I've told some of these stories here before, but I'll repeat a couple. Our family has a weird automotive family tree.
The first car I drove was my Mom's '75 Mustang II fastback/hatchback. 2.3 and an
automatic...a very safe car for a teen to learn in! It was her second Mustang, replacing a '65. The first
manual trans. car I drove was my friend Todd’s families ’77 Pontiac Astre. We saved this emblem from the ‘75 Mustang II after it got sideswiped by a drunk, then repaired.
When Mom got the '75 Mustang, my middle brother (Steve) bought the '65 Mustang as his next car, replacing a '65 Dart wagon that couldn't run over 25mph without the oil lamp coming on. Over time, the '65 Mustang fell victim to a series of accidents, and was parted out. I actually just dispersed the last of the old ’65 Mustang parts from Mom and Dad's garage a year or so ago to a friend here in Michigan. So parts of that old car are still local to me. I kept the gas cap.
Steve then bought a
1970 Plymouth Duster from the original owner.
It would eventually be mine, and is the Duster mentioned in my signature. But that’s later in the story. He kept it a year or two, front end got wrinkled at the community college. He then bought a ’73 Chevy Van from our family barber, and sold the Duster to my oldest brother (Bob). Bob used the Duster as his daily driver, so he could turn his new '75 Hang 10 Dart (his first new car) into a show car. Here’s the Hang 10, in one of its many phases of development.
He took me to a lot of shows in that Hang 10, including several Car Craft Street Machine Nationals. One of those shows was at Indy, and we got to take a lap around IMS with a pack of show cars at a pretty good clip...pretty cool! Lots of great memories (Thanks Bob!)
I had a pair of Great Aunts/Great Uncles on my Dad’s Mom’s side. They always did things together. One day, one couple bought a new
triple black '77 Cordoba.
This is the car mentioned in my signature. A few years later, the other couple bought a new red ’79 Cordoba. After they passed, Dad had to settle their estate. The red ’79 sold to a friend, Dave C. Here he is c1986 when he and I went to Indy for the Hot Rod Nationals.
Dave C., shown with the red ’79 Cordoba, was the guy in our group of friend who bought a
’72 Dodge Charger Rallye 340 from a local fellow in Illinois. Dave C. lived just a block up the street from Todd (the 5 speed Astre guy).
That’s the Charger mentioned in my signature. While joy riding in it with Todd and I, it blew a rear freeze plug. Dave C. pulled the motor, and more, and started turning it into a pro-street inspired ride. But after much money buying parts, and some dis-assembly and repair, he sent it to his uncles barn. Wanting a new toy, Dave C. fell in love with the red ’79 Cordoba and bought it from us.
He eventually sold the Charger to Todd (the Astre guy), who wanted to build it into a 1/4 mile drag car. After more work and more money spent on parts, Todd decided he really wanted to build a ’71 Chevelle. I found this one for sale, and he bought the plain-jane, 307/powerglide car, and sold me the Charger. Here’s Todd’s Chevelle today.
Here’s the Charger later in life, after I bought it from Todd, and started further dis-assembly.
Later, the other great Aunt and Uncle with the black ’77 Cordoba, wanted to trade for a new downsized '80s Cordoba. My grandma, driving a '70 Newport 2 dr. 383 at the time (she bought it new, and it literally did not fit in her Model T sized garage...you couldn’t close the overhead door), liked the smaller ’77 Cordoba, so she sold the Newport to my brother Bob, and bought the Cordoba from her sister (my Great Aunt). Here’s my oldest brother Bob and my Dad giving the old Newport a quick tune-up. Dad taught all of boys our automotive basics, skills we all still use today (Thanks Dad!).
Got all that?
Since Bob now had the Newport as a daily driver, he sold the ’70 Duster to my Dad for $100. Here it is, the day I got it (to drive…Dad held the title in case I did not stay on the straight and narrow), at Todd’s house…my first stop to show it off! Remember the Pontiac Astra I mentioned above? That’s it in the background of the photo.
And here it is a few years later, with some long haired kid that used to wax the car for me.
I bought my first
new car in 1991, after moving to the Detroit area, a 1991 Camaro RS in Arctic White, 305, 5 spd., a/c, rear defog, am/fm/cassette, 16" wheels, and that's about it. Very lightly optioned car with base interior. I loved that car. Wish I had kept it. Here it is sitting in front of the sign for the Chevrolet Central Office (later renamed World Headquarters as you see in this sign) at the GM Tech Center in Warren, MI.
Believe it or not, I skipped a lot of details to keep the story short!