You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

[Lee Stewart]

Developed in the early 1950’s and used to move the heaviest bombers in the Air Force’s inventory, this is a Coleman CF-55-AF

[Lee Stewart]

In August of 1969 Ford built 14 Boss 302 Mustangs to promote the car at dealer intro shows. All are Bright Yellow with a Black interior. The only noticeable differences from all other 1970 Boss 302s is how the rear quarter panel stripe edges up into the side marker light and the rear taillight assemblies - they are chrome not black. I have included a photo of a latter production car so you can compare them. Not all 14 had the same options. Some had the shaker hood and Magnum 500 wheels while others did not. All had the rear spoiler and rear window slats and 1969 Goodyear Polyglas GT F60x15 RWL tires though.




The Show Bosses

0F02G100043 New York Intro Show, New York Hilton Hotel
0F02G100048* Detroit Intro Show, Cobo Hall
0F02G100049 Omaha Intro Show, Omaha Civic Center
0F02G100050 Houston Intro Show, Thomas Convention Center
0F02G100055* St. Louis Intro Show, Kiel Auditorium
0F02G100056* Phoenix Intro Show, State Fair Coliseum
0F02G100057* Seattle Intro Show, Seattle Coliseum
0F02G100058 Dearborn Steel Tubing, Intro Show
0F02G100060 National Press Conference, Gurney's Inn, Long Island, NY
0F02G100062* Atlanta Intro Show, Atlanta Civic Center
0F02G100064 Richmond Intro Show, Richmond Arena
0F02G100065 Baltimore Intro Show, Baltimore Civic Center
0F02G100081* Cleveland Intro Show, Cleveland Sheraton
0F02G100082* Cincinnati Intro Show, Cincinnati Convention Center
*Survives today

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

My second all time favorite car behind the 1969 Camaro. And no, I never owned one but . . .

I turned 18 in May of 1969 and was living at Grossingers Hotel in Liberty, NY. One of my friends from Traffic, whose name escapes me, had come home from Vietnam and had purchased a brand new 1969 Charger R/T in Bright Blue with a White Vinyl Top and White Bumble Bee Stripe. It was fully loaded with A/C, Power Windows, Disc Brakes, Steering, Magnum 500 wheels with a Blue interior. "Lee, I am going to take you to NYC for your 18th Birthday and celebrate it right!" So around 9PM the day before my actual birthday, we left the hotel for the 2 hour ride from Liberty to NYC. Arrived a little after 11PM and immediately drove to a popular club/bar (can't remember the name) where on the stroke of Midnight, I officially turned 18. Left right afterwards and drove out to Queens to a bowling alley which was one of the strangest I had ever seen. It looked like a Bus Stop. The entire complex (100 lanes) was below ground. Here we hooked up with a bunch of my friend's buddies who proceeded to take him away to parts unknown.

So here I am in Queens with a bunch of people I don't know and one of them says, "Lee, let's take a ride." OK - sounds good to me. He had the keys to the Charger so we climbed in and off we went. About 10 minutes later we are stopped at a light and a Maroon 1969 Z/28 pulls next to us. The light turns green and we are off like a shot beating the Z/28 to the next light where we pick up a 1968 GTO. Again we win and for the next 2 hours, we are street racing and winning every single race. The guy I am with is a hell of a driver. We finally wind up back at the bowling alley where my friend has returned. It's now about 3AM. So more drinking (not me) and my friend is getting really drunk. I remind him I have to be at work at 10AM. "No problem Lee - one more for the road." 3 drinks later, it's 4:30 AM and my friend has passed out. I turn to the guy who took me street racing and tell him to get my friend into the back seat of the Charger, it's time to go.

With a few easy directions, I am now headed back to Liberty getting on the NYS Thruway headed to RTE 17. I have never driven the Charger but because it has an automatic, not too difficult. I figure I should be OK as long as I keep my foot out of the accelerator. To be honest, it's power scared me a bit. But I do notice that the Tach is running about 3000 RPM which seems a bit high for 70 MPH and the exhaust is "growling." I look down and realize I am in 2nd gear - 100 miles since I left Queens. Shift it into Drive - that's much better. Got us back to the hotel around 7AM. I park the car where we are living, tuck the keys in my friends pocket - he is still passed out - grab 2 hours of sleep and get to work on time.

So no, I never owned a 1969 Charger R/T but I did drive one. Only not fast

[Lee Stewart]

Did you know . . .

Buick was entering into a licensing agreement with the R & R group The Doors to use their megahit Light My Fire in a Buick promotion titled "C'mon Buick Light My Fire." Unfortunately Jim Morrison who did not like Buicks wasn't at the original licensing meeting. When his signature was required to make the deal, he said no - to a licensing fee of $100,000. So Buick went ahead with a variation with no music and paid no fee to The Doors.

[Lee Stewart]

The 1970 Olds Rallye 350 was not a big seller. In fact many dealers still had them on their lot when the 1971s arrived. In an effort to jazz them up, some dealers even took the front and rear bumpers off replacing them with chrome units to make them more sellable along with adding chrome trim rings