Bob Cannon shares his photos and memories...
"I drove the '32 all through college but finally had to sell it because of the cost of traffic tickets I was getting. Back then there was no sharing of citation information between cities, so if you got your 3rd one in Pasadena, you didn't race anymore in Pasadena, and so on until you ran out of towns. But there were lots of places to street race in every nearby town.."
My love affair with anything that had a gasoline motor in it started at a very early age. At age 12 I got a beat up "Motoscoot" from my uncle Billy Winkler who was buying and selling war surplus items, and got it running. I rode it through the open halls of Central grammar school until I was chased out. You just couldn't get away with antics like that in today's world. Next came model airplanes, and then eventually motorcycles. I always had a motorcycle throughout high school. One motorcycle was a 1936 Indian with a 1946 Bonneville Chief engine upped to 90cu. in. It was fast and the fact that I got it from the mother of a kid who had been killed on it didn't even faze me because I was invincible! (or so I thought). I got my first speeding ticket for 85 in a school zone; it didn't seem like I was going that fast, but that borrowed Triumph fooled me! My cousin Cliff bell gave me his 1931 Harley 45 after he was discharged from the Navy. I think I sold it for $50! Easy come-Easy go! But aside from motorcycles, airplanes and boats, cars always dominated the scene. This is a collection of some of the car pictures I have taken in my life.
I was raised in Alhambra California and Southern California has always been the hot bed of racing. A local Alhambian, Sam Hanks was the 1957 winner at Indy. Almost all of the suppliers of Hot Rod equipment were located in SoCal. Earl Evans who specialized in aluminum Ford cylinder heads was right down the road in El Monte. Mickey Thompson graduated 1 year ahead of me at Alhambra high. Hot rods were everywhere. One thing I must mention: someone gave me a Brownie camera when I was around 6 years old, and I have never gone anywhere ever since without carrying a camera. A few of the pictures are of cars parked around Alhambra high. One picture is an old chum, Dick Ebert and his roadster.
One of my favorite trips was to the dry lakes at El Mirage to watch the Rods making speed runs. One kid in Alhambra was involved in model airplanes at the same time that I was. His name was Bill Phy and he went on to set some speed records. Norm Morgan and Bill Phy used to modify the O&R model engines to a rotary valve before O&R thought of it. The Stanford brothers worked for the Post Advocate and were active in setting records at SCTA. They had a hopped up Ford 60Hp set up in their basement for show. These pics from back then sure bring back memories!
My first Hot Rod was a 29' Model A that I traded my Indian MC straight across for. This A had a Thomas dual manifold which I kept for later use after I sold it. I had several Model A roadsters but all with the original 4 cylinder engines. But I had been bitten pretty badly by the HR bug and bought a 32' Ford roadster. Prior to this time I had concreted in the rear of our yard behind the garage in order to have a place to work. I don't recall asking permission to do so, but with the help of Vic Yorba, we poured and set the slab in one day. My first job was to build an engine for the 32'. I found and bought an Alaskan block which was said to be much stronger than a normal block, and it was the starting point. I had one of the old mechanics at P&W Auto Parts bore it out to 2 5/16th diameter (P&W: oldest parts in Alhambra; Pray and Wait). Classmate George Garrold worked at the local Ford/Mercury dealer and got me a ‘49 Merc crankshaft for $49 (not a misprint). I drove to L.A. and bought a set of JANS pistons and rings, and a Potvin RV (3/8ths) camshaft. I now had the essentials to put the engine together. I also had bought some adjustable cam followers and assembled the rest of the engine on the grass in my backyard. I drove down to El Monte and bought a set of Aluminum cylinder heads from Earl Evans and somewhere picked up a Wieland dual manifold. I had the flywheel turned down at the Blair Brothers shop in Pasadena. Jim Kurten in Alhambra made me a special ignition system from a Lincoln V12 engine. A pair of Stromberg 98's finished the engine. I installed the engine in my backyard and made a trip to Doug's Muffler Shop for a set of headers with dual pipes. I was now in business and proceeded to run in many drag strips. The car consistently turned over 90mph in the 1/4 mile just as it had been driven to the track. Some times I would remove the head lights and fan belt thinking that would give a little more HP. When running at Pomona I could stop at Brackett Airport and get some 130 Octane Av gas. On one such drag day at the old Saugus 6S airport strip, I broke a U-joint and had to have my father pull me all the way back to Alhambra. He did this by using a 6' piece of cast iron sewer pipe with a tow chain between me and our old 41' Chevy truck. What a way to travel! I drove the 32' all through college but finally had to sell it because of the cost of traffic tickets I was getting. Back then there was no sharing of citation information between cities, so if you got your 3rd one in Pasadena, you didn't race anymore in Pasadena, and so on until you ran out of towns. But there were lots of places to street race in every nearby town, that is until you got your 3rd ticket in that town. La Puente, Rose Bowl, 5th Avenue in La Puente, etc., just hang out at a drive-in and get challenged. 5th Avenue on Wednesday nights was a special. Cars would be lined up on both sides of the road as spectators and cars would block each end of the section used. Then the drags would begin. When the cops came everyone just split across the open fields. But when in one month I had to pay about $50 in fines, I gave up the street racing bit. I still sometimes wake up in a dream and wonder where my 32' is, and I drool whenever I see one.
- Bob Cannon
You can Read more about Bobs hot rodding and airplane interests on his website:
