This is my first car, a 1930 Model A Ford cabriolet coupe. This picture was taken in 1949 behind our house in Big Bear Lake California. The car was soon striped of its fenders and the top was cut off to make it into a HOT ROD roadster. Although the car looked like a hot rod, the 4-cylinder Model A engine did not provide the performance of one. What I needed was a Ford V-8 engine!

My second attempt at a hot rod started with a 1930 Ford roadster body, mounted on a 1932 Ford Chassis, and with a 1937 Ford V-8 engine. This car had much better performance, but I soon learned how impractical a car with no top is in rainy weather. This led to my third attempt at a hot rod.

This time I replaced the roadster body with a 1932 coupe body. At least it had a roof to keep the rain off! However it didn't have any side windows so it was cold in the winter. Of course a "true" hot rod would not have a heater! I drove this car at my first drag race, at the Santa Ana Drag strip, about 1951. The car turned a time of 72.58 mph.

The next car was a 1936 Ford Coupe, painted a bright yellow. The Coupe kept its fenders, only early model cars (pre 1933) were "cool" without fenders. I ran this car in a "stock" class at the Saugus Drag strip and won a few trophies. This car had side windows and a heater, quite a luxurious car for me.

In 1954 I built my first pure dragster. The people in this picture are standing: Fred Chavez, Frank Huszar, and myself. Sitting in the driver's seat is Earl Gerard. The car was made from parts from the junkyard behind Fred's gas station in Tarzana, California. Frank supplied the engine and Earl drove. This picture was taken after wining Top Eliminator at the Saugus, California drag strip. This car only ran a few times then returned to the junkyard.