[unclehulka]

Thanks again for making a stranger feel real welcome! I don't know about being a wealth of knowledge, but I'll share anything I've been taught or learned on my own. I have a lot of car stories from decades past and if it won't don't bore you all to tears, I'll share them here as time and memory allow. Here's the one that started it all. It's long, but I would love to hear what you folks think. I have to warn you ahead of time that it's not about a Chevelle. HOWEVER, it was because of the events in this story that I got into musclecars and ultimately led to me owning a '67 SS, a '68 SS, a '69 SS, 3 '70 SS and a '70 SS wannabe.

Way back in the early 80's my best friend Jon bought a 1967 4-4-2 from a local elderly couple who were the original owners. Now at this time I wasn't heavily into cars and had never driven a musclecar. If you're old enough to remember the dismal performance of late 70's/early 80's cars you know what I mean. But if you are too young to remember, take my word for it. They sucked.

Anyway, while out cruising the countryside, Jon asked me if I wanted to drive. I jumped at the chance to drive this neat old car. I'm driving it pretty gingerly out of respect for my friend. After about a mile or so, he impatiently says "C'mon, man, get on it!"

So I floored it.

The trans kicked down into first, the q-jet paused for just a second to gulp in the air now coming in from the secondaries and then she took off....hard! This car was in tune and that motor just loved showing what she was capable of. I had never experienced anything like that, and I was hooked. My appreciation for musclecars just went off the charts.

Seriously, at that very instant my life changed forever.

That very afternoon, I bought a copy of the Bargain News and started looking for a musclecar......and what do you think I found? No, not the Olds I was hoping for. I found an ad for a '69 SS/RS Camaro convertible. That was all it said. Asking price? $2,500. I called and an elderly man answered the phone. He bought the car new. He then told me it was a pace car. "What's a Pace car?" I asked. He laughed and explained what it was. He said "It has the big engine and a 4-speed, but it needs a new top and a radiator." "Big engine?" I asked. "396" was all he said.

We talked a little while longer and I told him I was seriously interested in his car. I would goto the bank to get a loan and that I would call him in a couple days and come see it and if it's what you say it is, I'll pay you in cash right then and there. He said that would be fine.

A couple days later after getting the loan, I called him to set up a day to see it and he just said "I'm sorry, son, but a man showed up with cash and a trailer." I was devistated!

I grabbed the new Bargain News, determined to use the loan money to buy me a musclecar. And right there, practically calling to me, was an ad for a 1967 4-4-2 convertible!!!!!!! Just like Jon's car, but the top went down! Asking price? $1,500!
New top, solid body, good interior, unmolested and now it had a new owner!

I loved that car and in return, she gave me the best summer of my life......until I was hit head-on by a drunk driver.

I was pretty messed-up and spent a long time in the hospital, but that car saved my life. The drunk was in a brand new F-250 and police said he was going about 50 miles per hour when he crossed the lines. They also said if it weren't for me wearing my seat belt, my size (6'2" 300lbs) and the heavy-duty frame of the convertible, I wouldn't have made it.

I owe my life to a musclecar.

Ever since then I have been on a path that has led me to own nearly 50 (fifty) musclecars over the last 28 years. But I never forgot the ride in Jon's car and how it changed my life. He sold his 4-4-2 in '87 and that was the last I saw of her.

Jump to November 2009. While browsing through Craigslist, I happened to see a '67 4-4-2 for sale locally. I look at the poor quality pictures and it looks like Jon's old car, but that car went off to somewhere in New York. It couldn't be the same car, but man, it sure looked like her.

Since the car was so close and priced very right, I call the seller and make arrangements to see the car. My wife and I drive the 9 miles to the sellers house. It's pitch black and raining when we arrive. The car is in a VERY tight garage and he has to pull the car out so I can look at it.

As soon as I lifted the hood, I knew that by some miracle, I had found THE car! Minor under-hood modifications we had done all those years ago were still present.

But there was more proof. It was not only the rare post model, but it had all the options Jon's car had:

42 year-old original maroon paint (faded and tired)
New two-tone red interior (Jon had installed just before he sold it)
Air Conditioning
Cruise Control
Reclining Passenger Seat
Vacuum Trunk Release
Power Steering
Power Brakes

I looked behind the license plate and there was the schrader valve for the air shocks in the exact spot we put it. No doubt about it, this was the car that effected me so strongly so long ago.

I made him an offer which he accepted and just like that, the car was mine! Now I had to find out where the car had been all these years. No, it hadn't been in the area all that time. I don't know the complete trail, but I know the car was on ebay at some point years ago and that this guy got it in Florida. This car had been as far away as FL before coming home (I'm in CT)!

Now I think that's a neat story, but there is one more little twist that I sure as hell didn't see coming.

As I was leaving, I gave the seller my full name, to which the seller gave me his full name. Although I didn't know this man, his last name was very familiar. I asked him if, by chance, he was related to a couple other people I know with the same last name, to which he replies that they were his uncle and cousin. I smiled, looked at him and said "Well let me re-introduce my self. I'm your cousin!!!"

What are the freaking odds! We were both blown away by this revelation and spent the next hour catching up on our family histories.

Jon and I are not only still best friends but we both work in the engineering department of the same company. The day the car arrived, Jon was there and immediately inspected and confirmed that it was indeed his old car.

Well that's the story. It's long-winded, but the God's honest truth. Hope I didn't bore you and I would really like to hear your thoughts on this tale.

Thanks for letting a fellow car nut ramble!

Uncle Hulka