Good post and cool pics Sum... are those baby moons on that wagon?
Some of ya'll had it really cool for sure.... 38Chev, man to have that GTO at 16 AND for it to be your dad's bought new AND it still be in your possession! I'm absolutely as jealous of you as anyone could be.... but also as happy as can be for you... now get that ride out on the pavement somewhere!
The folks tried impressing me with the 4 wheel gig too... with little success, especially since they thought I was going to share with my brother (i'm the good looking one up front)
As you can see from my face it did make me happier that I could have my own ride though, and one I could steer myself... but there still wasn't enough power (all the cowboy cothes in the world are worthless without actual HORSEpower right?).
Finally found my first true love (1970 Monkey Wards B&S) which I may not have been able to touch the ground on, but I had it out in the snow that Christmas day and very quickly learned it didn't have enough horsepower to move a tree. I rode it everyday the sun came up and it was one of my biggest influences in life when it came to wrenching as my dad made sure that we fixed it ourselves with the least amount of $ possible.
Finally got to my first car (much less cool then many of yours here for sure, but still mine and I mucho fun had in and on that car), a rusty but trusty '72 Pinto. From this car on, I've still never owned a car I didn't have to do a lot of work to get on the road (less any of my pickup trucks here lately). From the body work and the floorboard (made of MANY license plates riveted together and the stop sign hump I made for the 4 speed) to the junk yard rear end I put in it after finding all the metal in the original one. Not to mention make payments on it to my dad while wrenching on the whoel time.
Completed in couple months that summer and on the road by my August b-day...
16 years old and that New Years Eve I became the local don't drink and drive posterboy... that was one sad New Years day.
Helped build and install a small block in my dads '72 Corvette and in turn got to use it to go to my highschool graduation, which of course my date and I never made it to.... there was too many cruise-in spots, racing on airport road and a few donuts here and there to waste time in some gymnasium with a bowl full of spiked punch and girls with entirely too many clothes on.
"My" first hotrod... '71 Monte(and one of MANY Monte Carlo's to come into my life).
Full work up from all of drivetrain and complete body job(she was real rough when I got).
Then I picked the 70-1/2 SS Camaro in this pic that I sat on for along time. Years later (when I went in the Army) my dad built the motor in it for my successful graduation of basic training. When I got back from my MOS training, Alfy(today's starter at the ECTA) and I did a ton of body work, quarter replacement, etc. and painted it in the driveway under a giant bug ridden oak tree on a 20 thrash for me to take to Germany with me at the end of that leave (ask Al about the trip to get me on a plane nad that car on a boat to get overseas... was a fun one for sure). Lotsa racing with it over there at dragstrips as well as some cash bets on the autobahn... an overall experience I wish every young man could do for himself (and country) by the way.
My last hotrod (and first move towards trucks actually, a '69 El Camino I spent alot of time at Rockingham in), before it started sitting too often to consititute keeping a car in the way of where my bikes needed to be.
Ohhh yeah.. can't forget The Van, my transfer vehicle back home after high school from finding myself in Key West.
Ok, that was a little more then my "first" set of wheels of course, but thought I'd share what I had pics of on hand in my "car" folder.
Today I have room to store and work on 20 bikes in the space that would only allow to the same on a couple cars at a time. With any of those cars taking up the space of all ten of these(some of our personal bikes)... it's a no brainer for us "at this specific point in life anyway", but I do look forward to getting back to cars someday for sure(with a specific one or two in mind).... and I have all of you to thank for that of course!
Todd
