My Story Well, for me... it all started with a Father with a stock car racing background, a Mother that was in sales, and covered large territories and had to be there fast! And older brothers (14 & 7 yrs older) who's first cars were a 1969 AMX & 1969 GTO respectively. Needless to say, I grew very attached to the family cars. 57 Chevy, Olds', Caddy's convertibles etc... I even remember crying when my parents traded a few of them in. Well with my brothers Muscle cars, started my thirst for more knowledge and a better understanding of Muscle cars in general. So at the age of ten, I read every car magazine I could get my hands on! Learned more about all the various potential out there... But by the time it came right down to it I wanted something that was a classic Muscle car, yet something a little different... not just any average car... and then I saw the ad.... 1967 Pontiac Firebird OHC Sprint - 6! This was it, the car I had to have! I could sell my parents on it (as it was 1980, just reeling from the Gas Crisis and all) and this was after all "just" a 6 cylinder. But it had the styling, the handling, and most of the performance I had to have. And as luck would have it, my parents were always willing to help. So I called, made an appointment to go see it the next Saturday. We lived just South of San Francisco, and the car was just North of SF in Marin. Every bit as "Hilly" as the city is... Oh did I mention that the car was a stick, and I'd never actually driven a stick (other than my Harley at the time) Well, we got there, it was a single woman, in her 40's and she was the original owner! The car was as I mentioned, a 1967 Pontiac Firebird OHC Sprint - 6, 3 speed, in Mayfair Maize (yellow) Black Vinyl Top, Black Interior, with a few nice options etc. But, as you may know, the Sprint 6 is 230 C.I. and puts out 215 hp with a 4V Quadra-Jet carb and intake, higher flowing exhaust, hotter cam, mated to the 3-speed, Better gearing and it had dual traction bars, all this from the factory! (Pontiac knew the mono leaf suspension on the 67 Firebirds was inadequate in it's stock form, and added this feature for all of it's Stick and or High Performance model Firebirds, by late 67, early 68 they changed to a multi leaf staggered shock set up while the Camaro still had to catch up...) Needless to say, I was sucked in by it's beauty, and under it's spell! I paid $850 cash for it, signed the papers, and she was mine! Well, now I had to get her home, and I was not about to let my Dad drive MY car home... so I sent my parents on ahead... and my girl friend and I jumped in my new baby and we pulled out of the parking lot, and it was straight up hill one way, or down the hill, and straight up a huge hill the other way... of course with stop signs strategically placed right before the crest of each. So I waited for any traffic to clear, and headed up the hill! And there just happened to be some one pulling out of the next driveway ahead of me! So I get close to the top, and have to stop! (No center hand ebrake in the older cars as you know) So, there we are, my new car, my girlfriend (who as a 16 yr old kid is trying to impress at all times) and I have to move up the hill to the stop sign a few car lengths away, and now there is suddenly 3 cars behind me, with what seems to me to be just inches between my bumper and theirs! Well, I stall it... then start to burn the clutch a little, stall it again... finally the first guy goes around. One down!... But there is a never ending supply of cars that seem to all have to go up this, hill! I wait some out, try out my new cars flashers a few times... and finally. The road is clear, I have my chance, and I'm gonna take it! I start her up, grab the stick with a firm grip, rev it a few times... jump my foot from the brake to the clutch, and in one fluid movement... I some how manage to get everything just right, and in true teenage fashion, lay a nice patch of rubber all the way up to that damn Stop sign! From that moment on... I never looked back, and I never had any more problems... My car and I had an understanding. We worked together through it all, and always came out on top. Many V8 drivers wondered what the heck just beat them light to light... and were not happy to hear it was a stock Pontiac 6-cylinder! Shortly there after, my second car was a 1968 Pontiac Firebird, then a 1968 GTO, a 73 Ventura and so on... I had it bad... By the time I was 19, I had bought and sold over 10 cars! But, always kept the birds... until... I had to sell the 67 and 68 Firebirds for College... and moved to Seattle in 1985. Finally, 3 years ago, I was able to replaced the Firebirds with a 1967 Pontiac Firebird Convertible! Even though I have lived in the Seattle area since 85', The one I found, was Ironically in the San Francisco Bay Area... so I bought it! A car nut - Brett Liukkonen>