My 14th Car - 1978 Ford Futura

This was my 14th car. A 1978 Ford Futura. Bought new in Tulsa, Ok. It had a six cylinder with a four speed tranny. Good looking car. Only problem was the quality of everything else besides the engine and tranny. This was back when Ford paid little attention to quality and concentrated on quantity. The very reason all the foreign cars started taking over. Glad they have changed their ways now. Yall have a good day now ya heah...God Bless

My 13th Vehicle - 1975 J10 Jeep Pick-up with 360 V8

Purchased this truck in my latter years of cross country power line work. Bought it just before I went on a job in Colorado. It was four wheel drive with a V8 engine. Did a decent job for me.  Did you know that Jeep produced a pickup with an electric drive motor in 1976 (ELECTRUCK). No internal combustion engine to help it along either. Do any of you know where there is an "Electruck" .
Would love to look at one. Yall have a good day now. Ya Heah--God Bless

My 12th Vehicle

This is my 12^th vehicle. I purchased it in Pelham Georgia for $200.00 back in 1975. It is a 1951 Ford F-100 pick-up. All  original down to the 8BA V-8 flathead engine. The 8BA engine was more durable than the V8 that came in cars. The car engines were notorious for running hot and cracking the block. A dog could relieve himself on the left rear wheel and it would crack the block my dad used to say. Anyway I used this truck for a good while. When I started working tall high tower power lines traveling all over the country I went in this. It was cool to go down the interstate and turn heads all the time. Especially being in places like Mn. with Georgia plates.  Yall have a good day now. Ya heah.

My 11th Car - Can you say " Starsky and Hutch" - 1974 Ford Torino Grand Sport

This was my 11th car. All of you that are old enough know this car very well. There were tons of these sold. I found mine at a dealership in Atlanta in 1975. It had a twist to the paint scheme though.  Mine was black with a red stripe. Leave it to me to be different, plus the dealer was having trouble selling it due to the color combination. As was a good thing for me. I loved it. I was working construction at the time building the Proctor and Gamble plant in Albany Georgia. Good times then. I was young and single and has no cares. Went to Panama City Beach a bunch of times in this car. The prettiest sand of any beach I have ever been on and I was on a few including overseas. Yall have a good day now. Ya heah. God Bless

My Ninth Car - 1966 Dodge Charger...got this on out of sequence..how could I foret this one.

This was my ninth car...I almost forgot about it...how could I forget about this one..I purchased it just before I got out of the Air Force in 1972. I was stationed at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta Georgia..I saw this sitting in a yard with a for sale sign on it and out of curiosity I stopped just to see what they wanted for it. To my surprise the price was only $200.00. But it did come with a catch. It did not have a title...in Georgia you did not need a title for a car until 1963 but this car was abandoned. Probably because of all the military moving in and out of the area...but I took on the task of getting it titled in Georgia...which was no easy endeavor...I had to got to the Sheriffs office and they took the VIN number and had to run a check on it and after a six month waiting period I had to take it back and the officials had to stamp a new serial number on it...after almost a year of exhausting red tape I managed to get a tile for it....it was definitely a Hot Rod...I drove it hard and it gave me good service under my heavy foot...will the cherish the memories, good and bad, while I owned this KEWL car....yall take care now ya heah...God Bless

My Tenth Car - First one after I got out of the Air Force in 1972.

This was my tenth car. 1972 "Heavy Chevy" Chevelle. I purchased it soon after I got out of the Air Force in 1972. It was kewl and fast. Really fast. It was plane Jane with vinyl seats and floor mats. Automatic transmission with the special 400 engine. I even scared myself in this car let alone my passengers.
 Introduced the middle of 1971. It's built around a Chevelle Sport Coupe. You got a special understated black grille. A domed hood with lock pins. Special side striping and 14" X 6" rally-type wheels with special center caps and bright lug nuts. It was available only with a V8 engine (you wouldn't want it any other way). The Turbo-Fire 307 standard, but you could order from three others including the Turbo-Jet 400. Which was the largest and of course that is what I got. If that seems like a large choice, it is. But you know how it's fun to be choosy when you buy a new car.  I also got the positraction rear axle and power disc/drum brakes. It was just a cool fast car as I said and was cheaper than the Chevelle SS (Super Sport) and just as fast. And I mean fast. Just wanted yall to see this good ole car...yall have a good day now ya heah....God Bless

My Eight Car - Got this right after my return from overseas

This was my eight car. Got this after I came back to the US after being overseas for a few years. This is a 1965 Mercury Montclair. Notice the rear window. It could be opened by a switch mounted on the dash. It was a cool (kewl) car also. When I returned from overseas which included time spent in Japan, Philippines and Viet Nam I got this car from my dad and traveled from Georgia to New Jersey. Was assigned to McGuire Air Force Base which was in the middle of Fort Dix Army Base just outside of Browns Mills, New Jersey.

But I am getting ahead of myself. If you remember I was at Forbes Air Force base in Kansas. The reason I went overseas happened like this. I went to work one day on the flight line while I was at Forbes and my supervisor, First Sargent, told me to go back home and pack a bag and come back. I asked him what was up and he said he could not tell me. So being the loyal airman that I was I followed orders and did as he requested. When I returned to the base he told me to go out and get on a certain aircraft, a C130 Hercules set up for troop transport. He told me I would have time to take care of my affairs when I arrived at my new destination. So dutifully I boarded the aircraft. We took off and I was in the air for 12 hours...longgggggggggg flight on a C130. When we landed I realized I was in Japan. Southern Japan to be more precise. We got on an Air Force bus and was moved to a headquarters building seven miles away. You can imagine my surprise and wonder as we traveled the narrow roads and on the wrong side,. It was something like the old south Georgia boy had never seen or experienced. Anyway I should come to the point and tell you why this was so much a  secret in the first place.

This all happened in 1968, just after he Pueblo Incident. Pueblo Incident, capture of the USS “Pueblo,” a Navy intelligence ship, and its 83 crewmen by North Korean patrol boats off the coast of North Korea on Jan. 23, 1968. The United States, maintaining that the “Pueblo” had been in international waters, began a military buildup in the area. It also initiated negotiations that resulted in an agreement that secured the release of the 82 surviving crewmen (one died from wounds suffered during the capture) on Dec. 23, 1968.

I was among only 12 regular Air Force personell that was sent to Itazuki Japan. We were assigned to an old WWII Air Force base we used during our occupation of Japaon right afer the war. It was called Itazuke Air Base, Fukuoka, Kyushu Japan 1952-1972 . We were there to support an Air Force Reseve Squadron of F-101 aircraft outfitted of ariel photo missions. Their mission was to fly over North Korea and gater infomation.

It was a great time and could go on forever about how life was there but it all came to an end when I was transferred to the Phillipines. I knew this was not a good sign because I was moving ever slow closer to Viet Nam on the map. Almost as soon as I was processed at Clark Air Force in the Phillipines I was moved to Viet Nam...was moved from base to base there,. Without going into detail, some of which you would not want the details anyway, I finally got out of there but not  before I re-enlisted for another term in the Air Force. I did so becuase I was not sure what I wanted to do back home yet plus the bonus was a nice one and it was TAX FREE by doing it in Viet Nam.

Now I have you up to date. Hope you enjoyed my boring story and thanks for you patience. The old Merc served me well but this story does have a twist which will come in my next post...dont you just love these cliff hangers ...hehe...yall have a good day now...ya heah...GOD Bless.