When did your madness begin?

I pushed a wheelbarrow 1/2 mi across a plowed field to get a 3 hp B&S side shaft engine (in pieces, not all there) from the next farm over, when I was 12 or so. I saved every dime and bought a Honda Z50, long past when I was too big for it. I traded the little bike for a full-sized Yamaha 100 when I was 14. I had a string of bikes culminating in a Z1. The RZ350 was a nut and bolt, ground up restoration. I sold it when my youngest turned 5 or so.

 

But as far as cars: in 1976 I was 13. I scored a seat in a guy's hotted up '75 Trans Am (400, 4 speed). When he hit 120 on the road south of town, I was hooked forever. From that day forward, I started saving to buy my first car (at 15). It was a '68 Firebird I bought from a police impound yard in St. Louis. I spent the next 2 years building the greatest white-trash street machine I knew how. I sold it after wrinkling it and fixing it twice.

 

I built a '75 Monza with a 350 4 speed in '82-'84. I had $5K in the motor at a time when I was making $4/hr. I had the first nitrous system I'd ever seen in person (Marvin Miller means more HP!). That car was stupid fast, but I sold it to get married.

 

I had a series of transportation appliances for the next 15 years. After I sold the motorcycles, I got deeply into bicycling. I've got a Eddy Merckx Ti frame (by Lightspeed), with fully Campy (circa '94), which I haven't ridden in 2 full seasons (although this year WILL be different).

 

I told you how I got into this branch of the automotive tree. It's like quicksand, though-- once you step in, it sucks you in deeper and deeper.

 

I'll post some pictures of the twin-plug set-up on another thread. 

Ah, Stan, always a good read...

Jim,
Say hello to Dave O. I bought that car unseen from him one Xmas and he parked it for me till summer! A straight arrow that fella. The Roadster is just bout the same as he sold it. Been over the Rockies 7 times. Only ONE speeding tix. ONE!

Gotta come down there n meet wid use guys one day!

      I was twelve years old, in the 6th grade and had $20 dollars saved from my hometown weekly newspaper route. For some inexplicable reason I fell head over heels in lust for a '23 Ford Model T 'telephone booth' coupe sitting forlorn with a flat tire in the back of a used car lot...$35 dollars!...If I could swing another $15 that heart throb was MINE.

      My parents laughed themselves silly when I pleaded for a loan, and pointed out how totally irrational I was being. They were right of course...But isn't that what this 'madness' is all about?

Pete, a half a dozen years ago I had the chance to sit in a Lotus like yours.

WHAT A TIGHT FIT!

My friend, who is 6' 1" managed to fit in, but couldn't move.

Pulling him out was quite funny.

I also plan on doing a lot of cycling this year.  I've been a runner for 40 years, but my knees have finally 'thrown in the towel'.

So, I've move to cycling.  Presently I have a Gary Fisher mountain bike, a Rocky Mountain hybrid, and this year I plan on buying a road bike.

 

 

Now we're getting into a whole nuther aspect to "The Madness".

 

My first road bicycle (after a slew of off-road "Trials" and 6-day motorcycles) was a Fiorelli Milano San Remo, followed by a Tom Kellogg Titanium that got stolen, followed by a Takara Professional which lasted 34 years and counting (full Campy which wore out after 40,000 miles and replaced by Shimano/Suntour/Dura Ace to current) followed by my current Trek Madone 5.2 all Carbon Fibre which I'm still getting used to (about 50 miles so far and lovin' it).  

 

I also ride a Trek 930 mountain bike around the "no-road" parts of town, but the vast amount of saddle time (50+ miles per day) is on the road bike.

Will do, Austin! Give us a shout whenever you're in SoCal (Orange County)! 

 

When I was nineteen, it was a very good year.

 

First car of my own. BMW 1600. I wanted an MGB, but this was the mean city where soft tops got cut, and there was the thing about British car reliability. So I was practical. Of course, I really wanted a 911, but that was only a dream. And I was young - there would be time.

 

When I was twenty-seven, it was a very good year.

 

Saw a mint condition 356 at the dealer. The price was high, but I could afford it. But there was no room in the boot for all the equipment I needed for work. So I was practical. I traded the 1600 for another BMW - a 2002. Of course I really wanted a 911, but that was only a dream. And I was still young - there would be time.

 

When I was forty-six, it was a very good year.

 

It was time to retire the old 2002. A clean 356 was now three times more than what had been 'high' when I was 27, but I could still swing it. But this was the central valley and what would I do with a coupe with no air conditioning? And where would I find parts? So I was practical. I got a Miata. Of course, I really wanted a 911, but that was only a dream. And I was still young - there would be time.

 

But now I'm sixty-five. I'm in the autumn of the year.

 

And a clean 356 is now as much as a 911. And what has happened to my 911? Like me, she has gotten fat. She has air bags. And floppy paddles. And microprocessors. And a water-cooled motor. And eight-way power seats. And a Bose sound system. And a steering wheel that's no longer connected to the rest of the wheels. What has happened to that nimble little girl that so caught my eye when I was in school?

 

And I'm not young anymore. And I'm running out of time. I've had enough of being practical! I've joined the madness. I got a Speedster.

 

It was a very good year.

 

 

Great post, Mitch.

Mitch, excellent post!!! 

Sacto Mitch for president.

Or at least for Poet Laureate...

 

I nominate Sacto Mitch for the Nobel Prize for Literature.

awesome post sacto mitch!!!!

 

Geesh guys, thanks for the kind words - and for the nominations.

 

I promise, if elected, I won't serve.

 

 

What is it about these little cars that so inspires us? I'm thinking it's the oil leaks.

 

 

Man...you fellas have had some nice iron over the years. My list is pretty lame indeed. Had a few bikes as a teenager, mostly BSA's but finally got a free Renault 4cv given to me by a neighbour. Broke my arm in it when I was 17 trying to turn it around in the slightly inclined driveway. Gave it to a friend and his Mother felt bad and gave me his weekly $5. allowance ( for doing house chores ) for a month. A lot of friends had MGA's MGB's, Tr3's, Bugeyed Sprites etc.

 

My Dad gave my Brother and I an old Mercedes 190D to get around in school and we discovered you could burn stove oil in it and that was 19 cents a gallon. When I hit 20 I bought a '68 Dodge Superbee. A rubber burner and gas guzzler for sure.

 

Got married too young and mortgages and kids left me with some pretty straight rides for a while. Built a few airplanes from scratch and never broke any up. Always liked anything with a motor and when $$ allowed I'd get another BSA...had lots of them..441's, 500 singles, T-Bolt and Lightnings.

 

Not sure what happened, but about 4 years ago, I learned about Speedster replicas and got hooked. Can't quite put my finger on it, but just got hooked. Got my "driver" late in 2010 and have been playing with it since. Some lingering health issues made me decide to quit flying and get back into boating. Bought a Nauset 28 last month. But NOTHING....NOTHING seems to provide as much pound for pound fun as driving the Speedster.

 

This is an excellent group of people and without it's input, I doubt that I would be in a Speedster today and having that dumb SEG on my face. I'm grateful to be with you lads....Thanks for that.

I think there's  more truth and depth to Sacto Mitch's wry comment about oil leaks...

 

it's the opportunity to interact with this machine other then dusting it off and sitting behind the wheel...It's the satisfaction of understanding its temperament, getting our head around it and making it our own...and... figuring out where in hell the oil spotting's coming from! 

Sacto Mitch...

I am a native of the Sacramento area. After College I returned to the area between from 73 to 75. I ran a consumer electronics store on Arden Way. This was during my early BMW, Porsche, Mercedes period. I went from my Tii (wrecked) to a 911(couldn't afford the insurance) to a 356 (no A/C) to a Bavaria (piece of ****) to a 240D (one of the greatest cars I ever owned). I am sure we probably crossed paths at some time. Given we are the same age I probably sold you a stereo system. I also had a sailboat on Folsom Lake at that time. I live at Lake Tahoe now. I recently found Terry in Grass Valley and Joe in Reno so that makes four local Madmen. 

Hey Stroud, speaking of building airplanes, you ever consider one of them Spitfires?

No Spit for me, Amigo. Can you imagine trying to find a suitable engine ? Closest I came was a plans built Christavia...2,000 man hours to build. I'm possibly the only one on the planet that ever flew one with the same prop on three different engines. EA81 Soob with self built/designed redrive, a Corvair with a gearbox and finally a real nice Lycoming engine. Taught myself how to carve a prop too when bux were hard to find. The old dood taught me all I know.....

 

Need a nice project to keep you from being bored on the weekends ? I have a larger project for sale..a Fairchild 51 about 75% done. Nice 9 cyl Housai radial engine included.

 

 

I haven't replied to this because I've been searching the house for a particular magazine. But I can't find it, grrrrr!

 

Well to start, I was brought home from the hospital in 1964 in a '63 Bug, so maybe it started there?

 

First car, '74 Vega. GM junk! Two years later, a '77 Scirocco, seven years old. By then I was getting a subscription to VW & Porsche , and there it was(still looking for it). Chuck Beck was making this beautiful little kit, and I could build one! 1984 was the year of the Terminator, Gargoyle sunglasses and me wanting a Spyder. I continued the watercooled VW thing(Sciroccos,Jetta, eventually a hot-rodded Corrado G60 I bought new and ate Mustangs for breakfast!) but still wished for a Spyder.

 

So I got married, sold the Corrado, got a 5000 CS Quattro and a 1991 Westy, bought a house. Had two kids, and finally some good money coming in, so I ordered my Spyder roller. It arrived and sat in the barn, and nothing got done on it at all, nagging wife and all. It just sat there in the barn, and the Raby power sat there on the other side of the garage, wishing it could be where it is now.

 

Fast forward to 2003 and a separation, sold the house, moved the car, and waited for things to settle out. After that, I started working on the car, hard. All night. Often. Got it done in six months.

 

When I started it up for the first time in 2005, my Dad was in the garage with me. Awesome moment! He taught me a bunch about all things mechanical. Plus, he was my Dad, and that is special all by itself.....

 

It's been 32,000 miles of fun, sun, rain, pain, sorting, and pleasure! And I wouldn't trade a minute.

 

Kahuna, I didn't get out here from back east until '82. Drove the 2002 across and kept it for 23 years. Sold it very reluctantly when the value was at rock bottom. I knew it would be a 'classic' some day, but the wife said it had to go - too many other cars.

 

I must be the only one on this forum that's ever happened to.

 

 

^ What are the odds of THAT being the case? 

 

Kahuna - after returning from overseas I was stationed at Mather AFB in Rancho Cordova ('70 & '71). Lived in Carmichael. Shopped occasionally at the White Front store on Arden and FREQUENTLY at the 'head' shop a stone's throw away! Good times!  

Terrific posts.  I really enjoy reading about everyone's automotive addictions.  in Jr. High in San Diego I started reading car mags, circa 1971.  My Dad was not a car guy, but was and still is a great Dad.  He would let me drive his Valiant around parking lots as a 12 yr old.  When I turned 16, I wanted a small sporty car with a manual gearshift  and found a used 1973 Opel GT that was fun for 3 weeks unti it burned in a  garage fire ( not caused by the Opel ).  Used the insurance money to pick up a 1972 TR6, which my buddies and I used to terrorize the South Bay and Palos Verdes.

 

I became more responsible in college and drove a Honda Civic GL to save on gas, which had jumped to the outrageous price of .50 cent/gallon (Hah!).  After getting my degree in finance, I went to work for a bank in commercial real estate finance and rewarded myself with a new 1984 Z28 Camaro, black and gold.

 

Since then I have owned: 1985 Audi 5000, 1986 BMW 318i, 1986 Chrysler LeBaron Turbo Convt, 1982 Porsche 930, 1988 Saab 9000, 1992 Sedan De Ville, 1994 300zx twin turbo,  2004 Jetta TDI wagon,  plus a variety of vans and mini-vans to transport the family.

 

 The current stable consists of:  2003 911 Cabriolet (Wife's car, she deserved it after driving family haulers for so long), 2002 Porsche GT2, 2005 E55 AMG, 1968 Firebird Convt with a 455 motor and 700r4 transmission, 2004 S430, 2012 ML350 Bluetec, 2007 GMC Sierra 2500 Duramax, 2012 GMC Sierra 1500 (the little truck), 2012 GMC Yukon XL, and the 2008 Vintage Speedster.  Then there are the 26 motorcycles...

 

I am a caraholic and a bikeaholic.  I hate selling my vehicles because I miss them as soon as they are gone, so the list grows on.  As I have posted previously, I have driven incredible performance vehicles at crazy speeds.  The GT2 will touch 160 mph on the 2500 ft front straight at Willow Spring Racetrack, and I have hit 190 mph on the 3500 ft straight at Miller Motorsports Park on my Erion CBR 1000rr race bike.  it is more fun to drive the speedster at 60 mph on PCH on a sunny day.  I have had the speedster in the garage of my vacation house in the mountains of Utah since last fall, trapped there by winter before I had time to drive it back yo SoCal.  Next week I will drive it across the 80 through Northern NV, then do a spirited drive down PCH from Monterrey.  It's my annual pilgrimage to take a convertible or a motorcycle along the coast For a couple of days.  I am so excited to drive the speedster down PCH.

After reading these replies I thought I'd augment my early one with a few more details.  My first car reflected my love for little sports cars even though I reached driving age during the heyday of the muscle car era.  It was a '62 MG Midget that cost me $210 - $200 for the newish tires and top and $10 for the rest of the car.  You could see the pavement under the floor mats, the clutch slave cylinder was so worn that it wouldn't go into reverse, one carb was stuck at half-mast due to dirt, and I loved it.  Got it looking good and running nicely before common sense took hold and I bought a '71 Pinto (!) for college duty.  Fixed that up with a header and Stebro exhaust among other things, but bits kept falling off the car so I bought my first new one, a '75 Civic.  That was followed by a '79 Celica GT, and '83 Celica GTS (most troublesome new car ever), an '88 Integra LS (what a hoot!), a '96 BMW 318ti, an '04 Acura TSX, and the present 2011 BMW 128i.  In the midst of the Integra I also bought a '65 MG Midget that I kept for 10 years and won numerous trophies with (fun little go kart).  Parted with that in '99 and went toyless until the Speedster came along in '06.  Life is good.

The madness for the speedster started late last year.  So far I am a wannabee!  This website has a wealth of information and I have read a lot of insightful comments from members.

 

Back to the beginning.  I started driving when I was 2.  That may sound prodigious in nature, but its true.  At least I thought it was.  My grandfather worked for Briggs Cunnigham, in NYC. He got a new Jag every 3 months, so I was constantly exposed to new cars.  When we went to the Jersey shore in the summer, I was always in the car (parked of course), standing on the seat "driving", with supervision - mostly so I didn't fall out on my head.  As I got older, around 4 they use to let me go sit in the Jags by myself (XK 120, Xk 140, etc. in the summer) and drive, without the engine running of course.  By the time I was 5, I was driving for real, on my grandfather's lap.  At the time I knew nothing of Porsche's.

 

I bought my first car at 14, a 1950 Plymouth sedan. It didn't have fenders, and I drove (raced) it around some nearby woods on old logging roads.  One day I smashed it into a tree, and my friend into the dashboard.  Time to slow down.  

 

At 16, the legal driving age in upstate NY, I bought a Honda motorcycle.  It was pitifully slow.    I took the mufflers off to make it sound fast.  It still sucked.  My parents were adverse to me getting a car at this time, so after my junior year and still 16, I went out and bought a '55 Austin Healey 100/4 Lemans, with my paper route money.  I came home and announced I was leaving for the summer for Lake George.  While not an endearing moment, it was certainly a defining one. I blew out the transmission my senior year and ended up selling a car that was not going to be logical for college.  My father bought me a VW.  So I packed it from top to bottom, fwd to aft, strapped on 3 pairs of skis and headed to Colorado to get smart.  A good friend of mine at the time had a 356 Coupe, and that was my introduction to Porsche.  We use to go to the dealer in Denver and drool at the new 911 that had just come out the year before, and even spotted a 911S up in Aspen one weekend.  Porsche went up dramatically in my book at a time when I was mostly interested in British cars: TR3's & TR4's, Healeys.  During college there were more bikes: Bultaco, Yamaha, Triumph - bought and driven in England, and then home.

 

After college, and working for a year overseas, I came home with an idea to buy a Porsche.  My attention was soon distracted to a Ferrari….the Geneva show car, in blood red with a tan interior…only 10 grand.  It was a few years old and I was ready to pull the trigger.  Then the owner showed me some documentation for repairs….$1,000 for a clutch (in 1972), gulp, but ok never mind, I still was going for it.  Then how he had to wait 9 months for the parts…..goodbye. That ended up to be a bad decision, but we all do that.  I saved a few bucks and lost a million!  I looked at a 911T but to slow and ended up with a 454 Vette, which I drove the piss out of.   Gas was cheap about .20 per gallon, it was a time of my life.  Later I morphed though 911's, Mercedes - 220d, 240d, 300d, 300td, 280SL, 300SEL, Bimmers - 2002, 2002tii, 3's, 5's, 6, X5, Landrover, Range Rover, Jags - XKR, SS100, Morgans - Plus 4, Roadster, Aero 8.  and late in life BMW bikes - r90s, and K75s.  And of course, in the mix, the ubiquitous soccer mom Towne & Country's, what P's.O.S.!

 

My daily driver now is a 3.6R Subaru Outback (boxer 6).  Not quite an X5, but much easier to service and more reliable.  Great engine.  So the next madness will be a Speedster, or Roadster D.  I want reliability, I want looks, I want fun, I want it.

 

Of course my wife always has a different idea.  I think of cars as rolling art; she uses them as rolling garbage cans.  This alone could drive one to a certain level of madness.  Whenever I bring home a new toy, there is always the price issue.  To make amends, I say: "I don't drink, I don't gamble, I don't do porn".  Most women would be happy with this.  The reply I get is: "it would probably be cheaper if you did'!

 

There is a certain level of madness to everything.

My madness started in the 5th grade when I was sent to the principal's office for always drawing cars and passing them around the classroom.

 

My 1st build was a Soap Box Derby racer. I got eliminated from competition pretty early so I brought the car home and installed the Briggs and Stratton engine from my fathers lawn mower. It ran ok but I crashed a lot because the one wheel brake in combination with skinny tires wouldn't stop in a straight line.

 

When I was 12 my father taught me how to rebuild an engine-a 4 cylinder Austin. I learned how to seat valves , hone cylinder walls and fit pistons and rings, and fit the bearings- I think the mains were babbit. Of course I did all the dirty work but I was proud of the grease under my nails. 

 

Next was a Cushman motor scooter. At that time I was getting all my hop up info from Hot Rod magazine so I planed the head and installed a straight thru Y pipe-it sounded great-probably did a valve job every week. The guys in the lawn mower shop convinced me that 2 carbs wouldn't do any thing for a one cylinder engine.

 

My 1st ride was a 1200cc Bug. I immediately installed a Judson Supercharger.It would beat most V8s stoplight to stoplight-after that nothing left. During that time my father brought home two 356 coupes from the factory while on business in Germany-a 1600 and then a 1600s. They were off limits to me but the seed was planted.

 

In the army I was stationed at Redstone Arsenal and had free time at night. I restored  a 50 Chevy Conv. The guy who painted it  taught me body work-he wouldn't spray it until I had blocked it for one month-what a beautiful metallic blue paint job!

 

Then on to Dental School.I didn't have a lot of free time but got into small block Chev V8s. A 56 265 powerpac a57 283, a 66 Stingray 327, a 68 Camaro 327 and a 350 Monte Carlo. I probably could field strip and reassemble one of those in the dark.

 

After I was in Dental Practice a few years I got into restoring antique cars. I did body offs on Three 1932 Chevs- a rumble seat coupe, a sedan, and a roadster. All 3 received National 1sts at Hershey AACA. While I was into this I saw CMC 356s at airports and vowed to do one someday.

 

That someday got delayed for many years because I got back into motorcycles. After too many track days and a lot of enjoyable long distance riding I decided it was time for a speedster but I no longer wanted to build one. I searched the internet for 6 months and almost gave up- either junk or title problems. One night I was on Craig's list and spotted one that I had passed on several months before because the price had been too high. It was now in the ballpark, was only one hour away and had a NJ title.It was a 2006 Vintage with only 650miles and was immaculate. I bought it on the spot and the madness continued. I discovered SOC shortly afterwards and have attended Carlisle twice, 2 Pumpkin Runs and Vintage Racing at Limerock twice.

 

Alan Merkin, Bruce Stump, Danny P. made me feel very welcome and a lot of members on the internet gave me good advice when I enlarged the engine last year

 

My daily driver is a 04 911 Carrera 4S with the factory 345 engine. The only work I can do on that car is write checks.

 

Hope to see a lot of you at Carlisle.

 

Joel

Q. When did your madness begin?

 

 

 

 

A.  Puberty 

June 18th, 1949, 6:15 AM , Herrick Hospital, Oakland, Calif.(There were no zipcodes then). 

Those Down East lobster boats have such sweet lines.  My wife and I have been rag sailors for years.  Racing, cruising, etc. We lived aboard a 34' sailboat for the first two years, and she declared I want a washer and dryer!  The sailboat racing and my chronic  back issues did not marry up well.  Sold, or  gave away our last boat, a Sparkman & Stephens, sweet  lines just like a speedster!  Anyhow we love our Speedster!

 

 

 

That, right there. That's why I love these cars.

Exactly Stan!

 

Joel, you're welcome.

 

Deeredriver, almost the same as my now Ex-wife. "You really spend a lot of time working on your cars" to which I reply" I don't gamble, do drugs, or cheat on you. What's the problem?"

 

Hence the EX!

 

Marty, BEFORE puberty! LOL!

I must say that I'm jealous of most of your car history.  I grew up in a small town in Kansas to lower middle class parents who were focused on putting their kids through college.  Having a cool car in high school was out of the question.  I drove my mom's hand me down tan Buick Electra 225.  I did enjoying drift turning on back country gravel roads, though :-)  It was NOT a chick magnet.

 

College was a used Toyota Corolla lift back 5 speed.  I made good use of the hatchback functionality, if you know what I mean.  I was so broke, I always parked my car on a hill to roll start it because the battery was always dead from lack of driving.

 

First job was an engineer at GM for what was then the Packard Electric Division, now Delphi.  Got my first class A discount car.  A Pontiac Fiero.  It couldn't get out of it's own way, but fun to drive on dry pavement.  Emphasis on dry.  On wet or snowy roads, it would spin like a top with no way to steer out of it.  It was scary.

 

While at GM, I later worked at Cadillac and then the GM Tech Center and got to drive a lot of really fun pool cars.

 

I mostly had boring cars until post divorce and return from expat assignment in Germany.  I treated myself to a black black black Sebring convertible.  THAT was a great car!  That was the best combination of fun and practical.  I drove that for 10 years and finally sold it. This solidified my idea that I wanted a roadster toy car for nice days and boring daily drivers for the rest of the time.

 

My dream car was always a Speedster. I dreamed of buying an original and having it restored, but never seriously looked into it. Once I did, I quickly dropped the idea. 

 

I then stumbled onto the Beck website, visited during S.E. on the way to a vacation in Chicago, spent a sleepless night agonizing about spending so much money on a toy, and ordered one the next morning.

 

Then I found the SOC, got lots of great advice, and spent many nights sweating the build details.  I'm starting my 5th driving season and have continued to make improvements via Carey and have almost (almost) ran out of upgrade ideas.

 

I plan on this being my cool car from here on out. She may go through more power trains, more replacement parts, and, who knows, even another paint job, but I'm keeping her!

spent a sleepless night agonizing about spending so much money on a toy, and ordered one the next morning.

 

HAH! And never looked back! Good on ya, Tom!

I was in my senior year drivin a 66 beetle and building my first dune buggy when a buddy said "Ya otta go over to Dana Bealls house and have him help ya with that motor"  We hit it off right off the bat. He introduced me to his  4 camer Speedster and I was hooked! His 427 Cobra turned me on but the speedster was pure sex on four wheels. I bought my first Intermecannica in 1979 and Dana welcomed me to the real world. I worked at service stations and would detail his Cobra and XK120 roadster and in return I got to use them for Saturday night dates. He let me enjoy a piece of his dream world.

  I'm sure everyone has a special person that got you involved with cars and Dana is that kind of guy. While battling cancer for the last five years at the Mayo clinic (living there for over 2 years out of life) he would always call on me to see how I was doin! He's back home and doing pretty good but lost the use of his legs. He also owns a Intermecannica Italia, a Kirkham Cobra,32 steel highboy,67 Nova,and about 20 more cars here in wild West Virginia.

  Friends are wonderful....but guys like Dana are a gift of God.  Guys like Alan,Bruce,Troy,Max and the other SOC people makes our hobby special.

My buddy and dear friend Dana passed away last night and his fight has ended.  What a friend and a great person to have shared life with. I went to visit him last Thursday and he bugged the **** out of me till we picked him up, threw him in the passenger seat and took him for a cruise in my oval window.

    Ask him about any car and he could tell ya the complete history of it. His friends just finished his 66 Chevelle SS with an all aluminum block 427,4 speed,lazer black with a red interior. His toys also included a very mint 63 beetle,67 Nova SS,63 Impala SS,boss 429 Mustang,69 Mach 1 Mustang,Kirkham cobra,56 oval going through a frame up restore,an Intermecannica itialia, plus many more.

  What a guy.   I love cars of any kind and so did he. yea  it's a madness but only a numbered great car gods can enter this circle.

     Rest in peace my brother and may Gods hands give peace and understanding to his wife ,family ,and car pals.  We lost a hero today.

^ Sounds like your buddy Dana was a good man! You done good by giving him a ride in your classic bug. May his soul rest in eternal peace! 

My madness started in 1968.   Our neighbor

went back to college to get his Masters.  He had

to sell one of his 2 cars, a 1958 356A coupe

or a 1958 Metropolitan.  I bought the 356

for $600 while I was making 35 cents a hour

part time while in HS.   The car payment

was $28 a month.  I kept the car for about

one year.   The cost of ownership was too

high for a HS senior.   Later in life I had my

fair share of muscle cars, imports and luxury

cars.  Once the Porsche bug bites there is no

anti venom serum.  I've owned a 914/6 as well

as 944 turbo.  Always vowed to get another 356.

About 4 years ago a JPS coupe slipped by me

and a year later I located a 2 year old VS with

4000 miles.   And the rest as they say is history.

Currently my daily driver is a 2013 VW CC.  I'm

not a wrencher although my father was and

insisted I learn by helping him.  I would much

rather detail my car and often spend a whole

weekend polishing and waxing.

 

My condolences.