I was 17 and 2 weeks from graduating high school and saw an advertisement for a 71 formula in the local paper.I went and looked at it and the woman asked if i wanted to drive it,,,[idle it around the trailer court]went home and looked up some magazine articles on it ,the quote was ,,it moved with brutal effortlessness.i was hooked!dad came home from his job,[police officer] and i asked him to go look at it ,first he said no.and i had left the location it was at on the nightstand,I came home the next day and was still stewing about it when dad came home ..he came im my room and asked what was wrong and said ,i went and looked at that car,he just gave me that look,and then said we pick it up tommarrow!.kinda sucked as he woulnt let me drive my 71 formula 400 with 4spd home. i drove his car home .he got out and said,,,you better have Alot of respect for that car.once i got undr the hood and figured out the backfire problem and tuned it.my older brother in law and i eased it out of the driveway,then jumped on it the back end came sideways so quick i didnt have time to straighten the wheel and stopped 50 feet later with the car pointed at the ditch.WOW .my brother in law said he couldnt hve knocked the smile off my fac.dad came home and saw the tire marks on the road.and didnt say anything.bout an hour later i hear the most hellacious noise out on the road ,ran to the window and there went my bird with smoke billowing out of the back wheel wells then i heard him shift and stil more smoke.then the shift to 4th it twiitched sideways.dad was reliving his teen years.he came back smiling .he said Dang that felt good!that was only one of a few times he turned it loose.i later sold the car .I told my wife i'm going to have another one later .well to make a long story short 25yrs later almost to the day of when i bought my first one ,i bought another one .funny how history repeats itself.now 43 and alot more responsible,,i cant wait to get my 72 on the road for my son to enjoy with me.
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