Ever since I was a child  I used to count 50's cars on roadtrips. On trips from San Francisco to Mexico I'd see hundreds. In 1968 (at age 8) I had to skip junkyards in the count there were so many there.

After years of reading, collecting pictures and going to shows, I finally ran into the Red Shark online in Aug '97. I drove the 200 miles to see it, expecting to be let down.

I'll never forget that day. On a corner of the lot all by itself, stood the most magnificent 4800lb, 19 foot long sculpture of gleaming chrome, paint (red!!) and steel ever produced by human hands. I absolutely had to have it!

Over a year later I still go outside at night to look at it's massive silhouette gleaming in the moonlight. I feel silly sometimes and wonder how I have the nerve to drive such an impossibly large, flashy and overstated piece of American history, but all my reservations melt away as I feel the pleasure of driving it and watch the reactions of young and old alike as they watch it go by! My wife and infant son think it's pretty cool too.

Cars weren't the only things that were beautiful.... the Boats of the 40's and 50's had tons of Style too. Case in point below.

Absolutely wonderful!

 Words can't describe the joy I have after finding your Web site. You have my "OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD". Many long for the return of the 50's, until then I have marked the site as my favorite.

I am attaching a picture of my little part of the 50's. Hope you enjoy it and feel free to share my memory.

I found the boat in the basement of a carpet company in Oklahoma City, Okla. four years ago. My wife and I restored the Century, in our home garage. My good friend and President of our Oklahoma Classic Boat Club, along with his wife helped research and restore the classic mahogany boat. The chrome is all redone and the boat is powered by the original "Fireball 140" racing engine. I have encouraged my friend to send pictures and a story about his boat. We have a great time showing the boats at various shows. We have named our classic "WOODSTOCK".

My plans now are to find a real nice 50s classic car to pull her to the shows. I am interested in the 1955 - 1957 Chevy Cameo Pickups. Maybe one of your visitors might have one or know of one and contact me.

Click on an image or highlighted text to see the the full sized image.
('before' right.... 'after' left)

Randy 48 Century Photo File List

Image	File Name	Size
	48cent2	32K		cent1	29K

Thanks Randy and Vicki 09/19/98

Enclosed you will find seven pictures of 'Armadillo Annie". I will try to keep my ramblings about the car as brief as possible but you must realize that I spent 14 months, wore out several shirts and pairs of Levi's and made my wife spend last summer here in Houston in order to complete the restoration. We won't discuss the money that was spent during this process (my wife still isn't sure how much money I spent).

When I was growing up, the middle 50's my first memory of automobiles was a gleaming blue and white 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air that my father brought home one day. This was the car I learned to drive in. To this day I remember that car pulling up in front of our house for the first time and thinking that it was the most beautiful car ever. I was too young to have a driver's license so I never got to drive it by myself and was never allowed to drive it on busy roads when my father was with me.

In 1996, after our two daughters married and moved from out house, I discovered that there was a world out there unknown to me. There were people who actually restored old cars. My wife and I had discussed buying an older car for me to play with but we always had other financial obligations with the girls, now they were gone and Dad could play.

I found "Armadillo Annie" in a barn in Georgetown, Texas. I know this sounds like a story that never really happened but she only had 49,000 miles on her. I purchased her for next to nothing and had her trailered back to Houston. After about twenty minutes of cleaning out the fuel lines and putting a new battery in her she started right up. To this day I haven't done much to the engine except change the lifters.

My wife drove her and told me to fix her so she could drive her. Initially I was going to change all of the glass, remove and clean the stainless molding and have the bumpers rechromed. As you can see by the pictures I got carried away and took the body off of the frame and sandblasted everything, frame included, before having her painted. After 14 months of hard work she is what you see. A replica of my father's first new car.

PICTURE 1- september 15, 1996 the day I got her back to Houston and got her running.

PICTURE 2- same day as #1 showing the moldy interior.

PICTURE 3- March 1997, all disassembled, sandblasted and ready
to go to the paint shop

PICTURE 4, 5, 6- November 1997, all ready for the road.

PICTURE 7- A nice shiny new interior with 'fuzzy dice".

Picture 8 and 9 artistic license by the webmaster

Click on an image or highlighted text to see the the full sized image.

Tom's '56 Chevy File List

Image	File Name	Size
	tw001	39K		tw002	33K		tw003	44K
	tw004	55K		tw005	53K		tw006	41K
	tw007	25K		tw008	33K		tw009	52K

Don, I told you that I would try to keep this short. I guess I didn't do too well. The ramblings of an old man trying to regain his youth I guess, plus pride in a Job well done.

What I remember most from my early years, 1948 till the early 60's is the calmness of everything. I was raised in and around Chicago and can remember my older Sister and I getting on a bus and going to downtown Chicago with a dollar in our pocket and spending the whole day and evening going to the movies and then taking the bus back to our house. There was never a thought that anything bad would happen, all the kids in our neighborhood did basically the same thing. I can remember our first television, probably about 1949, and all of the neighborhood men coming over to watch wrestling on Friday evening. I could ramble on and on about these memories but I don't know exactly what you want for your web page.

If there is any more information about "Annie" that you need for the web page, e-mail me and I will get back to you ASAP. I am kind of new to this 'puter stuff so don't look for too much speed and probably a lot of mistakes.

Don; thank you very much for your web page. My wife is enchanted with the cars and is envious of people who are as computer literate as you. Thanks again for all your work and the enjoyment it has brought to my wife and I.

Great car Tom, and thanks too, for the compliments and addition to the scrapbook....now your car can cruise this site. (08/11/98)

Oldies Music Supporters Everywhere...

I am the author of the current best selling book "Jingle Bell Rock" the story of Bobby Helms i.e. "My Special Angel" - "Jacqueline" - "I guess I'll miss the prom" - :"Schoolboy Crush" - and many other fine 50's songs.

The book is being featured on over 100 oldies radio stations all across America as a give-away in station trivia contests...we owe the tremendous success of this INTERNET ONLY book release to Oldies Radio. The oldies fans is who this book was written for, and they are the ones who are making it a success.

The big New York Publishers scoffed at us for using oldies radio as our prime springboard to national attention and now we are laughing...with upcoming spots on Oprah, Jay Leno, Rosie and many other national shows we have broken through. The National Enquirer recently interviewed us for a story they are doing concerning Bobby and this book. (23 million subscribers make this a major hit for us)

I was with Bobby for 27 years as front man, concessions manager, road manager, promotions director, music publishing chief, and personal manager before his untimely death in June of 1997. Bobby was a good guy...

We did all of this on a shoestring, holding our breath, and the oldies fans have supported us throughout...

Love your site...check ours out... http://www.aalida.com/

Thanks
David Ward Davis

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Back then I remember a 48 merc, 

with glass packs, and the sweetest 46 ford 2 door convertible V/8, Living in the L.A.area back then was simply put, the best.

Stay on the beach for a month and no questions asked and have a bon fire to boot, and then there was the radio,KXLA  now KRLA  KFWB  KFXM  KHJ  KFI with Art Laboe, Jimmy O'Neill, Roger Christian, Wink Martindale, B. Mitchell Reed, Bill Ballance, Chuck Blore, Hunter Hancock, Huggie Boy and so on.

Waking up to the smell of orange blossoms, in the still of the morning. And helping the milkman carry the goods to the door, and waiting for the helms truck that brought pastries down the street, while treating yourself to a RC cola, breaking up that 25Lb block of ice, that you got at the icehouse.

Most of these things are gone now , but the memory's,.....

Sonny

Hello!!! how are you?

 I was suffing the net looking for old cars. When I came across your web page. I was looking at all the cars that you had on there, and I noticed that you didn't have a 56' Chevy wagon. So I have some pictures of my wagon 56' chevy belair wagon and would like to know if you would like to use it on your site? If you would just E-Mail me back and I'll send it to you. I like your web site and the music, and I'll be back to visit it time and time again. Talk at you later.

One happy moma's car owner: Eric

No problem Eric, that's what this scrapbook is for......
then this came.....

Thank you for letting me post the pic's of my car on your page. I own a 56' 4 door chevy wagon, I have had this car for about one year now, and still working here and there on little things that need to be fixed, now I am at the age of 17 I bought the car as my first car at the age of 16.

My uncle loves to rebuild old cars and turn them into hotrods, and he is the one that got me into this thing. But don't worry I won't be cutting this car up any.

This 56' is all original other than the 350 under the hood which the previous owner put in. I have had alot of fun times in this car already and indeed hope to have more. I love getting all the waves from people as I go down the road, and I am proud to own such a car of class. I have fun going to car shows with it and see other 56' chevy's, but I still haven't found another 56' 4 door wagon yet! in my area.

here is a pic of my car... I will send some others when I get them developed...

oh and my car's nickname is babyblue

click to enlarge