TexasCHLforum.com

I learned to drive in a 1957 MGA. At the time Dad was commuting from the Suburbs to downtown Houston. He'd drive it during the week and then we'd work on it on the weekend to make sure it could be driven the next week.

When I got my license, I first started driving another of Dad's vehicles -- a 1974 F250 with a "granny" 4-speed and a 360 cid V-8. Later, when I was working as a summer hand in the oil patch, I borrowed my grandfather's 1969 Nova 2 door, with straight six and three on the tree. Soon after, my parents gave me the family 1974 Gran Torino 4 door with 400 cid V-8 and automatic trans. It tragically died after I got T-boned on the way home from classes one day.

The first car I bought was a bit more of a "sleeper" than the Gran Torino had been. It was a 1973 Cutlass Supreme two door, ordered from the factory with the Hurst Olds package -- 455 CID V-8 with 4 bbl Rochester carb, Muncie M-21 4 speed with Hurst Shifter, dual exhaust and huge roll bars front and rear. It was a lot of fun, and the lack of positrac in the rear end meant torque steer when accelerating or engine braking. My wife swears that the roads were wet every time she drove it and it swapped ends on her a few times when the rear end came loose.

Since then it has been a series of practical vehicles for the family.