By: Charles E. Giannetta

Since then, I have walked many junkyards looking for parts to fix my cars.

My dad has had and still drives Cadillacs. In 1976, I learned how to drive in a 1966 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. The State Police didn't think I was going to pass the drivers test, but I showed him. My dad let me use the car sometimes for school and going places. It did excellent BURN-OUTS on the school speed bumps, but it wasn't really that "COOL" to drive.

When I turned 17, I vowed I would NEVER own one, so my first car was a 1967 Cougar GT. It was a great car, with a 390, 4 barrel, 4 speed. I put on the rear air shocks to lift it up, put the "FUR" on the dash and rear deck, put in a decent 8 track player, a CB radio, and changed the exhast over to the coffee can Hush Thrush mufflers. I could BLOW FLAMES out the sides. I quickly grew out of that MUSCLE car. It started to drink oil. The stick shift kept getting in the way. The back seat could only hold my college books. It needed some major work and money

1978 was my first year at Northampton Community College. I got into electronics and needed a better car to get me to school. In the fall of that year, I found a 1970 Grand Prix. This answered my problems

It was a 400 cu. in. with an Automatic Transmission. I really liked the car until I crashed and totalled a 69 Camaro RS.

My car sat in the road, still running, ready to do it again. After some MINOR repairs, and a paint job, the car had developed some front end SQUEAKS that really irritated me. It just seemed loose.

In 1979, I went back on my word and bought a 1972 Coupe DeVille. It had a 472 cu. in. and plenty of room. It just didn't work. I had to find a car that had "MORE POWER" , but one that also had some room to move. One that would survive a crash, and one that would be "COOL".