When service stations were an American icon. Social, cultrual and financial. In late '50's and into the 1960's, my map-dot hometown boasted FOURTEEN of 'um. A rock could be thrown from one to another. Major brands ruled, too: Esso, Gulf, Sunoco, Shell, Texaco, Mobil, Amoco.........we even had two hometown distributors representing Esso and Shell. But, we were typical; every town was pretty much the same, a real life Alan Jackson song.The really cool thing about the corner service station, was they often had a RACE CAR. And the REALLY cool ones had junked racers around back. Some fortunate municipalities seemed to be extra blessed, and became what me and my race-car-crazy friends dubbed "a race-car town". The classic "All-American City" monicker, to us, was a distant also-ran to the distinciton of "Race Car Town". Race car towns, didn't just grow on trees. There was a direct relationship between the "RCT" and a nereby race TRACK. That was the deal. If a community had a raceway.........they was on their way to becoming a race car town!By the mid '60's it seemed everywhere was surrounded by a dirt track. A 40 mile radius was the outer limit, needless to travel any further as multiple speedways existed in any such region. Progress could easily be followed back at the 'station':A '55 chevy would appear in the station's parking lot. It would sit kinda high in the front, as its engine was absent. A couple days later, the interior was stripped, along with all the glass (except the windhield), lights, chrome trim, dash board, and anything else under the hood. Soon, both doors would be taken off and roll cage's (1-1/4" black iron please) construction could be seen, and the rear fenders were usually enlarged, too. With the completion of the roll bars, the car was ALMOST finished. Cover the head and tail light openins with sheet metal and pop-rivets, install a school bus driver's seat FOR the driver's seat.........and the car was about done.Of course if the team was well funded, a quick-change rear end (made from two 3/4 ton Ford truck rears) would be added, along with a stack of leaf springs and the absolute stiffest racing shocks imaginable. The right front hub could also be fabricated from an extra 3/4 ton Ford snout. Only the engine and a paint job remained. Engines were a 327 regardless of what the rules happend to mandate, and paint jobs ranged the full gamout from hand brushing to paint booth sprayed..........then call in the sign painter!.......................... Vinyl letters.................huh?At the height of the golden era, our hometown had a racetrack 20 MILES AWAY! Race cars began springing up all over and we had become a RACE CAR TOWN...............! There was an AMOCO station, and it did not matter who the proprietor happened to be, (as they frequently changed) when they came to the AMOCO, there was a race car in their future. It was like magic, at one time, sitting around the good ol' AMOCO station: '58 Ford late model, '53 and '51 Ford jalopys, '36 AND '37 Ford coupe (once owned by Jr. Johnson) modifieds..........and one time, and Anglia Ford gasser hung out there!Many after school hours were spent down at the AMOCO...........I seen 'um brace the tie rod end on a jalopy by welding on a length of angle iron.........and instantly holding it under a spigot of running water! And I seen 'um paint and "88" on the car by tracing around the lid of a grease drum (for a circle.....looked kinda strange but it worked)Yep, back in the day, racers done it all..........welding, fabricating, painting , lettering, engines, and MADE their own parts. The junk yard WAS the supply source. It was a different time and a different world. Race tracks and race cars were king.........it was important and strategic to park them in FRONT of the service station, and the junked ones off to the side! Good Times!!