Love this car story--
"Rosemead High School Cruisers" By Dennis Jones
"My grandkids won’t believe it but that tall skinny kid on the left is me. It was 1959 and I was 17. I had just paid $300 for my first car – a 1950 Mercury – and I drove to my friend’s house to show off. Jerry, Mel and I had been best friends since elementary school - and we’d dreamed of getting cars pretty much the entire time.
We lived in Rosemead, California, a town 15 minutes east of downtown LA on the 10 Freeway – but long before the 10 Freeway was the twelve-lane behemoth it is today.
The Merc was my ticket to a whole new life – and I loved every minute of it. I would spend hours working on my car, detailing it, putting in “tuck and roll” upholstery, adding speakers to the sound system… I changed the oil, did tune-ups and even rebuilt the Merc’s flathead engine (with a little help from Dad).
On weekends, Jerry, Mel and I would drive to a shady park and wax and clean our cars together. Then we’d go to the Irwindale drag strip, pay a few bucks and put our cars through the quarter mile. I don’t remember liking that part much, though, because my car was always slowest.
The Merc took me all through Rosemead High School and Pasadena City College. It took me on my first date: We went to the El Monte Drive-In and then “cruised” to Ricky's Drive-In in Alhambra. I drove the Merc all over California too. On one trip to Yosemite it vapor-locked going over the Grapevine! I had to cool down the carburetor with wet rags before we could get going again.
Of course vapor locks are now ancient history – and so is my Merc. Luckily, Jerry and I are still friends but we miss Mel who passed away 10 years ago. We all loved this photo because it captured the spirit of both our friendship and LA’s car culture of the early 1960s."
Hmmm. Even though I'm partial to bathtub Mercs, today I'll take the '49/'50 Ford at right.
http://www.hiddenla.com/
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-fun story GW.
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