Wheels

Wheels!

It was towards the end of 2004 while entertaining the idea of buying a replacement vehicle, that I reminisced over vehicles I've owned and driven over the years. "Surely I'm not that old?" I thought.

I've always loved cars. The pedal car #5 in the picture to the right is sitting in Mom's garage with an awful green and black paint scheme. And the album pictured below my Hot-Rod was played on an Admiral HiFi with a penny taped to the arm that held the needle (stylus). When I heard one of the songs, I saw a whole movie unfold in my head - it was kind of exciting.

I assembled plastic car models, looked at car magazines (still do), and doodled pictures of concept cars or cartoonish hot-rods. Money was always in short supply back then so imagination compensated for the lack of a cool paint job, etc. Add to the mix were the obligatory metal diecast cars made by Matchbox and Hotwheels, and then along came a couple of fuel powered, larger scale models - that's when Birthday and Christmas gifts were really exciting! Then there are slot cars (which I still might get back into). We had a small set at home and later my oldest brother bought me a bigger car I could race at a public track.

Bicycles were fun too after I learned how to take them apart and put them back together again.

With age, the 2 wheel fun moved into those that were motor driven.

I had a mini-bike, a street/dirt bike (what we called an Enduro), and then finally a small 400cc street motorcycle.

Genetics may contribute to the fascination too. Both my Mom and Dad were almost 40 by the time I was born, yet I remember Mom having a bit of a lead foot in a Ford ex-Police car with a huge 390 c.i. engine. Now and then she would comment on cars she liked, and I think one of her faves was an old Packard she owned (pre my time). And both my brothers tinkered with cars. Dean had a vehicle that looked like one used in the John Wayne movie Hatari, and Mike had a neat Chevy Nomad.

Dad wasn't in my life almost from the start, however Mom did say "He was a wonderful driver." I remember him as a sharp dresser who played a lot of golf and had a neat Lincoln Continental with the suicide doors and buttons to control every function. It was a light color, but that's all I remember...

(insert mp3's from album)

Ownership History
Year	Make	Model / Comment	Images**
2 Wheels
1969	CAT?	Model: Mini-bike My first motorized vehicle. It was orange/black with a 3.5 hp, 4-stroke engine, centrifugal clutch with a single paddle brake on the rear tire. We removed the speed governor and punched the spark arrester for a home-made straight-thru design. It worked great until a misfire threw a flame out the modified arrester and the gas tank caught on fire. It was probably rebuildable, however I'd become too big for it by then and it was scrapped.
197?	Kawasaki	Model: 90cc Found this similar pic on the web, mine was burgundy, then black. Bored out to 100cc's, 2 stroke, oil injection, electric start with off road fenders and rebuilt forks. My brother paid $150 and was angry when I removed the squeeze 'kid like' horn. I T-boned another rider and couldn't afford to have it repaired. The accident was my first experience of being knocked out with minor amnesia. Scrapped this one too.	web image
1982	Yamaha	Model: Seca 400 Found this similar pic on the web too - mine was dark blue. Sweet bike. Twin 4-stroke, 6 speed and came to life around 6,000 rpm's. I kept this one for over 10 years and in perfect condition. I finally sold it in the late 90's after admitting (to myself) I was not riding it anymore. What was I thinking?	web image
Year	Make	Model / Comment	Images**
4 Wheels
1972	Honda	Model: N600 Sedan I thought for sure I had a pic of this - oh well, thank goodness for the Internet. Mine was gold. I removed the nerf bars up front and put a pair of 6x9 Pioneer speakers in the rear package shelf. Crash box tranny made for double-shifts without grinds. I didn't quite make a sharp right turn and become one with the cement railing. Scrap.	web image
1967	Ford	Model: Mustang Internet image - I bought this one on a lark thinking I would rebuild it and make some money. Great idea, however I neither had the skills, smarts or capital and it quickly became a burden. It liked to overheat and felt very squirrelly (nose heavy) to drive. Sold it for what I paid.	web image
1970	Dodge	Model: Challenger Who knew these would have turned into gold mines. Mine was a burnt orange color with the 225 cid 6-cyl and automatic transmission. I was young, not much money or patience to see what the future might hold. I traded it in on a new vehicle; the Luv pickup. Buzzz...	web image
1978	Chevrolet	Model: Luv Luv was actually an acronym for Light Utility Vehicle. This was my first new vehicle. It was bright yellow. I turned up the front torsion bars (to lift the suspension), and put larger diameter tires in the back to level it out. I was pretty hard on this little truck however it never failed me. I traded it in a couple of years later for the Pontiac Sunbird.	web image
1980	Pontiac	Model: Sunbird My first real experience with a domestic GM product. Powered by the 2.5L I4 Iron Duke, this rear drive econobox had a shopping list of problems from day one. I still managed some Centerline wheels and Pirelli rubber and had it painted a Porsche Metallic tan. I sold it for $100 with 130k on the odo.
1984	Isuzu	Model: Pup Pup is an acronym too, however I can't remember its meaning at the moment. The Luv was a re-badged Isuzu, so this is actually my 2nd Isuzu product. This truck bought in 1988 had a 1.9L I4 gasoline engine, and was more gutless than I remember the Luv being. I finally donated it to Father Joe's Villages after buying the Tundra in October 2004.
1997	Saturn	Model: SL-2 First new car in 17 years and one of my overall favorites. It too (like the Sunbird) was plagued with service issues, however it was night and day better than the Sunbird. The SL-2 was my daily driver and the Pup was kept for trips to Home Depot. For more on the SL-2, click here.
2005	Toyota	Model: Tundra 282 hp and 325lbs of torque. "Wow" sums it up nicely. It's got a slick 5-spd auto with defeatable overdrive and a 1st gear manual lock. It's tachs at 2k on the highway. This one is an Access Cab with keyless entry, OEM alarm, tow package and 60/40 bench seat. It gets 15 mpg's.

**Images are from mixed sources including my personal collection, internet search results, and internet search results modified using my stock images.