As a life-long car guy, there is no end to the number of cars I adore. Some of them very old, some of them brand new, from pure stock to very customized, and everything in between. I just love cars.
Most readers of my blog, or my book, will know that I often will single out one particular model as my all time favorite. That would be the 1967 Shelby GT 500 Mustangs that I have loved since I saw the first ones at a Ford dealership in 1967, when I was 17 years old. For me, I can never get enough.
When you see a car that really catches your eye, on the street, or maybe at a car show, there is something about it that makes it different from the rest. Maybe you really like that model of car, or the paint color, and it could be that it's extra well cleaned and polished. Sometimes, it's all of the above. When I'm cleaning and polishing my car for a car show, I pay special attention to the details.
The interior has to be clean and free from extra stuff setting around. The glass has to be clean, inside and out. The wheels and tires are an important part. The tires need to be clean and freshly treated with tire shine. When every thing is as perfect as can be, people will notice. It's all in the details.
Anyone interested can find my book, just follow this link: Grab Some Gears
My 1999 Mustang GT , from over 20 years ago.
During the 40 years of street racing I talk about in my book, for a ten year period of time, between 1987 and 1997, I also ran a few of my cars on the legal drag strip. I ran bracket racing in the street legal classes. I ran many runs in my black 87 Mustang LX 5.0 , and a few in my 1970 Torino Cobra. But the last runs I made were in my 1996 Mustang Cobra.
The red 96 Cobra was mostly factory stock, with only minor tuning tricks, and a set of drag radials on the rear wheels. It ran very well, but on my last day at the track, a few things happened that had me re-thinking running my street cars on the track.
The Cobra was an awesome performer, but the sticky drag radials put a lot of extra stress on the drive train. The car was pretty new and still under warranty, but any damage from running on a drag strip would void the warranty. Also, when I was waiting near the start line between rounds, I over-heard the track officials call the street legal bracket racers "garbage cars" . That just spoiled the whole experience for me. All they cared about was the pro cars, dragsters and funny cars, and such. That was the last time I ever ran a street car on the drag strip.
My 1996 Mustang Cobra , on my last day at the drag strip in 1997.
A few years ago, when I first got onto Facebook and Twitter, the main reason was to get some exposure for my book. Facebook was a way to let family and friends know about the book, and I thought Twitter would be a great way to reach other car enthusiasts around the world. Over the past few years, I have found other reasons to keep using Facebook and Twitter, but the book is always a secondary reason.
I haven't sold very many books in the past few years, but I like to still keep promoting it from time to time. I always get great reviews and feedback from car enthusiasts who have read it. Thank you to those who have let me know.
Anyone who may be interested can find it by following this link: Grab Some Gears
The cover of my book.
Over the years, I've owned many great cars, most of them good performance cars, and three of them were exceptional performers. But, only one was a Shelby Mustang. I owned my 2007 Shelby GT 500 for six years, but only put 12,000 miles on it during that time. It sat covered in the garage most of the time, always perfectly clean and detailed, and ready for the next car show. Always Picture Perfect.
During those six years, I had it in many car shows, and it won plenty of awards at those shows. It always attracted a lot of attention, and I enjoyed showing it and answering plenty of questions. I've always enjoyed driving all of my cars, but the Shelby was a collectors item, and I felt I should try to keep the miles down on that one. That was the main reason I finally sold it after six years, I like driving my performance cars.
Now, I kind of wish I could own a new Shelby GT 500. But the new ones cost twice as much as my 2007 model, and gas prices are over twice as much as they were back then. I don't think another one is in my future.
Any new followers of my blog, who may be interested, can check out my book, and read sample pages, just follow this link: Grab Some Gears
My 2007 Shelby GT 500 , from 10 years ago.
We are lucky enough to live in a very nice place, with spectacular red rock scenery all around our area. Our weather is very nice, most of the time. It's easy to take a beautiful drive up the canyons, most any day. I know not everyone in this world is quite this lucky.
I don't listen to the news anymore, too much bad stuff happening around the world, and nothing I can control. My doctors tell me the stress is not good for me, and not to watch the news if it stresses me out. So I don't. I hope to be around for many more years, so health and fitness is my number one priority now.
Getting out and driving my Mustang around this beautiful area is a perfect stress relief activity, so I try to do that every chance I get. Today is a beautiful day, so I think a ride up the canyon is just what the doctor ordered.
Many years ago, a movie was released that came very close to portraying my life style at that time. The movie was “ American Graffiti “ , and it is something that I still relate to, and refer to often. The type of street racing that movie portrayed is something I participated in for over 40 years. Eventually, I wrote a book about it. Follow this link to find my book: Grab Some Gears
Many other movies have been about street racing, such as the “Fast and Furious“ series. Most of them are filled with over-the-top craziness. Most of them are not as realistic to that real world activity. I referred to it often as “ the old-style street racing “. I still love that movie to this day.
