From an early age I can remember my fascination with cars. In elementary school, the teachers would send us to the library for free reading time. Or maybe that was free teacher time? Not sure, but I do vividly recall making my way to the section with cars every single time.
Among the books was one that included the Dodge "Little Red Wagon" that debuted in 1965. It was touted as the world's fastest truck but the real claim to fame was the ability to do massive wheel stands. We called it 'cat walking' as we performed the feat on our bikes, but thinking that lingo has faded like an old Webco (think 70's bmx bike here people) I have adopted the term wheel stand as it better applies to the auto world.
I do believe I completely wore out the bindings of that book as I went back to it every time we were sent to the library. Needless to say, the passion for cars has only grown stronger.
Over the course of my years I have owned many different vehicles. In fact there was point where I had owned more than 15 different cars over a period of only 10 years. Luxury (or Hoopty as my friends aptly named), lifted trucks, SUVs, European sports cars and muscle cars to categorize a few.
My all time favorite would have to be muscle cars and one in particular. The Camaro. I've owned some very nice ones including a couple of first gen '67s, a fun beater '79 and then most recently a fourth gen 2000 SS.
There are many stories to choose from about my muscle car exploits but this one will focus on the 2000 Camaro SS.
I bought the SS with the purpose of it being a fun daily driver. Since I knew a little about making cars fast the transformation didn't take long. I quickly learned that the advent of the LS1 engine offered the ability to really make some big power. As I now tell friends, "I can make your car extremely fast and unreliable", and I speak from firsthand experience.
It started with a few minor bolt-on pieces that would make the car a more spirited driver. This became quite prevalent as once while taking my wife out we handed the keys to the valet only to have him light the tires up under the porte cochere and result in me letting out some well laced adjectives.
I then started frequenting the drag strip as I had done years earlier. Only this time I decided to enter my first organized race by paying the fee to join the bracket race event. I ended up making it all the way to the finals and collecting a fist full of dollars.
Next time comes the story of how the Drive takes on a whole new level of car guy.
We love car guy. We just bought Jack his first Field Guide to Muscle Cars book. We're seeing a lot of Dodge Challenger R/T's right now, one at a car show and Jack likes those. But he says the '72 Camaro is his favorite. That's my boy!
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