While I had the '72 Caddy, I bought a 69 Mustang Coupe to restore. It was just your basic car. It had a Straight 6 cylinder and 3 speed on the floor. I abandond the project because I found a cracked frame in the rear.

I then bought a 1970 Mustang Fastback from my CB buddy, after he had recoved it from being stolen. The car then had a BLOWN 302 cubic inch, and received major damage to the drivers door and rear quarter panel. I put another 302 motor in it and started on the body. Needless to say, I ran out of funding and sold it.

In 1980, I found the car I was looking for. It was a 1969 Grand Prix, with a 400, 4 barrel, 3 speed. It was like my '70 GP, but it had a manual transmission. Somehow, I got "HOOKED" on the Pontiac Grand Prix.

It had room, especially being able to fold the passenger seat completely down. It would definitely survive a crash, and definitely had "MORE POWER" than my Cadillac. Having a 3 speed, I was "COOL", but yet it offered a "CLASSY" feel, like the Cadillac.

The winter of 1980, I found that the 69 Grand Prix was DEFINATELY NOT a winter car. I found myself stuck several times. I had a Ford 3/4 ton 4 wheel drive pull me out once. It was like being in a tank. He had chains on all 4 wheels.

I also found myself in 2 other predicaments. While going to college one morning, the roads were kind of slick, I found myself doing a 360 degree spin going about 30 mph. The car just straightened out all by itself, IN THE RIGHT LANE. LUCKY ME. Boy, was my heart pounding!! It was like somebody else was driving the car.

The other was under the same conditions. On my way back from college,I had to go around a VW Beetle, he decided to stop there to clean his windshield. I was able to get back into my lane, but the car would not straighten out. I took down about 80 feet of hedges, and parked the car in the middle of a front yard at some old lady's house

I HAD ENOUGH OF THAT!!!

So in the Fall of 1981, I bought a 1974 Chevy 1/2 ton Pick Up. I put a white fiberglass cap on it and fixed up the "BED". I put an AM-FM 8 track in the rear. It was great for the DRIVE-IN Movies, but it was like driving a tank. There was no power steering and it was a 3 speed manual shift on the column. For the winter, I had 2 wheels in the bed, ready with chains.

In the meantime, my Grand Prix ran into motor troubles. At 99,800 miles, the camshaft decided to die on me. With cash being limited, it took me 10 months to get it running again.

For some reason, I felt compelled to repair it. I don't know why, but it was like "IT WAS ALIVE" and wanted help.

This is when My 69 Grand Prix Project all started.

I had received my AAS degree in Electronics Technology and in the fall of 1982, I landed a full time job as an Electronic Technician, calibrating, testing, and trouble-shooting, Biomedical Instrumentation. Prior to this, I had two other electronic jobs. The first was at a Radio Shack Repair Center, and the other was at Bell Laboratory, working in a Clean Room.