With Father's Day already here this year, I wish I could thank my Dad for my love of cars. By the time I was six I could name the make of any car on the road. By the time I was eight I could tell you what year it was. I remember his '57 Fairlane convertible and his '62 Galaxy XL convertible like it was yesterday. When I was in high school, he bought two T-Birds, a '61 hardtop and a '63 convertible (with factory A/C) and for my 17th birthday I was given the '61, (provided I could pay for my own insurance.) I guess I have passed this down to my two sons. My oldest who is 30 years old has a '91 Vette and my youngest just turned 17 has a '94 Caprice wagon with the LT1 mill in it, and he is turning out to be quite the gearhead.
Big John back in 1958 when he was just a little guy
standing next to Dad’s 1957 Ford Fairlane
Big John today
with his 1958
Corvette. The car
had had 11
owners, 1 for
every year of its
life and landed in
a New Jersey
junk yard where
Big John found it
and dragged it
home making him
the 12th owner.
Mr. Dunham, 1951...
Although this love of hot rods and speed has caused some problems in my life, I truly believe it has kept me out of more trouble than it has gotten me into. Sure, tickets and money spent on parts I HAD to have to either make my car faster or at least keep it running have taken its toll. But while a lot of kids I grew up with were getting into "real" trouble, I was in the garage working on the car or working to get money to buy parts. And how many of you can still be as interested in something now as you were when you were a kid?
So I'd like to wish everybody a Happy Father's Day. If your Dad is still with you, consider yourself lucky, and if you have passed your love of automobiles down to your kids you just may have given them more than you realize.
Keep Em' Runnin'
Big John