[1_Car_Guy]

Entry 2: 2/10/2022

Some backstory. Lots of ground to cover so I'll rush through this part. Just jotting this down as I remember it so I don't forget anything.

My father's first car worth mentioning was a 67' 390 Cougar that he bought second hand in 1973. It was piss green and had a tow hitch. The guy he bought it from pulled a boat with it.

He blew up the original 390 a few months after buying it and immediately purchased a 390 crate motor from Ford. Bought a better set of aftermarket heads, a new cam, intake, carb, headers, distributor and ignition. Also added a set of higher ratio rear end gears. If that wasn't enough he broke in to his old high school shop and manually shaved his aftermarket heads on a table sander by hand.

Car was fast as all hell but he ran it in to a tree and that was the end of it. Parted out what was left of the car and started chasing girls instead. Fast forward to 1975. It was around September and he was itching to get in to a new car. He was 21 and had some cash so he ordered a 1976 400 4 Speed T/A with no A/C. Really the only game in town that year.

Fast forward to Christmas Eve 1975. He was driving home from work in a Buffalo NY snow storm when he saw a car hauler with a silver 76' Trans Am up on top towards the end. Ended up following the car hauler to the dealership and it was his. Drove it home to family dinner that same night. The next weekend it got a set of headers, a cam, cragars, carb, air shocks, ignition, and distributor.

Later in the summer of 76' my Dad was out and met my mom in the car and the rest is history. They got married in 1981 and have been together ever since. Went on their honeymoon in the thing.

Some side notes/stories to recall someday:
1) Dad and the MG
2) Dad and Mom's first date
3) You go before the car goes
4) Stealing your own car back (clutch repair shop)
5) Corvette on a bridge
6) Getting it repainted in a field
7) Uncle Paul's 76' Formula
8) It almost got stolen 3 times
9) CB sleeper antenna
10) Weekend projects
11) Storing it in an abandoned building during the winter for free
12) Dad falls asleep in a crane, get fired by his boss (who was actually his Dad, Grandpa), and goes down to Pontiac to order his T/A while unemployed on the same day
13) Dad starts college at 34 years old to become an electrical engineer. Ketchup sandwiches, 1 bedroom apartment, newborn - refuses to sell T/A

Dad got it repainted in 1985. Blue decals from a 1979 Trans Am. I came around in 1987 and fell in love the first time I ever realized what it was. I can still remember drawing pictures of it. Dreaming about it. Bragging to my friends about it. This all started by the time I was 5. I've been in love with the thing ever since. It's the only car I ever wanted. Nothing has changed.

I graduated high school in 2005 and joined the Army. I was young and stupid and didn't save much money. I only had about $31,000 in the bank when I got out. After 5 years of the Army I had had enough of ol' Uncle Sam and decided not to re-enlist. Dad sold me the car for $176.00 a week after I left the Army. I enrolled in college in 2011 and graduated with a Bachelors in Finance and a minor in economics. 3.65 GPA. Graduated in 2013. University of Buffalo.

That's a whole lifetime in and of itself but it gets me to where I finally got possession of the car and started the project.

When I bought the car from Dad it had 36,047 miles. Rust free, perfectly running and beautiful car. Nothing to be ashamed of but it wasn't enough. I let my Dad know ahead of time that I planned on restoring it/would complete a substantial build.

The only criteria was that I'd never sell it to anyone outside of the family, hopefully pass it along to my child (should I have had one), keep the shaker hood scoop and not 'turn it in to a Camaro'.

Next post will be some actual car content.