I recently sent out an email blast inviting people to this site - If you are here because of that email - welcome - and if you just happen to find our site while browsing the web - isn't the internet amazing? Check out the links for the Photos and Videos page. We are new at this and learning.
Enjoy, and may the Porsche be with you...
- George
Cars and Coffee
On the large lot of Classic BMW Plano, Texas Cars and Coffee Dallas holds a car show on the first Saturday of each month. The event goes for 4 hours from 8am to 12pm. There are lots of cars and a great deal of coffee as well. Check out our Photo and Video page for some cool videos I found out on YouTube. I wasn't prepared for the excitement and volume of cars that I found - there were around 300 cars on display. You simply show up with your ride and there is a guy that directs you to the proper section for whatever it is you are in. For most of us it was just taking in all of the sights and sounds. My wife and I went this last Saturday and there was everything from '54 Sting Rays to some Corvette Grand Sport Editions, a Bentley convertible, a classic Rolls Royce and a beautiful Mercedes Benz stretch sedan. Also found were beautifully restored VW Bugs, new and older Mustangs, Shelby's, Vipers and yes a BMW or two and a really awesome '60 Impala that made me envious.
Forgive me for the photography - I took these pics with my iPhone and it's the older model. Next time I'll be prepared for the show. My wife and I learned about the car show a while back while sitting at the traffic light next to the dealership - as you see with the videos on the Photos and Videos page, Dude's will get on it when they leave the lot...such was the case on this particular day. I checked the Classic BMW website and discovered this was a regular event. It has been on my calendar to do ever since, but this was the first opportunity when nothing else was interfering with the time table. Take a look - here's the Cars and Coffee website. Check it out and when in town, or at one of the other locations, take it in. You won't be disappointed.
-George
Forgive me for the photography - I took these pics with my iPhone and it's the older model. Next time I'll be prepared for the show. My wife and I learned about the car show a while back while sitting at the traffic light next to the dealership - as you see with the videos on the Photos and Videos page, Dude's will get on it when they leave the lot...such was the case on this particular day. I checked the Classic BMW website and discovered this was a regular event. It has been on my calendar to do ever since, but this was the first opportunity when nothing else was interfering with the time table. Take a look - here's the Cars and Coffee website. Check it out and when in town, or at one of the other locations, take it in. You won't be disappointed.
Some I Wish I Had Back...
My first car doesn't necessarily fall into that category but we all start somewhere,right? My Dad decided to help me get into my first car. So we would go out on the weekends cruising the used car lots on the north side of town. I always headed for something that Dad either didn't want me to have or that he couldn't afford. This went on for several weeks with Dad and I getting further apart on what to agree on instead of closer together. Then one day I came home from my part-time job after school and parked in the driveway is a green 1951 Plymouth station wagon that appears to have been painted with a paint brush!! When I go in the house and ask who owns the car, Dad says "You do!" Turns out he had bought it from a guy he works with for 150.00. I loved my Dad too much to let him see how disappointed I was, so I acted excited and really I was - sort of. After all, it was a set of wheels! And it was mine!
I drove the Plymouth for a few months and then started having trouble with the motor, so we traded it in on a 1954 Bel-Air 2-dr post 6 cyl with standard transmission. It was light yellow with black vinyl interior. It was a nice little car. It originally had full wheel covers and skirts but I took those off and added chrome reverse smoothies with moons and split the manifold so I could run duals and glass packs. I had the '54 for about a year while I attended my first year of junior college. I then traded for a 1964 Corvair Monza Spyder. It was also yellow with black interior. The Spyder was a flat six that was turbo charged. I liked the Spyder but I had chronic troubles with the side mounted single carb and the turbo unit so I sold it and bought a 1955 Chevy 2-dr post. It had the 6 cyl with standard trans and it was the 210 model. It was baby blue with medium blue interior and had under dash air conditioning. It was a great car. Super dependable and solid as a rock. I owned the '55 for about 7 years and eventually painted it '74 Corvette metallic gray, redid the interior and split the manifold and installed 8 x 15 Corvette Rally wheels with BFG white letter radials. I always wanted to drop in a small block and four-speed but never had the money or time. Then I got married, got a house and when times got tough I sold the '55. Can you spell stupid, I can!
Well,that's where I stop for now. More when I get the time! Thanks for your time.
Gary -
I drove the Plymouth for a few months and then started having trouble with the motor, so we traded it in on a 1954 Bel-Air 2-dr post 6 cyl with standard transmission. It was light yellow with black vinyl interior. It was a nice little car. It originally had full wheel covers and skirts but I took those off and added chrome reverse smoothies with moons and split the manifold so I could run duals and glass packs. I had the '54 for about a year while I attended my first year of junior college. I then traded for a 1964 Corvair Monza Spyder. It was also yellow with black interior. The Spyder was a flat six that was turbo charged. I liked the Spyder but I had chronic troubles with the side mounted single carb and the turbo unit so I sold it and bought a 1955 Chevy 2-dr post. It had the 6 cyl with standard trans and it was the 210 model. It was baby blue with medium blue interior and had under dash air conditioning. It was a great car. Super dependable and solid as a rock. I owned the '55 for about 7 years and eventually painted it '74 Corvette metallic gray, redid the interior and split the manifold and installed 8 x 15 Corvette Rally wheels with BFG white letter radials. I always wanted to drop in a small block and four-speed but never had the money or time. Then I got married, got a house and when times got tough I sold the '55. Can you spell stupid, I can!
Well,that's where I stop for now. More when I get the time! Thanks for your time.
Gary -
Where it began for me
I guess my love of everything that moves on wheels began with my grandfather. He drove a Mack truck for a local grain company in Vernon, Tx. When my parents would bring me to visit he would stop by his house to say hello between grain runs. If he was on the way to the shipping yard he would load me in the cab with him and stand me on the seat beside him. On the ride he would point to cars approaching us on the highway and tell me what make and year they were and how to tell the difference between a Hudson and a Ford, or a Studebaker and a Plymouth. Some of those monikers don't exist in the autoworld makers anymore. So it developed into a contest. I would see if I could identify the next car before he could. I think he might have let me win sometimes?
So, very early, I was ADDICTED! It didn't matter what it was as long as it had wheels. Now jump ahead, High school. The coolest kid in school had a '55 Bel-Air 2 door hardtop. Straight axle front end, 396 4-speed, ladder bars, custom paint, I hated him and loved his car. He had "his" parking spot at school next to the metal shop, of course. And nobody parked in that spot even if you got there ahead of him. He was too cool, and he boxed in Golden Gloves, so, better safe than sorry! My first big car crush.
Second big car crush. My sister dated a guy for a while that had TWO cars! Jeez! Car number one:' 55 Chevy 2-door post,327 2-4's,headers, 4-speed and Morbec mags! Car number two: '67 Corvette convertible, 327 4-speed, side pipes, American 5 spokes. Nice guy though in spite of his cars. Oh, sorry, the crush was for the Corvette, but I loved the '55 also.
Third car crush---and probably the worst. It's 1968 and I'm doing my first year of what was suppose to be four years of college. We don't have to finish that story. I have a class with a guy who seems to be just like everybody else, except he's NOT! He and I hit it off and start hanging out together talking, what else, cars and girls of course. So this guy drives a '68 Grand Prix. OK, no really big deal, right? But, this one was special ordered with a 4-speed! Believe me not very many of those. So I'm kinda impressed. But he says he doesn't like it as much as he thought he would and Daddy has promised to help him get into something else. The next week he comes into the cafeteria wearing a Ford Racing jacket and asks if I want to go see his new car? We go to the parking lot and guess what he walks up to? A brand new 1968 Shelby Mustang Cobra! White with blue stripes, black interior, 427 4-speed, posi-track MONSTER! I'm still trying to get my breath and he says "Crap, I'm gonna be late for class!" "Here" and tosses me the keys and says to be back in an hour to pick him up so we can go to lunch! Heaven for an hour. Incredible car.
Car crush #4 While I was going to college I was driving a 1963 Olds Starfire coupe. Maroon, with white leather interior, buckets, console, floor shift. I loved this car and it was a faithful, dependable friend for many years. And it ran good for a big car. It had a 394 Olds motor with gobs of torque and rode like a dream. Good for the highway.
Car crush #5 It's 1970 and I go with my dad to help him look for a used car. Instead I end up buying a 1966 Impala Super Sport. Red, red interior, 396 325 hp 4-speed with the optional console gauge package. Dad buys a white 1966 Impala 2-dr coupe off the same dealer the same day! I loved the SS, ran great and looked good. I had it for 2 years until it was stolen,stripped and left for dead one night.
Well that's my first installment, more in the future. Much more!
Gary -
So, very early, I was ADDICTED! It didn't matter what it was as long as it had wheels. Now jump ahead, High school. The coolest kid in school had a '55 Bel-Air 2 door hardtop. Straight axle front end, 396 4-speed, ladder bars, custom paint, I hated him and loved his car. He had "his" parking spot at school next to the metal shop, of course. And nobody parked in that spot even if you got there ahead of him. He was too cool, and he boxed in Golden Gloves, so, better safe than sorry! My first big car crush.
Second big car crush. My sister dated a guy for a while that had TWO cars! Jeez! Car number one:' 55 Chevy 2-door post,327 2-4's,headers, 4-speed and Morbec mags! Car number two: '67 Corvette convertible, 327 4-speed, side pipes, American 5 spokes. Nice guy though in spite of his cars. Oh, sorry, the crush was for the Corvette, but I loved the '55 also.
Third car crush---and probably the worst. It's 1968 and I'm doing my first year of what was suppose to be four years of college. We don't have to finish that story. I have a class with a guy who seems to be just like everybody else, except he's NOT! He and I hit it off and start hanging out together talking, what else, cars and girls of course. So this guy drives a '68 Grand Prix. OK, no really big deal, right? But, this one was special ordered with a 4-speed! Believe me not very many of those. So I'm kinda impressed. But he says he doesn't like it as much as he thought he would and Daddy has promised to help him get into something else. The next week he comes into the cafeteria wearing a Ford Racing jacket and asks if I want to go see his new car? We go to the parking lot and guess what he walks up to? A brand new 1968 Shelby Mustang Cobra! White with blue stripes, black interior, 427 4-speed, posi-track MONSTER! I'm still trying to get my breath and he says "Crap, I'm gonna be late for class!" "Here" and tosses me the keys and says to be back in an hour to pick him up so we can go to lunch! Heaven for an hour. Incredible car.
Car crush #4 While I was going to college I was driving a 1963 Olds Starfire coupe. Maroon, with white leather interior, buckets, console, floor shift. I loved this car and it was a faithful, dependable friend for many years. And it ran good for a big car. It had a 394 Olds motor with gobs of torque and rode like a dream. Good for the highway.
Car crush #5 It's 1970 and I go with my dad to help him look for a used car. Instead I end up buying a 1966 Impala Super Sport. Red, red interior, 396 325 hp 4-speed with the optional console gauge package. Dad buys a white 1966 Impala 2-dr coupe off the same dealer the same day! I loved the SS, ran great and looked good. I had it for 2 years until it was stolen,stripped and left for dead one night.
Well that's my first installment, more in the future. Much more!
Gary -
'75 Stingray - my second Vette
To say I loved that '74 L82 Corvette Stingray coupe with custom headers and that incredible Mille Miglia color would be an understatement. Never have I owned a car that was so exciting to drive as this, my first Corvette. The looks I got from people at stop lights, and wonderfully, girls as I passed them on the open road - like nothing I ever owned before or since. I purchased two more since this love affair began and I hold each one dear with memories attached to each.
Corvette number two was a beautiful '78 Stingray, Silver with Oyster interior. I bought this one right off the showroom floor - what a rush! The new 1979 models had just arrived with their increased sticker prices so I was in the mood for a new '78. The '78's were becoming scarce due to the sticker shock attached to the '79 and while shopping I found myself on the showroom floor of a Corvette only dealership in Fort Worth, Texas negotiating for a bit of an oddity. These guys had a new '79 on the showroom floor that was imported from France. Why and how they had this particular car I can not remember, but they did and I wanted it. French or no French she was beautiful.
As you can imagine it was pretty much the same Corvette, the word Unleaded written in French and other small things like that were the only differences I can recall. Here was something just different enough to make me want it. But the car gods were not shining down on me this day, I wasn't able to get the price where I needed it.
Disappointed indeed, but not for long. I was lucky enough to find a '78 in Oklahoma and had it shipped in. Three days later I was sitting in my new Silver and Oyster model. Don't know why it was called Oyster, but that is what it was. And it is the only time I can remember a Corvette with partial leather and cloth seats. As with a lot of other folks during the disco '70's I lost my '74 L82 in a divorce and found myself craving another Vette - this one came into my life at just the right time. I paid $12,500 for this car, kept her clean and garaged. I held onto her for 15 months and sold her to a newly wed couple for just under $15,000.
These days I can be found cruising around Dallas with my wife in our 2002 C5 convertible, the one you see across the top of this blog. We were shopping for a new car for her - looked at ragtops by Mercedes, Jaguar and a couple of others, but when she sat in this C5, it was all over. She was hooked and I was once again happy, happy. This baby was individually owned by the dealer and had been totally loved - extremely low mileage and showroom condition. We bought it on the spot and it stays garaged except on nice weekends when we go down to Keller's for burgers and beer.
George -
Corvette number two was a beautiful '78 Stingray, Silver with Oyster interior. I bought this one right off the showroom floor - what a rush! The new 1979 models had just arrived with their increased sticker prices so I was in the mood for a new '78. The '78's were becoming scarce due to the sticker shock attached to the '79 and while shopping I found myself on the showroom floor of a Corvette only dealership in Fort Worth, Texas negotiating for a bit of an oddity. These guys had a new '79 on the showroom floor that was imported from France. Why and how they had this particular car I can not remember, but they did and I wanted it. French or no French she was beautiful.
As you can imagine it was pretty much the same Corvette, the word Unleaded written in French and other small things like that were the only differences I can recall. Here was something just different enough to make me want it. But the car gods were not shining down on me this day, I wasn't able to get the price where I needed it.
Disappointed indeed, but not for long. I was lucky enough to find a '78 in Oklahoma and had it shipped in. Three days later I was sitting in my new Silver and Oyster model. Don't know why it was called Oyster, but that is what it was. And it is the only time I can remember a Corvette with partial leather and cloth seats. As with a lot of other folks during the disco '70's I lost my '74 L82 in a divorce and found myself craving another Vette - this one came into my life at just the right time. I paid $12,500 for this car, kept her clean and garaged. I held onto her for 15 months and sold her to a newly wed couple for just under $15,000.
These days I can be found cruising around Dallas with my wife in our 2002 C5 convertible, the one you see across the top of this blog. We were shopping for a new car for her - looked at ragtops by Mercedes, Jaguar and a couple of others, but when she sat in this C5, it was all over. She was hooked and I was once again happy, happy. This baby was individually owned by the dealer and had been totally loved - extremely low mileage and showroom condition. We bought it on the spot and it stays garaged except on nice weekends when we go down to Keller's for burgers and beer.
George -
50th Anniversary Edition
I have a friend who, in 2003 purchased a new 50th Anniversary Edition Corvette. Every 2003 Corvette built is a 50th Anniversary Corvette - but as we know Chevrolet created a limited edition series, and this is what my friend Charlie bought. And it is a beauty. Charlie purchased the car and put it in his garage, and there it remains. He feels very strongly that when he sells his baby it will bring him a profit and I believe it will. Another friend, Warren, did the same thing. When Plymouth created the Prowler - Warren purchased the Purple Prowler and stuck it in his garage, and there it sits. Now both guys will bring the cars out to clean and make sure they continue to start and that's cool. As for me, I'm not inclined to do this. Yes I have a C5 and my wife and I love it. It stays pretty much in the garage, only to come out on pretty days (usually on a weekend) when we can take the top down and cruise. Sometimes we just take it down to Keller's - the best car hop burger shack in Dallas, order cheeseburgers and a beer and watch other guys in their custom cars and others on their bikes. Great times. But back to the 50th Edition and Charlie. I started thinking about his car and jumped out to the internet - typed in 50th Anniversary Corvette and was amazed at what I found.
The 1953 Corvette was and is a remarkable car. The design contains some of the greatest lines ever placed on a chassis. It started the love affair for a lot of us. The C5 is also a great design bringing the Corvette back to the muscle it was missing in the 80's. No offense C4 dude's. So to mark the 50th Anniversary special Chevrolet gave us the Limited Edition series. Ah, but, there is another version of that beautiful C5.
"What if someone took the look of the original 1953 Corvette - and updated it to fit onto the high-tech chassis of the C5 Corvette?" Well that's just what a former GM designer, Steve Pasteiner did. His company Advanced Automotive Technologies took a C5, made some design changes and created the "1953 Commemorative Edition". Jump out to their site and take a look. You decide, and if you like the design, you can own one of these babes. I must admit the look is very intriquing, you have the '53 look on both the front and back end, some changes along the sides and they made some nice additions to the interior.
From the AAT Cars website - 'Our 1953/2003 Commemorative Edition combines the retro styling of the original 1953 Corvette with the modern power and comforts of todays Corvette. By blending the classic styling of the 1950's with performance, comfort, and technology of the 21st century, the 1953-2003 Commemorative Edition offers the best of both eras.'
AAT says they have delivered 155 of these models. More information and some terrific pictures are available at http://www.50thcommemorative.com/ This is a web site that Chaz Cone, owner of CEC #11 has begun and shows where each vehicle has been shipped and many stories and pictures from each owner.
This site is where I found the 53-C5 photo above.
George -
My First Corvette
In 1967 I was in a parking lot in Fort Worth Texas on my way to a barber shop with my Father and Brother when I saw it. It in this case was a beautiful red '63 Corvette Sting Ray Coupe. I just stopped and stared and said something like 'someday I'll own one of these'. No matter what I uttered the fact is I was in love. It wasn't until much later that I found out exactly what the car year and model were and much later Gary, my writting partner on this blog, tried to convince me I could afford a Sting Ray. Together we found a '62 owned by an individual that gave me a chance to test drive. The handling and short stroke of the shifter increased my love for this automobile. But, timing was wrong so I wasn't able to purchase this particular car, either my offer was wrong or his price too high - it doesn't matter because what counted most was I finally got to drive a Corvette.
Years later I bought my first Corvette. I found a beautiful 1974 L82 Corvette Stingray coupe with custom headers, Mille Miglia (a red/orange) on the outside and medium saddle on the inside. Absolutley beautiful. It was owned by a guy that had too many cars and owned too many companies. Everything was perfect and I finally had the car of my dreams. The Corvette pictured here is very close to my first Vette - a tad bit more red than what I had and this one is not an L82. Never the less she's a real beauty.
George -
George -
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