I very much understand you quote about the car being a part of your youth, a part of your being. I can relate to that on a personal level. Owning a deuce now is cool, but owning one back then was something special. I bet you won way more races than you lost, and beat a lot of cars with way more cubes.
Mr Howie, I remember what happened 35 years ago just fine. Yesterday though, can be a problem.