My father never had much interest in cars as a hobby. He liked woodworking. I, somehow, was fascinated with cars. When I turned 16 my father had made me a deal that he would match any money I'd saved up in order to buy my first car. I found a 69z28 black with the white stripes. Nope. Too fast. Then I found a 78 Z28. Nope. Still too fast. He found me an 82 VW rabbit diesel. It was either that or nothing. Needless to say, I was not very happy with the car. It would stall if I turned on the A/C! When we moved to Florida later that year, I went to a high school with a bunch of spoiled rich kids. Everyone had newer cars, not much muscle- mostly crazy sound systems.
Anyway, I convinced dad to co-sign for me and we went to the local chevy dealer. I wanted a Vette, an Iroc or a maybe even a used GT Mustang. The salesman appealed to my dad to limit me to a v-6 camaro for insurance purposes. So, I settled for that since it was still better than a rabbit.
I started customizing and playing with it but since it was the 2.8L there was really nothing that I could do to get more power. So, I focused on making it "look" fast. When I was done with it, it looked very fast.
One night, I pulled up at a light against what I thought was a black monte carlo.
After that beating, I knew I had to have something faster so I went shopping. I was young, made no money and had no credit. I looked at a GTA trans am (a buddy's dad had one and it was awesome) Couldn't get financed. I looked at a newer GN at a dealership but still couldn't afford it. I was basically giving up since all the good stuff was too pricey for me and I was kind of interested in the newer 300zx. (twin turbo anyone?)
Anyway, since I could never buy a 300zx either I was basically resigned to checking out the offerings at the local buy here pay here lots. I looked at an SS monte that had a big dent in the door but still looked cool and was only
$5k. I figured I'd by that and finally have some power.
One afternoon, I was giving my uncle a ride home and I happened to see what looked like a gn sitting in a rinky dink buy here pay here lot. I stopped to check it out and it was an Black 86 Ttype with grey interior and t-tops. They only wanted $5k and would take my camaro on trade. I borrowed the money to pay off the last two payments on the camaro and went to dealer within a few days and finally had my TR!
On the way home I went to pass some slower traffic and nearly wrecked the car due to the unexpected power. From then on, I was hooked. I raced anything that dared and beat all comers. I drove that car everywhere and loved every minute of it. I once contemplated trading for a syclone since it was supposed to be even faster but I kept my Buick instead.
In 1995 while I was stationed overseas it was stolen and never recovered. When I came home I could not find a suitable replacement and ended up with an n/a 300zx. It was very nice but no Buick. I went through various cars but always talekd about the good old days when I had my Buick. So, when I graduated from school in 2005, my wife told me to get a Buick so I'd finally shut up about it. So, since 2005 I've been knee deep and had 5 TR's.
I also found an old briefcase I used to have all my buick stuff in. Even found some old Kirban catalogs back from when there was no internet...