Since we're being nostalgic...
My first car (11th grade in High School) was a 1971 Torino GT. 429 SCJ, 4-Speed, Drag Pack, shaker hood scoop, 3.91 Locker, rear spoiler, rear window louvers and hide-away headlight grill. I did all kinds of work to it (pistons, crank, head work, tunnel ram, dual Holley 660 center-squirters, etc.). It only had 60K miles on it when I got it, but they were hard miles since it had been owned by another high-school aged gear head. It was tired and needed it. I had fun with it and kept it for a long time ("I'm never selling that car"...) but eventually sold it after my daughter was born. I can still recite the VIN number from memory - I'm RainMan that way
For a Christmas gift last year, my buddy ran the VIN number through Marti AutoWorks, who bought all of the production data from Ford, and bought a certified copy of the original build sheet information. I knew it was a rare combination of parts and options, but it turns out that it was 1 of 4,572 with that paint code, 1 of 1,093 with the rear window louvers, 1 of 983 ordered with the same DSO, 1 of 404 with that paint/trim combination and 1 of 80 with that engine/transmission combination. Given the surge in muscle car prices, it would have been worth a fortune if I had kept it and restored it to original
The only way I can console myself is with the knowledge that finding parts to restore it was a tremendously difficult task, even in the 1980's. I literally tried to buy a complete 1971 Torino Station Wagon in 1990 just to get the hide-away headlight assemblies...
After a stint in a family car while my daughter grew, I ordered a 1998 Trans Am WS6 4-speed. It took nine months to get it (manual transmission shortages...), but it was actually delivered on my birthday! God I loved that car. I traded it (idiot car move #2...) when my daughter started complaining that her legs were too long to comfortably fit in the back seat. Are you seeing the trend?
I got divorced a little more than a year ago after 18+ years of marriage and decided that I deserved another "fun" vehicle. So, after looking for nearly 6 months, I found a new, never titled, 2005 GTO. Although I really wanted a 6-speed and this car was an automatic, I "settled" since it was brand new and had only 320 miles. A little research has shown that it is 1 of 792 that are "Yellow Jacket" yellow, and only a few more than 300 of those are automatics. Not necessarily rare, but it might be an interesting fact if I keep this one. Right now, it has 8,900 miles on it.
By the way, my daughter is 17 and lives with me. Instead of complaining about fitting in the back of the GTO, (you guessed it), she wants to drive it! I bought her a Ford Focus - it'll have to do
