[larrybuck]

Okay! You like saving fuel, and maybe these days You're combining trips and trying to drive less to save some of your wallet from today's fuel prices. But in addition to that, or are you a dyed-in-the-wool car freak? If the weather is bad, and you have no reason to go anywhere or to work on any of your vehicles at while at home, do any of you enjoy making car models and or have diecast collections of interesting cars? And talking about regular cars, what situation or car or people turned you into a dyed-in-the-wool car freak? For me this last question is answered easily as this story will date me good I was working in a real gas station back in the day as a senior in high school when real gas stations did oil changes and tire repairs Etc. I was working the station one night with a couple of my friends visiting me, and the biggest car freak from high school who was a couple years older than I was drop by to get a little fuel. He was driving a Chevy Vega that he put a small block Chevy into to pattern himself after Grumpy's toy Vega dragstrip car. He managed to engineer doing this as this was early on before anybody made the V8 installment kits to do this. It was a very slow night with no other business going on, so my friends covered for me so I could go on a two-minute ride that was offered to me. So he pulled out of the parking lot at a 45 degree angle on to the four-lane street sideways and we got up to about a hundred and forty miles an hour and three and a half blocks length oh, then turned around and came back. I had my first car at that time the 67 Chevelle Malibu 4 speed manual with 283 and nice Cragar SS and fat tires. Had this event never occurred, I would have been plenty satisfied for the rest of my life with a car with just nice paint and nice Wheels. But that ride changed me forever! Soon after headers went on the car and eventually, I had that same guy rebuild my small block into a Performance Engine, with all work done in my parents garage with their permission. I used to be very busy building model cars when I was 14 and 15, and now have started collecting kits to be built once again now in my sixties. Of course I have a Grumpy's Vega to be built, at The Other Extreme are kits representing BMW M1, Lamborghini Miura, Ferrari GTO Circa 1962, many classic muscle cars, and even 18 wheeler trucks with car trailers of course so that model cars can be on the trailer as well to take up less room. Diecast collection varies from an AMC AMX first gen 248 Tucker to a Toyota 2000gt, classic early 70s Ferrari Daytona, and either a diecast or a model car kit representing the 10 most winningest NASCAR drivers ever. My favorite diecast is an Alfa Romeo Caribou 33 concept car that I literally ordered from Europe. So what are your guys stories? I can't wait to read them!!!