We want to thank those of you who submitted your stories to tell us about "The One That Got Away." And if you haven't yet shared, please feel free to still send them in. We actually were so taken with all of the tales that ultimately, we chose the winner of Pat Ganahl's Hot Rod Gallery by drawing the winner out of a hat! So congratulations to Rob Howard!
Below you'll find several stories of vehicles that got away, dreams that are still being chased, and lost memories. Thank you so much to our wonderful contributors for sharing them. Almost all involve cars sold or altered while the owners were serving overseas, and we want to thank them for their service and their dedication!
The Ones That Got Away
I could say it was the one that was given away or taken away to be more precise. I bought the car from a friend who lived a block over from me in Inglewood, CA. It was a sweet little Falcon Ranchero, a '63 with the first year 260, 4 speed, factory tuck and roll bench seat, plus a tight fitting tonneau cover, Inglewood cheater slicks, and chrome rims with baby moons. It was black inside and out.
The Ranchero had a SHELBY emblem on one fender. The other side had been stolen and Shelby wouldn't sell me one to replace it because I did not have a Shelby. So, I ended up placing high performance 289 emblems on the fenders. You may ask why 289? I could not locate any 260 emblems. The engine was not stock, but my friend did not know what had been changed other than the quite large carb (to this day I wish I had checked the c.f.m.) and the headers of unknown vintage. Ah, but the sound of that 260 blowing exhaust out the headers, through the glass packs, and continuing to exit via chrome scavengers.
As one can imagine, this was not one of the high performance cars you would encounter cruising Hawthorne Blvd on any given evening. BUT I did surprise a number of naysayers with how quick this thing was. Now comes the GOT AWAY part. I won't go into the long story leading up to my getting drafted after I was given a 4F. I will jump forward to my visitation in Viet Nam. During this period my car sat at my parents house and was driven occasionally by my step-father. Well, my guess is he got tired of moving it back and forth and driving it once in awhile. My step-father and I did not see eye to eye on much of anything. This may be another reason he sold my car while I was in Viet Nam. One may ask how I felt about this and all I can say is "I was really pissed off". That Ranchero was one of the most fun cars I have ever owned.
--Rob Howard
The Two That Got Away (See Photos in the Gallery)
In late 1965, I had quit working for Mickey Thompson, and started a business building headers, dragster frames, and other hot rods and components in Anaheim, California. I was driving my 1923 "T" Bucket with 6.71 blown small block Chevy engine, which was one of the nasty rods around town, having run 140 mph in 10.02 seconds at the drags. Several months before, my car sat beside Tom McMullen's now famous 32 Ford highboy roadster, in the two car garage of the house Tom and I shared in Buena Park, California.
I had driven this car all over California, even to Sequoia National Park, on a vacation. I street raced in Southern California, and was never beaten. I had articles in hot rod magazines, and enjoyed cruising with friends.
Business was good and I decided to build a Fuel Altered to drag race, I had been helping Leon Fitzgerald with his fuel altered "Pure Heaven I". I started building a new style frame to make fuel altereds handle better. The chassis was finished, front end done, rear end mounted, and ready for a body, I had wanted to use a Messerschmitt body, but that was not allowed by NHRA.
My worst nightmare happened. I got drafted into the Army in late 1966. I was forced to close my business, and sell my 23 "T" bucket. I had to get rid of the fuel altered because I had no where to store it. I gave the complete chassis to R.T. Reed, who got together with Leon Fitzgerald and they finished the car as "Pure Heaven II", possibly the most famous of the Top Fuel Altereds, which has been restored and Leon was inducted into the NHRA Hall of Fame for his driving abilities with the car.
Within several weeks, my life was drastically turned around, I lost my iconic street roadster, and my drag racing future. I spent several years in the Army. When I returned to Southern California in 1969, I got involved with chopper motorcycles, but eventually returned to hot rods and drag racing in 1999.
I always wondered how my life would have played out had I not been drafted in the Army.
--Dave Brackett
I was a career law enforcement officer. I was conducting surveillance in an older neighborhood in Long Beach. This particular neighborhood had alleys, and most of the homes garages were on the back of the lot with the garage opening out into the alley. I was easing down an alley when I observed a flash of green through a window in a garage door.
I got out of my car and peeked through the very dirty window. There was a chopped 32 Ford 3 window coupe sitting there under piles of cardboard boxes.
I went around to the house and rang the bell. The older gentleman who came to the door told me that the coupe had been his son's, who was MIA in VietNam, and of course it was not for sale.
I talked him into letting me look at it long enough for him to re-attach the curtain covering the garage windows.
From what I recall, it was painted metalflake green, and the interior was done in white with green trim. It was powered by an Oldsmobile engine that had three carbs and it had a 4 speed hydra-matic trans.
It was not for sale but I left my card with him. Over the next six or seven years, I stopped by on a regular basis, and I even helped him with a couple of things around his house, but the coupe was not for sale.
One day I stopped and he told me that he had decided to sell the car. My eyes lit up in anticipation. He had decided to sell it but he had misplaced my card and he had already sold it to one of his neighbors.
Talk about heart broken…what a bummer.
Many years later a pal of mine showed me a really beat up copy of one of the "little magazines" (I think that it was Honk) and a 32 coupe was featured that I think was the same car. That made it a double bummer. The mag version had white walls on chrome rims and white naugahyde covers for the firewall and under the front fenders as well as a completely upholstered trunk also done in pure white with green trim.
I keep looking at 32 coupes for sale. Maybe one day I will find the right one and create a copy of "The One That Got Away!"
--Thadd McNamara
In the late 50s/early 60s, my older brother and friends were known for weekend swaps of flatheads from Fifties Fords and Studebakers and replacing them with 1957/58 Oldsmobile J-2 Motors. That all changed in 1963, the year my sister got married. He husband had purchased a 1962 Ford Sunliner with the right options, 375 Horsepower 390 FE engine, four speed, all the right parts except a my sister could not drive a stick (manual) transmission if her life depended on it. Big Brother bought it and this was the change to Total Performance in our family.
Next his buddies bought a 1963 Boxtop Galaxie 500 which had a G code 406 cubic inch FE motor with four speed, his other buddy a 1963 Galaxie 500XL R code with 427 cubic inches and four speed. The race was set for October 1963 when Big brother bought a 1964 Galaxie 500 R Code which was one of the first 50 produced by the Ford Motor Company that year. Now this was a “DAILY DRIVER” as all of these cars were in WNY outside of Buffalo, New York. All was well until Uncle Sam said "Son, time to do you duty," and my brother enlisted instead of being drafted into the US Military. As a result his car was stored for a few months until my father decided to start driving it. Anyway for awhile “KID BROTHER” me has access to it. First time I almost killed myself and within half mile had managed to flush a quarter tank of gas through those two four barrels. Forget speed limit I still didn't have my drivers license! My brother put a stop to that before being assigned overseas; he swapped out the motor for a PI motor and then the family had full used of it. I drove this car during my High School Days until he returned to reclaim his car which never mind my parents paid for it.
Well he went off to college, six months later I enlisted and spend two years seven months and twenty some days overseas. I said "Don’t sell it!" but the car was sold a couple months before I returned stateside and started college. I lost my chance to have the first high performance vehicle of my life. But, I still haven’t forgot this one that got away even with GT Torino’s, Chevy Z-28 Camaro’s and my college graduation gift to me from me an Oldsmobile 442! Today even though I am a 100% DAV having suffered a back injury, I own a 1934 Outlaw coupe and the shop is just finishing a high dollar 1955 Chevrolet convertible powered by a GM TRI-5 crate engine on a Morrison Chassis, built from the ground up. I may has lost a car but gained a hobby.
--David Suchocki
While in the Navy in 1959 I bought a 1947 Ford Woodie from a car lot in Whittier CA from the princely sum of $150. It was in very good condition, had a strong flathead and was a great driving car. I received a lot of comments about it and cruised many a drive inn, putting a lot of miles on it back and forth from San Diego to San Bernardino. When I left for my last cruise overseas I loaned it to a “friend” and when I came back he had blown the motor, set it in a field and his buddies stripped it. I sold it for $17.50 to a junk yard. I’ve been kicking myself ever since and now I can’t afford one.
--Joe McIntyre
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