Down at my mother's house looking through old photo albums.
1952...Long Beach California. My parents with the brand new Henry J. I was driven home from the hospital as a newborn in this fine little ride...
Fast forward 61 years...my mother is still driving....a four cylinder, but with some of the latest technology.
Her hybrid Toyota...
The car I remember the best is a 1954 Ford Wagon similar to one of these...we had this car while my father was stationed in Japan in the fifties. I'll have to see if I can find some pics of it. My father and I took a week long vacation once back then, and drove all over Japan in that car. I remember it seeming like a behemoth compared to the Japanese cars of the era....and especially driving on the narrow roads of 1950's japan...
Maybe I'll get back here and post some more pics....
To anyone out there that reads this little blog....Have a Merry Holidays!
No, this isn't a 1954 Ford station wagon. Found this pic of a VW powered airplane I helped my father build in the 70's. Interesting, how the neighbor had a bug parked in their driveway. Speaking of the neighbor, he was a pilot in World War2 and flew P-47's for the navy.
I learned a lot about metal fabrication from my father during that project. Speaking of projects, I need to scan all the family photos this year. Being an Air Force photographer my father left a lot of photos behind...back into the old albums....
Growing up in the sixties and seventies it seemed like every other car on the road was a VW bug. Sometimes I see old footage on TV from that era in a Dragnet re-run or something, and it reminds me how popular the little air-cooled bugs were. Great little cars.
ReplyDeleteGood old Bugs. After the airplane project, we built a Dune Buggy with a frame pan from a wrecked Bug. My first car was a 1960 36 HP Bug, and I had several others of various years. Lately I've been thinking I wouldn't mind having another Beetle. Of course, there is this Karman Ghia a friend of mine is thinking of letting go....
ReplyDeleteOne of my fellow old fat guy Sunday breakfast pals is a former USAC midget owner/driver/builder. They used to somehow coax 300 hp out of those motors. I'll ty to post a pic of his dune buggy.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see that Herm, the power that is gotten out of Bug motors is amazing. A friend of mine has a purple dunebuggy, it's probably making about 65 HP...
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