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August, 2008 |
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Featured Club Car |
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Owner: Mick & Susie Hunter, Sisters, OR This is my 5th
55 car since 1965. I have had one 55 chev pickup as well. Big back window short
box. 350 hp 327 4 spd. I had that one for 7 years and accept for paint it was
ready to go. I have had three 62 Impalas. 67 RS Camaro. 78 Camaro. 95 Z-28. 85 Corvette. 89 Corvette roadster. 94 corvette roadster and all very enjoyable. I still keep coming back to the 55 and I know at this stage of my life this is where I want to stick.
As for my current 55 Del Ray - - - - - -
I was getting a bit discouraged. One day in Feb. 2001 I was going to take my Granddaughter to help her practice and we took the Corvette I looked over and saw the 55 on the lot. I told Brittany that when we were coming home I thought we would stop in and look at it as I did almost ( Susie says EVERYTIME ) I saw a 55 on the side of the road or in a lot. When we stopped at Premium I parked the Corvette in the lot next to where the 55 was sitting out front. There were 4 or 5 people looking at it and James came up and asked if I wanted to trade in the Corvette in a kidding manner. I told him " I was just looking" as usual. I noted it had a 4 speed and the engine had some fairly nice parts polished. The body was fairly straight and it was most definitely a driver. It had a 87 IROC 305 and the tires were good. It had a single AFB on a polished manifold and Centerline Hurricane wheels. I'm a 5 American mag guy myself.
The paint looked good for a driver with some bug
chips in front. 4.10 posi and power front discs. At any rate I noticed the asking price for what I saw as the quality of the car was about 4 to 5K less than most I had looked at over the past 4 years. Brittany sat in it. ( My 11 year old Granddaughter at the time and thought it was a neat car. She enjoyed the Corvette with the top down very much though.) the car had papers and phone numbers to verify all information. The car was built in 87 in Ontario Canada. 94 Olds Crimson Red and off white two tone. I made an offer to trade the Corvette and Rich Marsh bought it and I ended up with my 55. I have not been much more excited over buying a car since my first 55 I think. When I drove that car off and started shifting that Hurst linkage I felt as most that grew up with these cars and owned them when we were 16 yrs old. Thank you to my friends at Premium motors for working hard to get the deal for me. James and Rich. You guys are great!!! I took it straight to work and
the typical comments from the non-mechanical non-Hot Rod people was - - You
guessed it ! - - - - - Are you going through you second childhood? My immediate
reply was this. No --- I never did get out of the first one. You assumed from
your own experience and limited knowledge that forces you to blurt out
conventional cliché's when you see someone enjoying their passion and hobby as I
am right now. OH -- Even if I were going through my seconded childhood . . . .
Don't you wish you had the courage to go through yours without being concerned
of the comments from the people you worry about what they think? By the way. I
give everyone that has the energy and ability to go out and own one of their
classic cars and has someone pop that mindless comment from being jealous to use
that same line of response.
Improvements since that first day. The
idea I have for this car is to keep it as the 55's on the street that were not
customized or with a straight axle for height. I wanted to go the cast
alum. American Mags like I had in 65 on my second 55 but those polished
Americans won't turn me loose. My vanity is weak in that wheel glitter
area if you know what I mean. It has the stance of many 60's and 70's 55
56 and 57's on the street when we were trying not to be lost to the new muscle
cars for importance and attention. The truth is that most of us knew these cars
would always be a popular favorite. How come I didn't know they would be worth
so much today? Hmmmmmmm Not as smart as I thought I was at 18? -Mick
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