Why I traded in my '01(long )

[OC Cruzer]

Hey JOEM, that's a shame that you can't find anybody in your area to do work like this.
Hopefully that will change.
I do realize how fortunate I am to live as close as I live to Bob so it is fairly easy to get this stuff done.
I also share your feelings about the muscle car era and the excitement in the industry during that time.

I use to spend alot of time at the strips back in the 60's and one thing I'll always remember is being at a strip in Maryland one night in 62 or 63.
It was around midnight and we had been there most of the day.
The races were over and people had started to leave, when everyone heard this wild sounding engine fire up from somewhere.
People were wondering what was going on.
The announcer never said a thing.
Then up to the tree came this wild looking, all black, Dodge 2 door hardtop. He cut his engine off and just sat there. Maybe 10 seconds. There was not a sound to be heard.
The lights on the track came back on.
Then, another engine started up and up came a black Plymouth, same thing, both 63's I guess. He got next to the Dodge, cut his engine off and they just sat there a few seconds. You wouldn't believe how quiet that place was.
Then one started up and the other one started up. Both turned their lights on.
Again, they sat side by side on the track, for a few seconds, engines racing, back brakes disconnected, smoking tires, looking and sounding mean as sh*t.
They were both automatics, push button transmissions .

Those particular cars had not hit the market yet and all people knew at the time was, one was a Dodge and one was a Plymouth, and they were black.
Again, memories change with time, but when those two cars took off up the track side by side, the earth shook, there was lightning, thunder and I think some people said they heard angels singing

Anyway, they went up the track side by side and disappeared. I think I remember they did a little wheelie when they hit second gear.
People were left just standing there, wondering what the h*ll had just happened and what was it that did it .
The announcer pretended he didn't know what was going on.

Next weekend we found out the cars would be available at the dealer soon, equiped just like the two that had , uhhh, just stopped by the strip that night.

I knew, I had to have one of those cars.
As it turned out I ended up with a 1957 factory fuel injected Pontiac Bonneville convertible

[JOEM]

I can relate to that. I'm so old, I recall when Chrysler fielded hemis on stock car tracks, creamed the competition, and then were, um, asked not to return.

Of course, back then you could get a hemi in your street car, no prob, just like you can get a hemi in your Dodge truck right now.

No offense to bowties and found-on-road-deaders, but the muscle car "race" was won long ago. By Mopar. On dirt tracks. And on city streets.