The "Fleet"
Well, I guess the '66 Mustang pedal car is where it all started. My Dad was a Ford man, but my Mom's job at a Chevrolet dealership paid most of the bills. I guess he was trying to garner some support in the household but the Corvette I saw & rode in, when I was about 6, at the dealership where Mom worked sealed my fate as a "GM man". I sure am hoping that one day Santa will put another car under the tree for me - maybe a '70 442???
Five years later Santa would provide me with me with the start of my second vehicle obsession. The Huffy 3-speed gave me a taste of "two wheelin'" & I've never been the same.
R.I.P. - "Wanda"
When I got my license, my parents bestowed me with the old family car - "Wanda". Being a testosterone laden teen, I immediatly decided that a '67 beige 4 door Malibu just wasn't cool, so I set about "customizing" it. What was supposed to be Dark Blue Metallic enamel paint wound up Bright Blue metallic laquer when it came out of my paint gun ("Oh, it'll darken & smooth out when it dries") & who knew you were supposed to sand the finish between coats? As bad as the paint job was (I STILL hear about it from my friends) the finish was eclipsed by the blue sculptured shag carpeting on the inside (yep - door panels too!). The sad part is I actually thought the carpet was cool. "Youthful indescretion" led to the death of Wanda, but she did donate her engine & tranny for another one of my insane moments...
In 1983 I purchased a 1981 Grand Prix (diesel) & I thought I was in "tall cotton", this would change as I became aquainted with the superb design of the GM diesel engine. During my ownership, I replaced the head gaskets (managed to break a head bolt in the process), replaced ALL the glow plugs (I have no idea how I "broke" those), had the injector pump rebuilt twice and spent a long, long winter fighting with the landlord over the extension cord needed to power the block heater. She didn't seem to grasp the concept of a "block heater" and seemed to take it personally when I tapped into the parking lot security lights for power (I offered to pay for the extra electricity!). I eventually swapped in a 1970 OLDS 350 (lightly modified) with big help from Dad.
The 1985 Honda VF700 was my first NEW vehicle and served as my only transportation during the the summer of '85, while the Grand Prix was at home undergoing it's diesel de-conversion (I logged 8000 miles the first 12 months I had the bike - talk about saddle sore).
The 1986 Chevy truck was purchased new in April 1986, when the state of Texas refused to safety- inspect my Grand Prix because the 350 had no pollution prevention equipment (I think this is when I became a Republican!). It was a great truck & is still "haulin" for my Mom.