What made you a gear head?

[pagrunt]

After my so call attempt for G Body Of The Month with with my Regal slotcar, I am putting up this question. It was the slotcars in the '70's that got me hooked. My dad had some that he started to pick up in the '60's & picked up as time went on. I had Hot Wheels & Matchboxes but there was no powered motion. When we set them up it was a chance to be intrigued with speed & see them moving along. Then the pictures of real drivers, Jackie Stewart, A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty, Mario Andretti, & Peter Revson. Then getting to know what the cars were. Then I was hooked. After awhile I learned about hopping them up, physics & gravity, what does & does not work, & maintaining them to run by replacing worn parts & keeping them properly oiled. We had Aurora sets, the original Thunder Jets & AFX cars. They just helped to keep my attention on cars up to being able to start hanging out in my buddy's dads garage. Then it has just snowballed into the addiction we suffer from. I still play with cars, both big & small. But now I have someone to pass the addiction to.

 

[pontiacgp]

I use to go to Mosport to watch the Formula Ones when they ran there always likes to tinker with my dad's 1970 Tempest until my own told me hands off and get my own car to play with. Back then after going through the Sears catalogue there wasn't much else to do than work on my car.

 

[Injectedcutty]

My story is somewhat similar. My dad is a veteran diesel mechanic of 50+ years(that includes time with the Army and in Vietnam). With me being the 1st boy after 3 girls I've been told he was so ecstatic and immediately started buying me toy cars and such.
As far back as I can remember, my younger brother and I always had hot wheels, tonka trucks(the real metal ones) and slot cars. My dad, I mean Santa got us a huge slot car track and he built a wood platform for it. Said track still hangs in his basement to this day!!!
We were always around cars, helping hand tools off and getting dirty....the affliction began then! I remember helping him do an engine swap at 10 years old or so. He took us to car shows, boat races(he still goes today) to ensure we could see cool stuff!
When I was a wee lad, my buddies and I would hop up model cars with hydraulics, spray paint those and rc cars or anything auto related we could get our hands on!
We modified our bikes, go karts, big wheels to our liking and as I was able to drive for real it just snowballed!!!!
As many of you know, my 87 Cutlass was my 1st car and I've had that turd for 16+ years now!!!! I've never left any car I've owned stock other than my wifes Mariner!

The obsession is real, I constantly think of cars, and have began to pass on the passion to my girls! Heck, for Christmas they wanted a hot wheels track, so they got several. They enjoy cool cars and always ask when mine will be done lol!
In short, my grandpa instilled the love of cars into my dad, and it has been passed on to me, and now my kids and I couldn't thank him more! It's an expensive hobby us guys have, but it keeps me sane when life throws curveballs. I find solace when wrenching, even if something doesn't go right!!!

"Hi, name is Scott and I'm addicted to hotrodding!" LOL!!!!!

 

[85442/86buick]

Watching and learning from my Dad......in the day he would tackle anything in the driveway . Of course his father was a Mechanic and worked NASCAR in the 50's , down south and only drove Oldsmobile's ....none of them stock. There are many great stories .

I thank them both for teaching me about tools and their use .

 

[Clutch]

I guess I was born in it. My Uncle had a body shop and a junkyard and I loved going there my cousin and I were the same age so it was hot wheels slot cars 1/24 and 1/25 models spring break and winter vacation I was off the streets of Jersey and in the mountains on 30 acres of do whatever I want motor cycling driving cars and trucks. By 6th grade I had a Cutlass of my own in Jersey I jr high i knew how to swap out SBC motors and do body work. When we were about 9 my cousin got a 72 Chevelle parts car no motor trans nose doors or interior by the time we were 10 my uncle had to take it away from us for driving it on the street lol we figured we built it why not? Plus my mother had a thing for fast cars several 62-64 Impalas her favorite year was 63 and when I was an early teen she was running a 63 with a 327 and a glide. Fun car I used to sneak it out at night and rip around the neighborhood in it. My brother got his license when I was 10 so he and his buddies all had cool cars. Remember in 83 you could buy a 68 gto convertible with a bad motor for around $450 not kidding it was one of his many muscle cars. Like the 69 Z/28 he built that car was his daily driver and went 11.70 on street tires with a full exaust not bad in 84.

So yea born in I guess

 

[fleming442]

My dad beat Oldsmobile into my brain at an early age. The Red car is a tribute to the one had in high school, and had to sell when mom got pregnant with me. He bought it when I was 12, and it was sort of a father son project. Hopefully, my daughter will want it to make it 3 generations.

 

[Injectedcutty]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this. My mom used to drag race a BBC Chevelle SS when she lived in Chicago! She still has her fire jacket as a memory. So yeah, it's kind of in the blood for me!

 

[pontiacgp]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this. My mom used to drag race a BBC Chevelle SS when she lived in Chicago! She still has her fire jacket as a memory. So yeah, it's kind of in the blood for me!

the only thing my mom dragged was me by the ear....

 

[Longroof79]

My interest in cars started when I was around 8-9 yrs old. I first enjoyed building aircraft models of vintage WW II planes. Aircraft was my first love until I switched gears and started building car models. When I became more interested in Hot Rods and customs, I then started buying Hot Rod, Rod & Custom, Car Craft, etc.magazines.
I always liked to tinker with bicycles and anything that was motorized. I then began playing with Go-karts, minibikes, motorbikes, outboard motors, etc.
From my early love of Hot rods, my dream machine was a '32 Ford coupe.
My friend and I (who also shared my interest in cars) used to attend custom car shows at the NY Colosseum and at local car dealerships. I guess at that point you could say I was hooked. In my early teens I used to help a few friends wrench and gopher chores on their Tri-five Chevys. Both were race cars. The '56 Chevy ran in a low gas classes...I think it was E/ gas at the time...265 smallblock. Another friend had a nice '57 Chevy 150 that ran in a stock class.
It was actually his big brother's car, but we helped him with it...as much as he'd let us anyway. That was powered by a built 283 (301).
Well, there you have it.
Oh, I also enjoyed playing with my Aurora Model Motoring set. We'd setup a drag strip and road courses. They were a blast..

 

[Onehit]

With me it was the Hot wheels and Matchbox cars. My mom and dad always got upset because I used to sneak out of my bed at night to go play with them in the basement. Not much is changed now I'm just sneaking into the garage instead to play with the real ones.