Muscle Car Dreams

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My first car in 1964...I was looking at a red 57 Belair with a bad engine. My pop took me to buy a car and this is what we came home with! I wasn't crazy about it but my girl loved to put the back seat down and screw... so I loved that car!
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JonRam99 said:
Exactly. I live in the Ozarks, and any trips out of town in the hilly areas were not good.... I'd be doing 35 at the crest. I could get up to 60 going downhill but that was it.
It was awful in snow too - imagine a small, light-weight, 4 cyl / 1 barrel carb, REAR WHEEL DRIVE car driving in snow. It got NO traction.
It wasn't well made either, the drivers side door wouldn't shut unless I shut it from the inside. Which meant that I had to enter & leave it thru the passenger side. The first time I took my future bride on a date, I approached the passenger side.... opened the door.... and she thought, "oh how sweet", and then I said "sorry, wait a sec, I need to get in first!"
But, I was very thankful for it, took good care of it (it was a gift from my late grandfather), and it got me around college for 5 years. I put a cheapie Roadmaster amp in it, and custom built a speaker cabinet to put in the back hatch for FOUR 6 x 9's that I had on hand. I was a headbanger & those puppies reallllly screamed. It drew attention to my p.o.j. car but I didn't care, it was mine. And yes I had a mullet, until I got it buzzed off (everything except a braided rat tail).
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Funny story, I bought my oldest daughter a car for her to drive to college in. It belonged to the service manager at the local Chevy dealer and was in great mechanical shape. Only problem with the Chevette was it was god-ugly purple and had been in a hail storm. I was trying to make the point that #1 a car was transportation and #2 was it had to be dependable...distant #3 was looks. Her fiance thought it was a joke and after she finished college he sold it after thay got maried and bought her a Nice car.
 
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It was the 70's the world was different. I spent over a year with my cousin helping him somehow put a GM 350 w4 barrel carb into a completely trashed 1960 Corvair with a 4 speed manual. The Corvair was a total rust bucket and trashed interior. We changed the steering and suspension using Corvette parts. He kept the completely trashed body and interior the way it was. He was building a stealth street racer.

In those days cruising was what kids did in SoCal. Coming off the line from stop lights was the thing. It was all about bragging rights and making others look bad. He even ran it rich to make it smoke and put a bit of oil on the manifolds to finish off the illusion of a 4 wheel heap. I can't tell you how many cars he smoked. But the looks on their faces was worth all the bruised knuckles and scrapes we got working on that thing.

One night a cop pulled us over. He wanted to know what the hell kind of car it was. When my cousin showed him the immaculate engine, the cop just laughed and walked away shaking his head. I miss that world I grew up in.
 
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-X- said:
69 GTO

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I owned a 1970 back in 1975 to 1981. Bucket seats that fit a tall big man. It Had a 400 cu 4 speed manual transmission on the floor...no PB, PS or AC. Pure instant power. Only thing I did to it was exchange the smaller less effective Quadrajet carburetor to a manual Holley 780 CFM spreadbore.

This was the best vehicle I have ever owned...my wife loved it so much she took it from me. Her small skinny left calf muscle was pressed to the max when shifting.

Here's the sad part.....The availability of high-octane leaded gasoline was attacked by the EPA & made rare. Thus the GTO could no longer be used without great expense (we were living paycheck to paycheck). At that time period there was no premium unleaded gas or canned lead gas additive. I was forced to sale it cheap. To this day my wife has never forgiven me. The guy who bought it from me totaled the car the next day.:sick:

I have always been angry @ the EPA since.

I bought a Honda Civic to replace the GTO:palm:
 
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BonifayRam said:
I owned a 1970 back in 1975 to 1981. Black Leather Bucket seats that fit a tall big man. It Had a 400 cu 4 speed manual transmission on the floor...no PB, PS or AC. Pure instant power. Only thing I did to it was exchange the Quadrajet carburetor to a manual Holley 780 CFM double pumper spreadbore.

This was the best vehicle I have ever owned...my wife loved it so much she took it from me. Her small skinny left calf muscle was pressed to the max when shifting.

Here's the sad part.....The availability of high-octane leaded gasoline was attacked by the EPA & made rare. Thus the GTO could no longer be used without great expense (we were living paycheck to paycheck). At that time period there was no premium unleaded gas or canned lead gas additive. I was forced to sale it cheap. To this day my wife has never forgiven me. The guy who bought it from me totaled the car the next day.:sick:

I bought a Honda Civic to replace the GTO:palm:
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This is a horrible story. Why did you tell it?
Now I'm as mad as your wife
 
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BonifayRam said:
I bought a Honda Civic to replace the GTO:palm:
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Dude I know the pain. But in the 90's I returned to American cars and have been driving them ever since. When I came back to US cars I bought a Grand Cherokee. I put 289K miles on that sucker with zero problems. I change the transmission fluid regularly and only use 100% synthetic oil (usually Mobil 1 or Castro).

My son used to listen to all my stories. His first car he wanted to pay for it himself. We went to the auction in Otay and he got a beater 15 yr old Toyota Corolla. The kid that wouldn't clean his own room would spend hours every night after work and school (damn right I made him get a job) working on that car. In 6 months I was shocked how much he had done. The car ran beautifully, the interior was really nice and he had taken the dings out of it and painted it gloss black. I told him how proud I was of him and said that he will have a lot of cars in his life but this is the one he will remember best.

My son the gear head....damn!
 
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BonifayRam said:
I owned a 1970 back in 1975 to 1981. Bucket seats that fit a tall big man. It Had a 400 cu 4 speed manual transmission on the floor...no PB, PS or AC. Pure instant power. Only thing I did to it was exchange the smaller less effective Quadrajet carburetor to a manual Holley 780 CFM spreadbore.

This was the best vehicle I have ever owned...my wife loved it so much she took it from me. Her small skinny left calf muscle was pressed to the max when shifting.

Here's the sad part.....The availability of high-octane leaded gasoline was attacked by the EPA & made rare. Thus the GTO could no longer be used without great expense (we were living paycheck to paycheck). At that time period there was no premium unleaded gas or canned lead gas additive. I was forced to sale it cheap. To this day my wife has never forgiven me. The guy who bought it from me totaled the car the next day.:sick:

I have always been angry @ the EPA since.

I bought a Honda Civic to replace the GTO:palm:
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Leaded gas was unhealthy though so it was good to eliminate it. Pretty much the entire planet has because of leads nasty effects on humans. That's why it was taken out of paint too.
 
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LesBaker said:
Leaded gas was unhealthy though so it was good to eliminate it. Pretty much the entire planet has because of leads nasty effects on humans. That's why it was taken out of paint too.
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Lead was in gas to raise octane and to lubricate valves. Auto paint has not been as forgiving since you can see failing paint jobs on used cars from various manufacturers ever since lead was removed. Eliminating lead from house paint was a good idea but not from vehicles.
 
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