Jay Skow of Quincy, California

1952 Ford Victoria – I think this car is great because it was my 1st car that I bought in 1957 when I was 15!  I paid $587.50 that I had saved from mowing lawns and delivering the morning newspapers. I began to customize it that year & continued throughout high school. Among the many changes I made, the most unusual was when I was 16 I cut the original hardtop off & made it removable. I never thought about getting rid of it since I had paid for it with my sweat equitity and had made it distinctly mine.

I did buy a 1964 Jaguar the year I was discharged from the Navy; I parked my ’52 in the garage intending to do a few more things. It sat for more than 40 years until my wife insisted that we restore it. She thought we should keep it all old school & even repaint it the colors I had it painted in high school (1960 Rambler colors aquamist & frost white). The body off restoration was completed in July 2012 and I think it is better than it ever was. How great is that: to have had my 1st car all this time and to have it completely restored??

John Kren

John and Linda Linville of Newmarket, New Hampshire 

Our car is an old survivor.  A 1940 Deluxe Ford coupe probably built in the 70s.  It has a L-48 motor (1970 300 hp 350 cu in, 10.25 to 1, four bolt main) coupled to the matching TH350.  Rear end is a 9″ Ford.  All the suspension is vintage Pete and Jakes, 4″ dropped axle with dropped tie rod, unsplit front wishbone, and parallel leaf rear springs.  Interior is velour.  Paint is really old lacquer and showing its age but from 20 feet it looks great.  Car is all steel, and no bondo.  The underside is still painted and pinstriped!  We are a couple in our seventies and have had hot rods since we were married 48 years ago.  We have built many but this one we bought to be a comfortable cruiser.  We use it as our daily driver until the northeast weather causes us to put it away.

Mike Pirkl of Monticello, Wisconsin

1936 Chevy Coach

Bob McDonald

This is my 3rd, 58 Chevy Sedan Delivery. Bought my first one in 1964, in Bellflower, California from George Chevrolet for $999.00. Drove the wheels off it for 15 years, even using it for a camper going all over California. Bought my second around 1972 for $250.00.  Kept both of them until getting married in 1988, when I moved into my wife’s house & there wasn’t enough parking for them. Bought this current one in 2010, pretty well done the way I’d fixed up my first one. Have added Appliance wire wheels,  dummy spot lights, different tail lights,  some new interior, a tube grill. Take it a car show or two, almost every week during the show season in Idaho. Been lucky enough to have in Crusin magazine twice & featured in a car show advertisement.

Bob Zacour

This is my 1948 Chevrolet Cabriolet. It is real steel, true drop top. I am running a 454 / 700R / 373 posi. The car has A/C, heat, P/S, P/B, Caddy telescopic tilt, Must II frt. Chassis rear susp.  It has lots of ginger bread under the hood.

The car runs and drives great, it gets roughly 25 MPG on pump gas. The car was made into a mild custom in 1954. I got the car as a rebuild project in 95-96 and have 5 yrs rebuild time in the car. It has been on the road at least 4 yrs now.

The 1948 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery has been a true driver. It runs a small block with 373 gears. I actually pull the camper with it. The camper is a 5000# unit. The name Bare Necessity came from everyone asking what was in the plan for the truck. I kept telling them just the bare necessities, so it was named. It is in black epoxy primer well faded. It has roughly 45,000 miles since the build. It has been on the road 14 yrs. It doesn’t see much highway now that the vert is on the road. 

Mike and Sharyl Lea of Dunedin, New Zealand

Club: Stateside Streeters

The 64 Galaxie 4door hard top is Canadian assembled right hand drive and was sold NZ new in 64. Its running a 429 taken out to 468 cu in with DOVE Heads fitted. Engine has been worked up and is balanced. C6 Ridgeback auto modified. Exhaust is 3inch running through Flowmaster mufflers. Car runs strong and has a good street presence.

32 5 window coupe is an oldie but a goodie and provides endless enjoyment and adrenaline fix!!!! It runs a 350 Chev 4 bolt main block with Ford Clevo heads fitted!!!! Has a few of the purists baffled when they check it out haha. Auto is a Turbo 350 to a 9inch Ford rear. Blown and 2 x 650cfm Holleys. The car is used purely on the street and was never built as a show vehicle as street is neat.

Diane Skow of Quincy, California

1932 Ford Roadster –  I started going to car shows 42 years ago when I married my husband. I was always saying that I really didn’t care for those cars whose engines showed!  And I did not think I would ever own a red car!  And I certainly would never have a car with flames! Two years ago, on our 40th wedding anniversary, I fell in love with this car that has all 3 things I thought I didn’t like!  My husband bought it for me (the traditional 40th anniv present is a ruby: I thought this was close enough!). I call her “Miss Never Say Never”!  She really is a great car: a reminder that love gets even better with age and we should never say never !!

Dave Mullins

My wife found this car and urged me to buy it.  So I did.

It has a full race GMC inline 6; 700R4, 9″ Ford; Mustang II/wPS.  Frame off restoration.

Jim Davis of Marina Del Rey, California

1932 Ford Roadster – I originally commissioned to have this car built by Magoo’s Street Rods back in 1984. I was president of B&M Racing & Performance at the time and the roadster was intended as a project car for the development of street rod oriented products and also as a rolling display of B&M products. I totaled the car in 1987 and shipped it to Roy Brizio Street Rods for a complete rebuild with numerous upgrades. I also ran the car at the Nostalgia Drags at Fontana and turned 11.60 e.t. at 121.16 mph in the quarter. I left B&M in 1991 (after 18 years) and the car was sold. I wanted to buy it but was not in a position to do so at that time. I chased the car through three different owners over the next 16 years and finally in 2007 I bought the car back. It was sent to Brizio’s Street Rods for a complete overhaul. A large number of changes had been made to the car and I essentially put it back to its original 1991 condition. The only external visible changes are the hood sides and the rear taillights which are now multiple LEDs and much brighter than the orginals. The engine was overhauled and I removed the BDS bug catcher EFI that had been installed and went back to two four barrels on top of the B&M 250 Powercharger supercharger. The engine now kicks out 560 HP.

1933 Ford 3-Window Coupe – I had this car built by Roy Brizio in 1993/94. At the time of the buildup it was chronicled in eleven consecutive articles in Street Rodder Magazine. When it was finished it appeared on the cover and on an inside full color spread. Like the ’32 Roadster the coupe features a 355 cid small block Chevy with a B&M 250 Powercharger. The engines are nearly identical except the roadster has an aluminum block and heads while the coupe’s engine is all cast iron. The coupe participated in the 2000 Rod & Custom Americruise Tour from L.A. to Lincoln, Nebraska. It is a terrific driver and with the big tires and TH-700 overdrive trans it loafs along at 75 mph with 2,100 rpm showing on the tach. The unusual paint job is by Art Himsl, considered to be one of the top painters alive today. The car’s paint is all House of Kolor with a silver metalflake base covered in Kandy Pink. The last two coats of Kandy Pink also had some blue pearl mixed in.

Bill Campbell of St. Louis, Missouri 

1966 Chevelle SS 396 – I received the car from my father at my 21st Birthday on April 18, 1966 – ( see 1st photo of Dad handing me the car keys with car behind in the garage).    Dad worked for the B F Goodrich Company in Akron, Ohio and received the car through a “special order” from GM in the Flint, Michigan Plant where a supervisor walked the line with the car as it was constructed.  The car was received through Dutch Folk Chevrolet in Akron, Ohio.  The car is a 360 HP with two-speed automatic transmission full instrumentation package with “knee-knocker” tach, wood wheel and bucket seats with black interior , black vinyl top and painted “lemonwood yellow” color.

Currently the car is “original and un-restored” and number matching with 70,000 original miles and I am still the “original owner”!   The second photo is me at 69 years of age and my car here in St. Louis, MO !  The car has always been garage stored and not been in any “wet” weather since 1980.   I try to drive the car whenever possible, and attend selective car shows locally.   The car has grown with me in dating my wife through having two kids till now where I am retired and continuing to enjoy the car.    Need-less-to-say,  I am a very lucky guy !

JR Dugas 

Six years ago my then Girl friend told me about her dream truck. I said “No problem baby” and started looking. 3 years of intensive searching, and contemplating ALL possible options, and even buying a stepping stone truck. I found this one! Still had the 63 though… This one was perfect, had to have it anyway. See, her dream truck was a second generation Chevy/GMC. The ultimate dream would have a BBW. and dual headlights. We also shopped colors extensively and the dream color would have to be a HOT orange. This truck was found in southern Jersey. About 8 hours away. 1958 Big back window, dual headlight, step side LONG bed! 3200. Already in a pretty decent paint job in Lamborghini orange! A color we had picked out from a passing car while in Fla. visiting my Mom. It also was a mechanical basket case, and mechanical restoration on classic cars..and trucks is what I do for a living.

  Fast forward a few years, much work and much love. We even restored the bed with “Heirloom Cherry” lumber from her Dad’s wood shop. Did all the work with his guidance and tools, and he got to see the finished product before he passed from Cancer. Right about that time I proposed to her while she was in the passenger seat before we went out for a very special dinner! One year later, my beautiful bride not only arrived at the wedding in her truck, she DROVE it up the isle! We were married up the hill behind our home, and she came rumbling up our long dirt driveway, passed our house and up through the hay field to our beautifully decorated tree line at the top of the hill. You could not even hear the choir, and the acoustic guitar as she rolled on in! She was stunning in her imported French gown. It was the best day ever, and we are currently living “Happily ever after”!!!