This is the Old Cars

[Luke]

This is too funny.I applied to the police academy and was accepted at the same time I was to do my intake to the army all because I wanted cash. At the last moment I got an apprenticeship as a boilermaker at 16,was already know too a famous bike club so money and fun looked more attractive than the cops or the army. (could do pre entry stuff and then full enlistment at 17 then, cops had some kind of early entry scholarship through the Hobart police academy cant remember exact mechanics of it)

Oh and I preferred to do my fighting stone cold sober, cold calculated violence tends to leave a lasting impression and limits the need for future punch ons. I am a good boy now so all this is just nostalgia

Kinda wish now I had of joined the army but hey it's not that big of a regret.

 

[rpmcarter]

LOL!!! Okay now this is funny! Its like a parallel universe ::tease:: Yeah I agree the old days I had skills but I prefer just to enjoy a beer instead of the scrap'n.

One of my regrets was not joining the Air Force..... again went in took the test but they brought me back in to let me know they caught me at my little trick on the eye exam. Told me I couldnt fly I could be an engineer,...so that burst my bubble.... and I didnt see the forest for the trees. Of course it didnt help that my brother talked me out of it because he just returned from Viet Nam

 

[Mister 4x4]

Speaking of eye tests, I was supposed to be an architect for the Air Force, but a pesky red-green color vision issue squashed that - never mind that I'd just placed 3rd in the nation during VICA Nationals for architectural drafting. Oh well - that little SNAFU landed me a swank [sarcasm] computer operator job, and now I'm in charge of computer security for pretty much the entire base. A little bummed looking back at how things went, but I could've done a LOT worse.

 

[rpmcarter]

Yeah 4by.... I passed the first eye exam and when I went back he said we just need you to take the eye exam again. And this time dont memorize the the pattern.

Then afterwards he said... "you cant see can you" LOL "well not really good" He was nice about it though. I missed some opportunity and I still wonder what direction my life would have taken understanding who I am today. Love the security stuff 4 by. I worked with some unexplained folks recently in the news and that stuff is highly interesting to me, I just didnt like the WHOLE PICTURE thingy messing with peoples lives.

 

[Luke]

Here is a few of my old 1s. Never been big on photos always thought if they are in the shed why take a photo. Its only later when you tell people what you had or done that pics help,not that I bothers me if people believe me or not but it does tend to f@ck them up some,when you produce car or bike mags with features on you. Told my parents at 13 I would own this exact car didn't get until 17. Bit of a unique thing from the factory light weight race bumpers and a few other oddities. I put a stroker SBC in it a toploader and a 9inch and a bit of gas. last photo its running a 400cuber trick turbo box with a billet guts and extra clutches.

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This white one is a factory 350 Aussie GMs answer to the Mighty GT HO got it at 17 too. Full factory delete car Judged best in the nation twice. Brought new by a magistrate that had a car collection you would kill for lots of rare US cars SD Pontiacs, Cyclone spoilers, Big Block chevelles and Camaros

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Built this trike out of a stock looking Softy (Harley version of a sleeper I am sitting on lots of HP no bling) come up pretty good ended up as part of a national advertising campaign for Spray Chief candy paints 14 candy colours and 5 layers of free hand flames.I swapped some wood for the paint layed down by a friend Deepspace we called him that because he was out there man. This was the 3rd bike I modified that ended up on TV and in mags. you can just see my white car in the shed under the cover in the back ground

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I loved these cars and bike and knew them backwards cant say the same of my Machy. I like it but I just never seem as interested as with other cars and bikes

 

[rpmcarter]

Wow cool stuff guys. Luke was your blue car "Chevelle" or Nova... I was going with Chevelle, but I see a kinda Nova/Pontiac Ventura look too. One of my favorite cars back in the day was a Ventura with a 350 / burgundy on White. Even as a 73 it was pretty fast among its peers and had lots of potential but it was repo'd due to the fact I was young and believed the "UNION" when they told me I couldnt take another job while we were ON STRIKE 7 times in the last year I worked there. I held on as long as I could to the very end. The idiots went back to work two months later for .05 an hour.

That's when I learned to get paid based on my own hard work.

 

[Luke]

Its a Aussie Monaro. Think chevelle camaro hybrid. I got stood over by some union guys for not going on strike smacked a couple and they offered me a job as a strike breaker bastards where running both sides of the game. Never been involved with a union since too dirty for me

 

[luxstang]

Well I got my driving license in 1989, so I did not get to own any classics, but I think this one was pretty cool.

I wish I still had it.

Series 1 Toyota MR2 featuring the unique Lotus inspired X-chassis, only found on Lotus, the MR2 and the DeLorean.

Mid engine, rear driven two seater (actually the meaning of "MR2"), it was a blast to drive. This one was not as cushy as the second generation, kinda like the original GT350 compared to the later more luxurious versions.

This one wore you out when you went on a long trip but it was soooo much fun.

It fit like a glove.

Unfortunately I do not have a single decent pic, so these have to make do.

 

[rpmcarter]

Well I got my driving license in 1989, so I did not get to own any classics, but I think this one was pretty cool.

I wish I still had it.

Series 1 Toyota MR2 featuring the unique Lotus inspired X-chassis, only found on Lotus, the MR2 and the DeLorean.

Mid engine, rear driven two seater (actually the meaning of "MR2"), it was a blast to drive. This one was not as cushy as the second generation, kinda like the original GT350 compared to the later more luxurious versions.

This one wore you out when you went on a long trip but it was soooo much fun.

It fit like a glove.

Unfortunately I do not have a single decent pic, so these have to make do.

hmmmm 1989......uhhhhmmmmmm you just a boy ...uhhhhmmmmmm

 

[luxstang]

Nah, I was born old.

 

[sicndhed]

Found an old shot of the ’67 Chevy I had before the red ’66.

Most probably don’t remember how different it was but in the early 80s when I built my bike people would ask, “Why do you want a Harley?” People who owned Harleys would ask, “Why did you build a chopper?”

 

[rpmcarter]

dude!!!! there is a MINT sitting in that driveway......WHEW!!!! sweet stuff.

 

[sicndhed]

The modifications I make to most of my cars have reduced their values by a significant amount but I’ve had matching number stuff that was never any fun to own. The stock stuff is great for impressing other people with its value but I like to drive my stuff. My ’67 Vette is probably worth one half of what it would be if I had left it alone but the smiles It’s given me over the years are worth more than a bigger projected resale value.

When I die a lot of people will be saying “If only he’d left it alone”. I hope that when the next owners start to explore the performance they say “Now I get it”.

 

[Luke]

Found an old shot of the ’67 Chevy I had before the red ’66.

Most probably don’t remember how different it was but in the early 80s when I built my bike people would ask, “Why do you want a Harley?” People who owned Harleys would ask, “Why did you build a chopper?”

Damn I would ride that think as is right now.

 

[kcmash]

My '71 IS my "old car." rofl

Mine too. The one I am restoring is my first car.

 

[sicndhed]

Found an old shot of the ’67 Chevy I had before the red ’66.

Most probably don’t remember how different it was but in the early 80s when I built my bike people would ask, “Why do you want a Harley?” People who owned Harleys would ask, “Why did you build a chopper?”

Damn I would ride that think as is right now.

It was my first bike so to me anything peculiar about the handling seemed normal. I rode it a lot when I lived in Illinois. This shot is just past the traps at Great Lakes Dragaway in Wisconsin. When I was building it my Harley buddies were making bets on which side I would fall on. All but one though I dump it on the first ride. After the first night I took it out they were saying,”That damn thing is fast.” It out ran all of the American bikes my friends had. They figured it must be capable of 11s. We all just about pooped when it ran 14.6 @ 90 mph. I hate to think about how slow some of their bikes must have been.

When it went through tech at the track the inspectors said, “If you’re willing to race that thing there’s not much for us to say.”

 

[Luke]

Haha that's cool. Your right things where very different in the mid 80s I was only a kid but had a serious interest in cars and bikes and I remember talking to some of the older riders around town about hot stroker shovels that seemed to blow up all the time then EVOs come out and of cause that was the end of HD lol. Seriously dig your style man Gene Winfield fade away paint flames and bad ass long rigid shovels love it all, Probably would of been a big pain in your arse if I lived within a 40 push bike ride. Learned a lot off the guys that would let a kid hang about in their shed

 

[sicndhed]

Haha that's cool. Your right things where very different in the mid 80s I was only a kid but had a serious interest in cars and bikes and I remember talking to some of the older riders around town about hot stroker shovels that seemed to blow up all the time then EVOs come out and of cause that was the end of HD lol. Seriously dig your style man Gene Winfield fade away paint flames and bad ass long rigid shovels love it all, Probably would of been a big pain in your arse if I lived within a 40 push bike ride. Learned a lot off the guys that would let a kid hang about in their shed

I was always surprised at how few kids had any interest in the cars I was building. In SoCal there was one kid who was about 15 who would watch and ask questions about building cars. In Chicago all the kids on the block preferred sports to cars.

It was so easy when the cars weren’t full of rust and dents. I bought his Camaro when it was eight years old. A little sanding and it was ready for the orange and pearl yellow. You can see the nose that ended up on the white Vette in the background. This photo was from the day I hung the front end on the Vette. The friend who helped me on moving day from the bike photo shot this one. He was there helping with the front end. Back then he told me that nobody cared about old cars anymore. He’s a good friend but not good at anticipating the future.

That Camaro left to pay for a year of school, for four grand. At that time my Apple IIe, printer and modem cost $2700. Ouch. When I gave away the computer a few years later I felt like crying.

 

[Luke]

Computers luck they have got cheaper bloody things. Thanks for sharing brother.

 

[rpmcarter]

I've had 7 bikes over the years.... I have an old pic of my BMW and the most recent Wing.

After the last hooRA 17 years ago last month (because she's now 17) which was a nice ride from Dallas to the Smokey Mountains and back for 2 weeks. What a fabulous trip! I kept the Wing for 3 years.... realized I wasnt riding it. Sold it and succumbed to the reemerging need for a classic car which you see in the other thread Old Cars. Course it looked nothing like that when I bought it and the decision was a good one.

I'll try to fish out the pics, scan and post.