I started playing with cars in last half of the '50s which is beginning to seem like a long time ago. I remember working on cars all day long and getting awfully dirty, but, never tired. I still get dirty these days.
In those days, there were a lot of interesting cars-Studebakers, Kaiser-Frazer, Henry J's, Nash, Hudson Hornets, and so on. Many, if not all, fell before the onslaught of the small block Chevy. Everyone wanted one but few could afford them at the time. In '49, Oldsmobile and Cadillac introduced the overhead valve V8, but, it was the Chevy engine that changed the world as we knew it. It did not take long to figure out that a 283 SBC bored 0.125" over made 301 cubic inches and an engine that would rev like no other. Not so long ago, I saw a black '55 Chevy with a straight front axle and a tilt glass front end. It belonged to a guy that had bought it 30 years ago when he was in high school and had never let it go. A smart man!
When I got out of college, the muscle car era was just beginning. I bought a '65 Plymouth with a 383 and a 4-speed and little else. A year later, I traded it for a '66 Fairlane with a 390. It surely did not run like the magazine articles claimed! It did have an AC, though. Shortly thereafter, I went overseas and worked in various places around the world until the mid-70s. When I got back, new muscle cars were like the 130 lb weakling as the real thing had been killed by high insurance rates and newly mandated emissions controls.
I bought a built '70 Camaro SS that did not seem to run all that well and went thru a series of engines ending up with a 468 BBC. Worst mistake of my life was selling it. Worst mistake if we are talking cars, anyway!
In March of 1986, I saw the Car and Driver article on the new Grand National as well as the AutoWeek article titled "Sideways at any Speed".
How could I not buy one after reading those two articles? I still have the GN I bought a few days later as well as a T and an '81 El Camino with a more or less stock turbo Regal drive train (I sold the Elky last year-2008). Along the way, I have owned a part of a couple more Regals, and I still have a '69 Camaro SS 396 convertible that I restored in the '80s for my daughter. I took it down to bare metal some time ago and it has been repainted. I pulled the brakes and underhood wiring, but, have not started putting it back together. I also picked up a '73 Challenger with a 440 a couple of years ago that is languishing away awaiting some attention. (Been working on it for the past couple of months-much worse condition than I thought, but, it seems to run good.
Although I spent my entire career in the geophysical exploration industry, I found a partner and opened up an automotive service business on the side. It was based on the premise that people would pay a premium for good, honest service rather than choosing low price. It worked well and we expanded to a second shop after a couple of years. Later, I was asked to spend a lot of time in the People's Republic of China on a new operation and I sold out to my partner as I knew that absentee ownership would not work for long. I do miss having those lifts and other equipment at my disposal, though. (put a four post lift in last summer-2008)
At the moment, I seem to be retired. That is a polite means of saying I am not getting a paycheck. I returned to the family farm in 2002 and I am supposedly trying to learn how to be a farmer while I mull the future. At this moment (2008), I have a bunch of goats, some sheep, and some Angus cattle on the place. I should have put my money into cars.
Beyond cars, I am also interested in Radio Controlled planes and cars as well as guns and knives. Hopefully, I shall never grow up, but, I am growing old fast!
Steve