John S. Rehberg, 8/31/1956 to 9/14/2022, Dad you may be gone but you're always with me...

[guy gadbois]

A bit later, Dad slipped into the "I need better gas mileage and I need a truck" mode again. So the Fiesta was sold [to me] , the75 Chevy was on the block and we went looking. Dad was completely soured on 'LUV' trucks, so we passed right on by the Chevrolet dealer. A bird hunting buddy of his had a Courier that had been fairly reliable, but was sort of 'tin can-ish'. Even tho dad nor I liked to buy japanese, we did go look at Datsuns, given the past good luck and knowledge of the 'design history'. I kept after him about D50s.
He relented. See, I had done my homework and knew that these were great little units. A guy at church had one with the small motor and had been real pleased also.
Naturally, I preferred it to have Plymouth written on it, because, well, because PLYMOUTH! So off to Cox Chrysler Plymouth.
Cox didnt have a 'Sport' model - 2.6L engine, heftier suspension, better interior etc - with a 5 speed, but we drove a slushbox unit. Even dad was somewhat impressed. We drove a base unit with a manual, but not enough 'umph' and too spartan of a cabin. So off we went.
I promised myself that I would be economical with verbiage about this vehicle. I loved it, drove it myself all over the country once it was mine, rallied it, hauled stuff and used it to tow broken race cars at Hallett. But we're not talking about MY cars here...
Anyway, we finally found a Dodge with the 'big' engine and 5 speed at Chrysler Products Claremore. We went up and drove it. It was nice. Dad HATED the colour scheme and the striped seats, but he was all about the dynamics and mechanical spec of a vehicle rather than the aesthetics. I searched [by phone] every dealer within a hundred mile radius for a solid yellow "Plymouth" [yeah, i know...] to no avail. So Pops brought [what became known as] 'The Nuclear Truklet' home.
The photo on my computer is from when Truklet belonged to me.
[as an aside, the dealership who sold Dad Truklet was the same one from whence my 70 RoadRunner emanated]

 

[guy gadbois]

I shall omit the stultifying details on the next several of Dad's cars... [the village rejoices! ]

The 78 Cutlass turned into an 82 Cutlass Supreme 4dr in non-metallic Dove Grey with a Navy top and interior. The reasons why aren't germane to this 'discussion' , nor are the ones resulting in it's short stay.
Shortly afterwards, dad again stated flatly that he didn't care how high gasoline got, he couldn't take little trucks any more, so I bought Truklet from him and he purchased a new 82 Ford F100. Brown on brown, it had a 300 Six - great engine - and an OD 4 speed manual. Single cab l/w, you know what it looked like.
The 82 Olds became an 84 buick LeSabre 4 dr sedan. Dad REALLY liked that car, in spite of it's overall 'blue-ness' ; slightly darker-than-medium blue metallic paint with a dark blue vinyl top and interior. Car had a 307 Oldsmobile engine and AOD. Steering, brakes, air, locks and windows, tilt/cruise etc. Pretty basic spec for those. Dad hung on to that one for 7 almost 8 years. He really liked it.
Decent/not over run areas to hunt kept getting further and 'deeper' , so Dad decided he wanted 4WD. He ended up buying a gorgeous 85 Dodge pickup. [W150] It was single cab, long bed, white with a blue interior. Top trim line available that year I believe... "Royal SE" or something [?] Had factory 'wagon wheels' with trim rings and sat nice. Really lovely unit in my estimation...but the worst vehicle Chrysler ever produced Im sure. Within 4 months it was on it's 3rd replacement starter, 1 ring gear and it was using a quart of oil every 500 miles. Apparently the block was simply machined wrong. Dad was NOT happy.
So that was sent down the road and he bought an 85 Ford F150 4WD truck. That truck was unusually optioned and came with a bit of a backstory; it was singlecab long bed in Lariat XLT trim, but had manual windows and vinyl seats. Black with a red interior, it had the HO 351 [last Holley carburetted V8] NON overdrive automatic and 3.55 gears. The truck had been ordered, a down payment made and then the buyer disappeared. Never showed up and the dealer couldn't find them. So after it had sat 3 or 4 months, they put it on the lot. Dad got a deal on that one and really liked that truck.
Until the GMT400 trucks came out... and dad was enamoured with them, so in 89 he bought a K1500 Silverado. I know this is the wrong forum to extol that vehicle's virtues on, but that was the best pickup ever. It ran well, got amazing gas mileage for what it was, drove nice and even handled well for a 4wd truck on off-roady tyres. [an unoffical 2 minute 12 at Hallett...] As I owned it after him, I have a photo of that one on this computer...

A couple of years later, Amoco came thru offering 'old guys' a package that Dad decided he just couldn't pass up, so he took early retirement. He decided that he was going to buy another pickup that would 'last him thru retirement'. Regrettably, he was prophetic... Plus, he wanted me to have the 89, so he took the 86 Ford F150 that I had ordered new - XLT Lariat, 302 and manual transmission and the only vehicle ever ordered new by me so far - 'on trade' while he looked for just the right truck for him. He drove it for 2 or 3 months whist he perused the pickup offerings locally.

Whilst looking for another pickup, dad continued his theme of 'retirement cars' and somewhat unhappily replaced the LeSabre with a 91 Lincoln Town Car. It was white with a maroon interior; dad liked it OK, mom loved it and I hated it.
I promised to not ramble on, so I'll not relate the tale of the 91 Chevy K1500 Silverado Z71 finding dad, but will include a picture.

 

[guy gadbois]

Dad's interest in sports cars was rekindled and we began to look around at several different marques. He sorta zeroed in on a Porsche 911 eventually. I had mentioned this to a friend who owned/owns a restoration shop that did a lot of Porsche work, both restoration and collision repair on later stuff, and asked him to keep an eye out.
Jeff called me one afternoon with what he thought might be an answer to dad's search; he had a customer who had a 79 Porsche 911 SC coupe that Jeff was just finishing up a complete, glass out, down to the metal repaint on due to the poor car's THIRD vandalism. He had called the customer/owner to advise him of the car being ready the next day and the owner declared he was tired of all the problems - and increasing insurance premiums - and was just gonna sell the car. We went and looked it over, drove it and dad made the deal. He really liked that car; dad would sometimes jack the car up and just lay under it looking... the engineer in him was always trying to figure out the engineering solutions to certain problems, especially those issues to be overcome due to the unique nature of the vehicle's layout. He liked the unusual engineering and the solidity of the car. That vehicle intrigued him.

 

[guy gadbois]

A couple of years later, Dad declared to me one afternoon that "He wanted to do something different" vis a vis 'toy cars'. I was quite surprised and queried as to his motivation. 'Just gonna do something different' was all he would offer. Truth was, his left hip was really giving him problems and those odd floor mounted pedals were at an angle that was causing discomfort. But he wouldn't admit it.
Anyway, off we went to look for something for dad to 'play' with.
We looked at 928s. We looked at Mustangs, Firebirds and Camaros. We went and drove a Dodge Stealth. He looked at Pagoda Roof Benzes. We even looked at a couple of Healey 3000s, maybe seeking to scratch an old 'itch'.
After a few weeks of looking around, my doorbell rang one evening and it was me Pater. Sitting in my drive was a new 96 Z28 Camaro. Red, with red and black tutone interior, it was indeed a looker. I was somewhat surprised to see the 6 speed manual transmission and Bose sound system, but pleased. We went for a drive and it was a really nice car. Dad was kind of excited. And dad seldom got excited.
Unfortunately the joy was shortlived as my father passed from this life unexpectedly, and much much too soon, mere days later.

Rest in peace Pops - you're missed more than you'll ever know....

 

[PlymCrazy]

Wow fellas, I'm sooo appreciative of you sharing and contributing here.
Like I stated in my very first post in this thread; "I think we can have some fun in his(dad's) honor. I'm sure he would love to see us all smiling at the thought of him with his cars."
I'm sure if dad were here he'd be pretty happy to know the memory of him and his cars sparked others to share memories of their dad's with their cars too.
Don't stop. Feel free to post as much or as little as you wish here, or even nothing at all.
Anyone just stopping in to read is encouraged and appreciated as well, even if I never hear from you or see evidence you were here.
I hope you walk away with something positive from this thread.

And please excuse my delayed response to the recent activity here...
I need a bit just to take another breath and dive back in here.
I'd like to give the recent posts the attention they deserve.
I'll be back soon
- Nick

 

[Budnicks]

Dad's interest in sports cars was rekindled and we began to look around at several different marques. He sorta zeroed in on a Porsche 911 eventually. I had mentioned this to a friend who owned/owns a restoration shop that did a lot of Porsche work, both restoration and collision repair on later stuff, and asked him to keep an eye out.
Jeff called me one afternoon with what he thought might be an answer to dad's search; he had a customer who had a 79 Porsche 911 SC coupe that Jeff was just finishing up a complete, glass out, down to the metal repaint on due to the poor car's THIRD vandalism. He had called the customer/owner to advise him of the car being ready the next day and the owner declared he was tired of all the problems - and increasing insurance premiums - and was just gonna sell the car. We went and looked it over, drove it and dad made the deal. He really liked that car; dad would sometimes jack the car up and just lay under it looking... the engineer in him was always trying to figure out the engineering solutions to certain problems, especially those issues to be overcome due to the unique nature of the vehicle's layout. He liked the unusual engineering and the solidity of the car. That vehicle intrigued him.
View attachment 1604241

you dad had great taste, in that case

 

[PlymCrazy]

Next up was another 'driver' for dad. I probably wouldn't spend much time on this car except a] I liked it and b] I believe it holds a unique position, at least in Corvair -land.
...but he wrote them back and asked for 24 Viton O-rings in a specific size for an 'experiment' he was conducting. That experiment was our Corvair's push rod tubes.
To the best of my knowledge, our Corvair was the first one in the country to receive Viton pushrod seals, which quickly became - and still is - the 'standard' for quality repair of Corvair oil leaks once the product became available to the public.

My dad had a '64 Corvair that failed on us miserably in time of need. I never saw dad put any effort into getting it going again before he got rid of it.
Your dad, however, sounds like a rock star in his approach

Next up in order of dad's cars is ... a 1966 Corvette roadster.

Nope, can't say I can relate. We never had a Corvette. Dad repainted one I recall. All those fine ingredients, tiger hair and all

'That's a Porsche son."
"its really ugly - looks like an upside down bath tub!"

After the baby came, she and her husband bought a 67 coupe - room for the baby stuff in the back!]

...I will mention that I stumbled into the car about 25 years ago; I contacted the owner and naturally tried to buy it, after first reminding my wife that you COULD live in a car but you couldnt drive a house...

Well? What happened?

... Long story short w/o boring you with dialogue, of the millions of potential variations of keys for 70 Fords, her door key and ours were the same! AND... her car - same colours and options - was parked one row over. In a small [at the time] suburban hamlet deep in the US Flyover Zone. What are the odds?!?

I'd really like to know those odds myself. Wow!!!

...Come to find out, it was still the same guy who bought it from us; the poor White interior looked awful, but the rest of the car looked OK and had over 420k on it at that time, never having been apart.

The only new car my father ever ordered was a 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme...

My grandma, dad's mom, had one of these close to same year. 3.8L, 231 IIRC. It was a creme yellow initially and later dad repainted it sort of a eggplant color she liked

...Only story I shall relate here is one of the VERY few times I was right and dad was wrong,...

I'll pretend I didn't hear that LOL

 

[guy gadbois]

Well? What happened?

Well...nothing happened, other than I told the guy some stories, sent him copies of pictures of the car early in its life and found out that it wasn't for sale. He said he had a codicil in his will that he was to be buried in it. I told him I would watch the obits and WOULD dig his *** up, take the car and rebury his remains!

 

[PlymCrazy]

Normally I would just mention the next car and go on, but I just gotta tell the story on this one.
The next vehicle in my father's klatsch of kars is a 72 Datsun 510. The reason that this car is special to me - tho not necessarily to him - is that it represents the one and ONLY time in my life that I was able to successfully use extortion with my dad.
Let me explain...
If you were my father's child, you WERE going to college. This was made clear very shortly after birth. Naturally, when the time came, I had no desire to do so, but accepted my fate relatively good naturedly. Several institutions of higher non-learning were actually silly enough to offer to pay me to go there, but I had a GREAT job as a teenager, [if I had a lick of sense i would still be there... ] did NOT want to live in a dorm, was pretty active helping a friend on a race car [great point for decision making, huh?] and had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up anyway, so I took the offer from a small-ish private liberal arts university not too far way that I could commute to, keep my job, live at home and work on Larry's race car.
Given the greatness of the job I had, midway thru my senior year in high school I purchased a Corvette. I had some money and had the proceeds of selling my RoadRunner, but was still a bit short for the Tupperware car. Asked dad for a short term loan and he stated that it was time for me to begin to establish credit, so he took me to the credit union at Amoco and co-signed a loan for me for the balance.
Cool.
As the summer of 78 progressed, I was doubling up on car payments and setting a bit aside for doing a few things to the bright yellow Chevrolet, but there was still a lien on it. So close to the time to start school, I opined to my dad that I needed a daily driver as I was NOT going to leave my Corvette in a downtown-ish parking lot to attend university. I suggested a short term loan from him. He opined that i already had a car that was perfectly drivable and was not quite paid for. I again reiterated that it would not be left in a parking lot as the possibility of theft and vandalism was fairly high and my insurance was ridiculous already. I calmly explained my reasoning , pointing out the value of having a second car for the commute and nasty weather. I proposed something relatively economical as I would be racking up the miles. My arguments were flawless to my way of thinking, but dad dug his heels in and declared that I had a perfectly good car to drive that I had chosen and wasnt paid for so that was that.
Then, I mustered all of my courage and resolve, channeled all the Clint Eastwood, John Wayne and Charles Bronson I could and levelling the most steady icy stare I could muster, looked dad square in the eye and said "Fine. I'll just lay out of school for a year til I get the Corvette paid off and can buy another car to drive."
It was tense for a few moments, but dad 'blinked'.
He agreed to talk about it.
I was ready; I thought i had it all worked out. There was an ad in the back of Competition Press - the forerunner of Autoweek - from a Chevrolet dealer in one of the Carolinas. They had 22 - TWENTY TWO - brand new 76 Cosworth Vegas, any colour and both 4 and 5 speed transmission - your choice for the low low price of something like $2700, or about half of sticker. I mean whats not to like?!? It was a cool car [which dad didnt care about] that got good gas mileage and was new with a full warranty! Such. A. Deal. Just fly out there, drive one home and Bob's yer uncle.
Dad didn't think that was a good idea. Typical.
But I had a backup plan; I already had a 71 Alfa GTV1750 spied at Chris Nikels. Dad thought that was even stupider. That elicited the ubiquitous 'boy that must be yer butt talkin cause yo head is smarter than that...' But not as idiotic as the Fiat 131 or Triumph TR7 idea. I even mentioned a Volare/Roadrunner, but he reminded me that it got poorer fuel mileage than the Corvette...
So back to Square One.
Without boring you too much more, Datsun 510s were on my radar. Neat little cars that looked good and handled well. Giugiaro penned the original design brief, the L series engine in it was a direct copy of Mercedes, as was the IRS, and the unibody architecture looked amazingly like a cross between a Cortina and a BMW 2002. They were successful race and rally cars and were pretty flickable/fun to drive. August was here and the clock was ticking. I saw a 510 in the Bargain Post one Thursday and called on it; sounded good. Called dad and asked if THAT would be a potentially acceptable candidate, and he allowed as to how that might be a maybe. Called the owner back and set an appointment to go look at it that evening.
We drove over to the guy's apartment complex, got the story and looked at the car. Owner's parents had bought the car for him as a graduation present to take him through college. Guy had gone to school, got his degree and then went back one more year for an MBA or CPA, cant remember which. Got a good job, moved to Tulsa and now wanted to get a 'better ' car. [which it wasnt, but whatever...] The 510 was one owner, never hit, decent mile. It was that awful baby potty brown that Datsun painted at least 50% of them in 72 along with dealer installed 'body side mouldings' and had every AMCO 'option' from the catalog; bumper guards and over riders, centre console, CoCo mats and leather shift knob with a cloisonne Datsun emblem on it. It had dealer installed air too. The only option missing was a factory tach. [after we bought it, I found one; Murf the Surf had one new in the box on the shelf, so we installed it. Weird deal tho...the car itself was regular 12V negative ground, but the tach was POSITIVE ground somehow we eventually discovered...] Dad made the deal and on the way home I asked about my payment plan; dad said not to worry - just go on to school [which curtailed my work hours / income quite a bit ] and pay him next summer when I got back ahead.
Win.
View attachment 1602681

Persistent little bugger, weren't you?
Your poor dad

I love the stories/exploits

I have an old buddy with a 71-72-ish era Datsun 510 Bluebird 2dr
'garage built'
his dad was an old car guy from the later 50's too
he still lived with his parents, his dad had a lot of influence on him still
he/Robby
extended the front fenders 4-5"s IIRC, full 2x3" rails
& full 12pt cage, 14x32" on Centerlines tucked under the fenders
fat & skinny combo, a 9" Ford trussed rear end, Mustang II front suspension
with a Fuel Injected 468cid BBC Mark IV 12:1 roller/Powerglide trans
with 5500 stall converter yada yada yada,
thing would run on a Barry Grant electric fuel pump
CNC style pump 500gph/low pressure style 15psi-21-psi bypass style system
carb style, not intended for EFI & but he had the regular high-pressure nozzles
for a mechanical style of Injected Fuel pump
on a Crower or Hilborn Stack Injection yada yada yada
He could change nozzles & run methanol if he wanted too, pick up 50-60hp
thing would run in the hi-8's when that was still really a feet,
& EFI wasn't the craze, it'd be not that big of a deal today
& easily run mid-hi 9's (9.70's 140-ish) street trim

This kid (he was almost 10 years younger than me, he's a man, he was 20-ish)
he was a freaken' genious,
this was later 80s he was in school for Mechanical Engineering, originally
Machine Tech classes, still at JC DVC/Diablo Valley College, Concord
ended up working at the Lawrence Livermore Lab/Berkeley as an Engineer too

His 1st car
he took his dad's old Commuter 59' Morris Minor 2 dr coupe
& put a combo 2.8ltr 60* v6 (POS) w/5 speed & narrowed the rear
out of a 80's S10
with a bigger for that day Turbo on it, had a boost regulated nob inside the car
he could crank up the boost, that thing was crazy too, fun & handle like on rails
sort of tricked out to a lesser extent, than his 510 Bluebird was
quick thou

sorry, I sort of got a bit off-subject
the 510 got me remembering Robby & his exploits

sorry photo quality sucks
View attachment 1602697

View attachment 1602699

Good grief man! An 8 second Datsun? With a 468? That's a 454, .060 over, correct? I remember something like that in a beautiful '70 Chevelle a fella I knew growing up IIRC. But in a little Datsun? Man-O-Man!

so in 89 he bought a K1500 Silverado.
View attachment 1604222

My grandpa bought a new Silverado in '89, too. I recall at one point grandpa getting a long thin package in the mail. It was a new, factory issued, locking transmission dipstick as part of a recall or warranty thing. Do you recall anything like that in regards to your dad's '89?

...Unfortunately the joy was shortlived as my father passed from this life unexpectedly, and much much too soon, mere days later.
View attachment 1604255
Rest in peace Pops - you're missed more than you'll ever know....

RIP to your pops. Glad I got to know him as much as you shared here. I'll bet he's smiling as you shared his antics, quirks and exposed his tastes and areas of vulnerability as you have.
Thank you for that

 

[turbo t]

I'm not one to post much on the internet, but reading all these and my father just passing away a month ago i thought it could be cathartic to write about his cars and exploits. He retired from Chrysler Air Temp in Dayton in 1982. Our family has had a long history with the brand with me racing for Mother Mopar in the late 80's and mid 90's before running pro-stock for 2.5 seasons in a Pontiac Firebird. This all started because of my dad who had everything from 62 Dart, 68 Super Bee, 70 Road runner, as new cars along with everything Mopar in between,72 Petty blue Duster,78 Macho Wagon,80 Arrow GT, 76 Cordoba, 71 Demon Super pro drag car, 68 Dart drag car, which i still own. 82 Horizon TC3, numerous Dodge trucks, about a year before he got too sick from Alzheimer's, that he fought for 7 years before it took him, he had my older sister and I come down and each of us take his last two pride and joys, she got his garage kept Red 98 5.9 Dakota R/T with 12,000.00 original miles and I received his red stage 2 SRT 4 Neon with 8500.00 original miles. It was a bitter sweet day when we went with trailers and picked them up. We could tell he was happy to see us get them because he knew we knew what they meant to him and they would be taken care of, {anyone who knew my father knew what a perfectionist he was} It was also sad and one of the hardest things I've ever done because we knew he knew that this was probably the last time he would remember us or anything from his past. Which unfortunately it was. I myself have made a career in drag racing and we own a company that manufactures racing engines and none of it would have been possible without my dad pushing me and starting me racing at an early age. He raced motorcycles for a lot of years in the 60's and 70's and in 78 we started drag racing and he himself raced up to around 1996. Our family is still racing, and our son is continuing the legacy he started and i hope we continue to make him proud. God Speed Dad.

 

[PlymCrazy]

@turbo t, I'm really sorry to hear of the passing of your dad recently.
It sounds like he was a pretty fun and exciting guy.
I can't express it any better than fellow FBBO member @moparedtn in post #5 of this thread...
He said; "That's about as rough as it gets for a fella, losing his dad."
Those words have resounded in me since the first day I read them.

I can't even begin to imagine what you went through in the end with him. That can't be any easy thing for anyone to go through.

I appreciate you sharing the story of your dad.
I see he retired in 1982? Does that mean he was retired longer than he worked for Chrysler? That's amazing!
If you have some pictures of your dad's cars and you're willing to share any, by all means please feel free to do that.
That '68 Bee, '71 Demon and the SRT-4 definitely got my attention when I first read your post.
How cool is it that, he left what sounds to be a pretty significant legacy to his kids and grandkids

- Nick

 

[Budnicks]

I'm not one to post much on the internet, but reading all these and my father just passing away a month ago i thought it could be cathartic to write about his cars and exploits. He retired from Chrysler Air Temp in Dayton in 1982. Our family has had a long history with the brand with me racing for Mother Mopar in the late 80's and mid 90's before running pro-stock for 2.5 seasons in a Pontiac Firebird. This all started because of my dad who had everything from 62 Dart, 68 Super Bee, 70 Road runner, as new cars along with everything Mopar in between,72 Petty blue Duster,78 Macho Wagon,80 Arrow GT, 76 Cordoba, 71 Demon Super pro drag car, 68 Dart drag car, which i still own. 82 Horizon TC3, numerous Dodge trucks, about a year before he got too sick from Alzheimer's, that he fought for 7 years before it took him, he had my older sister and I come down and each of us take his last two pride and joys, she got his garage kept Red 98 5.9 Dakota R/T with 12,000.00 original miles and I received his red stage 2 SRT 4 Neon with 8500.00 original miles. It was a bitter sweet day when we went with trailers and picked them up. We could tell he was happy to see us get them because he knew we knew what they meant to him and they would be taken care of, {anyone who knew my father knew what a perfectionist he was} It was also sad and one of the hardest things I've ever done because we knew he knew that this was probably the last time he would remember us or anything from his past. Which unfortunately it was. I myself have made a career in drag racing and we own a company that manufactures racing engines and none of it would have been possible without my dad pushing me and starting me racing at an early age. He raced motorcycles for a lot of years in the 60's and 70's and in 78 we started drag racing and he himself raced up to around 1996. Our family is still racing, and our son is continuing the legacy he started and i hope we continue to make him proud. God Speed Dad.

So, so sorry to hear about him passing a month or so ago...
RIP
he sounds like a good man & mentor
he had some cool rides
2 years in a mid 90's Pro-Stock Firebird, now 'I have to see that', very cool...
I had a 78 Macho PowerWagon too, sounds like he had cool trucks too
any photos of the 68 Super Bee, or the 70 RR, Demon & Dart drag cars ?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

my 92 TransAm Calif. Outlaw' P/S
a bought in show, match races at old Sacramento Raceway, 540cid bigger motor than legal
2350#s (300# Light 6.69 @ 217) Lenco/Jeffco 4 or 5 speed w/reverser, Crower clutch/Tit. can
9" ford, 4 link, Lamb front struts & Lamb coil overs rear, 15x33" slicks w/liners,
most of the Outlaw guys were Top Sportsman drivers/cars
some that couldn't run the #s had N2O, way before Pro-Mod scene was going like today...
Full bodied Blown Door-slammers & Outlaws were all the craze...

sorry shitty Polaroid, to a digital photo,
I'm in the car driving 'not taking photos'

89 P/S Camaro IROC Z

 

[turbo t]

So, so sorry to hear about him passing a month or so ago...
RIP
he sounds like a good man & mentor
he had some cool rides
2 years in a mid 90's Pro-Stock Firebird, now 'I have to see that', very cool...
I had a 78 Macho PowerWagon too, sounds like he had cool trucks too
any photos of the 68 Super Bee, or the 70 RR, Demon & Dart drag cars ?

Yes I have some pictures somewhere of his cars, as we go through his stuff I will post them up. I raced pro stock in 98,99 and some of 2000. And then drove a A/A Bantam with a 500" GM p/s engine with a liberty 5 speed. We now race a A/D automatic in Comp eliminator with a 500" Pro stock Hemi.

 

[guy gadbois]

Persistent little bugger, weren't you?
Your poor dad




Good grief man! An 8 second Datsun? With a 468? That's a 454, .060 over, correct? I remember something like that in a beautiful '70 Chevelle a fella I knew growing up IIRC. But in a little Datsun? Man-O-Man!



My grandpa bought a new Silverado in '89, too. I recall at one point grandpa getting a long thin package in the mail. It was a new, factory issued, locking transmission dipstick as part of a recall or warranty thing. Do you recall anything like that in regards to your dad's '89?


RIP to your pops. Glad I got to know him as much as you shared here. I'll bet he's smiling as you shared his antics, quirks and exposed his tastes and areas of vulnerability as you have.
Thank you for that

Im not computer literate enough to pull sections out to quote and then reply...so...
Like I said - the one and only time in my existence that I got by with such with my Dad. Me Pater was not one to trifle with either intellectually, physically or in a game of nerves....

Yes, good grief I reckon!!! 8 seconds in that short coupled of a car?!!? Imagine that was interesting... I'm surprised the driver's ba...um, uh, 'manly parts' would fit in the car.
I do not remember dad getting a dipstick in the mail on that truck, but I do seem to remember it having a 'locking' transmission stick; maybe ours was later and already had it [?]

Thanx - sure wish you coulda actually got to know him ; one of the more interesting individuals you'd run into...

 

[guy gadbois]

I'm not one to post much on the internet, but reading all these and my father just passing away a month ago i thought it could be cathartic to write about his cars and exploits. He retired from Chrysler Air Temp in Dayton in 1982. Our family has had a long history with the brand with me racing for Mother Mopar in the late 80's and mid 90's before running pro-stock for 2.5 seasons in a Pontiac Firebird. This all started because of my dad who had everything from 62 Dart, 68 Super Bee, 70 Road runner, as new cars along with everything Mopar in between,72 Petty blue Duster,78 Macho Wagon,80 Arrow GT, 76 Cordoba, 71 Demon Super pro drag car, 68 Dart drag car, which i still own. 82 Horizon TC3, numerous Dodge trucks, about a year before he got too sick from Alzheimer's, that he fought for 7 years before it took him, he had my older sister and I come down and each of us take his last two pride and joys, she got his garage kept Red 98 5.9 Dakota R/T with 12,000.00 original miles and I received his red stage 2 SRT 4 Neon with 8500.00 original miles. It was a bitter sweet day when we went with trailers and picked them up. We could tell he was happy to see us get them because he knew we knew what they meant to him and they would be taken care of, {anyone who knew my father knew what a perfectionist he was} It was also sad and one of the hardest things I've ever done because we knew he knew that this was probably the last time he would remember us or anything from his past. Which unfortunately it was. I myself have made a career in drag racing and we own a company that manufactures racing engines and none of it would have been possible without my dad pushing me and starting me racing at an early age. He raced motorcycles for a lot of years in the 60's and 70's and in 78 we started drag racing and he himself raced up to around 1996. Our family is still racing, and our son is continuing the legacy he started and i hope we continue to make him proud. God Speed Dad.

Hey, thanx for posting what you did - yer Dad sounds way cool! Sure tough to lose em...
look forward to seeing the photos.
Hang in there turbo t - its pretty rough for awhile...