Saturday, July 10, 2010

WARNING: 'It's a GUY thing' post!

LOST IN THE '70s





I think I've mentioned that my husband recently retired from his day job, so you're probably thinking he has nothing better to do than tote my camera bag around for me.  Well, he does plenty of that, but this post will show you what he really does with his time.

He and our 3 sons restore classic cars...more specifically, mopar muscle cars of the early 1970s.  O.K. you girls can move along to the next blog, but for you guys who lived through the 1970s, you all know what muscle cars are, because they were coveted by almost every teenage boy.  For you girls who are still reading, in a nutshell, they are cars with huge, loud engines that are really fast.

My husband knows everything about these cars, where every nut and bolt goes for each model.  If you live in Utah and have a question about these cars, he is the one you call.  He judges lots of car shows in and out of our state, and recently was given an award called Mopar Legends.  He has restored cars that start as a piece of junk to what you see in these photos.

About 6 or 7 years ago, through a fluke, he got wind of someone who had his dream car, stored in an old garage in a little farming town in Idaho.  Jeff didn't know his name or where he lived but he was determined to find him.  We drove to this little town and started asking around until we finally found the guy.  Sure enough, this old car, mostly disassembled, had been sitting in this ramshackle one car garage for years.  The owner didn't want to sell it, but my husband has a way of making people feel comfortable and building trust, and before they were through talking, he had purchased the car, and paid for it in cash on the spot.  I accused him of being more excited bringing that car home than when we brought our babies home from the hospital!!!  (Just kidding.... kind of!)

Anyway, life got in the way of this restoration project.  He had a business to run, baseball teams to coach, then cars to restore for our boys, plus several houses to build.  His car got put on the back burner.  Well, since he retired, he has been concentrating on getting it finished, working for hours a day so it would be ready for the summer car shows.  It's still not quite done, but done enough to show.   So here it is (with one of our grandson's taking a look).  It is the purple one, and the color is original and called 'plum crazy'.  For you men, it is a 1970 hemi 'cuda convertable.  Now here is the sweet part.  He purchased the piece of junk, er...I mean car, for $10,000.  It is now worth somewhere around $125,000!!!   ( P.S.   The yellow one is my son's car.  It is also a  'cuda and the 'model' is his beautiful wife.) 

7 comments:

Scott Law said...

Two words. Gorgeous and Gorgeous. Of course the girl "ain't" bad either. By the time these cars were built I was in my 20's and all I could do was drool. I still catch myself wiping my chin a little.

I responded to your comment about my green seaweed with a comment below yours.

Amber said...

WOW WOW WOWIE!!
This car is hot! Tell Grandpa that there are three little kids here in AZ who are drooling over the pics, and saying that they want to ride in Grandpa's "sweet ride" as they all put it. They really like convertables, they think we should all drive them so we can feel the wind in our hair. Such funny kids.

Dawning Inspiration said...

It may be a guy thing - but I still think they are beautiful. I, myself, am a 'Vette girl... all the way baby!!! ;o)

Dagmar said...

Now way jose....I love cars and drive in them!!! So that makes me less a girly girl. And these make me remember the times of The Dukes of Hazzard and hotpants....oh were are the days....

Lovely post Karen and the way the little boy looks underneed the hood...stunning and typical boys.
Hugs D.

MadSnapper said...

love that crazy purple and love the old cars, my husband is a car freak, but we can't afford to restore. he watches all the shows on TV and gets his thrills that way. he is 73. when he was in teens and to mid 20's he was a drag racer and traveled the country racing. before me. I had a 68 camaro that i loved and wish I still had. great shots and great cars and it is good for him and you he has a hobby that things get more valuaable.

Ginny Hartzler said...

O.K. I'm a girl, but these cars are way cool!! I actually have at least three car posts I'm working on! I adore the shot of the purple car with your grandson peeking in! Both the cars are awesome. We just went to a muscle car museum and saw Elvis' last cadillac. I will be posting that at some point.

Don said...

Love the first pic!! He can't wait to rev it up!