Classic Stories
Do you remember your
first car? What about the car of your dreams? Do you have a tale of stumbling
upon a '49 Buick Roadmaster in an old barn? Or getting the neighbor to finally
sell you the '55 Caddy that was washed more times than it was driven? We are
looking for stories of first cars, dream cars or amazing restorations. Send us
your stories and we will post them here on the site
for all to read.
Send by email to: info@coleclassics.com
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letter...
Cole Classics
6600 Westnedge
Portage, MI
49002
Volare!
I remember when my big
brother came to visit when I lived in Tuscon about 10
years ago. He drove his
car out from Colorado. I remember it was different,
but really cool. I asked
him what it was and he told me a Volare. I
absolutely loved it. Then about 1
year later I moved out to Colorado where
my brother lived, and he had his
car for sale. As soon as I found that out I
bought it from him for $2500. I
lived there for 1 year and moved back to
Mesa, Arizona. I had the car for 2
years and did the mistake of my life, my Uncle talked me
into trading it for
a new truck. So I did, and the dealership gave me $500
for it. I thought
that it was to low but my Uncle said that it was a good
price. So I gave up
my pride and joy. I missed the car a lot and could of
kicked myself for
doing what I did, I told my brother what I did and he was
in shock, due to
he told me that he payed more than $500 for the rims, so
that made me feel
even worse.
A couple of months later my mom was driving home from work in
Tucson and
said she saw the Volare on a lot for sale for $3500. I could not
believe how
much I got ripped off, but I felt sad. My mom called me a month
later and
asked me if I missed my car and if it was a mistake, I told her
yes and she
said she had a surprise for me. So I drove 2 hours to her house
and behold
when I pulled up to her driveway, I saw my Volare there. She kept
it there
for 3 years, because we only had a 2 car garage, so I did not have
the room,
or money for insurance. She let the car sit in the hot
Arizona sun, only
starting it once a month, so you can imagine what that did
for the engine.
After 3 years, my wife and I traded in our 2 cars,
(including my truck that
I traded) for one car....you can see where I going
with this....I called my
mom and asked her how much she would sell me the
Volare for, she said, son
it has always been your car, so it is at no
charge. She payed $3500 dollars
for it, and may be still paying on it,
but it is here with me, I got my baby back.
I know that a lot of people
may not consider a Volare a muscle car, but it
is in awesome shape, it
drives great, and when my son turns 16, it will be
his.........maybe.
A.A
Forgive Me If I
Cry
My first car bought I for
$1800.00 in 1981 was a carbide bronze 1968 Camaro SS 396 325HP TH400 12 bolt
2:73 posi from the original owner. The car optioned with none other than power
windows power steering A/C low back hounds tooth dlx bucket seats 4 piston power
front disc brakes and an option I haven't seen on another Camaro the AM/FM
controls were on the center console which had four dials to control the sounds
and a green glass center piece which lit up with a bowtie and written thru it
read " Stereo by Chevrolet". The car also came with bumper guards from what I
hear is also very rare?
Needless to say it was taken away from me and sold to an
older gentleman who just weeks later fell while putting up Christmas lights and
broke his neck. The car was sold again and found it's way back to it's hometown
of Burbank Ca. I never could find my car though I looked and still look around
for it. The someone who owns it I hope restored it. I guessing if restored it would be well worth past
50k in todays market because of it's rarity...? I would love to replace it someday
with another 68 Camaro but I believe the market has passed me by.
It's very
sad but true...
TB.
Dream Car Realized
I remember
in High School seeing the New 1987 GTA Trans Am at the 1987 auto show and
thought that is the best looking car I have ever seen. It was a red 5.0L
with Mulit-Port Fuel Injection T-tops and those BBS gold rims. It is the
best looking muscle car of the 1980's hands down. I always wanted one but
a kid in the 1980's couldn't afford a 20K car in 1987. The sleek lines the
high tailed spoiler and capable of a 142 MPH top speed I was
hooked. Years later (2001) when I was in Europe working as a
Department of Defense civilian I happened by an Exotic Sports Car Dealer in
Herleen Netherlands and in the show room sat a Red 1987 GTA with 72,000 miles on
the digital dash. The Gran Tourismo Americano (GTA) was
sitting between a red
Ferreira and
a black Porshe 911. The Asking Price was about $12,000 once a currency
conversion was accomplished. To my amazement it was the same price as the
911. I realized then that Europeans longed for the horsepower and torque
of the American V-8. Oh that V-8 rumble and a convertible to boot. I
told my wife when I got back to the
USA
I was going to get a Firebird GTA Trans Am. In April 2002 I found a nice
condition GTA on
Long Island
from the original owner on EBAY. I bought
the GTA on EBAY 2 days prior to my flight to NYC from
Brussels
Belgium
. After
a red eye flight to JFK International I arrived at JFK with wife and two kids
and had found my EBAY GTA to be in very nice condition. We proceeded
to drive to
Texas
. We rented a mini van and the wife drove the kids and I the GTA the 1800 miles to the long
star state. The car was a dream and I still have it today. The GTA
Trans Am will sky rocket in value like the Trans Am before it. The balance
this car is incredible 26 MPG all day long and power handling and a back
seat to boot. The top comes off and let the wind and V-8
rumble. Long live the GTA. There were low production figures
for the GTA's which were
Pontiac
's highest cost automoble and best high
performance model. In 1987 there were 9481 models produced, it is
easy to say half of those are now gone. That leaves only 4500 left and
finding a real GTA is getting hard to to find. I have one in my garage and
yes it is my dream car.
"Rick"
First Car: '36 Coupe
My first car was a 1936
Chevy coupe,5window. I bought the car around 1962 or 63. Bought it for $15.00
Yep that's right just $15.00. It had nothing in it. but I put a Chevy 350 Eng.
in it. Then a 350 auto tranny in it. That just screamed. It also had a 57
Pontiac. Possi rear-end. it kind of looked like a Willies Coupe. It ended up
being a really nice car. But then to make a long story a little shorter, I sold
it and started all over again!!!!!!(with a smile on my face)
"Bob"
A Sweet Deal at Tastee Freeze
My first car was a '56
chevy 2 door Belair. It was competition orange and had black tuck-n-roll
interior. A 283 and a 3 speed on the floor. I found it at the local Tastee
Freeze, a girl who worked there had it. Her dad worked for a car lot and
somebody traded it in. She wanted a thousand bucks for it and in 1971 that was a
lot of cash. She looked OK so I started dating her and finally got her dad to
sell it to me for 500 bucks.....funny thing we kind of drifted apart after
that.I drove it for about a month and a piston skirt cracked so I rebuilt
it...it took me 6 months to make enough money and I traded for a B/W 4 speed and
a Hurst shifter. When I got it together it had the 4 speed, 3 two barrels and a
Mallory Mini-Mag ignition. I found some really cool M/T headers that had the
collector caped and a pipe out the side of each collector to the glass packs, so
you could un-cork the headers in just a minute. It ran 13.14 at Sacramento
Raceway the first time out. I street raced alot, used to carry a spare 3rd
member and axels in the trunk. I bought a 56 convertible a couple of years later
and would take the drivetrain out of the sedan and put it in the ragtop every
summer then back in the 2 door when the rains came (the ragtop had no rag)I wish
that I still had them both!
"Gary"
First Car: '63 Impala
My first car was a 1963
Chevy Impala SS it had a 283 with automatic transmission factory air and man I
mean it blew cold too it was blue with a white vinyl top it was all original
even down to the factory rims. My grandfather bought it new off the lot in 1963
he gave it to me when I was around 8 years old. When it was sold it was in
immaculate condition maybe even showroom condition. I do so wish I still had
this beautiful car.
"Dan"
Beauty is a Beast
My first car was a 1970
Chevelle it had a 454 LS6 motor that car was a beauty it was all stock 4 speed
am fm radio black with white stripes. Even today i have that car and It steal
looks like it did back then it sat in my garage for many years and it has never
been restored its beautiful I will never sell this car.
"Red"
Wrong Place, Wrong
Wreck
My first car was a '62
Buick Special which I bought as an 18 year old in 1973. Not a real cool car, but
the price was right, $250. That was still a lot of money for someone just out of
high school, working 2 part-time jobs - (paper route and furniture delivery plus
full-time at the local community college). The car wasn't all bad, it had an
aluminum 215 engine with a 4-barrel. That little car could really fly. One small
problem with the engine, it had a broken motor mount. My dad was a mechanic and
could have easily helped me fix it but he figured it would keep me driving slow
for fear of tearing up the motor. WRONG! It sure impressed my friends when I
revved up the motor and it raised up 3 inches off the mount on one side! But
alas the Buick met it's untimely demise when I tried to make a left turn in
front of an old Ford pickup. Didn't quite make it before being broadsided on the
right side and then pushed around into the front end of an Olds 98, taking out
the other side of my car plus doing major damage to the front of the Olds. The
worst part of all this carnage wasn't the fact that I had just lost my only car.
Or that I didn't have a nickel of insurance coverage on the car. Nope, the worst
part was when I got out of the wreck to talk to the very unhappy participants in
this mess and find out that the fellow in the borrowed pickup who hit me was an
off-duty cop. And the lady in the Olds 98 was the wife of a State Police
detective. True story, I swear!
"Greg"
Buying a Dream Car, Twice!
I was a young man of 19
years when I went looking for my first car in the summer of 1970. I was newly
assigned to March Air Force Base in Riverside, California and right in the
middle of the ultimate car culture in those days. While walking to work one
morning I saw this 1955 Chevy with a "For Sale" sign in the window. I really
liked the looks of it and had never seen one like it before so I put a note in
the windshield wiper with my name and number and asked the owner to give me a
call. About a month went by without hearing from him and not seeing the car
again. I was just about to by another car when I saw this one again. It was then
painted an ugly yellow by Earl Scheib and the owner was sitting in the driver's
seat getting ready to leave! I ran up and asked if the car was still for sale.
He said yes but he had someone else thinking of paying him the $500.00 he was
asking. Before I knew what I was doing I blurted out that I would give him
$600.00 for it! With a perplexed look on his face he said that sounded good and
the deal was struck. I didn't find out what Nomads were until I took it over to
a friend's house and showed him the car. I knew something was up when he walked
out of his front door and his jaw dropped. I quickly learned the history and
rarity of Nomads. Over the next five years I tried my best to bring the Nomad up
to the standards that it deserved but, alas, I had too little money, too few
tools and equipment, and no garage to work in. In October 1975 I finally sold it
to Dave Oster of Troy, New York. The minute I saw it going down the street I
knew I made a big mistake! I saw the Nomad again in 1981 when Dave brought it by
my house to show off the new condition. It was then that he and I made a
gentlemen's agreement that if he ever wanted to sell it that I would like first
shot at it. We kept in touch over the years despite my moving to Phoenix and
then to Colorado Springs. Fast forward to the evening of July 20, 1999. I got a
call from Dave and he was selling the car! After all these years he had
remembered our agreement. After about a half-second of thinking I said yes and
the details were finalized. I took delivery on September 8, 1999. The condition
it is in now is pretty much the way it was 12 years ago when Dave parked it and
never drove it again. It was like seeing an old friend after so many years. It
still had the 283, T-10 4 speed, Hurst Competition Plus, and American
Torq-Thrusts. It's getting Vintage-Air, Ididit tilt wheel, 4 wheel power discs,
PST sway bars, 605 power steering and lots of TLC. This time I have the money,
the tools and equipment, and the garage to make the Nomad what I wanted back
then. Our family will be bringing it up to the standards that it
deserves.
"Ike"
