Well I dropped from sight for a while, while all these Lessons continue to ferment. But living in Florida where we haven't had a Hurricane for 6 years and having your Homeowners cancelled because of a greedy insurance company forced my time to spent cutting down trees, trimming others, washing mold off a chimney, repairing fascia and rain gutters and driveway potholes...and then a refused reinstatement..but on to more pleasant things..
I was always a Foreign Car only guy, but at 18 a got a job working for a National Car Rental Franchise. When the owner realized I had some mechanical skills I was able to hone my expertise practicing on new Impala's, Nova's, Darts...I learned a lot, and everything I broke I replaced with new. The opportunity this presented besides a weekend with James Brown's (Godfather of Soul) MB 220 SL, was to buy a new '68 Camaro 396-375 SS with a dealer Fleet Letter - ($1850.00). So the Alpha went o a good home, and I was nuts to but this car with a 4 speed, no power brakes, no power steering and stock 2.73 rear end. Yep I may have been the inventor of COPO. But I did impress older guys when I drove it to Motion Chevrolet to see real COPO. But my point is this car was not a pleasurable driver. You did 60 in 1st, 85 in 2nd, 120 in 3rd, and after that you didn't know... My "Buyers Regret" turned into an opportunity for another young Queen's guy who got the car for $1600.00. And having learned my lesson and now having a steady girlfriend I went back to the dealer and bought another new '68 Camaro 396-325 SS, turbo hydramatic, PS, PDB, AC, AM-FM Multiplex, and about every other Heavy duty option available. ($2150.00). Only regret now is that I didn't keep that car forever...what a cruiser... My career at National also got me into the business of buying,repairing and selling cars. I bought every wreck, every recovered theft and I had a stable of 1966-69 less than 3 model years old Chev's for sale in the Buy-Lines Press on a regular basis. There was no such thing as "Salvage/Rebuilt", and as I recall no Titles either! Then I got engaged...and you will have to wait for Lesson #7 to see if I learned anything.
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