What was your 1st car? - Page 9

**1969grb** · #81 12-11-2009, 07:09 AM

Steve, Congrats , not many get them back.

Grady

**Steve Shauger** · #82 01-08-2010, 05:12 AM

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well in my last post I said stay tuned.... well after 24 years of persistence my second and favorite muscle car is coming home. I received a call on 10/14 of this year a day before my mother passed stating the owner was finally prepared to sell. It certainly was a bitter sweet moment, but the great pumkin is on her way home. She still has her orig drive train and loaded with options. Sammy will be proud .. the car will be day 2ed just like the way I originally had her. Its been a long journey and I'm glad she is home. Stay tuned for the journey ahead. </div></div>

The story continues...

Well my car finally arrived this morning. Below is an article I wrote for the AACA region club. I shared my youthful experiences related to being a car nut and the journey I have traveled with this car...

She’s back…

As I have mentioned in the past, we antique and classic cars enthusiast play an important role in preservation of these historically significant cars. Well these cars also play a role in preserving our youth and for me, it brings me back to a simpler time.

I would like to retrace my steps in being a certified car nut. Really, there is no denying that if there was a certification test for this distinction, I would pass with flying colors. I am going to delve into how I became one and why I have chosen this year and model car. It started in the spring of 1967 while on my way to elementary school. That is a point in time I remember vividly; first I heard this car tearing down the back roads of suburban Philadelphia (NewtownSq). The tone of that exhaust, the lope and sound of the solid lifter camshaft left quite an impression. It was a white with black stripe 1967 Camaro. In subsequent years I came to learn it was a schoolmate’s brother’s 1967 Z28 Camaro, one of 602 built for the Trans Am racing series.

Fast forward a couple of years to the summer of 1969, I was on Bishop Hollow Rd in my home town of Newtown Sq., Pa. riding my bike, when an orange 1969 Z28 power slid into the Sun Oil research facility. Years later I became friends with Bill Scott and told him about the orange Camaro and he stated "that was most definitely Mark Donohue driving his personal car, likely picking up some parts I had fabricated. He was a mad man behind the wheel". Scotty worked at Sun Oils R&D facility but was on loan to the Penske race team. In fact Bill Scott, known as Scotty was Penske’s chief mechanic on the Grand Sport Corvette and was a member of Penske race team until the early seventies. The Penske/Donhue race team dominated just about every form of racing from Lola, Formula One and Indy, but none more so than the 1968 & 1969 Trans Am racing series running the Chevrolet Camaro. OK now you know how I got hooked on these cars.

Mark Donohue met his untimely death on August 13, 1975 as he prepared for the Austrian Grand Prix. Well the loss of Mark had an effect on me and my goal was finding a car identical to the one Mark drove into the Sun Oil facility.

In the fall of 1979/80, I found such a car in Cherry Hill, NJ area, a 69 RS/Z28 originally delivered to Jay Chevrolet Haddonfield, NJ. On my way home I crossed over Commodore Barry Bridge into Philly and all was going smooth, but as I entered my town Newtown Sq. the excitement got the best of me and I ran through the gears. That was a mistake because I was immediately stopped and ticketed for several violations, no inspection, excessive speed and noise (geez give a kid a break). Believe it or not I found out years later that the police officer was a Camaro lover too but unfortunately that didn’t prevent him from giving me the tickets). I rebuilt/restored the car in 1979-80 and had a blast driving it. A job transferred me up to Long Island in 1981 and shortly thereafter I met and married my wife in May of 1983. As with any young couple we wanted to own a home so we sold the car in June of 1983. I advertised the car for sale in Super Chevy and Larry Beard, from Crockett, TX drove up and purchased the car (my wife said Larry and his wife were literally jumping for joy when they saw the car).

Larry sold the car in late 1985, and I tracked the next owner down thru the TX, DMV. So for 20 plus years I have called the owner 2-3 times a year hoping he would part with the car. Basically the conversations were always the same; he would ask "How much is it worth now?" and nothing more. This past Oct 14th I received a call from the owner, Mark S. and he stated he wanted to sell. Two weeks later I was on a plane to TX. The car needs some work as it hasn't been run for over 15 years, but it still retains its original drivetrain and some of my modifications. Well she back home, and needless to say my goal is to relive my youth and have a blast from the past. I will need to rebuild a few things, but our first outing will be on a date with my wife like we had 27 years ago.

GTO_DON · #83 01-08-2010, 05:20 AM

Love the story Steve. It couldn't happen to a nicer person! Congrats my friend...Don

camarojoe · #84 01-08-2010, 05:40 AM

Very cool story... Great lookin' 69 Z too!

**Lynn** · #85 01-08-2010, 05:55 AM

54 Chevy when I was 15 (no it wasn't new... I am not as old as Verne). Puke green. Three on the tree.

Paid $75. Previous owner had run some kind of barricade and smashed up the front a bit. I rigged the headlights in with popsicle sticks and rubber bands. Had to change out the rubber bands every couple of weeks or a headlight could fall out and be pointing straight down, hanging by the wires.

Master cylinder went out and drove it with nothing but a parking brake for several months. Didn't get really hairy until the park brake handle broke off. Replaced it with a set of vice grips. Actually took 4 other kids to school in that car driving it that way for a couple of weeks before removing and rebuilding the master cyl in the driveway.

Threw a rod and still drove it another couple hundred miles until it came through the side of the block. Sold the car to a guy for 10 bucks because he wanted the radio. Hooked up a chain and... you guessed it, the front bumper (or what was left) fell off on the first tow away attempt. What a POS. But still, at least it wasn't a RABBIT!!!!

RichSchmidt · #86 01-08-2010, 06:21 AM

Lynn about 15 years ago a guy who lived near a shop where I worked owned a dodge pickup with a slant 6 in it.It threw a rod,and he drove it with the rod embedded in the side of the block every day for who knows how long.Had a hole in the side of the block you could see the internals flailing around.Sounded like a dead miss,but it drove.Leaked just a small amount of oil thru the fairly large window,surprising to me.Old engines were so cool sometimes.

**1969grb** · #87 01-08-2010, 06:40 AM

Steve, I am happy to see you got it back!

Grady

**CC Rider** · #88 01-08-2010, 06:53 AM

Great story Steve!

**Lynn** · #89 01-08-2010, 05:33 PM

Steve: That is a great story. Hope you realize how lucky you are. For every one of those there are a hundred that turn out differently.

I tried to find my Silver and black 69 Z only to find out it had been crushed. Tried in vain to find a buddy's Tahoe Turquoise 67 Z. It originally was owned by a GM exec and boy that car was fast.

Have a blast.

**ALLZS** · #90 01-08-2010, 06:53 PM

STEVE, THE CAR IT BACK WHERE IT BELONGS I TO BOUGHT MY FIRST CAR A 1969 Z/28 IN THE FALL OF 76 THE ONLY DIFFERENT IS IT NEVER LEFT ME. 34 YEARS LATER I STILL OWN THE CAR LIKE YOU SAID EVERY TIME I JUMP INTO MY CAR IT BRINGS BACK ALL THE GOOD TIMES I HAD IN THE CAR AND STILL DO !! OUT OF ALL MY CAR,S THIS ONE WILL BE WITH ME TO THE END ! STEVE HOPE YOU ENJOY THE HELL OUT OF IT RICH ...