Muscle Car History

[Qtown Ed]

Great replies everyone,

I sent her screen shots of the suggestions and she loved the feedback. She's going to get some questions together and I'll post them.

Thanks for the assist!

Ed

[GM Powertrain]

This is a great idea. Best of luck with it. Keep us posted on the progress.

[Keith Seymore]

Here's my story, in case she can use any of it:


https://www.hotrod.com/articles/5000...-still-family/

http://www.oneownercollectorcar.com/...-keith-seymore

[fsc66]

Take her to MCACN, that is a good start on educating anyone on Muscle Car History and all the Super Cars involved.

Paul

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Years ago I drug my Yenko out to southern Indiana for the Nova Nationals and then stayed out there for a week so I could reunite the car with original owner, and then the second owner a day later. I asked the original owner a few questions:

- Given all of the choices in musclecars, why did you pick a Nova - and specifically a Yenko (or SS L78) Nova? (He like the understated body style, and the unusual color/stripes)

- How did you find out about this specific car, ie; what media outlet; newspaper, magazine, radio, etc.... (it was an ad in National Dragster)

- What was the first modification he did to the Yenko? (he said he bought an open element air cleaner at a speed shop on the way home from the dealership, and tossed the dual snorkel into a dumpster!)

- What did his parents think of the car? (they didn't much care, he lived in an area of lonely gravel roads and they didn't think he'd get into trouble with it)

- What did he do with all that performance, drag race and / or street race? (he ran a few guys on the street, did well once he put headers (still kept the resonators and cross flow muffler) and traction bars on it)

- To what extent was the selling still involved after the purchase, ie; was the sale a dump-n-run to get it off the lot or was the dealer following up to make sure the customer was happy? (he didn't remember, and since he lived 1-2 hours away from the dealer he didn't really plan to take it back there anyway)

- What was the reaction to the car when he took it places, like a drive-in movie theater? (I showed him a ticket stub from an Indiana drive-in that I found under the back seat, he chuckled in front of his 2nd wife and stated that it wasn't his!!)

- Muscle car guys typically hang together, what other guys/cars were in the area that created a sense of car community? (he pretty much stayed to himself in rural southern Indiana, just drove the car to work every day for 9-10 years racking up 96k miles and chipped the rockers bare on those gravel roads)

- What made him sell it?
- What was his police record with it?
- What was his best ET?
- How did the muscle car scene change after the gas crisis in the early '70's?
- What was his next car?
- What is his current car?
- Would he allow his kid to buy a modern muscle car, why/why not?
- What does he think about turn key modern muscle cars with 800HP?

I could go on, but I forget half the stuff I asked him - he was such a quiet guy that I needed to keep coming up with questions! His wife was sitting on the front lawn snapping beans....it was a bit surreal, the exact opposite of the meeting with the 2nd owner!

[Dave Rifkin]

Another idea might be to interview children of the original owner, if possible. I know as an 8 year old I still have very vivid, and fond, memories of the day my parents picked out their 1969 Shelby GT500 as well as memories of "challenges" on the street. I also remember the day my parents asked me and my brother what we thought about getting rid of it.
I still wish I knew what happened to that car.

[MYSTERYCHEVELLE]

No Shortage of Information to be had. Questions to be asked. Lucky for her, she’s in area of PA with a long a steady group of car enthusiasts. We can find 50 car shows within 20 miles of us any given weekend. Cruise Nights all summer and including weekdays. Southeastern PA is Rich of Musclecar history ... cars and owners and always has been.

I have been hassled over the years by those who say..... but you don’t drive your cars Mike? This hobby is fun for many reasons. Different for everyone. Some Race. Some Show. Some drive. Some restore. Some buy and sell. Whatever brings you joy. When my cars are on show field. I love to take questions and there is no shortage of them. Nice that you are supporting her in this project

[72heavychevy]

Great project that I believe will lead to a very cool result!

Cars are such a great hobby that people young and old can share. It's a passion that helps men and women generations apart connect with one another.

I'm on the younger end of the spectrum but was fortunate enough to grow up around muscle cars. My father still has his Chevelle he bought when he was 16 back in the 70's and my first car was a '74 Camaro he and I got back on the road. I was then fortunate enough to graduate college and get a job doing Product Development Engineering at one of the "Big 3".

I've written about this before a few years back and I believe the same points stand. There's no denying the peak muscle car generation is aging and will lead to passing these cars down to their future owners. Getting people involved and continuing to love and care for these cars is critical.

My "Fresh Blood" article from Muscle Car Review Magazine
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/edit...e-fresh-blood/