On Cars (Or: This Aspie's Car Journey)

My pride and joy, 2007 Ford Crown Victoria P71, former Corvallis, Oregon PD Unit #818.

As my fans and friends know, old or odd cars are my lifeblood, my main interest that ties into several others, just my favorite thing ever. The time is coming near to get my driver's license, something I hotly desired for so long but couldn't ever pass the road test on, my parents have pricy cars I worry about wrecking, and I had money I needed to spend down. After facing disappointment at the unexpected sale of a 1979 Chrysler LeBaron Medallion Coupe I fell hard for, I looked at pretty much one thing: old RWD American V8 sedans. I love Cadillacs. Lincolns, Oldsmobiles, Buicks, etc., but the big RWD V8s of those are too big and plagued with many issues.

A Crown Vic cop car was something we could all agree on, me for its heritage, power, low cost, long life and durability, my dad for reliability and easy parts availability, my mom for acceptable fuel economy, and my program/case management for safety. After test-driving a knackered '94 Crown Vic this one appeared and I fell hard for it. One test drive and I was hooked. $1300 later, all mine. Gonna fix it up as I go, keep it "Bluesmobile style" in black & white with police labelscars, and drive it until it's no longer safe to drive. I freaking LOVE my car and am so proud to have it.

And on to my journey... my first love automotive-wise was an old jade-green Kaiser Manhattan in a backyard near my childhood home, closely followed by early rotary Mazdas (nearby was a hoard of early rotary and piston junker Mazdas, all long gone now), Forward Look Mopars from the rusted hulk of a 1960 Plymouth Fury in a neighbor's yard, and VW after being introduced to Herbie in 3rd grade. I fell hard for a brown 1978 Dodge Magnum as a preteen after seeing Bobby Joe Long's Magnum on Forensic Files and ultimately it was crushed. I owned a 1979 VW Rabbit, 1984 Ford F250 and 1964 Oldsmobile Cutlass at different times, and tried to buy a '74 Chevy van, only felt the bond & emotion for a vehicle the way I do my Crown Vic with my F250, the '74 Chevy van, and that now crushed brown Dodge Magnum.

I have attended car shows since I was a tiny tot, would love to go to the races more and plan to attend Cottage Grove & Roseburg dirt track hornet stock and sprint car races when I am fully licensed & can afford to, but have only taken up car show photography recently.

Junkyard photography, tho, was another story, my dad still tells the tale of losing me in the old Harrisburg Auto & Truck Salvage lot when I was a toddler and some my earliest, now long lost, work, was taken in Scott & Sons' junkyards here in Eugene. I made my name as an artist with this piece below, an elegant but derelict 1955 Chrysler New Yorker.

"55", my most famous piece

And lastly, diecast gets airtime here... have always collected it and as of 2010 got serious about it. My favorite piece is my Greenlight 1/43 scale Bluesmobile or my Norev Renault R5 TL (LeCar).