Silly Season II What was your 1st Street car &/OR race car?

[Mike Pearson]

My first street car was a 1968 Mustang. factory 302 4 bbl 4 speed car. Ran high 13's at the local dragstrip with open headers and street tires. Wish I had that one back. I sold the mustang to buy my 1968 Camaro race car. Ran C/SM when I first built the car. after some work I got it to run under the index. I then converted the car to run Super Stock. I am still running the car today as a SS/HA with a 295 hp 350. Best time to date is 9.93 at SS/IA weight.

[RonTheAnnouncer]

First car with my name on the title was a 71 Plymouth Fury III 4 door that I paid $150 in 1985. It had a 318/2bbl and a lot of rust. It would run 17.90s initially. My dad's friend ran a muffler shop, and they cobbled together a dual exhaust for me for the price of an extra large deluxe pizza. Then she ran 17.30s. Even though I've been racing for 30 years and have taken over 50 different vehicles down the track, I've neither owned or driven what could be called a "race" car. Closest to one would be my '78 Aspen with the "Super" slant six that racn low to mid 19s. When I bought my first ever new car, I decided to rip out the back seat and the non functioning AC system outta the Aspen and make it my "race car". Bam, 18.90s, baby! best of 18.73 at 72mph. It sat outside at my buddy's garage in Avon, OH all week til I would go racing, then I'd switch cars and drive to Norwalk or Dragway 42.

[Gary Merrick]

My first street car was a 1961 Ford Country Squire - 9 passenger station wagon, with a robin's egg blue Earl Scheib paint job, chrome skirts, and yes, it did have the wood grain on the sides. This was in 1967, so my Dad bought it for me to go to college locally, I think he spent about $650.00 on it. When we test drove it before buying, it was a real slug and could barely get out of its own way (I guess he figured I couldn't screw this thing up, it was bullet proof). I was working at a gas station part time and decided it needed a tune-up, so my buddy and I took a closer look and found out it was a 390 cid, four barrel, dual exhausts, so we did the usual - plugs, dist cap, wires, air cleaner, fuel filter, it ran better, but it was still a pig. At that same time, the family car was a 1964 Ford Galaxy 500 fastback with a 352 - 4 barrel, dual exhausts and for what it was, it would haul, surprised a few people on the street. My brother, who was three years older showed me how you could manually shift the automatic by pulling it all the way into low, put it in drive and then pull it back to low and it would shift to 2nd gear and then shift it again back to drive it and it would go to high. The reason I tell the story about the 64 is that one day I was driving the wagon to work, running late, went to pass somebody, pulled it all the way to low, floored it, the front end jumped up in the air and it started to really haul, shifted the wagon like the 64, it smoked the tires when it went into second and it was like, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This thing is faster than the 64. Finally figured out that the shift linkage was messed up and it was always starting out in 2nd gear, even though though the shifter said it was in Drive, which should have been 1st gear. I did not tell my Dad until years later after the car was gone. He could not understand how the rear tires were only lasting about 8 weeks. Needless to say, I surprised a few GTO's and SS 396 Chevelles for the first 500 feet, of course then it was all over, but that thing sure was a sleeper. Oh, I did take off the chrome skirts before I drove it the first time. LOL

The first race car was a brand new 1969 Yenko Camaro, that was driven on the street to start with and then converted into a drag car over the next several years. This would be a lengthy story, but I will say the first NHRA points meet I went to in Columbus, Ohio, Marty Barrett told me to take my car home and fix about ten things before I could race, which was in 1972. The first NHRA points race I finally got to compete in was at Tri-City later that year, in Saginaw, Michigan and I raced John LIngenfelter first round (quite a story in itself) and Ron Mancini (Hemi-Dart SS/AA) the second round and then we went home, but it was a great day and needless to say the rest is history.

[John Nechiporchik]

Gary, A few years ago I had a clone Yenko Chevelle (69). As I was doing some research on the original Yenko's....If my memory is correct...of the total population of Yenko Chevelles ( I believe less than 100), 19 were sold through Marvelous Marve Minneman Chevyland in Youngstown.

the only significance to this info is Gary and I are both from the Y-town area.....

[Dwight Southerland]

The first car I bought was a 1957 Chev 150 business coupe that I promptly tore apart to build a Stocker. It took me 2 years of grocery store money before I finally made the first pass. Eventually ran within .25 of the national record (14.42 on a 14.17 record.) 283 2-bbl with a 4-speed. I walked to work and hitched rides to be able to have the race car. I was 15 when I bought the car. Shortly after, college and the NHRA rules changes made the car unreasonable, so I bought a one-owner 55 sedan and transferred a lot of the parts to it to have a transportation car. Built a roller cammed 283 to drive on the street. Somebody stole the 57 body. My parents never understood what I was doing. Looking back, I don't either. My first street car came after my first race car.

[Mike Gray]

1st street car, '67 mustang GT 390 fastback (I was there at Irwindale in the '70's also)
1st race car, '67 mustang coupe with a H/M 427 tunnel port that I bought from Mickey Thompson. With all stock factory parts it went 10.50's @3100lb.
last race car "69 mustang (S/G) with same tunnel port modified 9.50's
Current race car (unfinished) '67 Shelby stocker
Kind of stuck on the mustang theme.

[cicero819]

Since I'm sitting in my home office being on the phone stuck on hold or ignore, what better way to remember those cars that created such fun. I started at fourteen years old with buying a 1967 VW bug, what an education, I learned everything from engine rebuild to complete paint and body work, I must have done quite the job because a gentleman walking by one day offered me $2k(1975 price) for which I converted into a 1967 Mustang GT which became my High school transportation until a Petty Blue 70 Super Bird on cement blocks caught my eye and we we're together for four years while I was putting it back together(and driving it). This was before the restoration trend started, just imagine I used the $5k for the purchase of my first house(down payment only) considering that I profited from the sale of my first home I could evaluate my lost to a break even proposition, I've own so many muscle cars since, that I can only say that I should have not taken them for granted.lol My first real race car was a 69 Camaro Stocker and now after an absence of more than 20 yrs I bought a former Don Hardy Vega to race. I hope that I don't run out of gas physically.lol

[joe huestis]

First street and race car was a '57 Chevy 210 Wagon. My Dad bought it in 1968 as a station car to drive to work with the intent of turning it over to me for my 16th birthday. It had a 6 cyl with 3 on the tree.Well, the 6 eventually expired prior to my birthday and I replaced it with a 283- 4V with a hurst 3 speed shifter. Ran the car at Dover Drag Strip in Wingdale, NY and collected a total of 15 plus trophies with it before a blew it up on my first pass in 1973 of the new season. Sold the '57 and purchased my '69 Camaro that same year converting it into a stocker which I ran from '73 to '80 until I sold it. Built my '69 Nova which I ran in V/SA from '81 to '83, then purchased my Monza which I currently race now for the past 30 years. Time sure does fly !!

[DrJRacing]

First car: 55 Chev 2dr hardtop converted from dragstrip only use to street "legal" conformation. Black lacquer, red and white custom interior, 327 4bbl, Borg Warner T-10, 57 Pontiac rear end, wrinkle wall slicks. An absolutely gorgeous car. Was reasonably competitive on the street being limited by the 3.23 highway gearing and some type of Carter carb. Replaced the carb with a Holley and put the strip 5.57 rear gears in and WOW! Not bad wheels for a 16 year old! Paid for all of this with "illegal" profits generated by working in my dad's machine shop since age 12 (this was and is illegal) running Bridgeport mills, lathes, Blanchard grinders, and the usual finger removing toys of childhood. Met my (then 15 year old ) wife that same summer. Great memories with her, the car, street racing, cruising,...would not trade the experience for anything. Sold the car to my brother 2 years later(1975) in order to pay for ten years of college to become an orthodontist. The car was stolen from him that same summer and never recovered. First race car: 1955 chev 2 dr hdtop turquoise and white 265 2spd auto 6.50 rear gears SS/PA. Fast enough to set a National record, win class , win a couple of points races. Literally almost tons of fun(3600+-) for the past twenty years (1991-2011)! Parked for now. Currently racing 2012 Super Cobra Jet 331 4.0 liter supercharged in SS/AAA. My wife forbids me to go into the 8.99 and quicker zone but that is probably going to be hard for her to enforce with the index currently at 9.20
I am very fortunate and thankful to have had these experiences.
Doug Jonak