Growing up I have spent many hours working on cars, tinkering on cars, and servicing cars.  Growing up my PaPa Hollander was a natural at fixing anything! But he loved working on cars.  One summer when I was about 10 we tore down the engine on his Chevy Impala to the engine block and rebuilt it back to almost new. Now granted I was doing nothing more than handing wrenches and helping him position parts of the engine but he spent a great deal of time explaining to me how things worked and why. That set me on the path of becoming a Motor Head (person who loves everything about cars, especially the engine)!

The very first car I bought was a 1963 Rambler Ambassador, red with a white top.  I paid $250 in high school and restored it to nearly new condition. It leaked oil faster than I sometimes could add more to the engine, the transmission slipped and the radio was busted. I spent another $800 dollars and she was all mine. I was working at a gas station part-time and the mechanic there helped me with all of the engine repairs. I did all of the bodywork before I got the famous Ear-Shride $79 paint job. For $10 more I got the two-tone special.

Of course, back then engines were simpler to work on due to the fundamentals of the combustion engine which had not changed really until the 1980s. I mean do you know how to use a timing light to get your motor to purr? That dates us both if you know what I am talking about for sure! Now you need to crawl under your car just to get to the back spark plugs. Cars have definitely evolved over the years to be more powerful, fuel-efficient, better styling, more comfortable, and so much more.

Did I mention that I love NASCAR! Hours of turning left for 500 miles. After helping to build a Bush series car I really learned about cars.  Through all of it, I still have a secret ambition to be a NASCAR team owner! That would be the ultimate for this old motor head!