It had to be around 1975. I was ten years old and my best friends older brother had a blue '65 GTO with a 4-speed and Tri-power. After he totaled that, he got a '71 in Lucerne blue with a black int., 455 H.O. with a turbo 400, 4:11 posi and a set of Cragars.
Sometimes (if we bugged him enough) he would take us out and do burnouts. For a ten year old, this was the s#!%.
One night after a party, he fell asleep at the wheel and went through a telephone pole and was killed. He was 19. After that he was kind of a ledgend to me and my friends.
Fast forward years later. My friend and I had long since lost touch. While in college, I worked part time at a cemetary not far from where I grew up. One day, I just happened to look down and see the bronze marker that was my friends brothers grave. I told my co-worker how I knew him and the stories of the GTO's and so on.
A few years later, I was watching the movie Dazed and Confused with some friends. When I saw that Orbit Orange Judge. I think it sparked that old GTO flame that was still in me.
A few years ago, I finally found a good project, '70 (the one in my avatar) outside of Baltimore. I went to look at it on a Wednesday night and came back with a trailer that Saturday. The resto is still underway.
Mike.
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