[robtcorl]

WA lens needed.

Of course, because he lives in WA.

[robtcorl]

Was this you #2?

[Racer X 69]

Of course, because he lives in WA.

Not to be confused with Western Australia.

[lesmore49]

Yes, your math is correct.



Well, not really.

Then again.

I bought the racecar in 1989. Several months after I bought it the guy who sold it to me went to his estranged wife’s house and shot her, their two children, and her second husband before shooting himself. Seems she had a restraining order against him. She got the house in the divorce, and it was next door to his parents house. Not only was he not allowed to see his children, he couldn’t visit his parents as their house was within the limits of the restraining order. She was repeatedly taking him to court to increase the child support.

It was too much for him.



I bought the brown 72 for Mrs. Racer 1.0, in 1992 for $2,000. I kept it when I divorced her.


The 1979 280ZX I picked up from a lineman at the electric utility I used to work at. It had a coolant leak from the water control valve in the dash. I went to have a look at it, as he wanted to know how much it would cost to fix. The valve was around $200 at the time, labor about $600, as the instrument panel had to come out for the repair, a 4 hour job by itself.

He sold me the car for $200. It fixed the valve and drove it for about 10 years before parking it behind the shop.


The car next to the ZX is a 280Z. The guy wanted $200 for it, but it wouldn’t start and run, so I offered to haul it off for scrap. His wife told him it had to go. Their house was in a rural setting, and they had some chickens. His wife told me a few weeks earlier while she was doing dishes in the kitchen looking out over the yard where the chickens were happily pecking away a bald eagle swooped down and took one.

One of the early 240Zs inside is a low VIN number first year Z that I got for free. The guy’s wife had told him it was her or the car.

I wonder if they are still married.


Most of the other cars were freebies, or I paid $50 or so for, as parts cars.

Wow....I had a hunch there was an interesting story or two when it came to acquiring your Z's....but I have to say, I didn't anticipate that first story.

[lesmore49]

Was this you #2?

....Nope. Although I did have two Impalas. One a 1976, the other a 2015 (the last generation) and they were both, great cars.

Your story reminds me of another similar story. I used to frequent a fishing bait and tackle shop, when I was younger, as I was quite the ardent fisherman.

Anyways at this fishing store, they had a bulletin board, a cork tackboard where customers could tack a picture of their latest big catch of the day, or put up an advert to buy and sell fishing equipment.

The best ad I saw, was hand written on a recipe card and went something like this.

" Fisherman, looking for woman to fish with. May lead to matrimony. Woman must have fishing boat. Send picture of fishing boat. "

[robtcorl]

My first car was a '63 Impala, white, 283 ci, auto, with maroon interior.
Bought it in 1965 for about $1,800. Looked like this one from the net:

[lesmore49]

My first car was a '63 Impala, white, 283 ci, auto, with maroon interior.
Bought it in 1965 for about $1,800. Looked like this one from the net:

Probably no surprise to you, but I do like Impalas. The '63 two door hardtop, like in your pix, had the best style of any domestic car in the '60's. I know others will disagree.

Back in early '64 (Easter break) , my parents and me, drove to Chicago to visit family friends. It was my first time to the Windy city and I was 14. We went in our '64 Impala (what else ) family wagon, with our Shasta trailer hooked behind. It was a great trip.

The family friends in Chicago had a son who was 19 , and drove a '50 Ford sedan, three on the tree, flathead V8. He was great to me, every evening he would take me out for a tour of different parts of Chicago. One evening about 9 pm, we were walking down one of the major , downtown streets and lo and behold...drawing up to the stop light, were two guys in a '64 Impala Super Sport, and on the fender was a badge that said this car was powered by a 409 cubic inch V8. The famous performance engine, the engine that the Beach Boys sang about in their song...'My 409. '

So there I was, late evening in Chicago, a 14 year old, tall gawky ...somewhat forward...kid, whose voice was breaking. I went up to the car and said...'Gee Mister...is this a real 4-0-9 ? "

The passenger sitting in the passenger seat, window down...squinted, looked at me...and said...to the driver...'Lissen to the kid...is this a real 409..'...then he cackled..' No kid...it's a 235 six cylinder....now go F yourself..' followed by more cackles.

The light turned green, the 409's driver revved the big engine, popped the clutch and smoked the tires right across State Street....or whatever street it happened to be. I was impressed.

Other then this being the first time I had ever seen an Impala with the fabled 409 engine, the other memory that has stayed with me, all these years was the passenger.

He was about 30 years old, had a greasy ducktail hair style, with a kiss curl drooping down his forehead. When he was admonishing me...he had a cigarette that somehow was able to attach itself to his upper lip and as he talked rapidly, I was mesmerized by the cig attached to his upper lip as it bounced up and down as his mouth flapped away.

To this day, I still don't know how that cigarette stayed glued to his upper lip as talked...maybe polydent ? I dunno.

He was a twin of Squiggy, from the Laverne and Shirley TV show

[Racer X 69]

....but I have to say, I didn't anticipate that first story.

Neither did I.

When it happened, it was all over the news. I didn’t (and still don’t) watch the news or read the papers. A buddy of mine stopped by and asked if I saw the news.

“Isn’t that the guy you bought that car from?”, he asked. So I turned on the TV and there it was.

It was quite a surprise, although looking back I remember the guy commented about the situation, and had patted a heavy lump in his jacket pocket, saying, “That’s OK, I’ll show them.”

Being focused on the negotiations for the racecar, I didn’t think twice about it.

I sometimes wonder if I had said something to someone the outcome may have been different.


He had promised some extra parts that I hadn’t gotten yet. I looked up his parents place and after a couple weeks stopped by, introduced myself, explained the situation and left my number. A few days later a fellow racer contacted me. He had been asked to liquidate the other stuff the guy had, including the 32’ enclosed trailer that the guy tried to get $12,000 for. I offered $3,000, the offer was accepted and away I went.

[lesmore49]

Neither did I.

When it happened, it was all over the news. I didn’t (and still don’t) watch the news or read the papers. A buddy of mine stopped by and asked if I saw the news.

“Isn’t that the guy you bought that car from?”, he asked. So I turned on the TV and there it was.

It was quite a surprise, although looking back I remember the guy commented about the situation, and had patted a heavy lump in his jacket pocket, saying, “That’s OK, I’ll show them.”

Being focused on the negotiations for the racecar, I didn’t think twice about it.

I sometimes wonder if I had said something to someone the outcome may have been different.


He had promised some extra parts that I hadn’t gotten yet. I looked up his parents place and after a couple weeks stopped by, introduced myself, explained the situation and left my number. A few days later a fellow racer contacted me. He had been asked to liquidate the other stuff the guy had, including the 32’ enclosed trailer that the guy tried to get $12,000 for. I offered $3,000, the offer was accepted and away I went.

You can't blame yourself. I've found it's very difficult to predict what people will do, especially people I don't know well.

[MarkJerling]

Probably no surprise to you, but I do like Impalas. The '63 two door hardtop, like in your pix, had the best style of any domestic car in the '60's. I know others will disagree.

Back in early '64 (Easter break) , my parents and me, drove to Chicago to visit family friends. It was my first time to the Windy city and I was 14. We went in our '64 Impala (what else ) family wagon, with our Shasta trailer hooked behind. It was a great trip.

The family friends in Chicago had a son who was 19 , and drove a '50 Ford sedan, three on the tree, flathead V8. He was great to me, every evening he would take me out for a tour of different parts of Chicago. One evening about 9 pm, we were walking down one of the major , downtown streets and lo and behold...drawing up to the stop light, were two guys in a '64 Impala Super Sport, and on the fender was a badge that said this car was powered by a 409 cubic inch V8. The famous performance engine, the engine that the Beach Boys sang about in their song...'My 409. '

So there I was, late evening in Chicago, a 14 year old, tall gawky ...somewhat forward...kid, whose voice was breaking. I went up to the car and said...'Gee Mister...is this a real 4-0-9 ? "

The passenger sitting in the passenger seat, window down...squinted, looked at me...and said...to the driver...'Lissen to the kid...is this a real 409..'...then he cackled..' No kid...it's a 235 six cylinder....now go F yourself..' followed by more cackles.

The light turned green, the 409's driver revved the big engine, popped the clutch and smoked the tires right across State Street....or whatever street it happened to be. I was impressed.

Other then this being the first time I had ever seen an Impala with the fabled 409 engine, the other memory that has stayed with me, all these years was the passenger.

He was about 30 years old, had a greasy ducktail hair style, with a kiss curl drooping down his forehead. When he was admonishing me...he had a cigarette that somehow was able to attach itself to his upper lip and as he talked rapidly, I was mesmerized by the cig attached to his upper lip as it bounced up and down as his mouth flapped away.

To this day, I still don't know how that cigarette stayed glued to his upper lip as talked...maybe polydent ? I dunno.

He was a twin of Squiggy, from the Laverne and Shirley TV show

If you're going to keep telling interesting tales like this Les, you'll need an Otis Squirrel reward!

[lesmore49]

If you're going to keep telling interesting tales like this Les, you'll need an Otis Squirrel reward!

Glad you liked the story, Mark. I've had an interesting life, and like to reflect on the fun things.

The Otis Squirrel Award....I wish I'd got one.

Ahh...Nuts !!

[MarkJerling]

Glad you liked the story, Mark. I've had an interesting life, and like to reflect on the fun things.

The Otis Squirrel Award....I wish I'd got one.

Ahh...Nuts !!

Feel free to add this to your signature. It's the next best thing. But you probably want to shrink it first.

[lesmore49]

Feel free to add this to your signature. It's the next best thing. But you probably want to shrink it first.

Thank you very much Mark. But I'm a klutz when it comes to other than the basics of computers. I don't how to shrink it, I don't know how to add it to my signature.

I'm a guy who at work, used a fountain pen, and my wife says I'm archaic. However I think that word is in my favour.

[MarkJerling]

Do you want me to do a tutorial?

[Racer X 69]

Thank you very much Mark. But I'm a klutz when it comes to other than the basics of computers. I don't how to shrink it, I don't know how to add it to my signature.

I'm a guy who at work, used a fountain pen, and my wife says I'm archaic. However I think that word is in my favour.

Just save it to your computer, then put it in the same place you put the text "The Duke Of Digression".

Use the button that looks like a mountain with the sun over it.