buick Skylark Coupe
66 Chevy Caprice Coupe
68 Pontiac Bonneville 4door
70 Bonneville wagon
and others

[Art Anderson]

I never got to know either of my grandfathers, as Granpa Jacoby died in 1935, and my Grandpa Anderson passed away in 1940 (I came along in July 1944), but both grandfathers started out driving Model T Ford touring cars in the 'teens--Grandpa Anderson's 1913 Model T having been the subject of MANY stories from my Dad, who was 9yrs old when it arrived on the farm north of Chase IN that May. (Tonka produced a neat 1/25 scale kit of this car in their "Tonka Diorama Series" which came out in 1975--two cars in that series, the Model T Touring, and a kit of the 1903 Winton Runabout which made the very first transcontinental run, from San Francisco to New York City in 1903). I have a couple of those kits in my build pile--so ONE OF THESE DAYS! My Grandpa Jacoby was the Delphi Indiana dealer for Star automobiles (produced by William C. Durant, founder of GM after his second ouster as GM President in 1922), and then reverted to Fords once more.

But there's more, at least from my extended family! Perhaps the most legendary (both from the history of the automaker, and from family stories!) is the 1925 Essex Four Coach ("Coach" was the name attached to 2-door sedans back then!) in which my Uncle Chuck (Charles Groninger) dated my Aunt Kathaleen and drove on their honeymoon in 1931. According to Uncle Chuck, he was the only person to ever have driven this car before he gave it to his younger daughter, my favorite cousin of all in 1990 (Uncle Chuck NEVER knew that my Grandfather--his father in law--stole a surrepticious drive around Delphi IN once!). The car still exists, complete with a half-empty box of vintage condoms, found there by his 16yr old grandson in 1992!) This is what that year Essex Coach looked like:



Essex, a lower priced make from Hudson, popularized the closed, two-door sedan very quickly, both Ford and Chevrolet adopting this body style quickly, and by 1926, Model T Tudor's outsold open touring cars by a wide margin.

In the fall of 1950, when I was in first grade, My Uncle Harold (then having lost his factory job in South Bend when the company closed up) moved his family to rural Lafayette, and Dad located for him a 1935 Hudson Terraplane--which was Hudson's performance car of the 1930's--I seem to recall that car as having been the supercharged model--it would move out!.

As a boy growing up in the shadow of Purdue University in from 1944 into the early 1960's, I got to see all manner of cool cars! Most of the really neat ones were owned by Purdue students, coming out of Military service and studying under the GI Bill. Many of those who had served in Europe in the late 40's and early 50's brought home some pretty exotic stuff for the time: Many what we would today see as Classic Cars (in the sense of the Classic Car Club of America), such as Alfa Romeo's, Mercedes Benz's, Rolls Royce's, and more modern cars--I still remember the very first Porsche 356 I ever saw, probably about 1956--that car had no muffler, and with its gearing, the flat four aircooled engine--sounded like it was going 100mph just starting out in 1st gear! In 1955, Dad rented for the winter, a hitherto never used stall in our garage to a Purdue Student, who needed winter storage for his 1933 Alfa Romeo roadster!

But, the real piece' de resistance? My Mom's 1932 Chevrolet Confederate Coupe with rumble seat, that she bought new in '32, and drove through the end of the summer of 1950 (she maintained that car meticulously!). Imagine the looks I got from my Kindergarten and 1st grade classmates, when on nice days, I got to ride to school in that rumble seat! Unfortunately, I have no pictures of that car for some reason!

Art

[uncle potts]

I can remember riding in my Grandmothers "64 Chevy Impala convertable ss. It had a 4 speed and bucket seats, Grandma's ride was so cool.

[dartman]

My dad had a 65' plymouth sport fury with a 426 wedge.

[mikemodeler]

Only knew my Dad's Dad and he was a crusty old man from what I remember. I think he had an old Maverick or Comet, although it could have been a Falcon from around 1970 as he passed away in January 1973 and had given up driving at least a year before he died. Like others have said, my Grandfather smoked cigars and the smell was nasty. Couple that with him driving like Mr. Magoo and his crabby personality and he was always alone in the car!

I remember trying to convince Mom & Dad to buy a Starsky & Hutch Torino in 1976 and they bought a used Chrysler New Yorker instead, one of the worst cars they ever owned!