We all lead busy lives. Work. Family. Projects. We’re bound to forget something or someone along the way. I’m guilty of both. Consider this confession time–and it involves the vehicle that started my lifelong obsession with cars.
Sure, we all played with toy cars as kids. And we had our favorites, of course. But what was the car that you …
For me it started when I was about 8 years old. For whatever reason my Dad took me to a custom car show and when we walked in the front door, this was there.
LOOK AT THAT! IT'S A CAR SHAPED LIKE A HELMET AND IT HAS MACHINE GUNS!
There were a lot of other cars there, but the Red Baron is the only one I remember.
While waking on a semi-resdential street about 1947 or '48 a '47 MG TC zipped past me an made a 90 degree corner at a good clip with a raspy exhaust and set the hook for me. Bought the original issue of Road & Track about the same time.
Liked all cars in general and built models in the 60's but my downfall was seeing a new 1968 Ford Cortina GT on dealers lot.Bought her and still have her and a 1969 GT also....it's a sickness
I fell in love with cars when my father took me to the 1963 running of Le Mans while he was stationed in Europe. That’s when the predecessor to the Ford GT ran, the Lola GT, that's the one that got me started. I’ve owned a number of Fords & foreign cars in my life; starting with the Fords, in order of ownership: ‘60 Falcon 6 cyl, ‘63 Falcon Sprint V8. ‘66 Mustang V8 fastback & presently the ‘66 GT-350H. The foreign cars in order; ‘63 Sunbeam Alpine, ‘66 Sunbeam Tiger, ‘61 356 Porsche, a number of Morris Minors (Traveller being my favorite), Birkin (Lotus 7), ‘60 Triumph, and presently another Birkin. Because I believe they’re no fun in the garage all these cars were or are drivers. If it’s not raining the Shelby or Birkin are on the
I bought an Austin Healey when I was 16 and only had a drivers permit. Two friends that were licensed drivers drove me out to look at the car. I paid $500 bucks cash. I had saved the money working all summer it was now early September 1973 .It was a black sprite with wire wheels, I was in love with the idea of motorsports ,sports cars the idea of being a race car driver, the romance the history of European cars. I drove it home with one of the friends in the passenger seat to be legal. My parents never owned a car so I really wanted one. Once I owned It I was required to "take your mother to the grocery store" On a regular basis. A small price to pay for my freedom. I was hooked. In college a 1963 Volvo 122s wagon, after college I drove it to Colorado for a job, it barely made the trip. Then a 122s two door I bought in Glenwood Springs. I have owned 4 sprites and 1 MG midget, one was a bug-eye that I Vintage raced, bought a BMW 1600 to race. ( that never happened,race it I mean ) Owned multiple 2002 BMWs a 320is with a stroker motor ,then e12 528, e34 525i touring,e39 525i sport wagon, 1956 Porsche 356 Sun roof coupe, 65 356sc outlaw and another Volvo 122s with a built motor. Some people would call it a sickness, once you dip your toe in the motor pool you can never get the oil off of you. The world has changed so much, I am a man torn between my love of fun sports cars and the ever present social responsibility of climate change. I consider my self fortunate to have enjoyed a lot of 4cylinder fun cars to drive, no super cars, no 1000 hp race cars or even 300 hp cars . Buy the way, that's alot of SU carbs !! I trust that I lost some of you readers by now, if not I will leave you with this. It's more fun to drive a slow car fast then a fast car slow.
I love these stories! Keep them coming.
If you have photos, please feel free to add them, too!
I came home from the hospital in a ’67 GTO: four-speed box, Posi rear, dog dish hubcaps.
It’s been downhill from there.
When I was 10 years old, I was rode my bike down to the gas station to get gas for my lawn mower and go-kart and saw a brand new 1965 MGB-GT, BRG with a Biscuit interior and chrome wire wheels. I was smitten and it has never changed. I now own a 1972 MGB-GT, 1969 MGC-GT and 1974 MGB-GT V8 and I still think they are the best looking sports cars next to an XKE.
1975 firebird formula 400. GM Code 29 paint with a white interior and a 4-speed. I eventually purchased it from the LEO that owned it. Loved that car. I hope to get another someday. Mine went 250K miles. I took it across the country 3-4 times and to Florida at least 6 times. It was a great road trip car.
dean1484 said:1975 firebird formula 400. GM Code 29 paint with a white interior and a 4-speed. I eventually purchased it from the LEO that owned it. Loved that car. I hope to get another someday. Mine went 250K miles. I took it across the country 3-4 times and to Florida at least 6 times. It was a great road trip car.
Nice. I frequently have dreams of a driving flat-black late second-gen Firebird/Camaro (it changes) around. Is that weird? Maybe I should follow my dreams :-D
There always was a classic MG or other British car in the garage growing up, but I never really paid any attention to them until my dad bought a 1975 Caterham. That car got me hooked, unfortunately (or fortunately) he sold it just before my brother turned 16, a Healey 3000 Mk1 BN7 took it's place which really got me started on working on old british cars. The Healey was followed by an Elan +2, then a pair of Bugeye Sprites, then a Lotus 7 replica, followed by a Lotus 11 replica, and now the current pair of cars, Lotus Europa and MGB GT. Dad has/had his own projects since the Healey but so far only one (1965 MGB) has returned to the road, hopefully the Elan (his car) I'm working on now will be back on the road next year.
I don't think it's just one car that started it all for me, but several, starting when I was barely into double digits...
*The guy who was engaged to my cousin took me for a ride in his MGA (Recently I thanked him for starting all this, the two of us now grey haired.)
*The pricey private golf club just up the street, and the cool cars it seemed to attract... various Jaguar and other British, Mercedes, Porsche, and even a first generation Corvette. and an early "porthole" Thunderbird. And severa I couldn't identify, no internet back then, but they were clearly not a Buick
*The young couple at church who had a white TR-3, red interior, wires...
*The cute girl up the street (she college age vs me in junior high) who had a bugeye Sprite
*My uncle who had a hulking Jaguar sedan from the '50's... the wood trim, the leather, the pointy steering wheel hub, and that engine...
So by the time I was in college I was primed to fall in with the sports car guys, finally buying a Fiat 124 Spyder when finances permitted.
Another one that sticks out:
During my early teens, I worked at a bike shop.
One day, while shopping/killing time downtown, I saw one of the “adults” who worked there. He was driving his red Alfa Spider.
Did I want a ride?
Heck yeah.
So he drove me down and back through town, dropping me off where he picked me up.
That left a mark.
My mother was born in 1948 and grew up on a farm in western Nebraska. The Farm, tucked neatly alongside State Highway 87, lies 13 miles south of the town of Hay Springs, population 570. It's not exactly the middle of nowhere... but you can see it from Grandma's porch. I spent 1-2 weeks every summer at The Farm, running wild, catching frogs, and playing around in all the old vehicles Grandpa had stashed around the place.
To everyone else in the world, it probably sounds like a strange place to have birthed a life long interest in motorsports in general, but The Farm has indeed done so, and for multiple generations. Among the cars and trucks that formed my love of all things mechanical are a 1952 Dodge Coronet, a 1955 GMC 3100, a '50s Checker limousine, a Willys pickup with a flathead 4 cyl engine, a 1961 Chevrolet Apache shortbed stepside, two (yes, two) MGBs, a '70s vintage Mercury Cougar (Land Barge edition), and a 1930s International pickup. Add to this eclectic collection of cars and trucks two Honda Goldwings, a CB350, a CB750, and my uncle's CBX1100. All of these mechanical marvels were either at The Farm, or frequent visitors there (many of them are still there, slowly returning to the earth). I can't point to any one vehicle like most of you; rather, it was Grandpa's erstwhile junkyard that ignited my automotive passion.
1st - Speed Racers Mach 5
2nd - The broken down breadvan in the driveway
3rd - 1965 Mustang fastback lowered with wide flairs.
Good taste would follow much later.
J.A. Ackley said:I love these stories! Keep them coming.
If you have photos, please feel free to add them, too!
Your story and the caddy is excellent. Loved the article and your writing style.
That's a difficult one. Birth? The Matchbox Ferrari 250 SWB I've had since I was a toddler? The matching '68 Cougars my grandmother and my uncle got one year? The E36 M3box Fiat roadster (might have been a 124) my dad had one summer? One of my great uncles ran a garage -- to this day, there's a mix of grease, rubber, and stogie that defines what a proper garage smells like -- and my grandfather ran a taxi company. There were always interesting cars around.
This is a no brainer for me. I was a high school junior in 1967, playing lacrosse for the Chicago Lacrosse Club. We had a game in Michigan and a teammate drove me to the game in his '65 Austin Healey 3000 Mk 3, BJ8. It was white with red leather interior. I was hooked. The next year I graduated and entered the army. Three years later I returned to Chicago and called this guy to see if he knew anyone selling a sports car. He sold me his car for $1,000, and I drove it to Baltimore for college. In the spring of my senior year at Hopkins, the main bearings failed and I sold it for $650 to get my pilot's license. I've enjoyed over 40 years of flying, but have always regretted selling that car! I now settle for a very nice '99 BMW Z3. But I wish it was the big Healey!
My boyhood friend, ket telling me about 'foreign sports cars, like MG's'
Then reading the book; The Red Car..
Then, meeting a guy with a Austin Healey Lemans at my home town...
The straw that broke the camels back; Buying my first LBC, a '61 Sprite that has been crashed.. Fixing it up....
All down hill from there ... LOLOLOL
In reply to Dwight :
It certainly feels like destiny sometimes, doesn't it?
When I was young my dad had a Conquest TSI that I thought was the coolest thing on planet earth and I was super upset when he sold it. I have marketplace alerts setup for them but am doubtfull I will have another one in my life.
The car that sparked my intrest in classic cars were the storys my grandpa told of all the aircooled Beetles he owned and thats why I ended up with one in my garage.
Actually, in my case it was a book, "The Red Car", written by don Stanford back in 1954. It was about a young man in coloradp that found a red wrecked MG TC in a service station and what he went through to buy it, repair it and then race it. That may be why my current driver, a 1977 Datsun 280Z coupe, is red with a white racing stripe.
For me it was a 1930 Ford Model A Rumble Seat Coupe. In high school I knew a family that owned several Model T's and Model A's and that got me going. I was 17 and my parents bought me the '30 Model A Coupe. It had been mechanically restored 10 years prior and repainted long before that. It drove fine, but visually it was rough. I dove into a cosmetic restoration that took almost a year. My bedroom at home was stuffed with Model A parts. I can still see the nickel plated radiator shell hanging on the wall near the window!
Once complete, I drove the wheels off that thing, even through several Connecticut winters! Stock Model A's didn't have a heater, but a prior owner had installed a period correct aftermarket one and it was awesome. It consisted of a "plenum" thingy that ran over a replacement now finned exhaust manifold. At the front, right behind the radiator fan was a large opening to catch the air. At ther rear was an outlet about the size of a golf ball. The end of that outlet went through the firewall into the cabin aimed at the passenger's feet. The temp control was a cover over that outlet with a pivot at the top. Adjusting that opening was the temp control. That heater worked pretty well, but it had no defroster. I had to carry a rag to wipe condensation on the windshield and an old credit card with me to scrape off ice on the inside!
I installed an aftermarket period correct exhaust whistle that for high school kid was just too much fun. A butterfly valve in the exhaust stream would divert gases throug a 4 tone calliope whiste. Blasted while in a tunnel was an invitation to damaged ear drums!
Those of you familiar with Model A's know the trans was a 3 speed crashbox (meaning no synchros). Every shift required being double clutched. I got to be lightning fast at those double clutched shifts!
I was a high school senior and spent an enormous amount of time enjoying and working on that car. Took a trophy at an antique auto show in fact!
It wasn't until my own kids were in high school that it dawned on me what a genius move it was for my parents to buy me that car. That thing totally kept me out of the trouble that my friends were getting into; I just didn't have time to do risky things, LOL. A few years ago when my father was sort of fading away in a nursing home, I asked him if the reason for the Model A was to keep me out of trouble. He grinned, nodded and said "Took you a while to figure that out, didn't it?"
I've been a major gearhead ever since. I'm in my late 60's and have never owned an automatic trans car and have never owned a boring car!
For me, it was Ford Mustang GT500CR that I first saw at a local car show. Since that day I have been a huge fan of Ford Mustang cars.
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