I am 60 for a few months more.
My first car, purchased in college, was a 1960 TR3A - black with a
red interior. When I graduated and left to become a USAF pilot, my
father convinced me that as an officer & gentleman I needed a four
passenger car. I bought a Camero as a compromise - a real mistake.
After I married my college sweetheart, we traded it for an two door
automatic coupe for her to dive to work & I bought a 58 MGA to drive
to go fly jets. I owned that car for 12 years and drove it nearly
every day. I traded it for a '72 240Z (with 2 SUs), a truly
wonderful car which rusted faster than any car I have ever owned.
When I had to carpool my son & his friends to play soccer for their
high school, I had to trade the Z-car for one with a mini back seats
and ended up with a 924 Porsche. It was an underpowered car with
really amazing handling.
In 1987 I bought a 79 Midget in 1987 - officially for our son. That
was one fun car!!! 8-)
In 1991 traded the 924 for a '77 Porsche 911S - which I still own.
http://home.earthlink.net/~johnwise/Porsche.html In '93 I had an '86
3.2 liter engine put in it. With this engine it is a totally
wonderful sports car - fast with great handling (once you learn to
drive it).
In '94 we traded the Miget for a 78 MGB that I bought from an
engineering student at the university where I was a professor. My
daughter & I drove it for 6 years till she left for an internship at
NASA.
Last year I completed the cycle, and bought my second 1960 TR3A, this
time red with a black interior.
http://home.earthlink.net/~johnwise/TR3A.html I am having as much
fun working on it, as driving it. BTW, as I mentioned the other day,
put some MGA machine screws in my TR last week.
I need to thank the list for a ton of help: from people looking at
cars for me before I bought this one, to all the wonderful and
occasionally humorous advice that I have received.
BTW, my daughter has already claimed the TR and my son the 911 (he
already has a California MGB) so I guess I get to keep them both. ;-)
John
John A. Wise, Ph.D., CPE
5483 W Potter Dr
Glendale, AZ 85308
(+1)(623)376-9632
Wise@erau.edu
1960 TR3A TS80422L
http://home.earthlink.net/~johnwise/TR3A.html
|