My 12 year old self

[qkcuda]

I guess I am getting sentimental in my old age. ( I turned 70 this year). When I was younger I was obsessed with cars. While my friends were reading comic books, I was reading car magazines. When I was 11 or 12, I saw a brand new Charger with a 383 Four Barrel and thought it was the coolest car I'd ever seen ... and now I own one. I loved watching drag racing ... and I ended up bracket racing for 10 years straight, then on and off for another 30 or so. I loved reading about engine design ... and I have designed and built several, the last one this year. I am planning on retiring next year, and I am looking forward to having more time to spend on my car hobby. I think my 12 year old self would be impressed. How about you?

 

[69conv]

When its in your blood.... BTW most people just dream congratulations on living the dream!

 

[Budnicks]

I grew up around drag racers, my mom married a guy Bob
who had several cool rides, when they 1st got married
a 64 GTO 389 4 speed 4.11:1 H/S ran mid 12s in 1965-66
a 53 F100 PU 352 with 428 Police Interceptor big valve Head, big cam
T10 4speed, Dana 60 4.10 rear, he street raced regularly (don't tell mom)
I learned to drive a real stick in that truck at 10 y/o
Also had a Hot Rod lil' 35 Ford PU with a 401/425 Roadmaster Buick/GS motor
LeSal 3 speed trans, Olds rear 4 bar suspension

One of my biggest memories as a kid 8 years old, in Nov 1967
was going to SF Dodge Chrysler Plymouth some 40-ish miles west from Concord
to order 'my mom' her 1st ever 'brand new car'
took like 3 months to get it finally, a 68 Plymouth Sport Satellite,
GG1 (Dark Green) & white top & guts, white bucket seats no console
383 4bbl 23 spline 4 speed, w/dealer installed 3.91:1 gears
& polished alum. 15"X7 & 15"x8 slots Ansen (?) wheels
Uniroyal H70's on front & L60s on the rear, so it had a rake...
all the org. take off parts came with the car too...

I was crawling all over the Chargers, GTSs & GTXs RRs Barracudas
in the showroom

I can remember it like it was yesterday, it was like $3,600+ cash too
that was a chunk of change in 1967
(my stepdad was a union pipefitter, was working a lot of OT)

I later owned that very car in 1979, I was 20 y/o then
I traded my dad a 71 Demon 225/6 3 on the tree
& $300 for it, I wanted it bad...

she was driving my stepdad's 64 GTO 389 4bbl 4 speed 4.11:1 gear
(retired S/H car) as her daily driver, mom was cool...

My 1st real car was a 68 Charger R/T 440, I bought at day before I turned 15
& got my learners permit from a lady down the street from my Mom & dad
in Antioch, she was the divorced wife of the Contra Costa Co Sherrif
it only had like 59k miles for $350 in 1974

I was destined to be a gearhead

 

[eldubb440]

I remember kindergarten, teacher was asking what everyone wanted to be when they grow up........I distinctly remember saying "race car driver"

 

[eldubb440]

I guess I am getting sentimental in my old age. ( I turned 70 this year). When I was younger I was obsessed with cars. While my friends were reading comic books, I was reading car magazines. When I was 11 or 12, I saw a brand new Charger with a 383 Four Barrel and thought it was the coolest car I'd ever seen ... and now I own one. I loved watching drag racing ... and I ended up bracket racing for 10 years straight, then on and off for another 30 or so. I loved reading about engine design ... and I have designed and built several, the last one this year. I am planning on retiring next year, and I am looking forward to having more time to spend on my car hobby. I think my 12 year old self would be impressed. How about you?

isn't it great to have never really grown up

 

[khryslerkid]

 

[Davefinan]

I guess I am getting sentimental in my old age. ( I turned 70 this year). When I was younger I was obsessed with cars. While my friends were reading comic books, I was reading car magazines. When I was 11 or 12, I saw a brand new Charger with a 383 Four Barrel and thought it was the coolest car I'd ever seen ... and now I own one. I loved watching drag racing ... and I ended up bracket racing for 10 years straight, then on and off for another 30 or so. I loved reading about engine design ... and I have designed and built several, the last one this year. I am planning on retiring next year, and I am looking forward to having more time to spend on my car hobby. I think my 12 year old self would be impressed. How about you?

I’m about your age and it is GREAT remembering those times.
when you no longer remember …..then you're really old.

 

[chargervert]

I am still like my 12 year old self,but my toy cars take up a lot more room.

 

[68BabyBlue]

When I was 12, my all time favorite car was the 1960 Chrysler 300F. A few years later, the dealer in my home town took delivery of a red '69 GTX, and my allegiance was tested. Those two cars motivated me to work hard enough to afford both in later years.

 

[Dennis H]

Coke Bottle and tire smoke. I’ll NEVER get over it.

 

[chargervert]

When I was 12, my all time favorite car was the 1960 Chrysler 300F. A few years later, the dealer in my home town took delivery of a red '69 GTX, and my allegiance was tested. Those two cars motivated me to work hard enough to afford both in later years.
View attachment 1773100

My step father had a 62 300H convertible, before buying the 70 Charger R/T SE brand new.

 

[68BabyBlue]

My step father had a 62 300H convertible, before buying the 70 Charger R/T SE brand new.

He had great taste in upscale Mopars. As you probably already know, that H convertible was one of 123 built.

 

[chargervert]

Yes,unfortunately it was a very rusty New England car. He let it rot into the ground.

 

[68BabyBlue]

Yes,unfortunately it was a very rusty New England car. He let it rot into the ground.

My 300F was more fortunate. Sold new in Canoga Park, California, then spent the remainder of its driving days in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada. Still had original paint when I owned it, was completely rust free, except for a few spots on the lip of the trunk opening. A true homing pigeon - when I sold the car, it was purchased by a Hollywood set designer, who lived in Canoga Park.

 

[RR Fan Dan]

I later owned that very car in 1979

Do you still have it?

 

[Budnicks]

Do you still have it?

No unfortunately
I sold it later, in the early 90's
I had it for like 14 years myself, like 3 (Or more) different BB motor combos
had it all the way thru college & 10+ years after
sold it to a kid, in Concord

 

[RR Fan Dan]

No unfortunately

That’s too bad. That was a rare one.

 

[Kern Dog]

I guess I am getting sentimental in my old age. ( I turned 70 this year). When I was younger I was obsessed with cars. While my friends were reading comic books, I was reading car magazines. When I was 11 or 12, I saw a brand new Charger with a 383 Four Barrel and thought it was the coolest car I'd ever seen ... and now I own one. I loved watching drag racing ... and I ended up bracket racing for 10 years straight, then on and off for another 30 or so. I loved reading about engine design ... and I have designed and built several, the last one this year. I am planning on retiring next year, and I am looking forward to having more time to spend on my car hobby. I think my 12 year old self would be impressed. How about you?

I was BORN with an interest in cars.
Dad was a new and used car salesman and often a sales manager. He taught me how to identify a car as it came down the road. Back in the late 60s and early 70s, you could tell a Ford from a Chevy from a Dodge or a VW. I would stand at the edge of the yard as young as 5-6-7 or so and call out the brand of cars. Mom used to tell the story as if I was always right but hey....to a mother, your kids are the smartest and best looking kids in the world. I may have been right some of the time but surely not with every car coming down the road.
I had Tonka trucks and tractors. I raced and jumped bicycles, broke parts, replaced them and went back at it. I had a minibike, blew up the first engine and replaced it....all of this before I was 14.
I was destined to be a gearhead. Not a guy that collected rare and valuable cars but a guy that had some type of hot rod at every point in my life.
That is how I turned out. Since getting my license a little after turning 16, my daily driver has always been a V8 model. I've always had some type of fun car whether it was fast in a straight line or fast in the corners.
I'm 59 now and a new kid is in town...My 13 year old nephew is showing signs of being a LOT like me. He races and jumps bikes. He loves mechanical things and I have been helping him with it. Today I started teaching him how to weld!

 

[chargervert]

What's cooler than that!