This will be a good memory test for me.
Let's see. The first car I ever bought was a 1934 Ford Tudor. I paid
$150 for it in 1963. It came with a Pontiac engine laying on the floor
where the back seat shold have been. With the help of three buddies, I
pushed it home -- about a mile and a half. Put it together and drag
raced it. It went 12.56, 112 mph. The Pontiac engine was a 1960 NASCAR
389. Lucky find.
My first driver was a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 with a 312 V8. Paid fifty
bucks for it in 67. It had bad steering parts. Used it to deliver
pizzas until the right front wheel fell off. Literally. I chiseled the
VIN tag off the door post and abandoned it on a Chicago southside
street. A 57 Dodge followed, then a 57 Desoto. Both had the 325 V8 and
no floorboards. They had rusted out. Next was a 62 Studebaker Lark
convertible with a flathead six that had a burnt valve. I used it to
deliver pizzas, but totaled it when I rear ended someone. A 62 Pontiac
Catalina convertible followed. It had a four-speed and a 389, but it
had been converted from an automatic, so it had too high of a rear
axle ratio and went through clutches. I eventually put a 4.10 : 1 ring
and pinion in it, which was really too low for that stock motor. Oh
well.
About that time I sold the 34 Ford and bought an old top fuel
dragster. I built an injected Pontiac engine with 12:1 compression, a
roller cam, and mechanical fuel injection (an enderle/algon hybrid of
my own design). It ran 8.65 187 on 70% nitro, but I couldn't keep head
gaskets in it, even with copper O-rings. Pontiacs had only ten head
bolts in those days.
My next drive was a 61 Olds, followed by another 62 Pontiac, then a 59
Pontiac.
I sold the dragster and bought a crashed 442 Olds funny car with a
supercharged 426 Hemi that was pretty badly damaged. I also bought a
67 Barracuda funny car with no drivetrain. It was the original Chi--
Town Hustler and had been campaigned and stripped by someone else
after Austin Coil and company got rid of it. I rebuilt the hemi and
got a friend to build a competition torque flite, and I put them in
the Barracuda. I couldn't afford to run it, so I essentially gave it
away to the guy who was going to drive it and let him take over the
financing. I worked for him for a percentage of the gross. We named it
Flite Master, which was the name of the transmission builder who gave
us the free gearboxes (which had to be changed every run). It went
7.42, 205 at Kansas City. The best it had done in its Chi-Town days
was 7.35, 197. But it was only with the advice of Coil that I was able
to make it work that well.
My driver at the time was a mint 1969 Lincoln Mark III. It eventually
shorted out while parked in my driveway and basically burned to the
ground. It was a beautiful car. Sad. I followed with a 63 Impala
Super Sport that was kind of trashed.
After the Barracuda, we built an all new funny car: a 1973 Dodge mini
Charger, which was a shortened and narrowed fiberglass Charger body on
a tube chassis. The Charger managed a best of 6.51, 225 at New York
National Dragway on Long Island. It was called Qu Voe Charger. Qu Voe
was an automotive additive company that gave us 10K. A lot of money in
those days. After two years we replaced the Charger with a 1974
Corvette named Fever. It was yellow and beautiful. but it handled like
doo-doo, as a result of the short tail and not enough rear downforce.
It did a best of 6.35, 237 but crashed violently.. Eight end over ends
at over 200 mph and a ball of flame. . The driver walked away with a
concussion and broken ribs. After that we ran a Mustang that looked
like a police car, complete with mars lights, and was called Chicago
Patrol. It ran 6.41, but it was short lived, because the guy who
drove it and owned it went to jail. That, of course, is another story
for another day.
My daily driver at the time was a 1969 Javelin that belonged to the
girl I married. That was followed by a 1973 Hornet, because only an
AMC dealer would take the Javelin in trade. Next was a Toyota toaster
van. By the I was working for car magazines, so I always had a press
car. Got into advertising shortly thereafter, working on the Jaguar
account and bough a Jag 79 XJ12L in 1985. Kept it for 22 years. Next
were company cars from ad agencies: a Lincoln Town Car, a Buick Park
Avenue, and a Dodge Intrepid. That was followed by a Dodge Stratus,
then another Intrepid. A Dodge Caravan came in there somewhere. I also
leased a Dodge Durango, a Pt Cruiser, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
While working in LA I found my 55 Chevy BelAir Convertible and shipped
it back home to Michigan on a Chrysler enclosed transporter with a
couple of Vipers to keep it company. I've owned the Chevy for nine
years now, and it's pretty close to mint, with 25K on the clock since
it's frame-off restoration. My daily driver is a four-door Jeep
Wrangler, a fun machine.
As a footnote, I should add that from among all those Dodge and Jeep
vehicles, not one of them has ever had to go to the dealer for repairs
other than brake lining replacement. They've been pretty much flawless.
Since it's Friday night, I'm going to take a ride down Woodward in the
Chevy. I'm writing a article for the New York Times about the dream
cruise and how it fits into the depressed Detroit scenario. It's going
to be a time line countdown, and it's to start taking the pulse of the
guys on the street.
Paul
On Jun 5, 2009, at 7:50 PM, John Sessoms wrote:
More or less in order starting from age 16. I don't think I've
forgotten any:
(16) 1961 Bel Air 4 dr; 283 & powerglide - an automatic that could
be push started. Actually my parents car that I "inherited" because
I could fix it.
196x-something Morris Minor that I never got running - who knew from
English Whitworth?
(21) 196x-something Fiat 850 Spyder; breaking a fan belt ripped out
the oil seals - it was very prone to breaking fan belts. Sold it
after my foot went through the driver's side floorboard.
1964 Bel Air 4 dr wagon; the rear bumper fell off and took the
license plate with it on the way to a Deep Purple concert. The
Highway Patrol was pretty understanding about the whole thing.
196x-something Fiat 124 Spyder; you'd think I would have learned my
lesson from the 850.
(25) 1965 Mustang convertable; 289 & 4 speed ... some drunk a$$hole
ran a stop sign & smashed it. Total loss.
1972 Pinto wagon; weirdest car I ever knew - body made in USA was
all metric hardware, engine made in Germany was all SAE standard
hardware. All I could afford after the insurance company screwed me
on the Mustang.
1964 VW Van; another non-starter - it ran, but could not pass NC's
safety inspection.
195x-something Volvo; maybe a 544 - the only thing my ex-wife got
when she took off. As I remember I only paid a couple hundred
dollars for it. It ran OK, but needed work. I didn't have time to
fix it up before she took it.
(30) 1980 Chevrolet Citation; the only car I ever bought brand new
off the show-room floor. Never, ever buy the FIRST YEAR of any new
automotive technology. Great concept. Lousy execution.
1981, 1983, 1984, & 1987 Chevrolet G20 long-bed vans; 350 V8, Auto,
AC - LOTS OF ROOM INSIDE. Leased by my employer. I bought the last
one for residual value at the end of the lease and drove it another
10 years. Should have kept it and put a new motor in it. The company
switched to Chevy Astro vans & I drove several of them as well.
(40) 1978 MGB Tourer; Safety Fast. Mid-life crisis and I couldn't
afford a Porsche.
Drove it until some knucklehead pulled out in front of me & smashed
the front left. Bought a 1979 Tourer from a junkyard for parts and
rebuilt it myself, but kept the parts car as well because it was too
complete to get rid of. In 1996 the car was vandalised and I've
never been able to get the ready to rebuild it. I've still got both
of them. Maybe next year.
(48) 1995 Ford Escort wagon; 4 cyl, 5 spd, AC, Cruise, power
everything - NON-interference engine (don't worry about that timing
belt - run it 'til it breaks).
Problematic cooling system. I think there's some kind of plastic
radiator that part melted and clogged the block. I got stuck in
traffic in July 2002; it overheated ONE TIME and blew the engine.
Literally the temp guage went up to the peg, bounced and came right
back down. Got another 5 miles before it lost power and died.
Aluminum engine, blown head gasket, warped block, warped head.
Ford Dealer told me it would cost less to get a replacement from Mr.
Engine than it would for them to repair it. Apparently did the same
thing to the replacement engine in 2004 while I was overseas.
(55) 1998 Mazda 626; 4 cyl, 5 spd, AC, no power nothin'. I had three
hours of transportation to go looking for a car in January 2005. I
added after market cruise control. Been a good, reliable car, but
nowhere to throw out a sleeping bag in the back. I've averaged 30
mpg city, 36 mpg highway and 31 mpg combined - about 5 mpg better
than the EPA rating. For Sale - $2500.
(59) 2005 Ford Focus Wagon; 4 cyl, 5 spd, AC, Cruise, power
everything, 6 disk CD in dash. I've had it two months and the new
hasn't worn off, although I already know a couple things I got to
fix - clutch switch to disengage cruise control and the master
control for the rest of the power windows have to be fixed.
Not as much room to throw out a sleeping bag as I originally hoped,
but I'm working on that too.
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