'78 Trans Am with a Ram Air III headed 400 that I started working on when I was 12 after my dad decided he didn't want to DD it anymore. Learned a lot on that car including what not to do when painting. Still have it 4 years later but it's getting more and more stripped for parts since the local PD didn't like it nearly as much as me and no one wanted to buy it when I tried selling it
1970 Impala Custom. laid down $450 for the beast. thought i blew it up (broken rocker) so i picked me up a 76 Monte Carlo with SWIVEL BUCKETS. honestly think i was the only kid in 1997 with two 70's era chevy boats at my HS. with the monte, i was unstoppable with the chicks, especially when i told one to move over to the passenger side of the back seat cause her weight over the right rear would help with traction. bad idea.
1930 Model A. Dad bought this for me when I was 15 for $75.00. It did not look like this, it was really rough. we took the car apart in our garage (down to splittin' the leaf springs). Body off, motor and trans and diff out. He and I put it back together, our first (for me and him) rebuild. This was 1962. sold it a few years later for $275.00, we had about $600.00 in it, to buy my '54 Chev. The needle was deep in my arm at that point (cars, not drugs), don't ever want to go to rehab. I almost fogot, we painted the primer with mom's Kirby vacuum cleaner, also wire brushed the rust wiyh a cable attachment to the front of the Kirby (they came with that shit back then!)
1970 Chevelle SS-396, just what every 16 year old needed back in 1972. Worked 1 year @ $1.60 an hour as a busboy to save up $1,000 which was 1/2 of the $2,050 purchase price. Had to borrow the rest from my parents as no one would loan a kid money. Kept it 5 months and traded my brother for his 1967 Camaro RS 327 and he took up my payments. Wish I'd a kept just about any of the 40+ cars I've had since then.
'52 Victoria with cut-outs. I still won't own a flathead. I like to look at 'em, just don't want another one.
72 dodge dart "swinger" w/ 340 40 over 727 trans w/shit kit and kevlar disks. dana 60 rear. Factory high back buckets and floor shift. most folks thought the buckets and floor shift were taken from another car but the build sheet stuffed in the back seat said other wise. Great car. Nobody suspected a dart. Frame was tied and was able to stuff L60s under the rear without tubs. Did prefer my friends cuda and the TA challenger but was rather broke. Spent all funds on the engine back then. Only car I saw that had factory 4 pistons per caliper on factory disk brakes. Burn outs were too easy in this car however it would snap lakwood u joints.
When I turned 15 my grandma gave me her bone stock 55 chev 2dr post...robins egg blue,265 3 on the tree...I had a whole year to wax it a zillion times...clean and paint the engine,and just about everything else under the car....worked a ton of hrs after school so J.C.Whitney could send me lots of shiney stuff. Had a lot of fun in that car...
DANG, I don't have images handy. Gotta look for those. Sophmore year 1967 GMC Handi-Van, Junior year, 1960 MGA 1600, Senior year, 1973 T140V Triumph 750 Bonneville.
Not everyone gets cool rides as a kid. When I turned 16 in '64, my dad said I didn't need a car. A motorcycle would be cheaper and I could use the 2nd family car if I needed to go someplace and it was raining. He pushed me into (onto?) a Ducati 125cc, underpowered 4 cycle. The #2 family car that became mine upon graduation in '66 was a '58 Cadillac Sedan DeVille (more door!). It was gray with a white top and had originally been equipped with an air bag suspension system. Dad had dual exhausts with glass packs installed when the exhaust system rotted cuz they were cheaper - not cuz they sounded cool (I thot they did!). That big V8 made a lotta noise in front of a 4 speed hydramatic.
1967 Malibu W/302 - "GK" Cam, headers,Torker, Holley,turbo 350 W/Vega converter. And get this I bought the Balanced and Blueprinted 302 from my Mom for a whopping $290.00. Blind Elwood
56 Chevy 210 2 door sedan with a 1953 Chevy truck 6 cyl engine and a 3 speed transmission. I put a Hurst shifter in it and numerous sets of synchos.
green 70 impala custom 2 door 350/350 2 barrel!I paid 450.00 for it from my uncle he owned it since it was new! in 1993 that had to be the biggest boat @ school!I restored it and drove it for a few years sold it in 1999!
'69 Mach1, royal maroon w/gold stripes, front spoiler, rear wing, and rear window slats- gawd it was pretty, and had Golden Ram straight 2-1/2" core glasspacks, real deep and loud. Bought it from my dad in '73 after riding in it for years, still have it. Not quite as pretty right now in red primer, but just pulled it out a month ago and cleaned it up, been sitting a long time- might put one of the 427 strokers in there to go play at Sears Point this summer, until the tube frame '64 Falcon is done
71 mavrick 302, had a burnt valve and the quarters were so rusted you could look through from side to side and stuff kept sliding out, i raped that car man just ran the crap out of it. it was a turd but she was my turd i paid 75 bucks for it sold it for 150. whitey
Most of us didn't have high school rides,but one kid who's dad bought and sold cars was 'off school' one day, while we were sitting in maths class he appeared outside on the road in a 74 Trans Am.(He took it without his old man knowing) This was a rare and unusual car here,but he did a perfect rolling burn out right past our window to the cheers of delight from the class! Problem was he was only 14 at the time...... He was latterly chased and arrested by the cops one day when he decided to 'borrow' a Porsche 911.
Mine was an English '65 Mk 3 Ford Zodiac. Saved up for ages to buy it and spent a year working on it before I was old enough to drive - I tore it apart and no-one thought I'd ever put it together again but I proved them wrong. The photo was taken after I painted it but it sure looked a mess beforehand - some of the neighbours even chipped in towards the cost of the paint because it was a bit of an eyesore. I put a Raymond Mays alloy head, twin SU carbs and a six branch on it and it ran pretty good until the bottom end blew up. Then we shoehorned in a 302 and a C4, linked up to the original column shift, so apart from the slot mags it was a bit of a sleeper - great for burnouts with those rock hard Generals on the back - must have blown up half a dozen diff's over the years. I saw it for sale on ebay a few years ago and someone had put a straight six back in it again. Nearly bought it but a relit cigar never tastes as good. Sure had a lot of good times with/in that car... Regards Jon'.
I got this car when I was 15. Borrowed the money from my dad, and had it paid off before I could drive it. Before high school was over, I think I'd had the motor out about 6 times. Grenaded 2 trannys and 2 rear ends. Fastest car in high school. My dad bought it from me a few years ago, but i still get it running and take it for a beat run once in a while...
my ride was a 60 valiant....six ...leaked oil...push button shift....leaked antifreeze...four door...really hadnt much going for it...but it was my ride....oh yeah...overheated on a hot day too...lol....i was glad to see it go ...
55 chevy two door hard top...283 bored to 301 ( I bet a lot of you guys remember that, .0120 bore) Isky cam and muncie four speed...411 gears. Fun car...as always I wish I had it back. Sonny48 ____________________________ LIFE'S A GAMBLE......LET EM' ROLL
1957 Ford F100 shortbed. Pulled the 272 out my senior year and replaced it with a 302/c4 combo. Wish I would have left the Y-block in it. Oh well, truck is long gone now.
1969 Road Runner. Paint is about a week old in this picture. My dad sprayed it in the backyard after me and my brother did the bodywork. It looks better than it was. Made patch panels out of an old washing machine etc. etc.
1930 model A coupe, in 1974, half the time the thing didn't run, the other time , my buddies had to ride with me so we could push start it. had alot of fun though.
The Jalopy Journal
