droldsmorland

I figured this should be a fun thread....
Here is my three.
1. Dads 65 SS Impala 327 red/white convertible. He'd let me roll the top up and down and Id watch as he tuned it up, asking Im sure enough questions to frustrate the hell out of him but he was always patient explaining his every move. Loved the spinner SS hub caps. He traded this car in for 66 Toro! Hence the start of the Olds love affair. Used to wax the bumpers for him I was 5-6 maybe 7...Thanks dad.

2. Neighbor had (still has it) a 69 GTO stick. The light metallic green with black top. Loved how it sounded and took off. Every time he started it no matter where I was Id come running out to see/hear it. He'd see me and he knew the drill. He pull along side my yard and Id say ready... go... and Id run along side as he'd get on it and shift into second grabbing rubber well ahead of my 6-7 year old legs....nice! Thanks Dick!

3. My 8th b-day. My uncle pulls up in his recently rebuilt 68 vette roadster. Sliver n black with flat black off road exhaust (side pipes). I watched him rebuild this car with its L79, 327. Says jump in I'm breaking it in lets go for a kill run. He jumps on the 4 lane at the end of my street. Goes though the gears with some zeal. Comes to a light pulls a left U turn and buries the pedal. All I could do is hold on and watch him board shift the sheet out of it. I couldn't believe how fast he was rowing the gears. I remember trying to lift my head off the seat with out much luck. All I could do is hold on, look at the smoke billowing out the rear end in the mirror, listen to the small block roar out the pipes and smell the burning rubber. I got out of the car and my legs were shaking with the adrenalin! Thats it...hooked! Gotta get me one of these when I grow up. I just recently told him what an impression that made on me 40+ years later and all through my life. He said gladly that was the intent! Thanks Sam!

4. After the 65 SS Impala dad brought home a 66 Toro Deluxe. Maroon with black cloth seats and comfortron. I remember looking at it on the used car lot at the local Olds dealership. I remember going to the rear of the car and told him to rev it up. Man the 425 sounded great. I used to wax the bumpers on it. Mom had a lead foot in it too. Many jack rabbit starts with the front tire screeching.
He traded the 66 for a 70 Cutlass S, Red with white top & gut. Then a 71 Saturn gold CS with black top and gut, Then a 76 S silver with red gut, then a 79 CS Burgundy with Burgundy gut but the chitty 260 turd, then an 81 Toro...sooo Olds is kinda in the blood. My Grand father had a slew of Olds too From the late 40s though the 80s.
next........

oldcutlass

Early on, when September was when all the new models were unveiled at the new car dealerships. I was the kid with his face glued to the dealership window trying to get a peak through the cracks in the paper covering.

1970cs

As clear as I want to recall was when I was eight years old, the family that babysat for me were car nuts, Mr. Cook worked for Olds in Lansing.
Was always in the garage either handing tools or helping working on their Oldsmobiles 442, Cutlass and 98's.

Pat

plonka

My step dad was a grease monkey in the Air force. We grew up in England and always drove big "Yank Tanks". British people always wanted to stop and talk about our cars, especially our 79 Firebird. I watched my step dad tear down cars completely, re-build the engines, and do paint and body work. I still love the smell of Bondo. My Mother flipped out one day when she came home and found an entire engine and tranny on her kitchen floor. I became completely obsessed with cars ever since. If you're not a car guy, you'll never understand the obsession.

don71

It probably started when I would watch my brother buy somebody's problem car and fix it. He was and still is a Ford guy, so I watched mustangs come and go. I knew he was making money and enjoying himself. The money thing I would understand later.

During this time I had a friend who's dad worked in the Kansas City assembly plant for GM. This guy had a new...er slightly used and different 442 every year I knew them.

A few years later at 16, I visit my sister and new husband after taking my first jet air plane ride to Texas. We pull up in the drive way and there is this canary yellow 68 road runner. He was in the middle of a "cam" swap.

Just a few hours later and were hurling down the highway on the mix masters at untold speed and we got there pretty quick. I knew what a 4 speed was but had no idea what 4:11's meant. or what the hell a 383 was. During this visit, they let me drive them around in their delta 88 to get driving experience.

I learned a 307 is not a 383.

And here we are...

s i 442

My whole family was into cars and my uncle set a national record(62 Plymouth Sport Fury 361 golden commando) at Beech Bend Kentucky drag strip way back in the day.
The first car I noticed was the neighbor's 69 vette 427 4 speed car, he would drive by our house everyday and I would look it over even in my single digit years.
Second was my uncle's 68 442, we would stand by the fender and wonder what the numbers meant.
My uncle who baby sat all of us cousins had a 68 convert ram air Firebird, 70 Challenger and a big block 71/2? Charger we all rode around in all the time.
Mom drove a 65 Mustang 289, 4 speed and dad a 69 Chevelle.
The musclecars never stopped popping up in the family and we all had them to and at 16. Oh and my aunt still has her 1970 340 Cuda they bought new at the Plymouth dealer here in town. it has sat in a garage since 83 when my cousin blew the engine, it is currently being restored for her to drive at her 50th wedding anniversary!

69ishHoliday

A neighbor gave me a copy of Hemmings Motor News. I was twelve and read it like it was a Bible. I kept getting his issues as he finished reading them and then a subscription of my own when I was about fourteen (1978). At fifteen I bought what was my first of three camaro's (a 1969 convertible loaded with options 396/325 horse). At sixteen I added a 1968 Z28, then a 69 pace car at nineteen. The Z28 to this day was the best car I've ever owned. Family now keeps me from being deep into muscle cars again. Although I'm enjoying the restoration work on my 69 Cutlass. - Steven

Aron Nance

My first car was a '40 Ford 2-door sedan; black. Leaded hood and trunk. Mercury 59-AB block, milled heads, dual carbs, dual exhaust, 4:11 rear end. Stupid fast to about 60. Had 53 races (documented every time I raced, stoplight to stoplight, posted over the sun visor). I won 51. Lost to a '56 Ford 2 door with the police package driven by a G-I-R-L. I was just running off from her in 1st, 2nd, and into 3rd, rubber every gear. Then she pulled up beside me, shifted into 2nd, looked over at me and smiled, and just ran off from me (about 8/10's of a mile)! Also lost to a new '55 Chevy with power-pak, barely; very short block. So much fun - ah............those were the days.

Octania

Heh, the first test drive of the '64 Cutlass with HC, no ULTRA High Compression V8 4-bbl. Not sure what gearing it had but DAMN was that different from the anemic '62 Ferd "Sport Coupe" Fairlane with buckets and a console and an inline 6 that would ALMOST chirp the tires if you did a 4000 RPM Neutral drop.

20 ft of dual rubber stripes were produced by the Olds' 9" wide rear tires. Shifted out of first at about 70. Great first [real] car. Much younger vehicle [at the time] than the things I drive now... The '64 had power driver bucket seat, which I did not realize the rarity of, and so it went away for scrap in the '67 Cutlass 4dr turned ElCamino-ish thing I later made.

Solid Lifters

I could write a book on this topic or bore everybody to tears.

It was probably a combination of several things. When I was in my early teens in the early 60's I hated to go to church. Sunday School was fine, but I didn't like to stay for the 11 AM full church service, probably partly from boredom and lack of attention span and partly because we had a yelling, screaming bible pounder who most of the kids my age didn't like. So the deal with my Mom was, when she insisted we stay for church, she'd haul me to the drag strip across town which was an old military base from WWII. This was when all the Super Stock wars were heating up with the Max Wedges, 409's & 427 Fords and the hemis and BB Chevys were just getting going good. My Dad wasn't a car guy and never went, but I loved it and never got it out of my blood. My family was of modest means back then and I wasn't one of the kids that had a new car in school, but always managed to have one of the faster ones. As I got older, married, got the kids up and coming I began to buy the stuff that I wanted as a kid and couldn't afford. Fortunately, in the 70's when I started having a little bit of disposable income muscle cars were cheap and not socially desirable, and the ****** hadn't entered the market yet. Some of the stuff I've got now, bought back in that time would be very difficult to obtain now without a lottery win.

The unfortunate thing is that I've spent a lifetime collecting and restoring this ole' stuff and my two grown kids have no interest in it whatsoever. I'm hoping that one or more of my 3 grandkids, 3, 6 & 8 will show some interest as they get older, but so far I'm not seeing any indication and I've told the kids that I'm not interested in leaving them a life's passion to auction off and blow the money on depreciating junk like electronics and new cars.

TripDeuces

1) Picking up the 70 Toronado at the dealership right after my father returned from Vietnam around July 1970. He wanted the top Toro offered but Olds stopped making that line in June.
2) My Grandfathers 66 Impala. Rather plain but I loved it. Buckets, floor shift and a 283 ci. Black with a red interior and he kept it spotless.
3) Ride to school in a friends brothers car. GTO with a 389 and a Tri-Power and four speed. I about pooed myself when he opened it up. Never been in a faster street car and ever since I've been hooked on multiple carbs. I've been in faster since but the sound of the end carbs coming in and the way he rowed that four speed just cemented it.
4) Working on the 61 Olds with Dad. He was a jet engine mechanic but he also knew his way around anything mechanical. I guess the chrome valve covers (stock) on the 394 didn't hurt either.

rcorrigan5

My parents were the influence I had. I learned to drive in 1966 and 1967 in my mom's 1962 Chevy Corvair Monza convertible, maroon with black interior, white top, and a 4-speed and wire wheel covers, and my dad's new 1966 F-85 deluxe holiday coupe with the 330/4bbl engine (see picture below), red on red, with jetaway tranny. Dad put dual exhaust on the F-85, along with chrome reverse wheels. In 1967, mom traded in the Corvair convertible for a new Chevy Camaro RS convertible (see picture below), blue on blue with a white top, red stripe tires and the turbo-glide tranny. She had dual exhaust installed with Thrush glass-pacs, and had the stock steel wheels replaced with Keystone mags. And then, in 1969, dad traded in his F-85 for a 1968 4-4-2 convertible demo car, which he had red line tires and his chrome reverse wheels installed (see below). That car stayed in the family, going to my sister for 25 or so years, then back to my dad, and then to me in 2003. It went thru a 3 year restoration 2004-2007 and won best-of-class at the Olds Nationals in Reno in 2011. In short, my inspiration came from my parents. They had such cool cars that I didn't own my first car until I was 21 years old! And, my first car was a 1969 4-4-2 holiday coupe (pictured below)!

Randy C.

z11375ss

There was a guy down the block with a brand new 70 Super bee. He would rumble down the street at about 10 mph. He would turn onto the main street at the end of the block and stand on it. Man! Dark green, awesome. Or, my childhood friend's brother who had a 68 dart with 440 and a 4 speed. we did something for him and he gave us a ride. WOW! Pinned into the seat. I was 8 years old. Next thing I know I'm 15 and my Dad gave me my Mom's old car only if i rebuilt it. 69 Chevelle small block. Fun car for school. i kept that one through college.

Last98

When I was three I remember two things. The President being assassinated and my neighbors' cars. I used to walk around them and look at them for hours. I know one was a 1959 Bel Air, I think one was a 59 Desoto Firedome, one was a 1958 Chrysler Imperial, and a sky blue car truly looked like a rocket ship. I think it was a late 50s Mopar product, but can't be sure. It had some huge fins. The taillights under the fins on the Bel Air were mesmerizing. They looked like sideways teardrops. I have never lost my love of late 50s, and 60's land yachts and have owned several.

In later life I suspected Harley Earl and those guys must have been dropping LSD or eating moldy bread to come up with some of those designs.

nsnarsk65cutlass

For me i remember mom telling me to go be with your father out in the garage,at the time he was working on a 53 chevy he was removing the 6 cyl and replacing it with a v8 of some sort ,i think later on he said it was a buick.anyways he had 56 olds 88 new, 58 88 with tri carb new.59 biscane 348 3 spd, 62 impala ss 283. My sister i went when he ordered a 1967 impala 393 325 hp 4spd ,mom was mad she couldn't drive a 4 speed.That turned out to be my first car at 16 yrs of age.I've had a lot of cars and the majority of them from the muscle car years.

47 Convertible

When I was 8 or so I could identify every car by make, year and model. It was easy back then. I just always liked cars and couldn't wait to learn to drive. I used to walk home from school by way of a friends house. One day about 1952 (give or take a year or two) a black 34 Ford 2 dr. sedan was in his neighbor's driveway. I knew instantly it was a hot rod though I'd never really seen let alone touched one. I think I stood and studied it from a respectful 10 ft. away for quite a while. It made a lasting impression as the hood sides were off and I could see dual carbs atop the flathead engine and of course dual exhaust coming out under the rear bumper. The coolness factor was off the charts for that black sedan. Another friends older brother had a 46 Buick convertible with dual exhaust. The older brother took us to the unorganized drag races at a non-used air corps base and we were told to stay out of the way and out of trouble. What 12 year old could resist hanging around the pits and watching the racing? 14 or 15 seconds in a quarter mile seemed fast back then. I scrounged broken engines for free and took them apart within the limits of available tools to figure out how they worked. I had brothers but none of them were interested in cars except to get from point A to point B. Same with Dad so no encouragement from the family.

oldsguybry

I always loved old cars , but my second car I owned was a 68 Roadrunner , and that sealed the deal after that . It was a bondo bucket with a rotting frame , and the leaf springs were pushing through the trunk floor . I still could lay some serious rubber with that thing (410 posi) I'm surprised I didn't launch the rear axle out from under the car .

chip-powell

I was born into it.
My Dad owned a used car lot and his father before him. My Mother has told me that when I was 3 and she had errands to run, she would drop me off with my Dad. He would give me an old carburator and a screw driver and just let me go to it. By the time I was 9, I was working there after school. We fixed the cars and then sold them. My Dad did most of the engine work, I did the body work. When my little brother was old enough, he started working there too. I grew up in a garage and at auto auctions in PA. I worked there until I joined the Navy at 19.

My first car was a '69 el camino SS that we spent an entire year doing a frame off resto. God I loved that car!

chadman

My mom said I was pushing shoes around on the the floor making vroom, vroom sounds before I could speak a sentence. She then bought me a toy car. The rest is history.

dukestory

I actually did not really care about cars....until my 50s. My wife's father passed away and he had an Oldsmobile Super 88 Convertible stored in a barn on the family farm. My wife had it brought to Memphis.... I purchased the mechanic's manual and started working on it. At the time, I will admit I knew little if anything about working on cars. Long story short ...I knew I was hooked when after doing the work on the car...I put the key in the ignition and it cranked...and I drove it around the block.... that was a very cool feeling....

HurstLightning84

I think mine started at the early age of 1, when I got to ride in my dads 72 Hurst right before he got rid of it. The car gene is in our blood in my family. My grandpa and my dad both worked for Oldsmobile and Fisher Body for 30+ years, so luckily I did get a few tours of the old shops before they got demolished. I was always huge into cars growing up, but nothing got me more fired up about cars until my dad brought home a Rallye 350. I remember the first time that car fired up, and the sound of that 350 through a set of Flowmasters ( and yes I knew what they were even though I was only 9 ) thru the dual chrome trumpet outlets, got me too excited for words. Of course in 97' when we all went to the 100th anniversary here in Lansing, it was set in stone for life that I was gonna be a car guy, and even better yet a Oldsmobile guy!

droldsmorland

[QUOTE=47 Convertible;577071]When I was 8 or so I could identify every car by make, year and model. It was easy back then.

Agreed! I also had the knack of being able to ID a car by sound. I used to sit there with my eyes closed and name off what I though it was passing by the house, opened my eyes and 8-9 times out of 10 I was correct. I could pick the Oldsmobile's out every time, they make a distinct sound. Also could tell the same thing from the sound of the starter motors. Especially the Mopars coffee grinders.

LAolds

When I was born I rode home in a 72 Cutlass with s 455. Then after that my Dad had a string of early 70s olds, early-mid 60s Impalas, Monte Carlos, 70s chevy trucks and Blazers(2 and 4 wheel drive. The fact that you couldn't walk around our yard without tripping on a part to a car. And being tool grabber and cleaner before I could read sizes on wrenches(awesome childhood IMO)

redoldsman

I can remember my Dad bought a new 1950 Ford. He put what at that time was called a Hollywood muffler on it. It was probably a Smitty. I thought it sounded cool. I was 4 years old. By the time I was 8, I could tell you every car on the road. Of course there were a lot less brands and models (no imports) on the road. I remember the excitement of the new models coming out every September. As i tell my wife of 47 years, she was my second love. Cars were my first. She understands and is fine with that.

w-30dreamin

I have been exposed to cars since my early years with my Dad,Uncles and Grandpa all enjoying their cars for more than just daily driver transportation.

The one defining moment that totally cemented it for me was when my Dad bought me my first Batmobile.It was a Hot Wheels type car made by a company called Husky.My favorite car, all my life,to this day.I must have been 5 or 6 when my Dad bought me that Batmobile.

Sampson

What a great thread. I was cursed at birth with 100 octane running through my veins. I gotta believe that the infatuation we are obsessed with is born in you. I was talking horse power and cubic inches when other kids my age were comparing batting averages and playoff positions. At age 8 I could identify any car made after 1930. I took anything and everything mechanical I could get my hands on apart just to see what made it tick. I'm still learning how to put some of it back together. But my love of the automobile gene had to come from my dad. I will be forever great full for trips he took me to the local Plymouth Dealership. For the secret Sunday drives just the 2 of us with his foot to the floor and a smile as wide as a 56 olds grill on his face. And for the stories he told of cars through the years.

rootney

For me it was the older neighborhood kids (20-22 year olds) in Danbury CT circa 1968-69 when I was 14. They had; 396 chevelle sky blue, 427 el camino dark green, 57 Bel Air Red/White, 66 GTO yellow with blue tint glass 6 pack & wrinkle wall slicks (very lumpety). I read every Hot rod mag as soon as it hit the stands. When finally it was my turn with a '63 Mercury Comet, I soon rolled it over on a slick road. A 260 V8, 3 speed manual with Hurst 3 spd Mystery shifter from the Comet, was quickly transplanted into a '62 Falcon, which for $50 made it from Bethel to Danbury at no more that 30 MPH with failing rings. The Falcon now with dual glass packs, 260 V8 and chrome reverse rims, made the exit from High school great every day.
Then on to a used '68 Firebird 350 4 spd and then a '69 AMX 390 Automatic copper color.
It was a long Haitus, of marriage, babies, breast cancer, divorce, great new marriage & new kid until this year when I said; I need to re-connect with Detroit.
I always loved Olds 442, so I'm back in the game with a '72 Cutlass.

Hope my yarn was entertaining.

George

Olds_71_442

For as far back as I can remember, I've been a car guy. I was born the year muscle cars hit their peak (1970). Even though the muscle cars were being fazed out, there were still lots of them around in my childhood. My Dad was also a huge muscle car fanatic, so I got the "bug" honestly. Plus, there used to be a guy in his late teens/early 20s who had a 69 Hemi Roadrunner who lived in the area and I got to hear that roaring by our driveway every day. I wasn't even old enough to go to school and I was dreaming of growing up and driving muscle cars around the way this guy was. Pedal to the metal.

Also......my Dad's car was no slouch, either. A 69 Fairlane Cobra with the 428 CJ. I have a picture of him standing next to it in my garage, in memory of him.

mike's88

coppercutlass

for me my love for cars was from the time I was a rugrat. All I wanted was toy cars and trucks nothing else. As I grew older I got into lowriders since all my cousins where much older and into them I tagged along. Through school I read about cars, did projects on them, I built model cars, raced rc cars, . Sometime inmiddle school back when I skateboarded one of my good friend's older brother had an amc hornet with a 360 and a big cam all the hot street car stuff. I once saw him take off down the street and from then on I was officially a muscle car guy and told my self I would one day own my own. It also helped that I grew up glued to my dads hip and tagged along going to the shop he worked for caled redi strip co. They do media blasting so I got a ton of exposureto really cool cars that came through. For me it's not a defining moment but a lifetime of being aroun cars and genuinly wanting to be around them .

Napoleon Solo

I thoroughly enjoy reading about those of you growing up with uncles or dads or brothers who encouraged the car enthusiast in you. Coming from quite modest means ( youngest of 5 raised by a single mom ), my chariot was the city bus until I was 17. When I was very young, maybe 4 or 5 I remember walking through parking lots and picking out cars I liked.
When I was 14 or so my mom bought a pre-owned '78 Delta 2dr coupe which is what got me on the Oldsmobile path. My first Olds at 19 was a 65 f-85 2dr coupe, followed by a '71 skylark ragtop bondo turd, a 71 Cutlass supreme and my 84 Cutlass Salon which to this day is my favourite car. Then, I uprooted myself and moved to the other side of the country. Fast forward through 20 years of school, marriage and finally business ownership I find myself in the position to be able to do the wrenching and collecting I have always longed for.

Life is good.

HonestDave

In the mid sixties somebody gave me a fairly large model of a 66 Bonneville 2 dr hardtop. I used to just stare at it. Loved the lines. Still have a fondness for large sixties Pontiacs...weird.

gearhead1218

My brother-in-law got me into cars. He always had a muscle car of some sort, usually a Chevy. THE MOMENT I believe was a ride in his '67 L79 Chevy 2. Hearing that 327 scream as he powershifted that muncie just branded me forever.
Just too bad I don't talk to him anymore.

MDchanic

Defining moment?

I'm told that when I was a baby, I was difficult. I would cry unconsolably for hours, which did not make my parents happy.
When I was laid down behind the seats of my dad's '58 Porsche speedster, though, I would fall asleep as soon as he took off down the street.
I did nothing but cry when riding in the straight-6 '64 Chevy II wagon.

Fast forward a couple of years, and, like chip-powell above (and I've never heard of anyone who had the same experience before, so I'm a bit freaked out by the similarity), when I was about 2, my father gave me an old Porsche carburetor that he'd scrubbed out in the kitchen sink, and I'd sit for hours taking it apart and putting it back together.

A couple of years after that, I was lying on my back under VWs and Porsches at 5 years old, helping my father pull engines - my hands would fit places that his wouldn't.

The sad thing is that, as some others have experienced, my own kid has absolutely no interest in cars.
Ah, well... I still go back and visit the old man regularly and work on cars and bikes with him.

- Eric

Charlie Jones

I don't think there was ever a defining moment when I became a " car guy ".

My neighbor told years later about how amazed he was that I could sit up on a tractor seat (not running) and identify each and every car that came down the road as to make and year. And this was when I was only 7 years old!

bccan

I had a combination of my older brother having a warmed over 67 GTO + an epiphany.

It had to be around 1970, making me about 8 or so. We're leaving the Hartford Knights football game (there's trivia for minor league football fans!) & what suddenly appears in front of me? A Superbird or Daytona! It was one of those slow motion, mouth gaping moments that I'll never forget. The only thing missing was a camera of my face reacting, staring & following this amazing car as it moved through the crowd & traffic disappearing into tne distance.

There was also big brother of a friend who bought a 71 Trans Am new & still owns it, I still drool over that car too.

Yep, I was hooked pretty young.

One other memory of muscle cars - Don't throw snowballs @ them because they always stopped fast & chased you with conviction. Luckily I was fast enough to get away through the learning curve but after 2 friends w/ broken noses we were far more selective of targets!

gbody 442

probably learning how to drive in my dads 85 delta coupe cemented me as an olds guy. the car was absolutely beautiful and incredibly comfy. the car rode- no, floated down the street. i still remember going to junkyards with him as a lil kid an thinking someday i want to fix all these poor old cars.

1972 X code 442

Like many people on this site, I got started playing with Hot Wheels die cast cars (8-10 years old). Graduated to 1:24 scale plastic car models from Jo-Han, MPC, Monogram, and Revell (11-16 years old). I went on my 16th birthday to get my drivers license at the IL secretary of state facility on Elston Ave in Chicago. First car was a 1972 Delta 88 Royale (455 4bbl) coupe. Drag raced everything and everybody that was willing while in high school. 4 years later the car had bad rust due to road salt. Traded up to a 1975 Cutlass Supreme (350 4bbl). First brand new car was a 1987 442 (black / silver) w/ 307 4bbl. My wife is also an Olds nut. Her first car was a 1984 Olds Cutlass Ciera. Next car 1990 Trofeo and to this day she drives a 1999 Aurora. Hobby cars for me are 1972 442 W-30 and 1971 Delta 88 convert. My daughter cannot wait to drive the W-30, I told her when I dead she can drive the car.

Seff

I bought my dead 72 Supreme and started bumbling around in a workshop, trying to figure out what goes where.

68conv455

I suppose it was a DNA fragment that wasn't quite right. It has always been cars.
- Played with matchbox cars and hot wheels all the time.
- As a kid, I could identify all the cars on the road.
- Always told my dad when he was getting passed and kept score.
- Drooling over every hot car in the classifieds when I got my first job
- Bringing home a 69 GTO convertible for my first car (Mom thought I got rooked)