Flowmaster Mufflers
Chris German knows his way around a Camaro. He currently owns two—the car you see here and a ’69 Pace Car. He’s owned six more of them in the past, and he’s built 10 of them at American Muscle, his shop in Cleveland, Tennessee. When he came across this car, it was in great shape. It had been the focus of a restoration about 20 years ago, and German says he probably could have started and driven the car with almost no effort at all. But the Camaro wasn’t the way he wanted it. He wasn’t after a restoration or a drag-style car. His Camaro would have to be able to handle the corners well, and he wanted to be able to autocross it at Goodguys shows, and autocross it well.
When Cisco Farias decided he wanted a classic pickup truck, there was no question about what type of truck it would be. Farias has long fostered a love of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and it was as a kid that he noticed that the one truck that all shops and bikers seemed to have was the second series Chevrolet pickup.
We’ve all heard stories of fellow street rodders who have searched far and wide for that special car. Weeks are spent on the Internet, days are spent stumbling through hot, dry, cold, wet, dusty or muddy swap meets, and even more time is spent at major rod runs, car corrals and cruise nights. Even with all that effort, time and expense, often times you still don’t find a particularly special car. Of course, you could do what Cecil Watts did and walk next door while your neighbor is having a barbecue for the hot rod club and say, “I didn’t know you were going to sell the Fordor—I’ll take it.” It was really that simple, and the best part is that the car is really special.
“I shouldn’t have sold that car.” How many times have you heard an enthusiast make that statement? It seems that a great many of us regret selling our favorite rides over the years, whatever the reasons.
It’s no guarantee that both halves of a married couple will love the automotive hobby. More than one marriage has ended following the ultimatum, “It’s the car or me,” though the same statement has also put an end to a large number of perfectly good hot rod projects. So it’s always nice when a car can bring a couple even closer, as is the case with Dennis and Dixie Gray and their ’63 Fairlane.