The Roots of Being a Car Guy..........

[NJSPEEDER]

i called out of work today because i haven't been feeling well. after a great nights sleep(got out of bed at 1pm) and a good lunch/breakfast i got started on a little cleaning i have been putting off.

while going through a stack of old magazines, i flipped through one(hot rod, june '84) and the page i randomly flipped to.........full page ad for the 1984 firebird/trans am.

that got me thinking about how i got into cars. i know it has everything to do with where i grew up. on my street one guy had a V12 jag(late 60's variety) and another guy had a 67 vette stingray, vert, 427, side pipes. i can remember sitting on my porch and jsut listening to them idle adn loving every minute of it.

when i was very young i used to be able to hear the street races from my house. the lights at the corner of olden ave and pennington road and the surrounding area used to be a starting point for a lot of people's evening of street racing. often stopping at the old ewing diner(now parkside diner) to grab a bite before heading to langhorne, philly, newark, camden, and broad street in trenton.

i think it was the sound of american V8's that got me, no import or 6 banger can ever sound as sexy as a small block chevy at 8k rpm or a big pontiac tripping over a huge cam at a stop light.

i never really thought about this very in depth before, i knew i loved the azure blue with white corvette from the first time i saw/heard it. i jsut didn't realize i was that young. i can't believe i was reading hot rod at 10 years old.

anyone else know what for them "hooked" on cars?

[ar0ck]

Flowmasters! When I was a freshman in HS, their were alot of nice cars that the seniors had and they all had some flowmaster exhaust. At the time I didnt know much about them other then they sounded pretty dam sweet. No import could touch the sound of these v8 cars. Plus at the time the guys with the hottest cars were getting the hottest chicks. One kid in peticular had a Black 1997 Z28 that was well hooked up for only being a year old it was just perfect.

[WayFast84]

No not really.. Ive been wanting to be a mechanic since I was 4 (ten years ago) I guess I got real into motorcycles and choppers went to some bike shows got a dirtbike and I was riding it around the block, when a kid down the street saw me and cought up with his moped. We have been freinds ever since and he has a cool car got me into f boddy's and then he was talking to are neighbor about 4 housed down from both of us about the 84 that was rusting in his driveway. I told my mom about it and at that point I was F**king up in school been suspended 3 times in one marking period, failing all of my classes. She got it for me when I was 13, how ever it was a christmas,graduation(8thgrade),confermation and my 14th birthday present. She said If I got in trouble one more time she would junk the car, ever since then I have been good in school and eating,breathing and dreaming about cars.

[camaroracer1992]

i was always into jeeps and 4x4's but one day when i went to the gas station a guy had a 3rd gen trans am that was corvette yellow with supertrap mufflers on it, when he started it up i said to myself " i gotta have one" so in 99 when my mom sold me her 92 camaro rs so she could get her 00 ram air it was all over after that :)

[hardline_42]

Like a lot of kids my age I started out in the tuner scene when i was in high school. My parents bought me a Honda Accord senior year and, when you don't have money, you chop watcha got. My best friend at the time (now he's my brother in law) started getting into muscle cars and tried to get me into it but I resisted for years. Then, one day, we saw a '70 chevelle ss for sale on the side of the road. It was metal flake blue with white stripes, a massive cowl hood and an awe-inspiring 454. I had never seen an engine so big and I started doubting my faith in japanese efficiency. A few days later I stumbled on an old photo album with pictures of my parents and me when they were my age. There I was. a chubby one-year-old sitting on my dad's ''70 Coronet. Next page: my uncles '79 z28 (obviously this one had an impression on me). I though to myself "What are my kids gonna be looking at when I'm my parent's age? Do I want them to see me in a 4-cylinder Honda and say 'That's my Dad'? How un-american is that? So the next paycheck I got I went out and bought the first american car I found: an 84 GMC Sierra (it was a good thing too cuz my Honda crapped out on me a few days later). I tore that thing to shreds and even asked my wife to marry me in it before I finally sold it. A year ago I bought an '81 Camaro for a cool $400 bucks and drove it home. Hopefully, I'll have some good memories with this one and pass on a passion for real american muscle to my kids someday.

[slasherbarb]

it was when i was around 10-11 working on my uncles 12 second 89 IROC...loved working on it in his driveway and riding around in it...ive love camaros ever since then...i cried when he sold that car...

[NJSPEEDER]

i talked to my mom on the phone. apparently this is the type of stuff i woudl read in the car on family vacations.
i know i used to have a subscritpion to hot rod:cartoons(how many of you are old enough to remember that one?) and when they stopped printing it is when my hot rod subscription started.
she doesn't remeber how old i was when i fell in love with cars, apparently i have been this way for as long as she can remember. lol

[qwikz28]

i think its in my blood. my grandfather was a well known mechanic in the middle east and my uncle used to work for GM in detroit and is now a mechanic. i used to get a whole **** load of free dale earnheardt merchandise as a kid.

[JL8Jeff]

My dad used to race at Atco years ago and we had trophy's all over the basement. He worked as a mechanic at Colonial Cadillac in Ewing but none of that stuff really got me interested in cars. It was our homeroom in high school. We had about 10 guys in our homeroom and we always talked about what was new. Me, I ended up going the other direction and getting into the older cars while these guys were all excited about the new cars(not much exciting in 80-84). But I think I got hooked a couple years earlier than that while in jr high. My friend's sister gave us a ride home in their custom van! That was cool. Most of you guys probably never even knew about the custom van craze that hit in the late 70's. Guys would be doing burnout contests in front of the high school and jr high all the time. Man, today is so lame thanks to all the lawsuit crazy people.

[jims69camaro]

my dad actually owned a 4speed big block chevelle, but i couldn't tell you much about it. i've got a picture of me when i was 3, leaning up against it, probably getting dirty because i was right behind the rear wheel well. i remember the picture but i don't remember the car.

the thing that had the largest impression on me was my neighbor and his white with orange stripe convertible - now that i know more about them it was probably a parade car, because i know it wasn't lettered as a pace car, but now you know what kind of car it was. he wasn't much of a mechanic. to hear his parents tell it, he wasn't much of anything except a boozer. anyway, one day the car left him stranded in his driveway again. i say again, because it did it on a regular basis. you would think someone with such bad luck with the car would've learned something about them so he could at least keep his running, but, no, he never did.

anyway, this particular day i was in my room reading and i hear him yelling and screaming and cursing the car. next thing i hear is crunching glass. he had taken the jack out of the trunk and was beating the piss out of the car. there were puncture marks all up and down the body, dents as well, and he broke the windshield, some of the door glass and even went through the convertible top once or twice. all i could think was, "poor car".

ever since, i vowed i would own one and learn how to take care of it better than he had. my car is no parade car, no pace car because of how far out of whack the market is, but it is my dream car. i can do more than put gas in it and change the oil. last year i rebuilt the carburetor and this year i am going to take auto body classes so i can learn how to fix her dings and get her ready for paint. i've got experience swapping motors, so a crate motor may be in her future.

i fell in love with the late '80s camaros and firebirds behind the wheel of one, just as the horsepower ratings were starting to come back up. i've always wanted one to turn into a race car, and i think it's the one in the driveway. only time will tell. in the meantime, i can cruise in my boyhood's dream and contemplate more horsepower for the '87. can it get any better than this?

[Slow 88]

I know I was very young myself because my uncle raced a beautiful black '68 camaro in th early '80s and my dad raced a 400 sb caprice at that time also....So, I got my speed addiction fix thru dirt bikes since I was too young to drive lol....Also, my cousin started taking me to philly in his mustang in the mid '80s to watch the races and then I was really hooked!

[NJSPEEDER]

my first personal experiences with speed were in the late 80's. a friend in high school had a 69 nova, 396, 4spd. great car. it is also where i learned to drive stick and race.
a friend with a 92 z28, l98(he bought it brand new our senior year) car in high school also provided several disturbing memories to my racing past.
my family was never into cars really. my parents certainly weren't. my parents haven't even ever seen my brother or myself race.

[BobonaStick]

My roots are most definately with the Father side of my family... I've been working on cars, eating rust and choking on bolts since i was able to walk on my own. I've been into Camaros ever since I was 12 when i got my 1988 Camaro LT 2.8... Ever since then I've never went any other way then Chevy and Camaros. I've only owned 7 out of a total of 10 cars... Not bad for being 20...

[Tru2Chevy]

Dad's been a mechanic since he and my mom started dating. It's in my blood.

- Justin

[blown69rat]

Hey Joe, I know that car, it still floats around this area. Yellow, black designs on the sides, supertrapps,etc.

Anyway, I really can't remember back that far, BUT...I grew up around cars. Never really got into it that much until I was like 14. I mean, I had enjoyed the car shows, going to the strip, etc. But 14 is when I started working at a gas station and a lot of the guys who hung around had decent cars(now, we are talking the mids 80's, so everything was done to excess). From that point, it was all down hill.......67 Camaro, go to Lincoln Tech for a while, lifted 78 Bronco, 75 Cutlass, and toooooo many other cars than I would like to count. Now, it's just sharing my years of knowledge and fun with my kids and hoping they will follow suit(my one son already bought his first car, an 87 Monte SS), I just tell them no rice burners with fart cans will be parked in my driveway.

[enRo]

Other than watching Knight Rider when I was a kid.... When I was about 12 yrs old, I was up at the Norwich NY car show in with my grandfather in his 64 Corvair Vert ... I walked by a black on black 71 Firebird, fatass tires on the back, the rear sat about 3 inches higher than the front, sidepipes, and a nice cam, and I said to myself "I will have one of those" .... altho I never DID get a 71 Firebird, I got a black 86 Trans Am that I was pretty happy with, until I found out it had more accidents than a babys diaper.

[Teds89IROC]

Ever since I was little I've been hooked. It all started with boats. My dad and uncle raced jersey speed skiffs which were powered by worked 327/350 SBC and open exhaust...I always loved the rumble. Next I was introduced to my dads 65 Stingray vert, side pipes..etc He bought it wrecked when he was 18 and did everything himself from the body work to building the engine..it was a 12 second car when he had headers and rear exit exhaust..now it has stock manifolds and sidepipes, though I'm convincing him to get headers again ;-) There is just no other sound that gets my attention like a healthy, big cam chevy V8. 8-) I'd like to add that I still have a matchbox 87 IROC-Z from when I was probably 4 or so..I always thought it was a cool car and never thought I'd own one..especially at 18 (when I bought it)

~Ted

[maroman88]

wellll i always wanted a red corvette convertable as far back as i can remember but the thing that got me into cars was when in 1996 my parents bought the 92 lumina euro 3.4. it was a 4 door, black with tints, dual exhaust, 3.4 DOHC, a spoiler, hood vents....i did my first mod to this car, i installed a set of fog lights:) we just sadly sold it with 101k miles last year.
as far as fbodies go i always thought camaros were cool and when i was a frosh in high school a kid had a black 93 z28 in the senior parking lot and it had silver stripes and the RS body kit and was lowered n had big chrome pipes, i really wanted a white 87-88 monte SS that needed to be restored but i settled for my white 88 camaro that needed very little work lol

[Savage_Messiah]

another guy had a 67 vette stingray, vert, 427, side pipes.

this the infamous "vette killer?"

Honestly I always liked muscle cars a little but not much... wasn't till I got my car and started loving the car tht I started researching/learning more, and that continues to this day

[BigAls87Z28]

Roots...well, my parents were not that big into cars. My dad liked cars, as any man does, but he liked the beauty of them such as Italian cars with great handling and fun to drive.
My Dad always liked Camaros. He bought a 68 RS used and drove it home. Within a week, it shot a rod, so that ended that. He then drove a 72 Fiat Spyder, red. My mother also had the same 72 Fiat Spyder in red when they both met.
Flash foward to 1987, and my father was in love with the IROC style of the new Camaro. He remembers talking about them with his friends and my mom. At the time he was VP of Sales for a large S&L in North Jersey, and just got a HUGE bonus. He took half of it and went to Bremuda with my mom, the other half was a down payment for the Camaro. He figured out that with a price of 16,800 dollars, he could put half down, and finance the rest, which he had set up through his bank. So he set out, looking at different dealers, looking at what they had on the lots. All the IROC's were being sold left and right, and for much more then sticker, especialy with the new 350 (which he didnt know at the time). He did find a lot with a fully loaded, beautiful Z28 sitting there. Red with grey ground effects, 305 TPI engine, auto trans, posi rear, power windows, door locks, and ttops. He was sold, but the dealer wanted 17.2k So he talked it out with my mom, and they both decided to see what my dad could do with the price. So my dad sets out for the dealer again...only time time, he brings a 3 year old me along for the ride. When we get into the car, he looks down at me and says, "Now Alex, I want you to remember 16 8, ok?" I nod my head, and enjoy the drive. We get to the dealer, and my father sits down with the manager of the store, and plops me down in the corner with some toys. So he starts talking with the manager about the price, and he keeps telling him that he cant go any lower. My father says that he will take the car at 16.8k, and the fight continues on for a while. My father getting fustraited, looks back at me and says, "Alex, tell the man what I told you, tell him what Daddy is gunna pay him."
With that, I stop what Im doing, I look up, and I say, "16 8."
And with that, the guy flipped, and folded. My dad took delivery of the car that weekend.
That car was the "batmobile" to me. It was real fast, much faster then my mom and dads olds cuttys. It sounded awesome, and the feel of the torque was great. Over time, my father could not use it due ot increasing work load, and so forth and so on. So it sat in the garage, only to be taken out to stretch its legs, and then returned.
Years went by, and when I was getting my license, I was looking at different cars to buy. Tbird SC was my prime choice, but I didnt have the money that they were asking for, and I read a lot of problems about the head gaskets. So I was looking for a nice ride, not import or anything, just a nice car. My friends were a little more into cars then me, but I never really caught on. One day, my father says to me that if we clean up the Z28, we can sell it and he said that I can have half the money towards a new car. I thought cool, good deal. Well, I cleaned it up, washed it, waxed it, so on. We got the for sale sign, and I asked my dad that before we sell it, that if I can drive it? So one nice day, we set out for rt 18 for a little drive.
I WAS HOOKED!! Comparing to my stupid 95 Taurus that I got, this thing was a friggin rocket. I loved the handling, the seat position, and just about everything about it. I removed the sale sign off the back of the car, and told my dad that we were keeping this. So I started to really fix her up, put new ties on, tune up, and then I started to get more into websites about the car. Searching far and wide about tips and tricks to make this car better. I stumbled across Thirdgen.org, and I was hooked onto cars. I bought a GM High Tech Mag that featured a third gen on it, purple with grey ground effects, and how fast his car was, and I fell in love with moddifcation. That car got me into the heavy stuff, and really really got me hooked and I havent been able to let go.
Since then, I have just been in love with cars. Every aspect from design to performance and handling. I always had thoes hobbies and little interests, but this stuck.

[Fastbird]

I don't think that I got "hooked" on cars more than I just happened into it.

Back when I was 17 and working on getting my drivers license, I had a feeling I wanted a "fast" car like most teenage boys do. I had seen the Iroc Z camaro's running around and really liked those. Then I saw my first (or took notice of for the first time) a 3rd gen GTA and it was all over.

Bought my first car at 17 1/2, an 84 SE Firebird. Didn't know jack about cars. Just liked the car. Traded that in and bought my 91 GTA. Still didn't know jack about cars, but REALLY liked that car. Fast forward to 1999, traded that in on a 99 Trans Am off the showroom floor. I finally had my "fast" car, but still didn't know jack about cars. About that time though, I discovered a wealth of knowledge floating around the internet, automotive magazines, but most importantly, a small group of people at the time who were known a the Norcal LS1 F-Body association. Through going to the track with those guys, meeting friends who were into cars, and hanging around, I started to realize just how deep this seed for cars I have goes.

Then, a lemon law experience with the 99, and my black 93 showed up, and things went full springs. Through hands on experience I've found my calling for working on cars, found my love for working on and driving them.

Becoming a gearhead for me wasn't a family thing, wasn't a friends thing, it was a natural evolution for me.

[chevyt454]

For me it began with bikes. Tricking out BMX bikes to be lighter & faster. I think its in the DNA. Cars is in the blood.

[V]

for me, it started with the "dukes of hazzard". id always watch that show and loved that car. when i was 16 i found a 73 coronet, closest i could find to a 69 charger, lol. then a month after i turned 17m, i realized i wanted a sports car and something newer, so being inspired by knight rider as well, i found a 88 trans am gta, ttops, tpi and digital dash. my dad is not into cars at all and probably couldnt even change his own oil. i learned everything on my own. My mom later told me i remind her of her father, he was always working on his 30's plymouth and taking it apart, even in the winter he would practically take it apart and work on it in their living room. And he always had a bunch of extra parts laying around "just in case". so i guess it must be in my blood too.

[nj85z28]

You know whats always great? When you find out you have more in common with your father that you ever imagined after 5 years of not speaking.

Rewind about 10 years ago. My parents got divorced, so in order to keep the household the way it was, i ended up getting a job down at the local garage. Nothing mechanical what so ever. I would sweep the floors, hand mechanics their tools, and wipe their tool boxes down for a few hours after school each day. My mother started dating the owner of said shop, and my father dispised that "grease monkey" (lol).
This guy was a dirt track racer at middletown, ny, and he had another guy working for him that raced in the street stock class with an 81 Camaro. One day he showed up to work with a mint 91 Z camaro, 5 speed. It was white with 2 green racing stripes (Of course dad hated the idea i liked the car). We ended up being friends (he was closer to my age) and he drove me around in the car an awful lot. I loved every second of it. We would go up and watch the races on the dirt tracks and work on the cars after work until late into the night. Thats where it all started.
Fast forward 5 years, i got my liscense. my first car was an old mitsubishi 5 speed with some issues. After this thing bit the dust for the hundreth time, i ended up with ford tempo (LOL). Hanging with a buddy in clifton one saturday, he wanted to visit his friend. His friend was a lot older than us and was into old Novas. so we were checking them out and hanging out when i suddenly noticed a red third gen camaro under a tarp. I asked about the car, it needed an engine, 300 dollars for it. Hmm, i remember thinking, the body was so nice. My dad hated the idea and told me not to buy it. Few weeks later my moms boyfriend was towing it home for me.
During the time it took to get that car together, i fell in love with it, and bought a 96 v6 to ease the urge to drive the godly Camaro. My father disapproved of sports cars, so we didnt get along at all at this point. The payments were so high i couldnt keep it. i ended up driving my sisters old 87 LeBaron for the week the tranny help up. 2 months of being car-less, i found an 84 Berlinetta for 6 hundred and picked that up. keep in mind my 88 with no engine was still being fixed. Finally, about a year later it was done and i picked it up. Me and that car were inseperable. I went through another trans with it, learned how to do tuneups, brakes, made my own exhaust for it, basically learned the car in and out, but the time came to buy a truck when i started working as an electrician. I sold that little 88 that cost me 300 dollars, for 3 thousand with the GTA wheels still on it, and it killed me to do it.
Fast forward 2 years of driving a truck and a monte carlo in there someplace, and a buddy i worked with's stepdad was selling his 85 Z28. It barely ran, but i picked up for a decent price (after begging him to sell it to me and not to the next door neighbor). it sat and sat and sat, until my mom finally threatened to kick me out of the house if i didnt fix it. (it only needed a cat)Fixed finally, i drove it around and around, but something went terribly wrong and unexpectly a few weeks later the engine blew a hole the size of my fist in the side.
So the 85 got junked, and i bought an 89 RS to replace the gaping hole in my heart, and as you all know that worked out well (LOL)

So, sitting in a dark bar with my father years after my first experiences in my friends 91, and going through all that, fighting with my father for all those years over fast cars, dumping money into camaros, engines, transmissions and plenty of other things, my father turns to me and says "you know, i used to be just like you". This struck me as strange, coming from the man who got a new Silverado every few years, and never really connecting with me on any sort of level, or making the attempt for that matter. I stated "I seriously doubt that". he went on to tell me the stories about his old pontiac grand prix, buick electras, blowing motors, grinding cams, racing his 455's through wayne in the early 70's, and how he fought with his father about all his cars in parts around the house.
I never knew about any of those things, i always figured he wasnt the type. Right there i realized why he fought with me, because i reminded him of himself. Today, we get along great, and i firmly believe if i didnt take that ride in the 91 years ago, my father and i would have never reconnected. Thank you General Motors.

[WayFast84]

Send that to gm but sat it was all firebirds so they will be like o damn we should make a concept t/a!

[enRo]

Yeah my dad was a motorhead too back in the day. Recently he showed me pictures of when he was 22 years old with his 64 Belvadier with a 464(?), crossram, racemaster slicks, etc etc, yanking it out for a new motor. He showed me a timeslip of 10.8's at Island, which was pretty cool too.

He wants me and him to go half on an old Mopar, but thats just not me.

[bitchincamaro]

my stepdad got me into it. i remember going for rides in his 67 chevelle SS. i would gap spark plugs and help him as a kid. he also lived on a farm so dirtbikes and quads were always around too. so pretty much as far back as i can remember i learned to have fun with anything motorized. i got my first car when i was 15, a 71 nova. i would invite friends over after school and do burnouts in the street for them, and go for late night cruises. it was real bad, looking back, but one hell of a time. then i bought my 72 chevelle, beat the piss out of it thinking that it was a racecar, (i just got my liscense) and sold it to some guy with a knocking motor and a slipping trans. somewhere in between those cars i had a impala with a 400 in it. pulled that, and started building the 400, with plans going in the chevelle, but sold it. then bought my camaro and put the 400 in it, or atleast the block and crank. i had a lot of daily drivers in between too. alot of my friend had cars and was always in competition