06-08-2015, 05:00 AM
So, I'm 14 or 15... and my Mom has a friend in her class at Utah Technical College with a '71 H-code in Grabber Yellow with a Ginger Deluxe interior. Much like this car, but with sport covers, rather than the Magnum 500s:
One day at picnic put on by the class, her friend invited me along, and actually got a little too drunk to drive. He asked if I knew how to drive, and having driven my Mom's car before, I was just marking time until could get my license - of course I know how to drive. So - there I was, driving him home in a bad-ass '71 Mach 1. I believe the term is "Game Over." I decided right then and there that I will be having one of these cars at some point in my life.
Fast-forward to summer 2010, and I'm jonesin' for a hot-rod/project car because my pal had just picked up a '63 1/2 Galaxie 500XL. I'd been thinking about helping out a friend and taking over their "soon-to-be repo'd" 2010 Camaro 2SS. My wife suggested I get a car that I could restore and make it my own, instead of having monster car payments again. A few days later, I found this on Craigslist:
A few days later, after dickering with the price, and the seller realizing this car was a turd and that he'd paid too much for it himself, I bought it. I asked my pal (a master mechanic) what I should start with, and he said, "A tetanus shot." (OK, it really was pretty funny)
I started doing research and kept seeing pictures of Pewter and Black Mach 1s - and they really grew on me because I like grays and blacks. I also learned that mine was an original H-code with Ram Air in... wait for it: Pewter and Black. I was over the moon. No, it wasn't Grabber Yellow with a Ginger Deluxe interior, but it was better, IMHO.
Long story short, I've rebuilt this car literally from the ground up, including replacing about 40% of the sheet metal, swapping the front clip, rebuilding the seized 351C-2V with tons of go-fast goodies, swapping in an AOD, and loading it up with cool period-correct as well as modern amenities to make this one truly mine.
And I did it all myself (literally... except for the paint and finish body work, that is).
One day at picnic put on by the class, her friend invited me along, and actually got a little too drunk to drive. He asked if I knew how to drive, and having driven my Mom's car before, I was just marking time until could get my license - of course I know how to drive. So - there I was, driving him home in a bad-ass '71 Mach 1. I believe the term is "Game Over." I decided right then and there that I will be having one of these cars at some point in my life.
Fast-forward to summer 2010, and I'm jonesin' for a hot-rod/project car because my pal had just picked up a '63 1/2 Galaxie 500XL. I'd been thinking about helping out a friend and taking over their "soon-to-be repo'd" 2010 Camaro 2SS. My wife suggested I get a car that I could restore and make it my own, instead of having monster car payments again. A few days later, I found this on Craigslist:
A few days later, after dickering with the price, and the seller realizing this car was a turd and that he'd paid too much for it himself, I bought it. I asked my pal (a master mechanic) what I should start with, and he said, "A tetanus shot." (OK, it really was pretty funny)
I started doing research and kept seeing pictures of Pewter and Black Mach 1s - and they really grew on me because I like grays and blacks. I also learned that mine was an original H-code with Ram Air in... wait for it: Pewter and Black. I was over the moon. No, it wasn't Grabber Yellow with a Ginger Deluxe interior, but it was better, IMHO.
Long story short, I've rebuilt this car literally from the ground up, including replacing about 40% of the sheet metal, swapping the front clip, rebuilding the seized 351C-2V with tons of go-fast goodies, swapping in an AOD, and loading it up with cool period-correct as well as modern amenities to make this one truly mine.
And I did it all myself (literally... except for the paint and finish body work, that is).