Who is the Biggest GearHead You Know?

You're absolutely right Tireman! I worked for 18 years with a man who had been in auto parts for 30 years, but couldn't turn a wrench to save his life. Could tell you how and where on almost anything, but put a tool in his hand and it was like skiing and doing your taxes.

 

Me!
I have been in love with cars and all things mechanical since age three.

 

For Jaruis and all the others that answered "Me!!" ... who is the SECOND biggest gearhead you know?? LOL

 

Depends on far back into history you want to go? My dad was a "greaser" in the 1950' and early 60's. Him and his hot rod club, The Knights of the 20th Century, helped get permission to build the Beechmont Dragstrip on Cincinnati's east side. Before that, they would drag race on finished but unopened parts of then under construction I-75 as it ran through the northern suburbs of Cincinnati. The Knights did almost all the work. A paving company, owned by a club members relative, donated the pavement, equipment and crew. Him and his friends were experimenting with nitro-methane(burned the valves out of a brand new 58 Mercury that belonged to a club members mom) and doing things to carbs to get those extra RPM's. In 1960 my dad got a new 60 Corvette as a graduation present. He dropped the 3spd manual and put in a 4spd, then he hooked up a 6-pack with straight linkage, instead of progressive. On paper, it was a 140mph car. My dad is 70 now and his daily driver in a 1971 El Camino, frame-off restoration, crate motor.

After that is my cousin. His first car was/is an early 60's MGA, restored now it sits in a Car Cocoon at his dads. The MGA took him to college, but got sideswiped once. That convinced him to park it and have it restored. Then he bought a 1969 AMX. The real deal bad boy AMX. 390, 4spd, side pipes. After that was a Lotus, that didn't last long. After college he joined the Peace Corp and spent the next couple of years in South America. After the Peace Corp he landed a job in a South American harbor, scrapping barnacles off of ship bottoms. In between the time he left the PC and got this job he came back to Cincinnati and bought a 1984 4Runner, outfitted it for heavy off-road use and drove it to Honduras.

Unfortunately he had to leave the 4Runner in SA due to the fact that it was stolen. Yes, my cousin bought a stolen car and drove it out of the country. Granted it was several years later when they found out it was stolen. He bought it legitimately, the car dealer he bought it from bought it stolen. Still, it made for an interesting conversation between my uncle and an FBI agent.

Working in SA and being fluent in Spanish helped him get a job with Chiquita. He spent several years in South and Central America and Guam. Eventually he ended up in Brussels, Belgium. While in Europe he purchased an MGC. Chiquita downsized and told him that he could go back to SA or he could just go. He chose to go and came back to Cincinnati with his Honduran wife(who is younger than me) and bought an A6 Avant and a first gen new Mini Cooper S.

The A6 was replaced with a Lincoln MKS(?)(Lincolns version of the Edge) and he still has the Mini and both MG's. Recently he bought a new Mustang Boss 302, the second one delivered to Cincinnati.

My brother and I are gearheads, we just don't have the money my dad and cousin do! We've both owned 2 El Camino. He had a 72 and an 84, I had a 71 and an 84. The 84's were actually the same car, and it wasn't an El Camino, it was a GMC Caballero with a Diablo package which was GMC's version of an SS. It had the SS suspension upgrade, bucket seats, 4spd auto in a center console shifter and the SS gauge package. He just got out of his 08 Chevy Cobalt SS(the turbocharged one) and into an HHR. The Cobalt SS is a thinly disguised race car for the street. With the exception of a C5 Corvette, the Cobalt SS is the fastest stock Chevy I've ever driven! It has less power than my Saab, but it would smoke my Saab in just about every category.

Also, for whats it worth, since AutoWeek magazine first came out, at least one member of my family has been a subscriber. First my grandfather, then my dad, now my brother and I.

Damn, I drank too much coffee this morning!

 

Great story Hirsch. This thread has been a little slow starting off but I hope more share these stories, they are great to read.Makes me think of racing my '69 chevelle I had as a teen-ager on a streach of beach in Mississippi. Set it up and the guy I was to race needed a driveshaft for his nova and I had a junk car at the house, so we went and got it to see if it would work in his car and it did. We installed it went down to the beach where he out run me by a half a car.We sat around and laughed and drank the rest of the night and people got along for the most part and were happy to lend a helping hand to one another for the sake of our hobby...that was a diffrent time and place.

Don't get me wrong I don't condone street racing but as I said it was a diffrent time and diffrent place...Man I am starting to sound like a adult???

 

yup...I was almost born in a 31 Ford...my father had it in the Portland car show ehn my mother went into labor....he drove like a maniac from Portland to Vancouver ,BC....4 hours in a chopped/channeled windowless 31 (usualy a 5 hour plus drive)...in snow and rain.....then i showed up 4 days later

My father is in the Canadian Sports Hall Of Fame as well as the NHRA h.o.f
....I grew up in the Car Show curcuit and on the drag strip...the Old man was the 'track manager' of our local dragstrip from 65 to 95....and is still the 'busines manager' since 65........ Nope....never hada chance

so...i guess he and I are almost tied for the 'title'.....hes got a few years on me

 

Yup Rev, I would say that is pretty much born into it ...Now we are starting to get some interesting stories!