What was your best moment in 2010

Wholy crap a lot of tradegy in the world of the hamb this year. Good thing there were a lot of kids born this year. Personally for me it was good and a bad year:
Bad my roadster got stolen and never recovered.
Good wrestling denise,(hotrodladycruiser) megan(chevyroxgirl) and carey(vintagevixen) at the jalopyshow down in the mud.and letting them win hahaaha And blasting through the mud with my henry J. Hanging with gene winfield in indy.
Oh and today picking up a 29 roadster for a very nice price bad its in a million pieces.
Well hope next year will be a better year for everybody out there in hamb land.

 

Opening garage door, driving out garage door, first drive onto a street, to the first car gathering, all within 30 minutes.
Driving Miss Chevious to the HAMB Drags, meeting so man of y'all. Tryin' a rolling start in parking lot and thinkin' engine fn locked up, turn it over with an end wrench because starter won't fn do it. STARTS! See leaking trail of fluid after quick blast, having to laugh at plug knocked out of cooler, car leaking water. Denise drives by while I'm laughing!
Don't sound like much, but probably covers a good dose of my good dose for this year.

 

September 18.

 

Having my lost daugther come home after a year of not knowing if she was even alive . . . . . then embracing me and telling me she loves me. God have Mercy it was hard.

 

the birth of my first grandchild, March 4th

having my son home from the Air Force, 4th of July

firing my supercharged '57 Olds motor for the first time,
on my birthday September 16th

 

March 6th, the grand opening of my bar!

couple pics:

getting the night started with some drinks:


a view from up top:


the mars volta:


That was a good night (from what i remember)
haven't looked back since!

 

A good day for me was retiring on june first of this year. Feels strange.

 

Highlight of my year would be getting to meet new friends and keeping old ones some of which are hitting it harder right now than others but they're still around to talk too.

 

Really That was a Great Day for me also My Birthday 47 And I won a event at PGH raceway First win with my Altered

 

Carwise, making some fixes on my old Holden.

 

The BEST was the birth of my first grandson, Keeton. The success of this Summers Cruise Nites. I am very pleased with the Amazing Success of my first Car Show I really owe all my friends that made it happen a THANK YOU! Oh ya I won my first Trophy this year (2nd in unfinished) I am very proud of it.

 

Getting the body work and paint completed

 

Watching my 17 year old win his first USAC sprint car race at Rosville Ca.

 

The birth of my first son (fifth child). I would have been just as happy with another girl, but it feels good to have a son! He was born healthy at home , just awesome all around.

 

I believe it was Dickens who wrote in the Tale of 2 Cities "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" 2010 certainly feels that way for me.

I buried 2 grandfathers, a great aunt and an aunt who was only a year older than me. I also saw the passing of a great mentor and friend in the car hobby. Finally I said goodbye to 2 of my longtime companion dogs who succumbed to illness this year.

On the other side I started in October of last year being given a 1958 Wartburg which had sat in a field for 20 years with the goal of having it prepped by June to enter into the "trifecta of crap" 3 low buck automotive competions in 1 year with 1 car.

First the Big Apple to Big Easy rally, New York to New Orleans in 5 days with a car purchased for $500 or less (www.baberally.com). We finished the build at 11 pm the night before the rally and made it 3 miles toward the hotel start before it died out with fueling issues and we towed it home. Woke up with 3 hours sleep, fixed the fueling system and headed out again to catch the rally only do have the oil pump seals blow 60 mile later. I sent the rest of the team ahead and did a motor swap solo in 2 days then rather stupidly decided to drive 18 hours straight, in a car that we pieced together that had never been proven, never driven, no AAA, no support crew, no sleep. 18 hours, in the rain, no wipers, no defrost, no sanity. My best moment was pulling into the hotel parking lot at 8 pm after departing at 3 am and knowing I could quit and turn it over to my team who went on ahead in our backup car.

After that we came home with 3 days to turn a road rally, street legal car into a full prepped road race car for a 24 hour endurance race at Summit Point WV (www.24hoursoflemons.com). We got her turned around in the 11th hour and burned up the track. Lots of teething pains for a car that never saw a track before but at the end of the day she was fast, danged fast and she took the IOE prize which is the top honor of the event for doing the most with the least.

Finally we turned her around again by September to compete in the Grassroots Motorsports Challenge (www.grassrootsmotorsports.com) Autocross, Concours and Drag race over 3 days for sub 2k cars. The car didnt blow up...dont know if I could ask for more, but more it gave and we won our class and one of my drivers took the prize for best reaction time at the drags to boot.

It was a terrible year punctuated by some amazing highlights. But as much as I love my cars and my build the best parts were punctuated by the people who were there with me for the ride and who made it all worthwhile.

When my dad's father passed away right before the rally I was ready to give in. My team pressed on while I was at the funeral. I was given my grandfathers tools since Im the only "mechanic" in the family anymore. Nothing special, nothing impressive, but every time I needed to grab for a wrench and held one of his in my hand I felt more inspired to press on and felt a connection to the past that I think we all hope to achieve as we work on these relics.

 

It means in 5 years you had a bad movement? Oh that's terrible.

 

Like my brother (droplord49) said in an earlier post, mine would be Dec. 3 when my little boy Grayson was born. Car wise, probably when I finished completely rewiring my Shoebox and turning all the lights on it for the first time. Not bad for a first time attempt

 

when i got my setup working in my 63... somethin magical about the sound of aircraft hydraulic pumps workin and square dumps opening... biggest auto accomplishment i felt in a while...

 

My best moment or actually week for 2010 was early in the year when I was traveling route Dallas-Clovis-El Paso-Tombstone-Phoenix-LA and there visit GNRS.

 

My daughter dumped the IDIOT the was engaged to. Oh yeah, she got her B.S. also.

My sons started driving my old motorcycles!

My wife still loves me even though I have a hard time walking now with the progression of my back disease.

Some bad (doctors telling us on Dec 30 that my back issues are permanent and the nerves are dead ) and Some good ( all the kids are healthy and happy)

 

Probably my annual trip to the US Nats, Free tickets,Free Gold key parking,Free VIP hospitality at Kalitta Motorsports,Private tour of Schumacher's Machine shop,Hanging with Chip Foose for a while,Beers in the stands with Kenny Youngblood,All in all a good time.

 

Kids and wife are healthy! Having to sell all my cars is the bad, but I keep goin back to first statement !

 

Dressing up as "wagon man" with my 2 yr old daughter on Halloween.

 

If I'm keeping this car-related, it was this: On impulse, packing my '64 Chevy "doose" up with a tent and gear and heading off for a weekend camping with some long-time buddies at the MSRA Super Secret Fun Run. It was a weekend full of drag racing to watch, BS to grind, and sleeping on the ground in a tent for the first time in maybe twenty years. The round trip was the longest I had yet made in my permanently-in-progress playmobile, and was handled solo. It was a time to clear my head, re-assess priorities and just think about things after what was a VERY trying couple of years.

I now believe that solitude is an experience best shared with good friends!

 

Dec. 31, 2010. 11:59.59pm

Knowing this screwed up year was finally over for us....

 

Three things really stand out:

#1- Got married to a great gal that has no taste in men.
#2- Finished a complete drivetrain upgrade in my 52 (motor,trans,suspension,brakes and wiring.)
#3- Successful completion of NACE Level 3!

2010 Kicked ass for me!

Cheers,
Sam Navarro

 

getting the 32 back together again after 7 years as the most exspencive work bench & shelf for my sons go cart racing stuff & making my first jalopy showdown,those 2 laps were well worth the wait !!! 2011 i have twins that will be driving & my son thinks he gets to have the keys to the 32 oh boy !!!

 

winning my class at the hunnert car heads up 2010 what a great day bad weather but great people great cars had a blast

 

Finding a very nice 1964 Plymouth Valiant Signet 200 V8 convertible for only 1500. bucks. and Purchasing it. I would have to say, That was my best moment.

 

This.