Trucks in the Life of a Car Guy

I have be an automotive enthusiast my whole life, a "car guy" to the core. I grew up on a farm in Western South Dakota, so for many years, there were more trucks in my life than cars. Most of my first driving experiences were in trucks, not cars. Sure, the first performance cars I saw had a lasting effect on me, but so would some pickup trucks.
In my book, I have a chapter titled; "The Automotive Dark Ages" talking about the 1970's and early 1980's when car manufacturers were trying to get the whole emissions control situation figured out. For a time, we thought our beloved muscle cars were a thing of the past.
During those years I was an avid hunter, and a building contractor, so trucks were an important part of my life. But, even then, performance was a big consideration in my vehicle choices. As soon as I got a new truck, I would start making some performance modifications, often using parts intended for muscle cars, and it worked wonders with the trucks I owned.
Of all the trucks I owned, modified, and loved, one stands out above all the rest; my 1978 Ford F-150 short-bed 4X4 pickup. I had special ordered it with the biggest V8 engine available, 4-speed manual transmission, and limited-slip axles, front and rear. Then the modifications stared, and within a couple years, finished with swapping in a high performance, bored and blue printed V8 I had built in a college auto class I was taking at the time. I sold the original engine to help pay for some of my parts bills.
That truck would win three off-road rallies, many street races, and would take us to the best hunting spots for several seasons. It was a very important part of my automotive history. To read more of this story, check out my book at; Grab Some Gears

My 1978 Ford F-150 in the mountains of Northern Utah.

High Tech Muscle Cars

Most automotive enthusiasts will agree that the fastest, most powerful, best handling, and highest quality muscle cars ever produced are being made right now. Many are available on the showroom at a dealership near you. Looks, styling, and esthetics are a matter of personal preference, but I think today's specialty cars are among the best looking ever produced as well, though we all have a love of the looks of many of our favorite classics.
The main improvement in recent muscle cars, compared to the classics we all love, is the availability of all the latest technology we have come to expect in our cars these days. We can have a car that will out run a "67" 427 Corvette, and still answer our phone calls, play our favorite music over satellite radio, blue tooth, or several other methods, and provide traction control, anti-lock braking, and dozens of other features we could never have dreamed of 40 years ago.
Through the magic of computer controls and fuel injection, today's cars are much more reliable, and get much better fuel economy than our beloved classics. There is an old saying; "they don't make them like they used to" but I suggest that is a good thing.
To get more of my automotive history, check out my book at; "Grab Some Gears"

The 435 horsepower, 32 valve, double overhead cam, fuel injected, aluminum V8, in my 2015 Ford Mustang GT.

Details

What is it about being a "car guy" that makes you appreciate automotive styling details that other people don't even notice. I guess it is just part of what makes us "car people" in the first place. Like how we can instantly tell the difference between a "67" and "68" Mustang, or how we can recognize a "63" split window Corvette from a block away.
When we walk through a car show and soak in all the fine details of the vehicles we are looking at, while other non-car people just see red ones, blue ones, and green ones.
Over the last 50 years, I have developed a great appreciation for the details that make our hobby so great. The shape of a "34" Ford radiator shell, the gas cap location of a "56" Chevy, or the taillight shape on a "68" Dodge Charger, are but a few of thousands of examples I could name.
Most of us are more of an expert on our favorite brand of vehicle, from a narrow range of model years. But I have met some who are like a walking data file on a wide range of cars, both old and new. But even the newest car enthusiast among us, has noticed details that have peaked their interest, and made them one of us.

Some beautiful styling details of the 2013 Mustang GT.

Road of Life

There have been many books and movies that have involved the subject of time travel. The movie; "Back To The Future" is one of the more well known, but there have been many others. I have often wondered what it would be like to go back in time, and have a conversation with your younger self, or travel into the future and see how your life might turn out. For me, these thoughts usually involve cars. What would it be like to travel back in time and show a modern day car to your 16 year old self?
I was inspired by a post my daughter-in-law Stephanie put on her blog last week titled; "Life". She was thinking of a question raised at the end of a book she had just finished; "What would surprise your younger self most about the life you are living"? In her examples, she was talking about going back maybe 10 years, but at my age, I was thinking more like 50 years.
These type of "time travel" ideas usually involve going back and trying to chance something that happened in your younger life, that you wish you could change, that would somehow alter the life you have today. This idea was touched on in the Garth Brooks song; "The Dance".  You might be able to miss some pain, but, how much of life would you miss in the process?
For those people that have suffered a lot of pain and disappointment in their life, I can see the reasoning. But, we never know what the future holds for us, and no matter how much we dream, we cant go back and get a "do over", or change the past.
All things considered, I am thankful for the life I have been able to live. I guess that's why they call it "the road of life" and all we can do is travel it the best we can, and try to enjoy the trip.

My "Road of Life".    I try my best to enjoy the trip.

Tell Your Story

If you're anything like me, you have been a car enthusiast for a long time. We have been a lot of places, owned a number of interesting cars, and seen many changes in our hobby over the years. They may never make a movie of our life story, but maybe a few fellow "car guys" would like to hear our story.
In my case, I went on, year after year, just doing my thing. I was a street racer since the 1960's, spent many years also racing on the drag strip, and just enjoying my love of fast cars. One night in the late 1990's, I was out at the local street race spot about midnight, and was talking to some of the young racers in the crowd. One of them asked me,"how long have you been doing this"? "Since I was a teenager", I answered. "Things must have changed a lot, you should write a book about it" was his reply. That started me thinking about it, and the thought kept crossing my mind, and a few years later, I started writing my book.
Now, social media has given us many options of how we might share our story with other like minded enthusiasts. You might not go to the trouble to write a book about your car obsession like I did, but you can connect with other car people on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media site, and spread the word that way.
You can check out my book; "Grab Some Gears - 40 Years of Street Racing" just follow this link; "Grab Some Gears"

Me and my 2015 Mustang GT.

Once in a life time car, a tribute to my Shelby.

I put this together a few years ago when I still had my 2007 Shelby GT500.

Home Town Car Culture

Anywhere you go, you will find car enthusiasts. You will spot them on the streets, easy to identify by the kind of vehicle they drive. They might not have your exact taste in the brand or style of car, but you can see they are a car enthusiast, at least in some degree.
In most communities around the country, they have some organized car clubs or owner associations, of like minded people, who enjoy a particular type of vehicle. Maybe it's Mustangs, Corvettes, old style hot rods, classic cars and trucks, new performance cars, old muscle cars, or rat rods, but they share a passion that brings them together. You may find some that only like their particular flavor of cars, but, for the most part, these are "car people" in general, and they will support other car enthusiasts, no matter what brand, or year of car, they prefer.
In my area, as in most other places, some of these car clubs will organize small, low key, local car shows on a regular bases. Some of them will welcome all enthusiast cars and trucks, no matter what brand you happen to drive. These are my favorite type of car show. You can show up, park your car, join the crowd, and rub shoulders and have great conversations, with all types of car people.
I highly recommend that you search out some of these local car shows in your community, bring your car, join in, and have a great time. Also, check out my book at; "Grab Some Gears" .

A local car show in St. George, Utah in February 2016.