First Car Stories!

[55chevy]

heres what I did to it one morning on my way to school.... Valentines Day 1990 8:10am.......

[Mr. T]

Ed,

Tell us the story on what happened to you on the way to school. Geez, that was some wreck!

[55chevy]

I was on my way to school that morning.. roads were a little damp and I was in a hurry because I was running late... I'll give some specific places because the Barr bros. probably know the road I'm talking about.. I pulled out at the intersection where the only red light in Pleasentville is heading toward Bedford on RT56 on my way to the Chestnut Ridge HS.. The road is a straight stretch for about 2 mile and I was on it.. I hit 110mph by the time I was going past the COW ice cream place and held it there until I needed to take a long sweeping left turning bend at which I backed off the pedal and left it coast back to about 90 around that bend then it was straight stretch for about 3/4 mile where it comes up to the intersection of where the Chestnut Ridge Market used to be and the road starts to go up hill and curves to the right in sweeping uphill bend... I took it back up to 95 on the straight.. backed off and entered that uphill bend at 85-90 I guess.. (memory gets a little fuzzy at this point).. Back end came loose from the road and I hit the 8' embankment head on on my side of the road.. car spun around and started doing flips on the road.. I went up the 10' embankment on the opposite side of the road rolling and clipping a row of trees and a sign off 10' in the air.. car came to rest on the roof with me pinned between the roof and top of the bench seat by my legs.. I was in and out of consiousness so the memories are patchy.. But you never forget the sound of the Jaws Of Life... I'll give you that much... 2 years later I worked with a guy that was driving on the opposite side of the road JUST as I went through this wreck and he saw the entire thing and told me the clear version of the story.. Thats how I know exactly what happened.... Wasn't wearing a seatbelt and I was told if I had been.. I wouldn't be here telling this story because I got thrown clear of where the roof and pillar came in and occupied the drivers position... The steering wheel was imbedded in the seat.. Gotta give thanks to the paramedics and fire dept guys and a few friends that were on the scene in a big hurry.

and yeah.. took a while to recover from this one..

BTW.. that area where this accident occured was a hotbed for accidents.. and it took a big rig slamming into the Chestnut Ridge Market store that was on the bottom right hand of this turn and killing a few people for them to finally rework the road through there.. Today the store is gone.. The embankment on the inside of the turn I hit head on is gone and has been cut Waay back and flattenend out.. but the opposite embankment still stands and so does the sign where you can see a red 71 chevelle took a chunk out of the corner.. Probably can still see some Cranberry Red paint about 10' up on them trees right there too.

[69LM1]

Man Ed what a story!!!!
Here's my "little brother" story as promised.

It is 1986 Now. I had sold the original 69 and bought a 69 Z-28, original 302 and all. I restored the whole car, interior and Dad and I rebuilt the engine. The only thing left was paint. I was accepted into a opportunity of a life time training with the US Air Force and put the car in storage at my grandparents. A year and a half later, my brother calls and says that his car broke and he needs a car for the senior prom and can he borrow my 69. Of course mom and dad are supporting him in this and help sway my answer. I told him yes on one condition that he not drink while driving my car. So, the prom comes and goes and I call the next morning. He says everything went well. Six more months go by and my training is up and I get my first leave to visit home. While on the phone with my mother, she is yelling at him to talk to me. I got this instant sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Dad gets on the phone and explains that while at the prom, my brother stopped at a local store for "gum" and when he came out the car was totaled . Someone "hit" the car and "ran. Rigggghhhhhhtttt, I said. C'mon Dad. It would take a rig to drive off after that bad an accident (the motor broke off the mounts and went thru the radiator it was hit so hard in the rear). My Dad said that he even found fender, grill and light parts all around the car when he went to get my brother. The whole family chimes in. So, a couple of years pass and I came home and start going to church and all. Another six months go by and I invite my brother to church. After church, the pastor asks if anyone is interested in accepting Jesus as his saviour. To my astonishment, my brother "walks the aisle". A little while later, he comes back and sits next to me, excited and emotional. I tell him, man that was great. He looks up at me and then I say "So, what REALLY happened to my car? "

Who can lie at a time like that? He finally confessed. Turns out he and a friend were stone drunk and had dropped off their dates. They were in the local supermarket parking lot doing 360's with MY CAR!!! He was in reverse, as he said, doing 40 or so, when he collided with a light pole. Miraculously, neither he nor his friend was hurt. They called a tow truck and had it towed to another store. Then they went and got his friends car and went around town picking up wrecked parts to "place" around the car before calling my dad.

We both still go to church to this day, and I still remind him about that car all the time!!!!

[55chevy]

Here is a 77 Camaro I had around 1992. This was a fun car. 350 4speed car. It was pretty quick when I got done with it. Traded a tired 84 Trans Am even up for this Camaro and a fullsize Chevy Caprice station wagon that had a factory 454 in it.. I got the best deal in that trade I got the car it was solid white and pretty boring looking so I added the stripes and day 2 stuff. This was one wicked sounding car with the blown out glasspacks I had on it.. I remember one nice summer day, I was still living at home in Fishertown, PA and I asked my dad to run out to the little country store to pick me up something and he goes out and hops in this Camaro... pulled out on the road with it.. started out easy then just layed on it grabbing second and third up the road sqwaking the tires... I laughed my ass off because my Dad was never really the hot rod heavy foot driver like I have always been. I remember saying "go get em Dad..Give it hell".. And thats the first time I'd ever seen that car in action from a distance and it looked and SOUNDED pretty damn mean. I eventually blew the clutch in it, yanked the engine/trans for another project I had and sold the roller with a trunk full of parts for $500.. I wish I had that ALL back now....