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Said to me at the car show...

In 80 or 81 my wife and I went to the Houston Autorama and saw a freshly restored 70 Hemi Challenger that was sitting in the for sale section. It was happening but not that often to see a freshly restored Hemi anything and was talking with my wife about not being sure if the car was an original or not. I wasn't up on the engine codes back then....and some guy that was walking up heard me say that. Thing is, I was barely talking loud enough for my wife to hear it let alone someone that was still several feet away. He blew up.....we walked off without saying another word.
 
Best one I recall was about 20 years ago when I owned a 1960 Thunderbird. This car won trophies at all shows it was entered into. The paint was flawless and a red that just popped. A guy pulled up in a rusted, beat to hell, mid 50s Ford, and registered in the original category. I had seen him at other shows and he had never brought a decent vehicle to these shows. Anyway, he made a comment that my 60 Tbird was the most ugly vehicle he had ever seen. He did not make this comment to me, but I overhead from a distance. Had he told me this directly, I would have offered $20 to buy his cars, so I could bring them to the junk yard for scrap. I know there are cars that people out there either love or hate. The 60 Tbird was one of them. The one I had is shown below and is now owned by a man in Alberta CA.
RonView attachment 1311886
Always had a thing for T-birds. Had a friend with your year, another with a 64, 61 and my wife's cousin has a 56. I built a Chevy G-body with a 60 Chevy dash and 64-T Bird from the dash back. Console and back seats. Front seats were Audi TT.
 
Always had a thing for T-birds. Had a friend with your year, another with a 64, 61 and my wife's cousin has a 56. I built a Chevy G-body with a 60 Chevy dash and 64-T Bird from the dash back. Console and back seats. Front seats were Audi TT.
The 2nd car I drove a lot in HS my folks had was a ’66 bird, mother’s car. She carpooled to work with a work friend who lived nearby, so I had the wheels pretty often. Huge console made it difficult to have ‘fun’ on a date unless going to the back seat as I did with dates going to outdoor movies. Lol, the landau top it had made ya feel a bit claustrophobic; it only had side windows in the doors, but lots of privacy. Later on the gal that would become my wife liked it so much she bought a 66 vert. Would like to have it today; but sold it as part of our down payment for our 1st house.

T bird 66.jpg
 
Many moons ago, I had a beautiful 4 speed A12 (440-6) '69 Super Bee. I took it to only one show. At that show, a couple know-it-alls walked by and laughed, "what an idiot - the guy couldn't even put any wheel covers on that car!" I promptly educted them that this particular car didn't come with any wheel treatments - just black steel wheels with chrome lug nuts. They both laughed at me and 'educated' me that, "NO production car EVER left the factory without hub caps or wheel covers". What did I know?
 
Why let a few idiots discourage you from going to shows?
 
Why let a few idiots discourage you from going to shows?
Agree, I’d say 95% or more of people are polite or have positive comments; but it’s those few who say something shitty that can be more memorable. Such as one older guy that walked over to my ride at a store taking a long look as I was coming back. It was a long walk as I parked at the far end of the lot as I saw him gawking at it. He says “I never liked that body style much”. I replied “So you trotted over here to take a long look at my car to make sure you could let me know this bit of info, huh? Anything else ya’d like to share before I leave?” Lol
 
I was sitting in the staging lanes one night and there was an old(er) gentleman next to me in his new Porsche 911. He was probably in is mid to late 70's. As soon as he saw my car he immediately came over and started talking to me about growing up in Detroit in the 60's. He knew some of the guys from the Ramchargers team and hung out with them quite a bit. He had lots of stories about those days to share. He took lots of photos and told me he didn't care what his wife said, one was going to be hanging in the front room of their house. I have seen him a couple of times since that night. We always chat a bit and he takes more photos and tells more stories.

View attachment 1312307
Holy **** this car is awesome!!!!!!
 
I've had many people love the engine in my car, different from your standard drivetrain, to each there own. I had a model ask to sit on the fender for a photo shoot. It's a car, a toy and I treat it as such. It's about having fun. It's the purist that try to get to me. Good luck with that!! I bought what I wanted.
 
I was going to attend a car show about twenty miles away on Saturday, but I was getting a late start to the day. Got the Coronet out around 10:30. It was pushing 100 degrees by then. My car, with a black interior and black vinyl top was pretty hot already, even with all the windows down and the vent windows all the way out. Hello, blast furnace? Got to the show. Not a lick of shade anywhere, but it was on grass, so it did have that going. By 12:30, I was having a tough time of it, even with plenty of water and Gatorade. I called it quits at 1:00 pm. It was 107 when I headed home.

Time was, I could handle the desert temperatures of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait fairly well. It can get up to 160 degrees on the flightline, and any other paved surface. Not these days! I got home, stuck the car in the shop and took a nap. I intended to do a one-hour nap, then get a few things done. Well, after a 18-hour "nap", it was Sunday morning! I'm glad I got home when I did, because I could've made myself sick as hell!

So, my brain said to me at the car show: "get your *** home!"...sometimes, the voices in your head are right!
 
I was going to attend a car show about twenty miles away on Saturday, but I was getting a late start to the day. Got the Coronet out around 10:30. It was pushing 100 degrees by then. My car, with a black interior and black vinyl top was pretty hot already, even with all the windows down and the vent windows all the way out. Hello, blast furnace? Got to the show. Not a lick of shade anywhere, but it was on grass, so it did have that going. By 12:30, I was having a tough time of it, even with plenty of water and Gatorade. I called it quits at 1:00 pm. It was 107 when I headed home.

Time was, I could handle the desert temperatures of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait fairly well. It can get up to 160 degrees on the flightline, and any other paved surface. Not these days! I got home, stuck the car in the shop and took a nap. I intended to do a one-hour nap, then get a few things done. Well, after a 18-hour "nap", it was Sunday morning! I'm glad I got home when I did, because I could've made myself sick as hell!

So, my brain said to me at the car show: "get your *** home!"...sometimes, the voices in your head are right!
Age is cruel. As I’m recovering from CTS surgeries, long journey dammit, the heat didn’t bother me in my younger days recollecting some HOT car meets and lugging parts a mile back to my ride. Used to play golf giving it up around 6-7 years ago and liked to play when it was hot enough when courses would be scarce with players. Remember playing a majestic course near the Ozarks and didn’t see another player the entire round. I did take a cart though as it was hilly. Now? Geez, I start sweating when it’s above 80 even when doing nothing.
 
I drove the Charger around a lot when I did the first 440 swap despite the rest of the car looking ratty and neglected. I pulled into a 7-11 store and as I was getting out, a kid about the age of 15 asked....Does that have the 440 Magnum?
I said Yeah....
"**** yeah......" he said.
That cracked me up.
 
I have owned and shown my 60 Dart at many shows and have heard about every type of comment there is from "What a beauty!" to "That's the ugliest car I have ever seen!" One older fella stopped by a gas station as I was filling up and asked, "Is that a new Pontiac?" I told him it was not new nor was it a Pontiac, it is a 1960 Dodge. He then said,"Huh.....I wonder why Pontiac let Dodge use the Phoenix name". He was baffled when I mentioned the fact that Dodge used it 20 years before Pontiac did. The most surprising comment though came from the Mopar Nationals in 1991 when the two judges stopped by to judge it. After poking and prodding around in and under it, one judge looked at me and says....."This car has dual exhaust, did it come that way from the factory?" I said, yeah but don't you know that? He answered by telling me that he had never seen one before. They didn't much care for my comment that I have had better judging in the Kmart parking lot where people came up to me and said. Hey, I had one of these back when they were new!
My wife commented, At least they knew it was a Mopar.

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Best thing that happened at a local car event.
Drove my 67 LeMans to work that day. Pulling out, noticed that I needed gas. Headed for the station but got flagged down by couple of guys. As I pulled to about 50 feet they were yelling and pointing right. Glanced to the right, two more motioning me to head their way. Pointed me in between two cones. As I rolled through, ended up joining in a local drive and cruise in.
Ended that day on a high note, for sure.
 
The first few hundred times it was funny but I had long since given up explaining
I'm way late to this thread, but this sentence struck a chord with me. One of my motorcycles has two headlights - one low beam, one high beam.

CRS_1116.JPG


Every. Time. I. Get. Gas. "hey man, you got a headlight out".

Yeah, ok.

Thanks.

If I'm feeling snarky, I'll hit the high beam button and make a point...usually I just let it go, though.
 
I've owned my Charger since I was in my early 20's, almost 40 years. When I tell people that I often do get asked if I bought it new.
Um....that math don't work and I ain't that old :wtf:
 
I've owned my Charger since I was in my early 20's, almost 40 years. When I tell people that I often do get asked if I bought it new.
Um....that math don't work and I ain't that old :wtf:
An older friend of mine bought a 1937 Chev many years ago. He wanted a '37, because that was the year he was born. At car shows, I tell people that he is the original owner, that he bought it new. I will turn 76 next month. I also tell people that he is my Dad. He tells me I am an a$$hole, but I don't believe him.
 
Um....that math don't work and I ain't that old :wtf:
With me, (to quote Indiana Jones)...it ain't the years, it's the miles. I've sounded like microwave popcorn when I climb out of bed in the morning, and that's been since my big accident in '08 when I was 35.
 
I’ve had the “did you buy it new?” question asked many times over the years. I turned 16 in 1969. Don’t I wish….
 
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