Kids These Days

[Cooter]

Man, you're lucky. If I had a dad that liked cars, or could at least paint mine for me, I'd still have my '70 and be on cloud 9. That's great you had that opportunity and it's even better you want to pass that on to your kids.

My father, bless his heart and rest his soul, could hardly change his own oil let alone build a racing engine. Course, he committed sucide when I was 13 Y/O so he never got to see how I turned out, but if he were here, he'd prolly be kinda proud I guess. So you see, not everybody who's into Musclecars and the like even grew up with a father at all. Doesn't matter much, as my affection for the cars was born from going to high school with all the "Rejects" at the school. You know the ones, always wearing Flannel shirts, blue jeans worn paper thin, and work boots. We were the ones you youngin's today would refer to as the "Rednecks". ALL of these types had some sort of fast car that when it fired up and all were hangin' round BSin', you better hold your tongue and grab all the info you can for future use. This is what I did because I wanted to be in that "Elite" group known for those fast, and obnoxiuosly loud "Cool cars" that made the "preppy" kids think the worst of us. We were the fastest at the school. There was one of the rednecks that thought he would up his status and try to become a preppy when his pop bought him a shiney red 1965 Mustang. Could it get anymore cleche'?? Well, he decided to put "1fast65" on his plates. I decided to put "1fastr65" on mine, as I owned a 1965 Plymouth Satellite.

Of course, the inevidable time came when I was challenged to "prove" it. Right in front of the school. I did. At that time, I was finally "Accociated" with the "Redneck/cool guys" that had the badass cars. For me, I wasn't a jock, wasn't a preppy, wasn't in the band, and wasn't one of the "Smart kids", so all I had left was where I was accepted and that was with the gearheads. I couldn't have been happier. I had a job when I was 15 Y/O. EVERY penny went into paying my own insurance and buying racing parts. I also helped out on a couple farms AFTER my shift ended. Try getting a kid today to even put down his/her cell phone long enough to work....I remember tearing down my first cars engine and spreading parts out all over the garage. know what Mom said? "Oh lordy, well, if you drive it at all, YOU are gonna have to put all those pieces back together".
I built my own sh*t. (With help from my Automechanics teacher which later on, I told him he was kinda like the car dad i never had. Thought poor sap being a "Cool guy" was gonna get all teary eyed. I still see him every now and then and I still call him "Mr. Gray". Try getting a kid to do that these days even in the classroom. It all depends on who you decide to hang out with as to how much knowledge you gain for the hobby. If it's kids with texting on thier minds, then you won't go very far.


So you see, it really doesn't matter if pops helps or not, as long as you have a band of friends that are willing to help you out when you are stumped on your project, you can be a part of the "Cool gearhead" Brotherhood...

[FinallyRearDrive]

So you see, not everybody who's into Musclecars and the like even grew up with a father at all...........So you see, it really doesn't matter if pops helps or not, as long as you have a band of friends that are willing to help you out when you are stumped on your project, you can be a part of the "Cool gearhead" Brotherhood...

Sometimes it's easy to forget how lucky you are. Thanks for sharing the story of your high school life (and good job taking a preppy kid down a peg ).

It's funny, I actually had my car delievered to me, and when it arrived (at 6 in the morning) I called my buddy, got him out of bed, and we went to work on it straight away (I bought him breakfast for humoring my enthusiasm to get my car torn apart the minute I got it), so my band of friends are always more than willing to help. But I gotta say, the more I worked on that car, and the more everyone here at the forum helped me out, the more I got the feeling I was becoming part of the "Cool gearhead" Brotherhood. Even after selling mine, I still feel like I belong here with you guys, and I know I'll find my way into another one soon (much wiser and will make better decisions in my next purchase). When that happens, I'll be sure to show it of to everyone my age, and rather than smoke tires on an exit as I did in the story I told in the very first post of this topic, I'll show them around the car, raise enthusiasm and awareness, and try to get the youth of Ventura County as passionate about these cars as I am.

[GranCuda1970]

Thanks for sharing Cooter. Wish i could have seen the high school race.

[dutch]

amen to that cooter......
what can I say... my dad was a booksalesman. He was good to me but couldn`t hit a nail even with the biggest hammer.  My love for these cars sure wasn`t genetical lol

[ChallengerHK]

I had the opposite experience. My father was great with cars, and kept offering to show me how to work on cars and get them to go faster. I recall, just before he died (stroke) telling him that I didn't want to be a grease monkey.

35 years later, I'm still trying to learn some of the things he could've taught me. But, I'm sure he finds that a little funny 

[74CudaDave]

But I gotta say, the more I worked on that car, and the more everyone here at the forum helped me out, the more I got the feeling I was becoming part of the "Cool gearhead" Brotherhood.

Yessir, every time you drive down the street and pass another driver an
d you get the wave or the thumbs up, you know you're part of that brotherhood still.

[moparmaniac59]

Very cool stories. I enjoyed reading your post Cooter. I became a gearhead not from my dad, but I hung out with a group of kids that were into fixing and racing cars. I had a neighbor probably 10-12 years older than me that was always building hotrods and had several sweet Mopars. He was like an idle to me being a 15/16 year old watching him burn up the street with some of his projects. He had one hot '70 340 Cuda & a '68 Charger with a big block. When I bought my '73 Barracuda, 318 auto with a slap-stick, the first thing I wanted to do was show him. So I took it by his house and let him drive it to get his take on my new ride. He went to do a burn-out and broke my slap-stick right off in his hand. New slap-stick....free. Look on my face, well that was a Kodak moment!! 

                                                                              Matt B.