I’m going to try to get back to writing here on a more consistent basis — we’ll see how that goes.

Borrowing an idea from Patrick Mead, I’d like to share with you the vehicles I’ve driven and owned through the years.  I’m a car guy through and through.  I love looking at cars, reading about cars, talking about cars, driving cars, working on cars, etc.  Perhaps I should have chosen a career in the automotive field!

74duster.jpg

I got my Driver’s License on my 16th birthday (March of 1980).  At that point I began driving, almost exclusively, a 1974 Plymouth Duster.  It had been our second car that my Dad drove to work.  I had to share it for a few months, until my sister went to college in the fall, then it pretty much became my car.   When I started driving it, it was the white color seen in the picture above.  After a couple of years, I did some body work and had it painted a medium blue color, which looked much better.  I also added fog lights, a Thrush muffler, wider rear tires, and lifts for the rear end.  Yes, it was a sweet-looking ride at that point!  It had a 318 c.i. engine, and would get up and go pretty well (I once took it up to 100 miles per hour on I-75 in the suburbs of Detroit — on worn out tires!).

It was a great car, and I will always have fond memories of it.  Unfortunately, I wrecked it 1 week before I left for college!  My friend Dave and I were going up to Michigan Christian Youth Camp to see our girlfriends and I wasn’t paying close enough attention when we wrecked.  We weren’t hurt, and the car was drivable (I still took it to college that fall), but it’s days were numbered.  We got rid of it when I came home for Christmas break.

At that point I was able to inherit another car from a family member.  That will be part two of our journey.