"What have you done with your Dad Lately?"

My Dad died 4 years ago from complications resulting from colon cancer. He was an avid bowler with a lifetime average somewhere in the 190s. Every year on July 21st I go bowling in his honor. If only my game was good enough to honor him at the same time.

My Dad and I never shared any car moments other than telling me all my car designs looked like Corvettes in some way, but in the end he was still my Dad. I do miss him.

Thanks Tim for reminding us all there's more to it than just pistons, gas, and tires.

GRM--it's life and then some.

Tim, thanks for that column from me as well. I lost my dad 2 1/2 years ago. I am really glad that he and I were able to share a lot of car/bike related stuff over the years. No matter how much we did share, when he was gone it still wasn't enough.

Best wishes for your dad and the rest of your family in this trying time.

I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's. Unfortunately for Tim and family ,the worst is yet to come. To the OP's original question, I haven't done much with Dad lately. He's 84and living in British Columbia and I'm in Michigan. I do hug him and tell him that I love him every visit though ! We used to spend Sunday mornings cruising all the local used car lots and we did do it again the last time I was in Victoria to see him. I need to get out there again,while he's still healthy and able to do stuff. He can still play a round of golf and curls regularly, too. I guess that makes me pretty lucky.

we ran new pipes in my other house together on thursday.

I was pretty psyched to go to the local circle track with him, and my 3yo son recently. I need to do it more often.

My dad lives in the quad cities Iowa side about eight hours from me, he had a real scare with prostate camera about three years ago and I realized how much I missed out by being a typical kid. I also realized how much his example leads me in getting my kids involved when I'm tinkering.

One of my earliest memories is swapping the clutch in his GLH and beyond that it's the weekend trips to junkyards and speeding tickets in the Shelby lancer. I wish every young man had the example my dad set for me and my brothers and I hope I'm able to set the same example for my kids. I love my dad for sure!

I almost lost my dad to a brain tumor in 1988. He had to fly from Connecticut to Los Angeles for the surgery, because nobody was doing it successfully on this side of the country. Since getting that second chance with him, I have cherished every moment together. We do a lot together and he always supports whatever crackpot idea that I'm currently immersed in.

He moved to Florida a few years ago, but last week, we had an unofficial family reunion. My brother and sister rented a house on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire and just started inviting everybody in the family up for a barbeque. There were cousins that I hadn't seen in 30 years. It was one of the best weekends of my life.

My brother dragged my father's boat up from Florida and we spent a few days cruising the lake and failing to water ski.

I am lucky to know my dad as well as I do.

I am 49; my dad just turned 77. Last month was his birthday and we went and got Chinese food.

The best part is he told me about the fish tanks he and his F-I-law had (my grandpa) and the fish club they joined. These were stories I have yet to hear and I was thrilled to learn something new about my dad. Sometimes I meet him at the local car show and he tells me great car stories.

Watched a bunch of racing with him today, and had a great chat. Of course we live together (ever since Mom passed) so that makes things easier.

My Dad has been gone over 10 years now, we never got to share my hobby even though he was a line foreman in Warren MI at the Dodge Truck plant in the 70's and 80's. To be honest, he was scared to death I would follow in his footsteps and end up on the assembly line like he did, not that it is a bad life to have, he just wanted more for me. Tim's article reminds us all just how important family is, even if it isn't always the "perfect" family. I give Tim all the kudos in the world for writing about his family's struggle, sharing personal reflections is not to be underestimated, and will keep him and his father in my prayers.

I lost my father to lung cancer 11 months ago. I was sorting through old boxes today and found several pictures of him. Tough day. When I was 11 he took me to the Can Am race at Riverside Park, Ca. I fell in love with cars on that day.

My son started racing go-karts at 11. Our deal was that He had to get great grades, stay out of trouble, and work with me any time that I worked on his race cars in order to keep racing. He won a lot of Kart Races. We switched to Motorcyle powered Sprint Cars. We won 3 championships running 600cc Sprints. We didn't race last year as I was taking care of my father. This August 3rd was my son Johns 18th birthday. It was his 6th race driving his ACT asphalt late model car. He had won a heat race but that night was his first feature podium finish. He has stayed out of trouble, gotten excellent grades and starts college for Physics and Engineering this month. The time spent together building, preparing, and racing the cars has been a great way build a close relationship. Every day I can spend with him I count as Gods gift to me. That is true for his 4 older sisters too.

Treasure the times. They pass quickly.

My grandfather, who was the slowest driver I've ever known, told me a couple of great car stories.

Before the depression, his family was fairly well off. His father had one of the first, if not the first cars in town. He said that it was delivered by train. After it was offloaded, they had to finish assembling it and then read the book to learn how to drive it. They used to take people for a ride for a nickle, as most people in the area had never been in a car before.

Many years later, 1927 in fact, my grandfather was driving his father's '25 Buick. The car had been advertised as "75 horsepower, 75 miles per hour". Some kid challenged him, saying that there was no way that the car would do 75 and bet him $25 that it wouldn't. It took my grandfather and two of his friends to come up with enough cash to cover the bet, but they all piled in, made two passes along the beach in West Haven and took the guy's $25.

I'm sure that he never exceeded 50mph again.

Dad and Mom live two blocks away from me, and I see them almost every day. My dad's been pretty active in building my datsun replica with me; some of the chassis fabrication ideas were his, and a lot of the help with the sheet metal was, too.. He helped me shape the hood, and every bead in the metal except the cowl was a joint effort. At the end of this video we're working together at bead rolling the grill inserts

Last weekend he trailered it up to orlando so one of the MSCC guys could put a roll bar on for me.

When the car is finished, I'll keep it even if the handling is rubbish and I cannot autocross it. In that case, I will drive it to car shows with Dad and park it next to his muscle car. You don't get rid of something that linked to your parents.....

I have breakfast every Saturday with my dad. Bringing him with me to the challange.

I'm 22, my dad is 58. We just spent a week together in Menominee, Mi. Most of our time together was spent fishing, playing guitar, or just sitting around the fire. He is probably my best friend next to my girlfriend, and is the reason I'm into nearly every single thing I'm into.

I'm hoping to see him again in early September, and possibly his birthday in mid-september as well.

this is a really good thread. Going to see my Dad tomorrow...best man I've ever known. he really is a good guy.

I'm going for coffee with him at 7am tomorrow.

I should probably go to bed.

Going to a race somewhere next weekend, just waiting for him to decide where

Had breakfast before i left to comehome from our vacation in mass in june. first time in 4 years we had sad down and really talked other than him calling me for car advice

My old man is 86. He still lives in a retirement house I bought him a few years ago. Mom died a few years ago. He has his moments, but he is a generally cheerful and optimistic person and I know we are lucky to have him.

He came to Canada from Ireland on a cargo ship in '56. Dad borrowed he money for the ticket (approx $50) from the Canadian government.....which he paid back quickly after he got a job working for Canadian National Railroad as a laborer.

Then he sent back money so Mom and I could join him (we came on a Lockheed Constellation.....that's an airliners with four propellers and 72 pistons).

Eventually, Dad brought me to America......in a Dodge.

I ended up with six siblings (one born in Canada and five in the US).

My folks never had a penny but they must have done something right because we all managed to (at least) get masters degrees.

Like many older folks, Dad is "slipping" and his short term memory isn't so good anymore. So we are dealing with a somewhat similar situation to many folks with older parents....he has a visiting home health aid several times a week. Plus those of us in the area visit him as we can (I have a four day workweek, so I often visit on Wednesday).
He loves talking about the old days, growing up in Ireland and working in factories in England. He has lots of stories about machinery and cars. He's not so much a car enthusiast as a car mechanic. He always wanted an MG-TC but never had the money.....he loves riding in my MGB and Miata.
We cherish him.

And for some of you older people (like me), I'd suggest you start making you own good memories with the kids now. It's a terrific thing to do....and it's fun! And it doesn't have a big, grand thing. Just a visit to tell some stories and share an ice cream can mean a lot.

I am now a grandfather myself. Linda and I know we won't be around forever, so we are trying hard to make some fun memories for our grandkids. My Mom was better at creating memorable events than my Dad (although both great in their own way).
Last week, we took all four grandkids (and their parents) to Long Beach Island (LBI) for a week. As the grandkids grow older, we will take them to car events, especially vintage races (and Grandma will make sure they wear hearing protection, etc)
My daughters and son-in-laws have been to Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, Summit Point and Pocono with me.
And I know they like doing this stuff because I see them bragging about it on Facebook. When Linda and I were at the PVGP a few weeks ago, the older guy paddocked next to me brought his entire family including about six grandchildren. I told him I was incredibly jealous (but in a good way).

Here's me and Grandma at LBI last week.

My dad passed away two years ago. He introduced me to my two passions: Racing and sailing. He was an engineer and spent countless hours at the kitchen table with me explaining how things worked. He designed and built all manner of things from portable camping toilets to cars and boats. He was the inventor of the child bike seat. The many hours I spent with him designing and working on stuff are some of the best memories that I have. He introduced me to Chuck Tatem and Jerry Demele of Crusader Cars. I spent my high school free time hanging out at their shop and going to races as Jerry's crew. I learned a lot about racing that way.

I miss my dad. My son and I will be at this year's Challenge with a car and are building the rotary powered Lotus that will be ready for next year's event.

Here is a picture of me with my dad in 1959 sitting in the buck for a car he designed and built... remember 1959...

My died died before my mom even knew she was pregnant with me. So I never had that influence. I know he was a car guy - he'd bought a '79 Trans Am a few months prior. He flipped it and was ejected through the T-Tops. Had he been wearing a seat belt - who knows how different my life would have been. I most likely wouldn't have moved from Kentucky to Texas on my own when I was 19 and not met my wife and had my own kids.

I try to make up for what I didn't do with my dad, by doing those things with my son. He's almost 11 and hasn't taken an interest in mechanical things, despite my best efforts. He does play a mean game of Pokemon though.

Although I share a business with my dad, we've never been close, and I doubt that we ever will. A few years ago we did a road trip together, and I hoped that would draw us closer. It helped, but only a little. I think that his alcoholic dad screwed things up to the point that the father/son relationship is permanently sabatoged.

That's the bad news. The good news is that my son and I are best friends. I can only hope that 30 years from now, he'll be reminiscing about all the great times we had together......

My father died when I was 25 (68 now). But in those 25 years he taught me how to repair/rebuild almost any thing on a car. He also taught me how to run machine tools (lathe, etc) well enough that I got a job as a machinist at age 18 to pay for my college degree.

I often wish he had been around longer to see what I had accomplished with the skills he taught me.

Haven't seen or spoken to my father since somewhere back around 2004 or 2005. I have a really good relationship with my father-in-law and they (my in-laws) have effectively been my parents since then.