James jones
Well Known Member
Hey 327, how old are you by the way if you don’t mind saying. I will be 74 in December.
1963409ss
- Thread starter James jones
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James jones
Well Known Member
Hey rs63ss I’ve been a couple of cars where the front end started to lift. Someone else was driving and it scared the shit out of me. I think the most afraid I have been in another car was in 1975. I was drunk the nite before and my girlfriend put me to bed in my apartment and drove my car home to her parents house. A friend from work said he would drive me over. He had a 1967 Camarillo light blue with a 327 in it. He told me the motor was “built” and had a mellingcam in it built for top end. We went on some side roads until we got on 15-501 north. I think he was in second gear and told me to hold on. He punched it and I was forced back against the front bucket seat. Then he hit third and that cam started to pull I was screaming at him to let me out. It was like being shot out of a cannon. He was laughing like crazy. Anyway he dropped me off and I got my chevelle. I could barely walk when I got out. I told him a car that fast had no place on public roads. Next day at work he asked me if l wanted to buy the car for 1500 dollars. He had just got married and was broke. Since I had just got of the hospital for racing injuries I said no. I was still tempted though. However about two weeks later he told me he had dropped a valve in it. That was the scariest I have ever been in a car. James jones
James jones
Well Known Member
One more thing sbout my friend John who blew up the Camarillo. Soon after he bought a Ford truck with a 460 in it. One day he comes into work with his face banged up. I asked him what happened and he said he went out to that same stretch of 15-501 and opened up that 460. Anyway he was driving very fast and the front end starts to lift. The front end starts to veer left and the truck starts rolling over. Well John had the trucks jack stand inside the truck. John said every time that truck flipped over that tire jack would fly up and hit him up beside the head. The truck rolledmany times and finnaly the truck was upside down flying down this hiway with johns head laying on the inside roof. He said there were so many sparks flying that it almost caught his hair on fire! Everybody died laughing. James jones
James jones
Well Known Member
Another guy at work had a beautiful 1963 impala ss which was almost a gold color with a beautiful white interior. It was a 327-300 and he had a 375 horsepower cam in with headers. He was going out somewhere and racing guys for money which I had never done. His car was hitting a pretty good lickand I didn’t know if I could outrun him. I had never been in his car. Well one day at lunch I asked him to get in my 63 409 and ride around. We went up some side streets and on one I punched it in first gear and we shot from about 10mph to 60mph. The cars torque nailed him to that front seat. He was begging to get out . He had never felt that kind of power in a 63 chev before. He never asked me togo racing with him again. This was 1972. James jones
I had a 66 Vette big block convertible that felt like a boat on water on a windy day at around 100mph. I went through the suspension air pressure etc never got it any better. I think for one thing convertibles have a problem with the way the wind reacts across the top.
The most stable car I ever had was a 60 Olds 4 dr. Speedometer was the tape started out green then yellow then red, I would get it rolling so fast that the tape would bury itself then start bouncing like crazy. It took a long time to reach top speed had to be at least 120 no way to know the rest. Dumb kid running on maypops too!
Lol that brings back memories, when I was a kid my dad had a 61 Olds Dynamic 88 with that same speedo and I would always say to my dad to make it go red and he would tell me to be quit. If I remember right it turned from green to orange at 35mph and orange to red at 65mph.
James jones
Well Known Member
Hey 327, you are just a kid, ha ha! I’ve got socks older than you, ha ha. A kid with a beautiful Chevrolet! James jones
Why do you say 74 is old ?????
it is difficult to post pics for a novice on this site
Ya, what Bob said.
Then you can stop yelling. 
James jones
Well Known Member
Hey 327, I want to get back to my 63ss but first- one thing I would like to mention is Ronnie sox. Ronnie sox was like a god in this part of the world. His shop was just 30 miles away in Burlington n.c.
we would hear stories about guys in high school taking their cars up to his shop to be super tuned or performance parts added on etc. one Sunday in March 1968 we heard he was going to race at Piedmont dragstrip outside of Greensboro n.c. So we went up there and the first thing I remember was a brand new 1968 Camaro with a 396-375 in it. It still had the window sticker attached to it. The announcer said he had driven it straight from the dealership to here. I had never seen one. Well this guy pulls up to staging area, reves it up and let’s the clutch out in first gear. Tires start spinning and car goes nowhere. 2nd gear same thing. 3rd and 4th same thing. He goes thru 4 gears and car moves foreward maybe 6 feet. I had never seen that kind of power before. After that ronnie Sox pulls up in a 67 gtxwith a 426 hemi. Another guy pulls up in a same car with a 440 in it. They ran a good number of times and each time the 440 would pull him off the line and about two thirds down the strip. Each time that hemi would start pulling away and Ronnie won each race. I think he raced dick Landy there beat him also. Everybody was hollaring and screaming for Ronnie. Years later about 2020 I went to a place in Burlington called s and s auto trim to put a new headliner in a trans am I bought. Some of you might know this place. Anyway there was an older fellow there that knew Ronnie well and said Ronnie was in and out a lot (he had already died by then). Those guys said Ronnie was kind of arrogant when he came by. That just hit me wrong, I mean they did excellent work and all, but I didn’t think it was right to talk about someone after he had passed away. Some of you guys might think I was wrong but I’m just funny about that sort of thing. Well that’s my story about Ronnie Sox. James jones
we would hear stories about guys in high school taking their cars up to his shop to be super tuned or performance parts added on etc. one Sunday in March 1968 we heard he was going to race at Piedmont dragstrip outside of Greensboro n.c. So we went up there and the first thing I remember was a brand new 1968 Camaro with a 396-375 in it. It still had the window sticker attached to it. The announcer said he had driven it straight from the dealership to here. I had never seen one. Well this guy pulls up to staging area, reves it up and let’s the clutch out in first gear. Tires start spinning and car goes nowhere. 2nd gear same thing. 3rd and 4th same thing. He goes thru 4 gears and car moves foreward maybe 6 feet. I had never seen that kind of power before. After that ronnie Sox pulls up in a 67 gtxwith a 426 hemi. Another guy pulls up in a same car with a 440 in it. They ran a good number of times and each time the 440 would pull him off the line and about two thirds down the strip. Each time that hemi would start pulling away and Ronnie won each race. I think he raced dick Landy there beat him also. Everybody was hollaring and screaming for Ronnie. Years later about 2020 I went to a place in Burlington called s and s auto trim to put a new headliner in a trans am I bought. Some of you might know this place. Anyway there was an older fellow there that knew Ronnie well and said Ronnie was in and out a lot (he had already died by then). Those guys said Ronnie was kind of arrogant when he came by. That just hit me wrong, I mean they did excellent work and all, but I didn’t think it was right to talk about someone after he had passed away. Some of you guys might think I was wrong but I’m just funny about that sort of thing. Well that’s my story about Ronnie Sox. James jones
James jones
Well Known Member
Guys let’s see, I will be 74 in december. My walking has got down to stutter steeping, my granddaughter has to help me down steps, my right knee buckles on me , I’ve got bursitis in my left shoulder, I’ve got arthritis in both hands and my back, my right hip hurts bad after driving, I’m almost deaf,I have to have a body check each to see if I have melanoma or any other tropical disorders, kidney disease, constant war trauma issues, eyesite getting no better and I’ve had two root canals and two crowns which just cost me 7 thousand dollars! Can anyone think of anything else to pile on top of this? Also my wife died 3 years ago all my friends have died and all but one guy in my platoon have died but 1. I have myself and a big German shepherd who lives in the house with me. I’m the last man standing! Do I hear any volunteers to be 73? Enjoy your youth. James jones