Dave has always been an auto enthusiast and has been fortunate to own and drive some classics over the years. Starting in high school, when the muscle car was king, he has always found ways to enjoy the driving experience. This is the story of a mid-western boy's love affair with the automobile.

The '64 GTO

"Shortly after gettting my license at 16, I started to drive my parents' cars, both Oldsmobiles at the time, and while it was nice for going to school and bumming around with my friends, it really didn't fit the image I wanted for dating. One day in 1964 after bowling at the Plainfield bowl, I was cruising around in Plainfield and spotted a white '59 Ford convertible sitting on a used car lot. I just had to have that car. So I started to work on my dad, who eventually bought the car for me. While it was techincally his, he let me drive it most evenings, expecially on dates. It was a 292cu V8 with a three-speed shifter. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a lemon, but what really bothered me was that it was a dog. It could barely get rubber in first gear only, and only a bark. My first date with Diana was in this car, and I can remember only one incident. We wr driving down the road with her sitting close to me on the front bench seat. I threw a hard shift to third gear and the shifter broke off and fell into her lap. Interesting symbology there, but that did it. I had to get rid of that car.

In early '65. My next set of wheels was a '62 Chevy Impala convertible. It was aqua with a white top. It had a 283cu V8 with an automatic on the column. Mostly show and no go. It was a great drive-in car though and the back seat got a lot of use during that year.

By mid '65 the muscle car craze had hit in Indiana. The new Mustang had just been introduced and GM was on the bandwagon with introduction of the Chevy Chevelle and Pontiac GTO. Having just graduated from HS, I needed more power now and with a parttime job and willing parents, I was able to find the perfect car, a 64' GTO, silver with black interior, red line tires and mags.

This car had a 389cu V8, w/Carter AFB fourbarrel, 4-speed Muncie with a 3.90 posi-traction rear end.

When you popped the clutch in first, it would get rubber for aslong as you wanted. The first to second and second to third shift points were low RPM and high torque. Great for getting off the line, but after that , it was like dropping off the clothesline. So I was real competitive with the Chevelles, 442s, and Mopar's in first and second, but after that it dogged. Fortunately, most runs were a block long and a stop light was usually the cause for cutting off the heat.

When I joined the Army I left the Goat with my Dad for safekeeping. Diana and I were first in California with her '59 Chevy convertible, a neat car in its day, but by the time we got to big LA, the muscle car was still king. In the summer of '68, we drove back to Indiana, and got the Goat. "

These were the best of times, and the worst of times. We were young ,care-free, living in California and cruisin' on Route 66 while the hippie flower-power counterculture was turning into an ugly drug and protest movement. And always in the background the Vietnam war was swirling . By the fall of '68, it had become a gail force in our lives.