High School Cool Cars

It's not easy being a car guy in High School when you lack a rebellious older brother, a crazy car-guy uncle, or when your parents' idea of a cool car was that mustard-yellow Toyota Corona they used to own in the '70s.

Fortunately, I went to school with a number of guys who had been able to manage a cool car in their driveway, and were willing to let me live vicariously through them.

One of my favorites was a blue '68 Camaro that belonged to my buddy Kurt. It was originally a straight-6 column shift car that he'd dropped a 350 into. It looked awesome. It sounded awesome. And between the horsepower, the lack of seatbelts, and that crazy over-boosted GM steering pump, it was one of the hairiest cars to drive. But it had muscular curves, and I loved drooling all over it. Sorry about the paint, Kurt.

There was a guy in my homeroom named Michael, aka "Wolfman". He was a scary-looking dude, complete with long hair and a Fu Manchu moustache. I don't think he never liked me much, but he had an evil black '66 Mustang coupe with a 351 Windsor stuffed into it with a four speed and open exhaust. He and the car looked the part together, and he either drove it at full-throttle, or it was parked - there was no in-between. I'm sure it was one hell of a ride.

Another guy I used to run with was Keith, who owned an early '70s Plymouth Duster. It was olive green inside and out, with Cragar S/S wheels, a 318 automatic and an open diff. How do we know? Because we once made fun of him for doing a peg-leg burnout at McDonald's. Still, the car was cool, and I always think of him when I see one.

Then there was Troy's '77 Camaro. It had a 305 automatic, and was dark blue with dual silver racing stripes. Its most distinctive feature was the shifter - and old B&M unit with a #7 billiard ball on it for the knob.

Another of my favorites belonged to my buddy, Jim. It was an emerald green AMC Rebel SST, and I've never seen another one since. It was a big sedan with a big engine, and it was unmistakable. We took a few road trips in it, and it once seated seven of us with ease. In a moment of weakness, I talked Jim into letting me drive it. At full bore, the throttle stuck open. Jim got on the floor and started pulling at the gas pedal to no avail. Somewhere around 75mph, I put it in neutral and brought it to a stop. The fix? Beat the carburetor linkage with a big hammer. "Just don't go wide open on it again," he said with a grin.

Another guy that didn't care for me much was a jock named Rick. He owned a pretty blue '70 Nova with a lumpy-cammed 327. It looked pro-built, ran 10" tires, and looked to be amazingly fast. I often wonder whatever happened to that car.

There's a sad story about Jeff's '68 Mustang fastback, though. It was a dark blue 302, and he'd upgraded the head unit to an Alpine one. Unfortunately, this was to be the car's undoing. One night, he looked down to change the station, and rear-ended another car. The lovely fastback was totaled on the spot.

One of the really interesting vehicles belonged to a guy named Tom. He had an old, olive green Toyota Land Cruiser. It was fitted with Dana differentials, 35" tires, and a Chevy 327. It was a ridiculously fast death trap, but was one of those truly badass SUVs that any car guy would want to own.

I would eventually get my own V8 muscle car, but I would have still given a right arm for most of these machines. I'm sure that, like my own, they're long since gone. But their awesome memories still linger on in all our psyches.


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