Jim Kellison age 18 at his mothers home in Citrus Heights, California in 1951
Mildred, Jim's mother, was a devout Seventh Day Adventist as was her mother before her. Jim never took well to religious indoctrination, and this may be what started him on a life long course of rebellion. He became in some ways the quintessential rebel without a cause, in the parlance of the 1950’s. It should be no surprise then that he took up hot rod racing during his teen years. During the late 1940’s and into the 1950’s, like a lot of teenagers from that era, Jim became very interested in hot rods. He modified his own coupe and began to take it road racing. Because of the talents he developed in auto shop and working on his own car, he took to body and fender work. After graduating from San Juan High School in 1950, Jim then eighteen, began working as a journeyman mechanic at a car dealership in Roseville, California. He took the bus from his mother’s home in Citrus Heights to work each day. The bus was a local commuter that picked up and dropped off in the various smaller communities of the greater Sacramento area.