THE WAY IT WAS

Nostalgic Tales of Hot Rods and Romance

2ND EDITION  **** Many new stories, illustrations and photos!!

 

 

 

A historically and technically correct collection of ILLUSTRATED stories, most of which are set in or connected to the 1950's.  Though they are car intensive, many are love stories with hot rods as the props.  All of the stories are void of graphic sex or explicit language.  See below for excerpts of two of the stories.

SELECTED REVIEWS:

 

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“Most of us growing up in a world before computers, cellphones and TV’s two-hundred-fifty channels experienced a love for the cool hot rods and sleek early Corvettes that also had prom queens layered in petticoats and crinolines and guys with butch-waxed crew cuts or Brylcreemed ducktails. There were live rock bands at proms, unlike the canned music by disc jockeys today, and summer nights were sometimes spent ‘necking’ at quiet parking spots away from the crowd while others were noisy gatherings on dusty country roads with illicit drag races, lit from parked cars on either side.

“We read books such as Henry Gregor Felsen’s Hot Rod, Street Rod and others that provided us with a good look at the teens, the cars, and their lives. Unlike Felsen, Klein lived the era as a teenage hot rodder. He has walked-the-walk and now has stepped into the picture with a much expanded view of that decades-ago world. It’s always great to find an author that can enmesh him or herself into their writing with so much believable accuracy in the details that there is left no question in the reader’s mind the words being read must have come from more than merely the writer’s fertile mind.

“There are 236-pages of funny and humorous stories, photographs and great illustrations that, combined here and there with just the right amount of trials, tribulation and angst of the times, gives us another great Chuck Klein-penned book that will keep you turning the pages, not wanting to see the words… ‘The End!’”

Connell R. Miller, Editor
Nostalgia Drag World Magazine
2018

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Amazon Reader: Enjoyed reading the stories of the good days. This book brought back many happy times and fun nights while cruisin the usual hangouts which attracted all of the cool and not so cool cars. Thank you Chuck Klein.

Amazon Reader: A fun trip back Somedays I just want to read to be entertained and this book fit those days well. I grew up in the same 50s-60s time period as this book, and I enjoyed being reminded of those days.

 Amazon Reader: "The way it was" is a delightful recipe for a few hours of fun and reminiscing. If you want to sit back, relax and conjure up nostalgic feelings of the way it was during a cleaner, purer time; and if you have any visions of hot rods and romance, the short stories by Chuck Klein are for you. Very entertaining and well written.

Chuck Klein's writing call you back to a time when all the little ones would gather around Grand Dad for some great story telling.  Lightly seasoned with a pinch of fantasy and a dash of nostalgia, this collection of thoughts is a classic recipe for hours of delightful entertainment."

"The readers of Cruisin' Style Magazine have long enjoyed these light hearted musing and anxiously await the next installments.  If this is your first time reading Chuck Klein, it's just like eating chocolate.  Once you have the first bite, you know you'll be coming back for more."
Carl Cartisano, Cruisin' Style Magazine

 "Chuck Klein's chronicle of teenage lifestyle in the nostalgic fifties is a delightful mix of anecdote, observation, and social history. A book so masterfully written, you can almost smell new upholstery on the street rod. This is definitely the best read for those who get an adrenaline rush when remembering the years of rock and roll, back seat love affairs, and drag racing."
Paul Taylor, Publisher, Route 66 Magazine, 2003

"Your book is great. You have captured the feel and texture of the 'fifties in each story. It's a wonderful read made better by the fascinating way you recall the cars and music we knew and loved. Thanks so much for creating a book which accurately portrays and preserves the magic of the era".
Dusty Rhodes, WSAI Radio, Cincinnati

SAMPLE TEXT FROM "LAST KNIGHT":

In the beginning was Elvis and Smokey
the Everlys Richie and Fats
four-on-the-floor or three-on-the-tree
and DARLING COME SOFTLY TO ME... 

The old timer knew cars. He had studied, and in some cases rubbed shoulders with, the best of the early engineers, customizers and racers. Men with the immortalized names of Iskenderian, Duntov, Barris, Fangio, Vukovich....

As recollections of events, forever melded to the sentimental portions of his mind, were forced to the present, the great grandfather's eyes soon began refocusing to a new intensity. "Get a couple of glasses and some ice, Sonny - and call your Dad in here. I've got a story to tell you."

"Moonie, that's what they called me because I was the first to have Moon wheel covers on my rod, a '34 roadster that I had stuffed a Caddy engine into. It had a dropped front axle, ... The only thing I hated about that old relic was the hot, scratchy mohair seats. I got my share of carpet burns on my elbow trying to put my arm around a girl.

"Ah...the girls. It seems that we built and raced the cars to impress the girls and then whenever one of the guys had made enough of an impression she'd up and marry him and that would be the end of his hot rodding. Brides and all the 'comes-with' things associated with marriage probably contributed more to the demise of hot rodders and their clubs than anything else.

"You boys should have seen my bride! She was just about the prettiest thing that ever rode shotgun in an open roadster. I met her at a club dance - a sock hop we called it.

...Big Bopper and Ben E. King and LOVE IS A MANY SPENDORED THING

SAMPLE TEXT FROM "THE HERO":

He spun gravel all the way to the blacktop, turned east and got on it hard getting just a piece of third gear before having to shut down for the first set of 'S' bends. Today, he realized, would be the test of his handiwork as he set the little coupe into the first sweeping turn. At the apex, inside front tire on the dirt berm, he poured the coal to the mighty Mercury flathead. The rear tires howled in protest as the power curve of the Clay- Smith cam let in all the fuel the over-sized pistons could suck through the polished ports.

Tires baying in dissent, young Carl brought his primer-red rod down to just under thirty-five from well above seventy for the first bend. He powered out of the final curve, tires squealing and engine screaming, to catch a glimpse of old mister Mulhouser out of the corner of his eye. The third generation farmer displayed his disgust at the speeding hot rod by shaking his fist at Carl from atop his John Deere.

Within minutes he was slamming the gear shift into third for the longest straight stretch of the run. Pleased at the sound of the three Stromberg ninety-sevens whooshing air through wide open butterflies he took the time to check the gauges. Oil, eighty pounds; temp, almost 200; fuel, cresting the empty mark; tach, 4200 and climbing slowly; speedometer, mounting steadily at 105. He looked to the little lady.... One hundred and fifteen -- one-twenty -- one-twenty-two. The steering felt light and there was a pronounced vibration.

LIST OF FICTION STORIES New Stories in Blue:

THE PICK-UP	MY GIRL	THE VETTE	THE IDOL
LAST KNIGHT	TRAIN RUN	THE ANNOUNCER	THE DETECTIVE
GO-CARTERS	DAYDREAMS	SECOND LOVE	THE ALUMNI
SPIRIT OF THANKSGIVING	THE HERO	AMERICA	CHRISTMAS MIRACLE
THE CLIENT	THE NIGHTMARE	BOOMERS & BOS	THE ASSIGNMENT
WHERE THE OLD HIGHWAY HAD RUN	FLATHEADS FOREVER	FORMULA I

  

LIST OF NON-FICTION STORIES

FANTASIES & ASPIRATIONS	TEXAS/NEW MEXICO	POLICE CHASE	WORKIN' HONEYS
DRAG STRIP LIFE, 1957	DRAG STRIP LIFE, 1958	DRAG STRIP LIFE, 1961