The speedo went to 115 so it still had a little more in her It did take many miles to pick up speed and maybe a little down hill sloap I also had a wagon of the same vintage, those cars were pretty indestructible until the bodies rusted off them.
Me too! My younger brother had a similar one in high school. Was a nice looking car with a sun roof, but you had to beat the snot out of it for a minute or so to get to 70 MPH.
Had a Dodge Durango my son was using. He told me the brakes were bad. I figured I could baby it to a shop I used that was a couple of miles away. Went there at night after work with my wife following me. Going there, brakes were pretty low but truck would stop if I pumped brakes. I get to the shop and pull in. It was a little downhill between pulling in and garage door where I would leave vehicles after hours. Well, pulled up to door and hit/pumped brakes. NOTHING....pedal went right to floor. Durango went right through door and stopped less than a foot behind a 70 Hemi Challenger parked inside. I was lucky I didn't hit it but pretty embarrassed to have to have police contact shop owner to come down and secure building as it was wide open. The shop owner was nice about it but busted my chops every time I saw him afterwards.
A few days after getting my license in '85, riding with buddy one afternoon in my Camaro. We pass a cop on a local road and I knew I was speeding. He hits the brakes and looks to turn around, my signal to nail it, and head for the county line. (I thought that was what we were supposed to do). I had put some good distance between us, but eventually hit some traffic and had to back down and let him catch up. Tried every BS story I could think of as to why I was going so fast. He asked "how is it that when he turned around he was a 1/4 mile behind me, and eventually he was a mile back and he was doing twice the speed limit trying to catch me"? He later confessed to a family friend that the police cars had small engines and didn't go that fast. I just saw officer D. last week at the local barber shop.
My wife was gifted her aunt’s one owner ‘89 Corolla wagon. We named her ‘Plain Jane’. Blue, front wheel drive carbureted four cylinder, no power anything. On a loooonnng straightaway, with a long downhill, I floored it one night coming home from work. After a half mile I was doing 91. That’s all she had in her, 91. Patrick
In my junior year of high school my fairly new best friend got a 1969 Oldsmobile Delta 88 four-door with a 455. We were out cruising one night and he was going down gravel alleyways and getting squirrely. he asked me if I wanted to try and I said sure, he asked have you ever drove a car with this much power before and I said yeah lots of times. I got in the driver's seat and I pulled it in drive and stomped on the gas pedal and promptly took out 50 ft of chain link fence two garbage cans and came to a stop against a big maple tree. then I realized I couldn't see and I started yelling I'm blind I'm blind I can't see. He reached over and flipped the sun visor back up and I could see. then I turn sideways and started trying to kick the driver's door open and he got out and went around and opened it from the outside. it was at that moment that I had to admit to him that I didn't have my license yet. Amazingly enough we are still friends to this day.
I was 20 years old, one embarrassing night out. Me being the Community College kid and living at home, I and 2 friends decided we would drive out to Kent State and visit a friend attending a real college and party with him. After many hours and many pitchers of beer and the call of closing time. The three of us decided to get in the car for the hour drive home. I was driving my 67 Chevelle. with the 60 series snow tires on the back, I drove a lot of places with those tires that I probably shouldn't of. It was a wet snowy night, and the reactions were a little dulled and I didn't know the area at all. I was over the speed limit and missed a stop sign until I was on top of it. I locked up the brakes slid thru the intersection and of course there was an Officer nearby watching it all. On come the red and blue lights and the blinding spotlight. I tell my normally goofy loud friend in the back seat to please don't say anything. The officer approaches the car and asks for my driver's license or pilots license whatever the case may be. (OK he kind of has a sense of humor) He asks how many drinks we have had and of course we say 1 or 2. He retreats to the cruiser to run my license. We are thinking were going to jail the car will be towed and impounded. The officer is headed back to the car with his clip board and his radio goes off with an all officers respond call. He tells us to take it slow going home and he never wanted to see us in Kent Ohio again. He rushed off and drove away, we all knew we were so lucky. I never did go back and party there but did send a daughter to school there many years later.
There was a street/strip in my high school that ran by the gym and tech teaching building that a few students would do a burnout or a strong run on occasion. This was in 1979 and had just got my 66 GS. The original owner had put 4 recap tires on it before I bought it. These tires were sticky like slicks and wow did they put out alot of smoke. To make it easier and less wear and tear on the posi and drive train I backed off the rear brakes shoes a little. I'm into a maby 30 second brake stand on that strip and can't see a thing behind me from the smoke. Next thing I know I get a strong rap on my drivers door window and it's my schools guidance counselor..No clue where he came from..Everyone kid is now laughing. I get called into his office. I'm pooping bricks now because he tells me he is calling my home. My Father was not a car guy and very protective for good reasons. I get home and my older Sister says you are one lucky kid, "not in those exact words" she answered the phone and pretended to be my Aunt and would certainly tell my Father who just walked through the door as she was hanging up. It really was for good reason they called home cause I did alot of peg leg brake stands there with my 73 Riv. This story was talk about the wrong time in the wrong place. About the same year was driving with a friend in the 73 Riv at maby 10 at night near my home down a long street that had 6 side streets on the side that all had a incline. Just turned on to a random one and put it in low and stomped the gas off and on maby 4 or 5 times. Ok not a brutal fast car but all 4 barrels opening and dual exhaust the 455 sounded wicked. Of all the small streets in this quiet town to take at 10 PM I get at least 6 Policeman waving me down laughing their asses off. I remember a couple of them got that rare laugh that they couldn't stop. They got a call of some type that led to nothing and they were just chatting with each other, maby 6 marked cars and 10 policeman but no lights on. Probably 80% of the night crew Wasn't even going that fast, maby 35 tops but it sounded like a 100. Couldn't fight it if I wanted to. Yeah I got a whopper of a ticket.
I had the good fortune to work as a porter at a Chrysler Plymouth dealership as a teen. So, it was easy to get first crack at purchasing cars. Modified muscle cars were considered almost valueless. Headers or loud mufflers were a death blow to value. These cars would sit on the used car lot forever. Nobody wanted to buy the car some kid beat to death. So, they just sat on the lot and did not sell. Because of that I got many screaming deals on modified muscle cars. My best score was a 1970 440 six pack Cuda. 4spd car. Shaker hood. Cragar wheels. N50 x15 Mickey Thompson rear tires. I bought it is as a bank repossession. We sold the banks repo's for them. I paid $550.00 for the car. On my way home with it I stopped at a light on a wide main street. I wanted to see what this thing had in it. I looked all around. No cops. I rev'ed the snot out of it and dumped the clutch. It launched like a rocket. I yanked into second gear. Then slowed up because I was flying. My car lit up from the flashing blue and red lights. I pulled over. The cop approached me and just said WTF are you doing? Are you nuts?? It turns out yeah, I looked around for cops. EXCEPT in my rearview mirror. The cop was directly behind me when I pulled this stunt!!! Cop asked all kinds of questions. Why was I in this town? So forth. I explained my job. I had my uniform on so that kind of validated it. Explained I just got the car and so forth. All the while he just shook his head. Cop then did the unexpected. Told me he was a gearhead too. That it was one of the best hole shots he ever witnessed. With a smile on his face. Then he got stern. Said I now know you, your car, and where you work. Told me if he ever saw me act an ass again in his town, I was toast. He would come find me. Gave me back my license. Told me to go home. I never did another hole shot in his town.
Once stopped in / near Downtown Atl in 86-87 doing 80+ in a 68 Riv. Was making a "run "up to Mich with a load of weed and a oz of powder. County sheriff comes up to the window and says Son, why are you doing 80 MPH on MY interstate highway. Started wiggling around and said Sir, I gotta pee really bad. He handed me back my license n told me to get off at the next exit where there was a gas station. I did exactly that.
Just one of many. Winter in MI, friend had to get to school early to make out with his girlfriend. He and I in my 70 skylark with of course bald bias huggers on back heading in same way we always go dirt road, coming up to the yield sign at the train tracks. Yup train was a comin and i start sliding. Stop just short of tracks and he's yelling revers! revers! as im grabbing the column shifter train catches 1ft of front right fender and removes the entire front clip, swings around and smacks the back then we slid backwards onto frozen pond. Sitting there looking up at train racing by. We scramble out to the road, trains slowing down and my friend says hey i didn't even spill my coffee. I grabbed it from him and smashed it to the ground in anger. I had just spend the entire summer fixing and painting the car with new chrome bumpers and all. Conductors walking back to us looking between each car when he gets there i asked what he was looking at? He says matter of fact "body parts". I knew what he meant and it wasn't from the car. State Cop said i slid 150ft should have better tires! In 30yrs that train crossing had 22 hits and we were the only ones to make it.
17years old,..in my GSX,...made a pull by the Beacon drive in during their cruise in,... shifted from 2nd to reverse at about 60mph,.....yea 25yrs old,...in my 6 sec GN,... little buzzed,...at Shady side dragway,...done a wicked burnout,.....in reverse,....played it off tho,..ran a 6.90 Also done a series of circles in the middle of 85 in the GN ,...pretty well inebriated,...bald pep boys futuras 295 50s so plenty of bald patch to skate with ha
Put the '68 together with a BBB and ST400 in, had my little brother down visiting so he helped. Since it has Stage 2 heads and "Fat Amy" headers, it's a dance to get headers, engine, and tranny in on floor jacks. I'm sliding out after tightening up the crossmeber bolts and walk to the front of the car, look down and ask my brother: "When do we put the converter in?!!!" Yeah, two lifelong mechanics and racers from a family of same, and right in front of the car, sits the donut. He said words, I said words, we laughed and I crawled back under the car... The only other thing I recall, was pouring in the last qt of oil after breaking in a new build on my '64 Special in the 70's, feeling good, cuz it sounded so nice, reaching over to pick up the oil cap and looking at the drain plug sitting next to it...
Here's some of mine. Right click on the one you want, copy the link hit the "image button" and post away.
1992. Had a 1970 Cutlass Supreme, just had replaced the gas gauge. My friend, sister and myself went to a mostly empty parking lot to a local park. Plan was to do some doughnuts. Middle of the summer 100F outside. Proceed to make about half a rotation and the car stops dead in it's tracks. I get out to see what the deal was, car wouldn't start at all. My buddy is stuck in the passenger seat, the seat belt would not release him. He is just sitting there roasting in the sun and cannot get free. Fast forward about an hour. Park ranger shows up and is asking why the car is parked in the middle of the lot. Lots of back and forth, he finally realized there was nothing we could do. Gets a box knife and cuts my friend free. He helps us push the car into a spot and leaves us there ~5 miles from nowhere. Long walk home that day. The new gauge was bad, showed 1/2 tank but the car was bone dry.
Speaking of creating messes. I remembered to cap the tail-shaft, but failed to remember the speedometer hole plug, and where I put it for safe keeping, until the moment I saw...
I poured 2 gallons of rotella in a power stroke b4 remembering the put the drain plug in,.....such a damn mess
