Lets Be Honest.....

Yeah, and we used to "RAG" on the guys that had "Y"pipe exausts for not having REAL (flexpipe) duals. I still have a roll of asbestos tape that my dad used to fix the hole in his 37 flatback muffler. The juice cans and mechanics wire are long gone! Paul Selfe.
 
When I was 15 I de chrome my dad,s 1949 ply.Fill the holes with do you remmber this stuff,black night,man was that stuff hard to sand.Rickmass
 
My 1st Ford was a 49 2dr sed. Couldnt wait to do the Grey primer thing. Did duals with JC Whitney cut outs (still have 1) shaved the trunk lid & had lots of fun rides thanks to my buddies who chipped in for the gas:)
 
First of all I never had a bug deflector....heck if they were dumb enough to get in the way...I splattered 'em with my mighty windshield. Speaking of windshields. Any one work for Hess? I pumped gas for Hess in the mid sixties, you were REQUIRED to wash every windshield. Just when mini skirts became popular too !! ...
" No problem Miss,... I will certainly clean that spot off the glass for you !"
 
When I was 15 I de chrome my dad,s 1949 ply.Fill the holes with do you remmber this stuff,black night,man was that stuff hard to sand.Rickmass

Rickmass,
Black Magic! I do remember this. Some cars looked like the guy stood back and threw this stuff at the holes!

Shadetree
 
And we used alcohol for cooling, antifreeze was too pricey. We used to sneak into drive-ins by backing up thru the exit. If someone was leaving, you could just fake an exit. There might have been some beer involved. Great days.
 
In 1956 me and three of my buddies went to a drive-in in my 1939 plymouth sedan. Two were in the car and two were in the trunk.After we got inside,the rwo in the trunk would push the back seat out and get inside. yeah we got caught.The two younger guys that was in the trunk had to call their mother. It was'nt too pleasent.
 
I had a 53 ford with O/D and an overhead 55 ford engine. Most of the above plus a 47 olds grill. I was a cool cat (I thought). The fifties were the best times of my life, a great decade. The good times rolled. Charles
 
We used to cruise around at night and stop at gas stations that were closed. I had a quart can in the car, and we drained any gas remaining in the hose into the can, then poured it into the tank. Kept the car running all night for free.
 
A little off from the list: brother and I had a '46 Ford. Neither of us smoked, and the ash trays (atop the dash, near the center) caught our gum and candy wrappers. Two friends joined us for an out-of-town football game trip. The smoker lit a cigarette and put the match in an ash tray. Flames. Smoke. Panic! Scorched fingertips from patting at the bonfire until only smoke poured forth.

But yes, had lowering shackles, skirts, spotlights... and tires so thin we kept a flat repair kit in back and made repairs at the roadside. Aired them up again with a device that screwed into a spark plug hole. Remember those?
 
I grew up in the wrong era (80's/90's), but I did have a few things on your list.......I kinda stood out :).
 
Dual glasspacks, twin deck antennas, fender skirts, spotlights, white fake fur glued to the dash, twin mirrors on the front fenders, a Grain Belt beer tap handle for the shift knob, fake white walls and paint nearly polished right off the car. A 1951 ford with a stock flathead and overdrive. Wish I had that car now. We removed coils from the front springs and took out leaf spring then heated what remained with a torch to drop the car. I remember the metal flex pipe on Dads old logging truck so he could have twin stacks behind the cab and they were really nothing but straight well pipe. You could hear that old flathead from miles away. It had to have West Coast mirrors. I remember guys painting their wheels with silver paint to make them look like they were chromed.
 
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Remember having a "siphon hose" (we called it an Iowa credit card) and a gas can in the trunk of the car. It was a vital part of the tool kit. What about bumper jacks and putting the disc hub caps that you found on a '57 ford on your old ford and put spinners on them. You had the name of your car pin striped down on the bottom of the front fender. Car club plaques hanging on the rear bumper. Chrome exhaust extensions. Pinup girls pinned up on the headliner, steering knobs and in the mid 60 it was baby moon hub caps with beauty rings on chrome reverse wheels. Then it was a chromed accessorized engines and cheater slicks. The old Y-block was bored out .040" and had headers and a 4 barrel carburetor. Now the young guys ask "What's a carburetor?" Ok, ok I'm done now. For awhile.
 
Ah, whitewalls! My neighbor buddy would paint whitewalls on his car and it would be good for Saturday night, then they would turn yellow and needed painted again.

My uncle came to town with an old Ford with Mercury 15" wheels. 16" white wall tires were hard to come by in the early 50's, 15” were plentiful, so I swapped wheels with him for my `40 tudor sedan. We had a recap tire (remember those?) shop at the Texaco Station where I worked. I traded my boss four decent 15" black wall tires for four nearly slick whitewall trade-ins. But I proudly now had real whitewalls on my Ford!

I now had dual Smitty's, whitewalls, lowered rear and the gear shift moved over to the left side of the steering column. I was a 16-17 year old high school student with my own car and a job. Things were good, or so I thought...

Shadetree
 
I have always tried to stay stock. I don't really dig customizing. Closest thing I ever did to modify one is on a 39 Dodge I had just out of high school, I changed to 15 inch wheels. Big deal.
 
Lawson,
I admire you for staying stock. It was hard not to get caught up in the customizing rage that all hot rod magazines touted back then. A lot of nice original cars were mutilated almost beyond recognition. But it was the trend; Old cars were plentiful and relatively cheap.

But, I bet most of us had one thing in common in the mid-50's. We all had a flat top haircut!

Shadetree
 
The Biology teacher made me wear a hat in her class to cover my Mohawk.

But I was cool...Or so I thought.

Shadetree
 
Don't even get me started . . . . .

Running to Pep Boys for parts

Trying to get the girl in the back seat

Buying beer in quarts for 40c

Calling in a song dedication to the radio station "This is for Billy and Angie, Shirley, who's really not mad at George, and all the kids in Mrs Tyson's fourth period English class"

Being on a first name basis with several junkyard owners

Dreading the 6 months state vehicle inspection

Reading each new Hot Rod magazine cover to cover

Buying running (but not perfect) cars for $25-$65

Getting a ticket for loud mufflers (Cops don't seem to care about that anymore)

Aggravating the Auto Shop Teacher

Pegged pants with pistol pockets, ducktail haircuts, Johnny Ray, Black and White milkshakes, engineer boots.

And on and on

My avatar is a '40 Coupe I had in High school, here is a '49 coupe and my '40 Mercury which I bought for $125.

I realize it sounds syrupy and overly nostalgic, but IMO those WERE the days. People had a much better sense of right and wrong, people helped each other over rough spots, we LOVED and were proud of our HighSchool! Drugs were only a whisper from way way away. Family meant something.

Sorry, warned you not to get me started <grin>

Henry
 

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