It Was One of Those Days - Part 44

Raven

Here - watch THIS!
Joined
May 24, 2001


The air was getting cooler with each passing minute but it was still nice enough to keep your windows down.

Which, of course, made it all the easier to hear things... things that, you know, might scare women and little children…

I watched the tail lights of the Charger fade behind me as I looked in the small mirror on my door as we drove away from each other... There weren’t any ‘rev-contests’ or anything as he passed us… just the snarl and hiss of what had to be a big displacement block having huge volumes of air shoved into it. The whine/whistle was almost louder than the exhaust and it was hard to tell if part of it was actually coming from the exhaust.

Regardless, we knew what ‘it’ was for sure. ‘It’ was one of those factory freaks we were hoping would show.

I was tempted to turn around... maybe follow him or even hook up along side for a good look over but decided against it for a very good reason. I had no more than looked up from the mirror when we heard something else – and this is above the noise my GN was making.

This time, the noise was coming from somewhere behind us as the Charger drove off into the night... coming from perhaps off a side street like Glendale.

“Steve – what is THAT noise?” asked Kelly, craning her neck and twisting to try and look out the rear window or her door window.

“I don’t know Kel... but it sounds like it’s serious.”

“Why don’t we just pull over and see what – if anything - drives by? You never know, it might turn and go south like the Charger did...” she asked.

“Good idea, Hon... Even if that thing back there doesn’t come this way, I think we’ll see something very interesting and very soon...”

Since B and Stacy were to our right; Kelly just motioned them over to the small plaza’s parking lot ahead.

We had no more than parked facing the street when we heard the unmistakable sound of a very high compression engine that had to be running a very high lift cam and essentially open headers coming from our left.

No doubt. THIS was the same car we had just heard.

And we heard this OVER the Camaro and GN that were BOTH still idling.

The street lights were all on now but the glare of some headlights prevented from seeing what had just turned north onto Reynolds and was coming towards us.

“Man, Steve...” Brandon was out of the car and standing near Kelly’s window, leaning down and looking in towards us.

“That Charger was awesome but what the hell is THIS thing coming at us?”

“We’ll soon see, I guess...” was all I could mumble. I reached up and turned off the GN, figuring it had idled enough... Stacy had already shut down the Camaro.

What ever it was it had stopped at the light, two down from where we were parked, and there had to be a car or maybe even two between ‘it’ and us. Kelly, Stacy and I all got out now and walked around to the front of the Buick, looking south.

The smell of food hung in the air with several restaurants off a block or two west of us... A smoky, BBQ, mesquite mix tantalized our nostrils and we just then realized that we were about a block away from Smokey Bones, yet another great place to eat, known for its ribs and – oddly enough - even its smoke-flavored Baked Beans.

But seeing the light turn green and hearing the car rev up to leave wiped any thoughts of food from our collective minds. The driver was simply driving and my best guess was he too was headed up to Airport Road then west to get out near the string of hotels and motels that dot the landscape of the area.

What ever it was – and we would soon see – NONE of us had ever heard this car in town before... we were sure of it. Like the Charger, once you hear it? You will never forget it.

But then, the light closest to us went yellow then red so the traffic stopped again. Dang! More waiting time – this was almost as bad as sitting on Woodward Avenue in August during the Dream Cruise – the suspense was killing us...

“What do you think it is, Steve?” asked B.

“My guess is it’s either a big block Chevy of some sort or perhaps another Hemi? I don’t know... but man, that’s just a guess...”

“I’m betting it’s a big Chevy” teased Stacy, patting the fender of her Camaro as she grinned.

I had to admit it – her Camaro was awesome and I have always held a fondness for the Camaro in particular. I’ve had SEVERAL of them over the years and a few were pretty wicked. But nothing as wicked sounding as what was about to near us...

A one-off COPO Camaro or Chevelle maybe? Maybe an evil incarnation from Doc Oldsmobile; perhaps a W-series creation? We just couldn’t tell... at least – not yet.

‘It’ was in the lane near the center so we couldn’t see it at all because there were still cars in front of it. However, I thought I could make out the roofline of the car I THOUGHT it might be... hmm... Nah... impossible, I remember thinking.

Off to our right some noise rustled which made both girls jump. Glancing over, we saw a huge Calico street cat with a bobbed tail jump out of small trash dumpster, a big mouse in its jaws as it raced around the corner of the building and out of sight.

“Sheesh!” sighed Kelly. “That darned cat nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“Just be glad you aren’t that mouse” joked Brandon...

We all chuckled as we watched the near light begin to sequence and the traffic begin to move...

Then, there ‘IT’ was coming into view... it had what appeared to be a long hood... a short rear deck... actually a fastback look... two headlight areas inside a grille area and two more just outside the grille (that were on)... parking lamps beneath the outer headlights... but my God... the sound...

It had a smooth hood with no shaker or any other protrusion like a blower...

A couple of smaller cars glided by but we could not even hear them... the noise now was nearly deafening, sounding almost like an open header NASCAR engine...

NASCAR...

This car was also a dark color but until it got in the glare of the street lights, we didn’t know for sure exactly what shade it was. Then, we saw everything we needed to see to know that this was no ordinary car either. More details emerged as the car neared us and the street lights we were under...

On the top of the rear quarter that was visible we could see a small ‘scoop’ of some sort just behind the door... and what appeared to be a ducktail style spoiler on the rear deck...

Yep, it had a NASCAR affiliation of sorts which explained some of the noise I guess (ok, it was the exhaust but hey, you’ll understand soon enough...). And honestly, I would have wagered a paycheck he was running open headers... it was thunderous and Biblical at the same time.

It drove by accelerating briskly, the driver effortlessly changing gears... the color? Oh, it wasn’t a GM color at all.

Nor was it a MOPAR color.

It was a FORD color. Almost a deep, red color – a color that I haven’t seen very often at all on this style of car... I think they called it Candy Apple Red but for me it wasn’t that ‘Candy’-looking... it was more ‘blood red’... and yes, it was on a Ford...

It was a Mustang. A 1969 to be exact... and I have never heard a Mustang sound like this one except for maybe Bob Glidden’s Pro Stock rides from back in the day...

This one wasn’t a Pro Stock car at all. But if you close you eyes, you just might be fooled.

NHRA Pro Stock? Or, NASCAR? Sometimes, those two influences mix... usually resulting in lots of decals most of the time. Not this time...

THIS car only had one very small ‘ghost’ decal. It was on the lower front fender behind the wheel opening and it was kind of hard to see as it passed by. But, since it was white against the darker red it finally became legible...

However - for us, the decal didn’t really match the hood of the car. Why? Well, because every one of these cars we’ve seen before has ALWAYS had a huge functional scoop. A scoop that is body colored on a ’69 and black on a ’70 of this model.

This car’s hood was smooth with no scoop at all.

The decal? Well, that was odd too. Why? Because it wasn’t ‘complete’. It simply said:

BOSS

Not “BOSS 302” or “BOSS 429”. No, it just said “BOSS”.

“What the hell is THAT car, Steve? ‘Boss’ WHAT?” I could only shrug as I was tempted to plug my ears with my fingertips...

I watched it as it went on by, noting that there were two enormous square-tipped exhaust outlets exiting the CENTER rear of the car – yes, beneath the rear Michigan license plate – that read simply ‘BOSS1 OF1’. So much for open headers. Now, whether it had any mufflers was beyond debate – it had to be open pipes.

We watched it go on North down Reynolds... I was already moving...

“I don’t know Brandon but my curiosity has got the best of me on this. ‘Boss1 OF1’? Definitely has to be a freak. Let’s go see if we can catch up to it and find out....”

Before my word ‘out’ was off my lips, Stacy had the Camaro fired and Kelly was buckling up her seat belt...


To be continued...
 
ok, i cant edit my post but...

in one of the earlier chapters, they mention Bill has a nasty charger...anyone else think that 68 might be his?
 
ok, i cant edit my post but...

in one of the earlier chapters, they mention Bill has a nasty charger...anyone else think that 68 might be his?

nearly my exact thoughts...



Great additions to the story Raven. Been keeping an eye out for the book just in case you chose to publish. Glad to see I can read more of it here. Keep up the great writing, and the suspense build is killing me... but I love it just the same.
 
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