Hi.
Let me introduce you to my very first car; the 1979 Pontiac Trans Am. Sundance Yellow.
Sweet, right?
Yeah. this is what it was like:
except with better music.
This car happily got me to my very favorite drag strips at my own whim, and was more than eager to take on my high school buddy in his corvette. I'm not saying I won, but just being challenged by a corvette was pretty cool. In fact, being challenged by a corvette, keeping my shit on the road, and still being quite *in the race*, was pretty cool. Not being caught by the police while racing at 90mph in a 55 on a curvy highway was also pretty decent.
So. How can you top a "first car" like that?
Like this:
[red one in the middle]
HELL YEAH. 1978 Pontiac Firbird, red and black.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SarIj1U9FM&NR=1
Sort of like this, whith a pretty girl driving. Black leather interior.
I got pulled over for the very first time in this car. Cruisin' the strip, taking off from the red light - didn't see the cop off to the side - but I burned rubber as I watched the speedometer because I know that little trick to make lots of smoke and noise while you go pretty much nowhere. yeah. Blue and red flashing lights and I'm pulled over. The cop says, "do you know how fast you were going?" I respond with a calm, "yessir. 45 miles per hour. [coincidentally, the speed limit. lucky me.]" I was left with a warning and a smile and no ticket. I think maybe the dude was just wanting to check out my car. This car overtook another on a different night -- my boyfriend at the time had a 1968 black camaro with white racing stripes. Lucky bitch. I loved his car more than my own, but mine was clearly the winner.
So. How can you top a second car like that?
Oh, I'll show you.
My roommate at the time took my car to work. He was on his way back to the house when some asshole was digging through her purse as she drove right into the side of my beautiful car in a parking lot. Insurance totalled it out, and my heart was crushed. Roommate, doing the only respectable thing he could think of at the time, signed over the title of his car.
Hello, beauty.
1982 Smoky and The Bandit Pontiac Trans Am. T-tops, ws6 suspension, VROOM motherfuckin' VROOM. What this basically means is that I was, [and in fact DID, on a daily basis] driving 65mph up a curvy ass mountain road that had a 30mph speed limit. I scared the hell out of my friends and was absolutely thrilled doing it because this thing drove like it was hooked up to a sectret rollercoaster system in the road. You haven't lived until you've made a big strong boy's asshole kiss the seat for dear life. Just sayin'. This car was a dream until mysteriously the rear main seal died and I ended up having to put 4 quarts of oil into the engine every day in order to get anywhere. Bummer.
I traded it to another car enthusiast for this:
welcome to the 1986 Buick Grand National.
Sweet car. I had it less than a year before I got annoyed with it. I don't know; one morning I woke up in a hotel room and my antifreeze was all over the parking lot. It was too damned square in general, and I was not impressed.
Besides, by then, my heart definitely belonged to Pontiac.
These days I am driving a 2005 Chrysler PT Cruiser, Touring Edition. Eh. Don't think for a minute I don't still get girl wood every single time I see a muscle car. One of the first thoughts in my head is usually, "I bet I can drive that better that you." ;)
oh cool! Interestingly, i had the car behind the TransAm in the pic, a 54 Ford Fairlane 500. And it suited me just fine as i've never been about speed or wooden roller coasters with nails missing.
ReplyDeleteGood read, Em!
Thanks, Zen! I wish I had more pictures of my old cars. I have a couple of my first one, but back then I wasn't so much into the picture taking gig.
ReplyDeleteWhat reminded me to talk about my cars was my trip to my mechanic's yesterday. He's been restoring an old car the whole time I've known him. Poor thing just sits in the garage. I also spied a sexy little chevelle sitting in his parking lot. *whistles*
Sometimes I really miss my muscle cars and dream of getting another!
grand nationals are incredible. i'd put that up there with the gmc typhoon/cyclone in its exclusivity (not that those are technically muscle cars). sad to hear you had to get rid of it.
ReplyDeletethere are modern muscle cars today, they are just a little bloated since they have become "luxury" cars. BMW M3, M5, M6, Mercedes E63, C55, Lexus IS-F to name a few on the rwd v-8 powered list.
-Edward
twitter.com/edekeratry
Ed, the Grand National was really beautiful, but I think for me, half of falling in love with cars was the curves, of course. The curves of the car! Which, the Grand National doesn't have; it's all straight lines and very classy, but just didn't have the feel that I craved at that point. The guy that I traded my '82 TA for the Grand National actually came back looking for me a few months after I moved [my roommate told me] - wanting to trade back. I wish I'd had been able to make that happen. I think another problem I had was just the whole being nickel and dimed to death at my mechanics. Every single one of my cars were like that, and I don't know if it was just a testament to the hell I put them through or their own basic aging process, or perhaps I have crap luck in general, but it seemed like every couple of weeks something else needed to be replaced or fixed or tweaked, and it just got to be a bit much by the time the Grand National entered my life. I woke up that morning to find my radiator having shat itself and it was just like, "okay, I can't afford this anymore." boo.
ReplyDeleteI do appreciate the modern day muscle car, but it's not the same, imo. They are pretty and they will get up and move, but that giant growl of the engine is missing - the nostalgia and sheer gawk factor and a piece of history isn't there. That's also part of the attraction for me. I don't know how else to explain it. There's quite a difference between climbing into the driver's seat of a '68 camaro and climbing into the driver's seat of a Beamer. ;) It's not a "better" type of thing - they both absolutely have their own qualities - but that also goes to explain how much of a difference there is. It's just not the same experience.
I still totally entertain the insanity of having a classic muscle car one day; there not really in short supply around here, though they're fewer and further between on the road these days. I was once a 12 year old girl absolutely sure that one day I'd own a '68 Mustang. So, who knows.. I haven't had one of those yet. Haven't owned a GTO yet either, now that I think of it... sigh.
well it is pretty tough to compare the sound of a carburetor vs fuel injection.
ReplyDeletetimes change... soon we'll be seeing hybrid-electric and all electric. no sound at all =\
I know. Truly a moment where my brain goes, "YAY! ....hey, wait a minute... :("
ReplyDelete