Ah, yes. We were cruisers once, and young. Ladies and gentlemen please raise your glasses in a toast to internal combustion, and my long-departed 1979 Formula Firebird. My friend's Chevy (in background) continues rolling to this day:
I also have fond memories of restoring an old car with a buddy (Dad’s not into greasy hands). But mine is a 73 Plymouth Duster with a 72 engine. I do have a 70 340 I could throw in it someday. The Duster lives in the garage.
Those were/are/could be the days.
GM will not die quietly. Lets hope the grand old company will throw a curve-ball at Obama and once again show it is more than just a company, but a patriot as well.
In 1970 I bought a brand new GTO - Gold body with a black vinyl roof for $4000.00.
There is little more satisfying that rebuilding an old engine, putting it all back together, then hearing that initial fire of the new setup and the following forst cruise.
My addiction was old Mustangs. Sigh...
The FAA is tightening the screws on Gen-Av, don't even get me started.
It is a trend we may not be able to put the brakes too, as many kids graduating from high school have no idea what's under hood let alone what the difference is between a Constitutionally Limited Republic vs. the Ism's of Fasc, Commu and Social.....
Nothing sounds as good as a pre-emissions, high compression engine blasting towards the redline. I had a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner with the 383 Magnum power plant. A very reliable car (and a very simple car). Plain as the Roadrunner was, I was still proud of it. I remember all the GTOs, SS396s, SS454s, Corvettes, Trans-Ams, Z28 Camaros and the rest.
Pulling out of the local burger joint or other hangouts, it was a requirement that you light up the rear tires on departure, and regardless of whether you were a Mopar guy, Ford guy or Chevy guy, conversation would stop as we admired the sound of another muscle car tearing up the road.
Small block Chevies, Camaros and a pickup, were my youth, but my lust was for my friend’s 69 GTO, 400/4 spd. with hideaway headlights. Some day one will be my pride and joy. Some day...
This is the car I learn to drive. It was a 1970 Olds F85 with a 350 V8.
While I can certainly relate to Prof. Adams here, I would remind him that he lives close enough to Atlanta to perhaps know of the rash of teenage deaths about this time every year, as two-working parent, status-conscious families in the northern ‘burbs decide to live vicarously through their kids and endow them with V8 Mustangs, BMW’s, and other cars unwise for teenagers to drive. Shoot, I couldn’t keep my foot out of my dad’s Mazda rotary pickup— I would have killed myself with anything faster, especially in this city.
Boy, this brings back memories! My last ‘pet’ car was a 77 ‘Vette with a 383 stroker, Demon Double pumper, 2800 stall converter, headers, etc. But I digress. My daughter just turned 16 so I bought her a 95 Saturn SL1 (the tupperware car) for $350. Fuel pump, rings, timing chain and head later, all done in my garage by me with no interest from anyone else, she has a car. Already wacked the front end, so a $25 trip to Pull a Part and now it’s Frankencar. You are right about nobody knowing how to work on cars these days. Back in the ‘70’s we had to know things like chocking a carb by hand and setting points with a matchbook cover just to drive our beaters. My son is 14 and gets his learner’s permit in a year and there is an ‘89 5.0 Mustang in my neighbor’s yard that needs a water pump and can be had for cheap. Maybe there’s hope yet.
This post brings back many memories. I myself owned a 70 Judge...and a 73 Nova...and a 69 Charger. All of them were purchased used, and in some cases (the Nova in particular), in desperate need of mechanical attention.
One of my favorite cars was the old family Plymouth Fury III station wagon. It didn’t look cool, but boy oh boy, was it FUN to drive that car with about 17 friends piled in it. Made going to the drive-in a momentous occasion.
I learned a lot about how to fix and repair things. One day, I hope to help my son buy an old muscle car that needs a little TLC. (I will not buy it for him, however.) I think he’ll appreciate it more, and I think he’ll think his Mommy’s SO much more spectacular than all the other Mommies! LOL
Regards,
PS: I’d pay good money to buy a real 9-seater station wagon again. Oh, and it HAS to have my favorite feature that isn’t made anymore: the fly window. Man, I really loved that car.
Well, I had a 1969 Chevy Camaro 350 SS, that we “tricked up” to about 400 hp with a big Erson cam, headers, bored the cylinders to 12.5:1, 2 680 Holley carbs on a “tunnel ram” manifold . . . and prompetly wrecked the sucker doing about 112 in a street race on n. 24th street in PHX against a 440 “six pack” Cuda. Unbelievably, no one was even scratched, despite complete destruction of both cars.
Fear not, Comrade. I have it on good authority that Govt Motors will soon roll out a new and improved version of this venerable wonder car: The all new 2010 BHO. That’s right folks, the car you came to know and love is revamped and betta than eva! It’ll have a Socialist Tuned 1.21 liter engine cranking out 78 thundering gender neutral horses and, frankly, delivering the most feel-good carbon credit scheme attainable in the business. Of course there will be an ample supply of vouchers for Katrina survivors and all eligible minorities with compelling life stories. Act now, we’re pre-ordering! (Only available in Red.)
Oh well. I understand a ghetto baby carrige (i.e.; Target shopping cart) piloted by a metrosexual on roller blades will make a fine 21st century equivalent - when the modern young man picks up his male date and heads for the tofu hut for a Boca burger.
It does bring back the good old days and I really get a kick out of watching Pinks All Out.
My muscle car as a teenager was this street sleeper:
'62 Studebaker Lark. Had the big police pursuit motor in it with a Holley 4bbl. Would pass anything but a gas pump. Brakes were dicey (the old single-shoe drum brakes all round) and the steering was l-o-o-o-s-e. But it would go.
My dad wound up selling it to a couple in California who are going to do a ground-up restoration on it.
140 mph on I45? This guy is very lucky he didn’t kill someone.
It's even worse than that. He is willing to devalue the dollar by printing trillions of dollars in fiat money in order to force the price of gasoline back to the $4 or $5 a gallon range. That way unless you have a government vehicle and credit card (as most politicians do) you won't be able to afford anything that gets less than 40 miles to the gallon.
What a great story. Some of the best times I ever spent with my father were under the hood of my old car.
At the time it was about the car, but now I realize it was a much more important lesson being taught: empowerment. It gave me confidence to do anything.
