The Henry J Story - My First Car
It all started somewhere around 1961 when in my 17th year the car bug struck as it does all 16-year-old boys. Under the influence of my best friend who drove a Henry J, I went in search of a car equally as cool. Another friend from high school had given me an Oldsmobile V8 that needed a home. I found a 1953 Allstate a few miles from my home in Phoenix that didn't run for a whopping $65. I really didn't care that it didn't run because I had a "spare" Olds engine. I finally got the car home in the drive way, my dad took one look at the car and one look at the engine and proclaimed there would be no marriage - end of subject! What was I to do? I bought a Motor's Auto Repair Manual and learned about engines. A head gasket later and I was driving my own car! It only had half as many cylinders as my original plan, but I wasn't walking. I don't have any pictures of my first love, but a few years later in '67 or so I happened upon another deal of a lifetime. A 1953 Henry J for $125 - and it ran!! These are the only pictures I have of the beauty.
One of the tricks we learned with my first Henry was that wheels would bolt on backwards. As seen here, in these photos, it gives the Henry J a wide stance (probably not the smartest thing to do but looking cool is very important - and the chicks dig it!!)
A call to serve my country and a free all-paid vacation to Vietnam forced the sale and I have been Henry-less ever since.
Here are a couple of links that that have some stuff that will make your mouth water - even you don't like Henry Js.
Henry J Print ad
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