The Holy Grail Of Hangouts - The Garage

Take any of those classic statements that basically center around the concept of "...the consequences of a misspent youth" and somehow hot rodding, fast cars, racing, and the garage enter the scene at some point. There was a time some 60 years ago, hot rodding in general was frowned upon - the people associated with it were seen as outcasts, "the bad guys", and delinquents. But I'm willing to bet that working on cars in a basic one car garage probably kept a lot of people out of trouble. It gave us something to do; a way to work off excess energy; a place to try ideas.

I was reading an article last night where a guy and his friends restored a 1971 Dodge Challenger in his garage. They worked nights & weekends - and it took them 10 years. They did everything from the engine, to the suspension, the entire interior, to all the body work and paint. The only thing they farmed out was the vinyl roof and interior headliner. All of that is beyond extremely cool. But the lead picture in the article (right) showed the finished car in it's garage. The building is all steel, with a 10 foot high ceiling and concrete flooring. There are racks of tools, shelves galore of supplies, a huge air compressor, a good sized work bench, and a professional 2-post lift. When you finish reading and browsing all the details of this garage, there's probably at least $40 grand wrapped up in this automotive out building. While I would kill to have a set-up like this, I wondered just how many people actually have this type of deal just 20 feet from their house? (Above photo courtesy of Hot Rod).

Don't get me wrong; I'm not busting this guys chops just because he has a sweet garage. Once again the glory of the aftermarket has come through for us enthusiasts. It wasn't long ago that professional equipment like what's described above just wasn't obtainable for the average Joe. It got me to thinking (as it usually does) just how much things have changed, garage wise, over the years. It's amazing as well as amusing to look back at the glory years of hot rodding, NASCAR, and drag racing, to see what they had for garage set-ups. Compare that to the modern garage in the article, some of the early times looked... well, ancient.

It all has to start somewhere. back in the late 40's, just about every hot rod, street rod, or grass roots racer was built in a one car garage, probably with the help of a single 60 watt drop lamp or light. And most likely, it was done in a garage owned by the young speed demon's parents in some suburban neighborhood. When I was a kid, we had a neighbor who was a massive go-fast type of guy. He worked on all his cars in his small single bay garage. He eventually erected a wooden stockade fence so the neighbors wouldn't see all the cars he owned. Way more than once, our neighbor enlisted my help to push a vehicle that was "in process" out of the garage and into the side yard, because another car was on it's way in that became a higher priority.

"Fair enough," you quip. "That's the hometown hot rodder. What about the professional drivers? They must've had big setups to work on cars." Well, let's have a look at that. First up - NASCAR. We'll even skip the roots of the sport from the late 40's and early 50's and jump right into the top drivers of the 60's. The first pic I've included is none other than Richard Petty and his practically unbeatable 1967 Plymouth. Just because you had factory support and financial backing doesn't mean you had cushy accommodations and top-shelf repair facilities wherever you went. While that may be the case today, back then the race teams did things pretty much the same way hot rod enthusiasts did it - outdoors using jack stands.

I can see the hands raised in objections already - "That was on the road. What about their home base of operations?" OK - let's look at that. This next photo is from the early 60's and the operation headquarters of none other than the Woods Brothers. When this shot was taken, Glen Wood had just bought out his then-partner Chris Williams. Just who are the Woods Brothers? They owned the familiar #21 red and white Ford and Mercury's that numerous talented drivers like A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney, Cale Yarborough, and David Pearson drove to the winners circle. Of course, things would change dramatically by the late 70's and early 80's when racing teams started fielding multiple cars during a race or at minimum, having backup cars.

Drag racing wasn't a whole heap different as you groove on the next two pictures. The first one on the left is of the famous Vic Hubbard garage. Much like the Woods Brothers, very humble beginnings that were simplistic in nature. No snazzy enclosed car carriers, just plain-Jane U-Haul type trailers. The second shot (below) was taken in the pits at Dover Raceway from 1961. Like NASCAR, you schlepped your own bags, parts, and tools - usually in the back of a pickup truck. And these guys worked outdoors as well. I've also read countless stories and have seen tons of old photos of racers who participated at Bonneville. It wasn't uncommon at all to see racers rebuilding engines, transmissions, and who knows what else in motel parking lots.

They say necessity is the mother of invention. Think about how much has been invented or started, especially automotive, in a garage. Well, enough of the history lessons for this week - time to head out to that magical one or two door building of inspiration and dreams. It's also a damn good place to crank up some good tunes and tune that carburetor a little better.

Until next time, peace out.
Dave