My next door mistress

dedeman · 05-18-2009, 09:00 PM

So, I love my TSX, in fact I just washed it today, and looks nice, black, and all glimmery like.

When I moved to DC in 2006, my very reclusive neighbor had a car under a badly damaged and kind of rotted car cover. It was only early this year when I met him, and I offered to do yard work for him, that I found out what it was. A 1984 Pontiac Firebird Trans AM.

Being a child of the 80's, I remember all the older kids having cars like Camaros, Firebirds, and Mustangs. In fact, in 1984, I was all of 9 years old.

Now, being a bit older and conservative, I find I like the engineering philosophy of Japanese cars (small, high revving, moddable, efficient), rather then the American muscle concept (huge engine, lots of torque).

But now, the car I remember as a kid is very much an antique, particularly one with only 75k on it.

I told him that he should take it out, not let it die under a car cover. It turns out he hadn't had it licensed or insured for about a decade. He took it to a local mechanic, had it brought up to snuff, passed inspection, licensed, insured, etc

This weekend I was helping him a bit more, and reminded him that since he put so much money into it, he shouldn't let it sit for so long, again. That's when he offered to let me drive it. Really? Are you sure? Ok! So I took it to the gas station, filled it up, put air in the (old, cracking) tires, and put a few miles on it.

OMG old! But it did have power everything, even seats. Now this thing is a 5 liter, 8 cylinder torque monster. It's also nice and 80's brown, and kind of messy inside. I got a lot of odd looks, since not many people drive these cars anymore (especially around here).

So he said I could take it out on the weekends if I want. I'm going to try and detail it as much as possible, bring it as back up to snuff as I can (I'm not a mechanic).

In the end, I like to think that I've given him an incentive to appreciate something that he's long forgotten about (apparently), and in turn, he's given me a gift that I always wanted since I was a kid.

Sorry for the

but I'm like

SSPX0052 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
SSPX0053 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Ken7 · 05-18-2009, 09:07 PM

KITT! hahaha. I used to like it too when I was younger. Mostly because I wanted one that looked like KITT.

tsx4life · 05-18-2009, 09:10 PM

dam im hatin right bout now... love those cars

pdpgps · 05-18-2009, 10:35 PM

it's still a classic on it's own!

i2ide · 05-18-2009, 10:59 PM

yeah... the firebird trans am is one of the only cars from the 80s i like. 80s mustangs FTL!! yeah, i particularly love the 60s and 70s era for american cars, but 80s is when the import revolution really began, in my book.

iVtecDTsX · 05-20-2009, 11:48 AM

I like the late 80s camaros and firebirds, but still nice non the less!

XxHaimBondxX · 05-22-2009, 08:13 PM

Probably obvious, but pics????

mdxmehi · 05-22-2009, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsx4life

dam im hatin right bout now... love those cars

dedeman · 05-23-2009, 01:21 AM

Haimbond, 2 things; 1st the pics are in the links in the original post. 2nd, ALBANY!!!

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm actually going to use the weekend to put my detailing products to good use on 10 years of no car washes.

Wish me luck.

XxHaimBondxX · 05-24-2009, 11:58 PM

Sorry, didn't see them. What about Albany?

dedeman · 05-25-2009, 12:58 PM

I lived in Albany from 00 to 05, and went to UAlbany. I'm from Kingston originally.

Man I miss upstate.

XxHaimBondxX · 05-25-2009, 05:23 PM

ahh, it is very nice here.