[nUcLeArEnVoY]

Originally Posted by tinindian68

It’s really hard for me to write this. My dad passed away a few days ago and I don’t think I’ve fully come to grips with it. My dad was the one who even entertained the idea that I get into old cars to start. I remember being 14 and having stacks of Hot Rod, Car Craft, and High Performance Pontiac magazines. My dad was handy, but definitely not a car person or mechanic.

We were taking a ride, just he and I, to visit my grandmother that lived about 45 minutes away. I spotted a 68 Firebird at the back of a small used car lot. This was 1994. The car was pretty rough. I think my dad’s belief in me far outweighed my actual ability to fix this car.

It was $1500. Looking back, and knowing what I know now about cars, it was probably about right, but for me it may as well been $15,000. We finished our trip and came home. The next day, the car was in my driveway. A surprise from my father to me. My mother was less than enthused. My mom was very well aware of my abilities and thought this whole thing was a terrible idea.

That car was the one. The one that started my passion for cars, and especially for Pontiacs. By the time I was ready to drive, I had the Firebird looking pretty good. Lots of body work and paint, interior and a transmission rebuild and it was ready to go. It was my daily for years.

I’ve owned around 50 cars since then but none as special as that car. I still have it. It’s crazy to find such comfort in a thing, but when I sit in that car I can still feel my dad next to me. We had some great times and built some wonderful memories together thanks to that car. His health had been declining for a while now and I know that he’s in a better place now.

One of the last conversations I had with him was about the Firebird. I found a nice original 400 hood for it after looking for almost 20 years. He’s smiled when I told him about it. His eyes lit up when I told him it’s also got a factory hood tach.

Thank you dad, for always being in my corner no matter what, and instilling good old common sense and strong values into me as we worked on this car together.

What a great story! I'm sure your dad is proud of you and don't worry, he's still right there with you. When the weather is nice, you should both go for a drive in the Firebird.

How I got into Pontiacs is because of my mother. But I've loved muscle cars ever since I was a child. I'm only 37 years old, so I'm a millenial - not the typical agegroup associated with this hobby.

It all started when me and my family went up north for a roadtrip as a child since my mother, having grew up in NYC (we lived in and still live in South Florida) was hellbent on us seeing snow. We stopped at a K-Mart in Maryland and I went to the toy section and wanted this snap-together model of a 1974 Plymouth 'Cuda in yellow. My mom bought it for me and it kept me entertained the rest of the road trip. This ushered in a year of so of obsessing over muscle cars, going to car shows, and collecting more models. Eventually I fell out of it, and after years of moving onto other obsessions, I eventually reached driving age.

Fast forward to 2006 and I'm looking around for a first car. I had no idea the values for classic cars skyrocketed the way they did, and I wanted a 'Cuda. Obviously that dream fell to the wayside, but then my mother turned me onto Trans Ams when she told me stories about the two she owned when she was in her 20's working as a nurse in Staten Island.

She had a 1975 and 1976, both Sterling Silver w/ black interior, automatics. The 1975, she accidentally ran right into the Staten Island river shoreline as she flew down the highway. The force of the impact was so great, the wall of water literally caused the car to just rebound and float right back on land. However, the engine flooded. She was able to start it and nurse it back home - she opened all the doors, it was a sunny week and she just kept it outside with the doors and windows open and it dried out. She traded it in the following week for a 1976 after a thorough detail, claiming "she just wanted the new model." The dealer was none the wiser. That's how she ended up with the 1976.

So I started looking up Trans Ams and developed the itch. They became my obsession, and in 2006; 2007; and 2008 they were still relatively affordable. I eventually got a 1978 in 2008 which turned out to be a disaster. I thought after I sold it, I'd never get another classic car but then the passion started to return in 2019 after I sold my 2011 Camaro. The opportunity for my '79 came up, and the rest is history.

Classic cars is a hobby not many of my generation understands. It takes you back to a different time, the smells; the sounds; the styling. Not necessarily a simpler time, or a more progressive time, just a different time. Cars, like music; film; TV; clothes; or fashion; are one of the strongest ways to see the optimism (or pessimism) of a given era, the tone of an era, and that fascinates me. Every decade's overall vibe and presence comes out in the styling of the cars of the time. It's always fascinated me.

I don't plan on ever selling my T/A, so its increased value, while nice to know, is irrelevant to me. I'd rather have it than a Ferrari. My T/A has also taught me a lot about working on cars, since I do all of the repairs and maintenance on it myself. I've done engine work; brake work; pulled the transmission and taken it apart and re-assembled it twice; among plenty of other things. These are invaluable skills that could save me from ever having to blow a ton of money on a new car ever again. You can't own one of these cars and and be a working class average joe without learning to service them yourself, haha.

I would love nothing more than to take my mother for a ride in my '79 so she could get that nostalgia rush, but sadly she is bedbound now due to spinal degeneration. At least she was able to see it when I got it in 2020.

[kingbuzzo]

great story Nuclear and great upgrade from that Camaro as well...

[Ashley P]

As an infant, I probably came home from the hospital in dad's 66 GTO. He got it (brand new) on return from Vietnam, only paying $600 for it because his dad (a WWII vet) paid the remainder of the $2875. It was our family "daily driver". Even though I heard stories of how dad drove when he was young, he drove gently about 99.9% of the time, getting pretty good use of the old LeMans 350 that had replaced the tired 389. He almost always shifted from 1st to 3rd to 4th (to "save 2nd gear"). That 0.1% of the time...WOW, what a rush as he rowed through all 4 gears at WOT!

I bought a 69 GTO when I was in college (about 1996). Gave $5050 for it. Went from a slug 10.5 @ 70 to 9.0 @ 79.8 with only a carb rebuild, HEI, and more and more and more timing. In 1996-97, new cars couldn't compete. It was a blast, until I wrecked it. I put my engine in Dad's car for him to enjoy. Every now and then I'd ask to drive it.

A few years later, Dad was sick. I asked to borrow it. He said "You can have it."

Huh?

"You want it?"

Well, yup.

"You can have it."

Thanks.

That was a tough "thanks" with plenty of "wow, is he nearing the end" thoughts.

I took a girl out that night. We had a good enough time that we went out again. Dad passed on just about 3 weeks after that night. But I've been married to the girl for over 20 years.


That's the long way to answer "my dad".

[Squidward]

My story is pretty ordinary, really.

My family was traveling down south in the 70's. We stopped off at a barbecue joint along a country road to get some food and go to the bathroom. I was jiggling around with a gumball machine, hoping to get a freebie. A mustached dude in a cowboy hat walked by and knocked me over into a stack of Coors beer cases and catfish entrails. The man apologized, and gave me his cowboy hat to make amends. He then jumped into a gold trimmed Trans Am with T-tops, and sped away.

I never forgot that Trans Am. And so started my love of Pontiacs.

[Squidward]

Originally Posted by Squidward

My story is pretty ordinary, really.

My family was traveling down south in the 70's. We stopped off at a barbecue joint along a country road to get some food and go to the bathroom. I was jiggling around with a gumball machine, hoping to get a freebie. A mustached dude in a cowboy hat walked by and knocked me over into a stack of Coors beer cases and catfish entrails. The man apologized, and gave me his cowboy hat to make amends. He then jumped into a gold trimmed Trans Am with T-tops, and sped away.

I never forgot that Trans Am. And so started my love of Pontiacs.

Yeah, I might have made up some (all) of that.

I loved the killer flaming hood birds as a kid growing up in the 70's. I liked Smokey and the Bandit. And while shopping for a first car we checked out a host of ever plentiful 2nd gen F bodies, including a snoozer Camaro or two. The 77 Formula 350 was too rusty, but the 78 Formula 400 with T-tops was just the ticket. I think Dad was living a little through me. And a month and a half after getting my license I got a ticket for 92 in a 55.

Note to self: Call Dad today, tell him I love him, and tell him thanks for reacting to that ticket as best as a father probably could.

[kingbuzzo]

Haha that movie changed my trajectory...for better or worse

[GtoFM]

I was a 17 and driving a '65 Corvair. It was a great car and loads of fun, but I needed more power. I worked at my parents' restaurant with twin boys and told them I was looking for a car. I told them everyone was driving Chevys, Fords and Mopars and I wanted something different. Their older brother drove a tripower '64 GTO and that was all I needed to hear. I combed the want ads until I found it. My dad went with me to look at it and I remembering him saying as we popped the hood..."That's a lot of motor!" to which I replied..."Yep!". Well, I bought it a week later for $500 and my best friend followed me home in the oil filled smog. A year later I bought the twins brother's GTO as a parts car. It was Sunfire Red, which did not appeal to me at all, at the time and very possibly a factory tripower. Sure wish I'd have kept that one!!!! Oh well everyone here has a similar tale. Bottom line, I still have it and still tinkering to get it back on the road....

[Squidward]

Originally Posted by kingbuzzo

Haha that movie changed my trajectory...for better or worse

Yeah, go figure!

Star Wars was out at that time. We all begged to see that, but Mom and Dad said that it wasn't a good movie for kids to watch. But they took us to see Smokey and the Bandit. And it wasn't a TV edited version.

Make it make sense!

[kingbuzzo]

Haha I member both at the drive inn that summer...what a year

[GTOLiam]

My Father was a Pontiac guy from his first car in the 50's. He loved his 65 GTO, but he was hit by a drunk driver with no insurance, so I grew up in the backseat of its replacement.... a 68 LeMans. Our family took many road trip vacations and went to lots of drive in movies in that car until it was replaced with a brand new 76 Grand Prix. After that he had various Pontiacs until he sold his 2001 Trans Am around 2013. He passed away earlier this year, but I still smile when I think about the excitement he had when I would show up with a "new" old Pontiac to take him for a ride.

[Green Elephant]

When I about four years old my Dad owned a 1963 Chevy Impala 2dr, white with a blue interior and a 327. He had purchased it new in 63 before marrying my Mom. Mom owned a couple Ramblers during that time and neither one was very reliable. I can remember that they constantly needed tinkering, just getting us around our small town was sometimes a chore. In 1968 the Impala developed a crack in one of the cylinder heads, so our family took a trip to a nearby Plymouth dealership.. I can still remember standing on the driveshaft hump in the back and leaning my arms across the top of the front seat on the trip down there. My Dad decided to trade it off on a 1968 Plymouth Satellite 2dr, tan inside and out, with a 318 and an auto. Cool car, unfortunately my older brother drove it into the ground years later and it ended up in the local salvage yard. It got crushed and turned into soup cans eventually I suppose.
The Satellite became our second car after the Ramblers disappeared and we purchased another Chrysler in the early 70’s, this one a Fury III with the (then) ubiquitous 318. Why the Fury disappeared has been lost to memory, but my Dad soon purchased a 1970 Pontiac Catalina with a 400/2bbl, it was a dark green four door. This car had been previously owned by the town pharmacist in his retirement and I doubt it had ever seen 60 mph in its whole life. Most of the time he drove around our small town at a pace slower than most of us kids could walk. I was about 12 when Dad bought the Catalina so I would be driving soon. I had always been a car nut, but the thought of driving and possibly owning a car was probably similar to how some people view winning the powerball nowadays. During that time frame we also acquired a 1970 Chevy truck with a straight six and a 3 speed on the column. That truck was what I learned to drive in. It was no powerhouse but I’m thankful I learned on a manual transmission. I started driving the Catalina shortly thereafter and learned very quickly about Pontiac torque. My Dad always kept his cars in a good state of tune, and even though it was only a 2bbl that car would move! Our small town had a surprising number of fast cars but I hadn’t ridden in many of them. It wouldn’t have mattered though, I was sold on Pontiac V8 power. The realization that these same engines were what powered GTO’s and Firebirds created a lifelong Pontiac enthusiast. Looking back on that era, I’ve come to realize that Pontiac truly did an amazing job at creating one of the best street engines Detroit ever produced.

[twilightTA]

My first Hot Wheels car as a little kid was a 1979 Trans Am. 13 years back when looking for my first restoration project I was debating between a Trans Am or a 1968 Mustang as that was my mom’s first car. I recalled how horrible that Mustang handled and decided to go for the Trans Am. I had never seen Smokey and the Bandit before I bought my 77 T/A.

It was all about that first Hot Wheels car, which was actually a gold 1979. Just liked the black and gold better.

My only other prior experience with Pontiacs was begging my dad to buy a new black 1994 Trans Am as I recall it reminding me of a Batmobile at the time. But he ended up buying a white 92 Vette.

[rwfisher]

My interest started early. My dad always had a Pontiac of some kind around. It may have been his daily driver or a car he was working on. He spent a few years at a local Pontiac dealership as a mechanic in the 60’s also. This was one of my earliest influences, my fathers ‘57 drag car. I was 4 when these were taken…