"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 3 Jun 2006 17:56:44 -0400, " JimH"
jimhUNDERSCOREosudad@yahooDOTcom wrote:

End of teenage cars.

So how about you?

Ah - well, my very first "ride" was a '53 Hudson Hornet Super Six (308
CUI) that I drove around a 1/4 mile dirt track when I was 13 - say,
1960 or thereabouts. The track was surrounded by a junk/reclamation
yard which had a ton of trucks/cars/tractors, etc., and belonged to
one of my school buddies. His Dad ran the yard and he would let us
fix up old beat up autos, then wreck 'em on the track or on wild ass
rides through the woods/hay fields. The Hornet finally succumbed when
I ran my very first Demo Derby at the junk yard - it was totally
trashed and eventually crushed. I hate to think how much that car
would be worth today.

Eventually, we moved East and when we landed on the North Shore of MA,
I bought a '56 Chevy Bel Air Coupe for $50 with, get this, Powerglide
tranny. I wanted to customize this car, but one of my friends got the
bug and offered my $150 for it, so I sold it to him.

The second car I had was a '54 Oldsmobile 88 two door hardtop with the
"Rocket V8 (324 CUI)" and Hydra-Matic which was immediately put into a
garage and "renovated" - out with the Hydra-Matic and in with a manual
transmission, Hurst shifter, new rear end, drive shaft, three plate
clutch - yada, yada, yada. Changed to two barrel over to a Holley
four barrel (I think it was a Holley - long time ago), put in a high
aspect ratio cam shaft and that became the ride for about six months
until the cops got sick and tired of pulling me over. My Dad made me
sell it. Had about $450 in it, sold it for $600 to some drag racer
who did some body stuff to it. I'm told by some of my high school
friends that the fellow still has it and lives in Peabody, MA.

The third was a '57 Plymouth Fury two door that a friend's Grandpa was
selling. My Dad approved of this car because it was a "old guy's car".
With a 290 horse 318, four barrel- heh, heh, heh. It had the push
button tranny on the dash. That car was a screamer, I'll tell you
what. I kept that car until I graduated high school because - well, I
had a need for speed and my parents were adamant that I couldn't buy
another car, or modify another car, until I graduated high school In
retrospect, it was very wise of them.

So, that's my high school years.

56 Ford convertible. do not remember what I paid. $200? Took out the
automatic and installed a stick shift. Pulled out the 272 V8 and installed
a 312. I also have a need for speed. 51 Chevy 6 fastback, $15, just a
beater while working on the Ford. 55 Chevy Convertible, 265, factory stick.
Buddy owed me money, so I took the car in payment. Modified to 292, and
kept munching trannies, so swapped to a 37 LaSalle topshift with late Olds
gears. Way to many tickets. Next car was late 1963, a new 64 Chevy Impala
SS, 300 hp, 4 speed, 142 mph with 3:36 gears when I was 20. Cost me my
license for 9 months, but was in a company school in Ohio when I got the
suspension notice, so got an Ohio license. Nice when they did not swap
driving records.