Bob French, owner and President of Wheels and Deals, started a little car club way back in 1990 called Mopar Alley with little more than twelve members and a few hundred dollars. Once every month, they met at the Round Table Pizza on Saratoga Ave. in west San Jose. They were all lovers of Mopar muscle and got together simply because they loved their cars. Over the years, Bob has owned countless Mopars of varying years, makes and models. My favorite growing up was his 1972 Dodge Challenger Rallye with a 340 small block V8 equipped with a pistol-grip four speed. And at the end of the engines life, he decided to up the ante by adding a nitrous system, just for kicks. I was 16 when he sold his Challenger, right at the time when I may have finally been able to drive this monster (as it lacked power steering), and he crushed my dreams by selling it as a roller for twenty grand.
Today, I think this car influenced my taste in everything with wheels, more than anything else in my life. Some kids had posters of Lamborghini's or Ferrari's on their walls, but I had this sitting in my driveway. I grew up around this car and I loved it dearly. This exact car would easily make my top ten favorite cars list and you could buy one for under twenty-five grand. A lot of enthusiasts out there are hardcore Chevy or Ford fans, and I'm not hatin on them, but this car is infinitely cooler than any Camaro or Mustang either company released
Oh how I miss the days of sitting in the passenger seat with my dad as he stopped in the middle of 280 and roasted the tires at midnight. Sigh. Those were the days. BUT, that's OK, that just means I'll have to build something bigger, faster, and more powerful, and laugh when he asks to drive MY car.
 |
| I Challenge You. |
No comments:
Post a Comment