When I was relatively young, my Aunt Janet had gotten married to a guy who was in the armed forces. He was briefly stationed in Idaho so Aunt Jan would drive over to see us and sometimes she would take me back with her for a day or two. Once she comes by and she is driving a 1967 Camaro. It was white with red stripes and had the biggest rear tires I had ever seen on a car. It literally looked like one of my Hot Wheels cars.
At about that same time frame, my Uncle Bob (Jan's brother) would come over to our house and pick me up and take me to go get root beer at the local A&W or take me cruising around with him. He drove a 1967 Chevrolet Impala SS. It was red with a white top that we would always leave down unless the weather would absolutely not cooperate. These two examples early in my life instilled in me a desire to one day have a cool car of my own. That of course would take years to accomplish.
When I first learned to drive, the family car was a Jeep Wagoneer. Think of it as an off-road station wagon. It was great to haul a family around but not particularly cool car by anyone's imagination. It did have a killer motor in it and could flat out fly. The downside of that was that it literally got 7 MPG meaning that nearly every drive ended with a trip to the gas station. Fortunately at the time gas was not too expensive but for a kid with a summer job, it still took most of my paycheck to keep it in fuel.
As I was nearing the end of high school, my parents offered to buy me a car that I could take to school. This was my chance, I would finally get something cool to drive or so I thought. I went to the dealership with my parents to look for a car. I had seen pictures of the Mustang that had recently gotten a new body style. It had a T-roof which was about as close to practical as a convertible in Idaho. I had picked out black paint as a subtle toned down version. My parents of course did not see my vision for what a great car this would be for college. I ended up with a Mercury Bobcat which is basically a Ford Pinto with a nice grill. This is the car I would drive throughout college. Not exactly what I thought of when I dreamed of my first real car.
After college Trina and I were married and just starting our family. The Bobcat which had served us well needed to be replaced and we went with a Pontiac 6000. Compared to the Bobcat, this was a lap of luxury. It had auto-leveling shocks for a smooth ride and more importantly it had four doors for getting kids easily into and out of car seats. It was a nice car, for a family. Still not something I would have had posters of on the walls of my bedroom.
Living in Idaho where it felt like winter nine months of the year, owning anything sporty seemed out of the question. I did start moving the needle though with my next car purchase. I was on a business trip in Seattle Washington when I got a call from Trina saying the Pontiac had gotten in a small fender bender. We had been planning on getting a second car anyway so I went looking while in Washington. I found a rather tricked out Chevy S10 Blazer. It was red with black fenders and running boards and sport wheels. It was also great in the snow. I bought the car while there. As a family we flew up to Seattle to pick up the car and drive it back. It was an amazing car that we kept for several years.
When the Pontiac finally died, we traded it in. Trina took the Blazer and I bought a new Chevrolet pickup we could use for camping, hauling things, and carrying our toys. The pickup had a custom paint job, Recaro seats, and an amazing stereo system. It had a lot of horsepower and was a blast to drive. I loved that pickup. It came with us (along with the Blazer) to Arizona when we moved.
The Blazer began to show its age and our family continued to grow so we needed something a little larger. As we were shopping for a new mini-van for Trina, the dealership talked us into trading in both my truck and her Blazer for two cars. I really didn't want to trade my truck but it was the only way we could make the deal work. Trina got a van and I bought a 1996 Chevrolet Camaro SS with a T-top roof (see I didn't forget about the T-top from the Mustang dream above). I loved that Camaro, it was my favorite car to drive I had to date and got me hooked.
As our daughter Mallorie graduated from high school and went to college she begged and pleaded with us to get her a car. This would mean that I would have to give up my Camaro. It was a sad day when I finally let it go. I traded it for two Honda Accords. One would go to school with Mallorie and the sportier model I would drive. It was nothing like the Camaro but was a reliable car. Trina promised me that once Mallorie graduated and the cars were paid off I could get what I wanted. It was one of those sacrifices that fathers do for their kids.
When it came time for my next car, Chevrolet had just re-introduced the Camaro with body lines that looked similar to the 1967-1969. That was the car I wanted and true to her word, Trina agreed. I bought a 2011 Camaro SS in bright yellow and tricked it out to look like Bumblebee from the Transformers movie. That was an amazing car to drive. Taking it to California on vacation, I can attest that it glided at 120 MPH without raising a sweat. You could get into serious trouble with that car and at times I did.
The interesting thing about owning a bright yellow Camaro with black racing stripes that looks like a Transformer is that you could park it in any parking lot, go into a store, and when you came out there would be at least 5 kids walking around it waiting and hoping it would turn into a robot. I would always remote start the car just to see the reaction of the kids when the car came to life without anyone inside.
I kept that car for a while and babied it. It was in pristine condition when I decided that it was time for something new. There are not a lot of cars that I would consider giving up Bumblebee for but Chevy found just the thing. In 2017 it was the 50th Anniversary of the Chevrolet Camaro and they came out with a special Fifty edition. According to reports, there were only 5,982 50th Anniversary Camaros were produced and I got one of the first ones in Arizona.
While this car is not as flashy as the Transformers edition, it is probably the coolest car I have ever owned and is just amazing to drive. They say that timing is everything and shortly after getting this car I began working from home full-time. The COVID pandemic also occurred meaning that the Camaro has been in the garage most of its life. I take it out for short drives but for the most part it stays close to home. It is in immaculate condition and could ultimately become a prized possession in a car collection (either mine or for someone else).
With gas prices continually rising and the Camaro requiring premium gas, this car has become somewhat of a luxury to own. I know at some point I am going to probably have to consider selling it for something a little more practical. I hate even thinking about it but have decided if that does happen, I will likely consider buying an electric vehicle (EV). I am looking at something like the Audi E-Tron, Porsche Taycan, or BMW i5 m60. That still may be a ways off so for now I will enjoy the Camaro.
My Digital Scrapbook does include some pictures of my cars if you are interested checking them out. If you would like to talk about cars please contact me and I’ll be happy to talk about it.
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