Bubble man

The following ad appeared in my hotmail window. Who is this ad directed at? Does anyone in the world actually want to look like this? Even the genitals appear to be "blown up". Okay, maybe that wouldn't be so bad.

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Classic cars from my childhood

I was in my early teens when my older brother came home with one of these beauties one day:

Somehow, it seemed even more beautiful back then to a wide-eyed boy who religiously read his brother's hand-me-down Car & Driver magazines. To me, the car represented awesome power, even if its looks didn't convey it. Only the hood work over the engine gave a hint of what was underneath. That and the diminutive emblem on the front fenders indicating 396 CID.

For the uninitiated, it was a 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396 (SS signifying "Super Sport", not Nazi). The 396 cubic inch displacement engine packed as much as 375 horsepower. This was the age of muscle cars and this was certainly one of them.

Here's a gallery of pix of that model immaculately restored/maintained: Click here.

As for my brother's car, I will never forget the first time my brother took me for a ride in this machine. We zipped along down Keele Street weaving in and out of traffic, laying rubber in any gear. He entered the circular ramp to the eastbound 401, and as we neared the end of the ramp, I was unprepared for the fury that was about to be unleashed.

Bro switched gears, stomped on the accelerator, and I was driven (literally) back against my seat with a G-force I had never experienced before in my young life, or for that matter, ever since. The front of the car seemed to lift up making me feel like we were headed skyward. There I sat glued for what seemed like an eternity, and feeling like I couldn't breathe as we screamed down the highway, the engine roaring like an angry lion.

That car was a harbinger of things to come. In 1970, the mother of all muscle cars rolled out of Detroit: The Chevelle SS 454. This monster delivered an unbelievable 450 horsepower--more than any other stock car in that era.

While looking for pix, I came across some sale prices for the '67 Chevelle SS396, the highest being an incredible $87,000.

Next, I will review another car my brother actually rebuilt around the same time he had the Chevelle: a '57 Chevy

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Last Kiss music video.

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Classic cars from my childhood

I was inspired by a preview of a new movie called "Sex Drive" to produce articles on some of the cars I grew up with and loved--no...still love, as they live on not only in my memories, but also preserved in stills and video. Indeed, many of them still run and are the stuff car shows are made of.

Enough with the nostalgia. The car that caught my eye in a commercial for the movie was a Pontiac GTO Judge. It's name was derived from a bit in Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in TV Show where Sammy Davis Jr. was a freaked out judge and the catch phrase was "Here come da judge...here come da judge...". Goldie Hawn got her start on that show as a bikini-wearing, body-painted, lovable, dumb blonde. Oops. I can't seem to keep from dredging up the past. But it's so damn interesting.

The GTO Judge made its debut in 1969, when I was 15 (this would explain why I remember Goldie so vividly). It came stock with a 350-horse power, 400 CID (cubic inch displacement) engine or with an optional 455. I think it is a near perfect combination of pretty looks and an undertone of powerful-looking. What do you think?

The year the GTO Judge was introduced (1969), it was surpassed in sales by the Chevrolet Chevelle SS396, a car my older brother owned and which I'll be featuring in my next article on this topic.

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Last Kiss music video.

Another car music video.

More music videos.

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