trapin
11-21-2005, 04:38 AM
Well….this post makes 2000 for me today on Pro-Touring.com. Can it be considered a great accomplishment? Does this elevate me to a level of supremacy few have achieved?
......I don’t think so. I mean let’s be honest, 2000 is roughly one afternoon in front of the computer for Ralph. But I digress. (Sorry Ralph). :icon_razz
Instead I thought I might share the story of how I found this place and what brought me over to the ‘Dark Side’ of hot rodding. Now….I’m going to have to issue a Long Story Warning here for those that don’t like lengthy posts. If you’re not in the mood, that’s completely understandable. Thanks for poppin’ in and we’ll see you on the board.
For those of you still with us….let’s begin.
About 5 years ago I was working as a Package Designer for GM at Engineering Center and I had a co-worker named Armando that had this killer ’68 Pro-Street Camaro that he had won numerous awards with. He still has the car by the way. Well…one day I’m talkin’ with him over at the coffee station and he tells me about this ’65 Chevelle that he just purchased out in California that was built ‘to the gills’. He was quite excited about it. I asked how he bought it and he said he found it online and fell in love with it. The plan was to fly out that following Saturday, pay for the car and then bring it home. I says, “oh….are you renting a truck to tow it home?” He said “No…I’m going to drive it home”. My first thought was, “this guy is crazy” but then again I’m thinking in the back of my mind that he bought another Pro-Street car that was going to explode into a thousand pieces before reaching the Nebraska state line. So I blow it off and go back to work. The following week he sends me an e-mail and asks if I’d like to go out to the parking garage to see his new toy. So we walk out there and I turn the corner and had to do a double-take when I saw it. It was a bright red ’65 Chevelle with a modified/fuel-injected LT1. The profile was slightly lowered. It had 18 inch Intro Wheels on it and a 700r4 transmission. I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not. The look was definitely different but I wasn’t sure what to make of it. So I asked him, “Why does it have those big wheels on it and the late generation engine?” He says, “Well….it’s a Pro-Touring car”. “A Pro-WHAT???!! I said, “What the hell is that??!!” He goes on to tell me about how it was the new rage on the west coast and how it was catching on in the hot rod world. I was confused. I was expecting a huge blower stickin’ out of the hood, Mickey Thompson 13x30 drag slicks, etc. And I wasn’t sure if this guy out in California that sold him the car wasn’t blowing smoke up his bum either. So I decided to do some research. I went back to my computer and logged onto the internet. I went into Google and typed in Pro Touring and hit the ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ button. BAM!!! Up comes Larry Callahan’s website. So I hang out there for awhile reading through the posts and checking out all the cars in the cars section. Didn’t take me long to realize that most of the cars were early generation Camaros like the one I had in the garage. Larry also had this great description of what Pro-Touring was on the front page (anyone remember that?). It talked about rowing gears through the canyons in an old classic car, using your car for what it was meant to be used for, throwing out all the old traditional ways of approaching hot rods. I was quite taken with it. It was very inspiring. This was around April of 2001. After a few months of lurking in the shadows I was convinced that this was a community that I had to be a part of. So that July I joined up and the rest is history.
You see…I was brought up in the drag racing/street racing world I remember being a young kid in the scene and having a hard time getting help with my car or obtaining information. There was no internet. You’re only real outlet back then were the race shops or people you met at the shows or at the street racing gatherings. Most of those guys were reluctant to share anything. Such was the mentality with drag racers. I found them all to be quite engrossed with themselves and completely intolerant of young kids wanting to learn the trade. I got the brush-off many times. It was a real struggle. But this place was different. Here you almost feel like you’re part of a community of car builders fighting for a cause. They are eager to help out and answer your questions. And you don’t just get one answer from one guy in your home state. You get 10 or 12 answers from people all over the world. And everyone supports everyone on the site…it’s like a big family. I remember reading in Hot Rod a few months back about Freiburger suggesting that the internet has been a disservice to Hots Rods. I thought to myself, “Is this guy crazy??!” This is a great time to be a car builder, and the internet is why. The support here is incredible. They don’t care what age you are…everyone is in your corner. I remember when Ralph first came on this site and thinking to myself, “My God….this kid would have been eaten alive in the Detroit scene about 15 years ago”. Instead, his persistent enthusiasm and support of Pro-Touring and this site have since lifted him to an Administrator here. I think that’s pretty damn cool. I wish there would have been an internet back then when I was getting’ into the hobby. But I’m glad there’s one around now.
Well…that’s enough from me. I’ll end this with a big “shout out” to Larry Callahan and the rest of the board members especially those that have been pivotal in helping me with my project thus far. Thanks for a fantastic 4 1/2 years. It has truly been a pleasure. I know the next 2000 will be even better. :cheers:
......I don’t think so. I mean let’s be honest, 2000 is roughly one afternoon in front of the computer for Ralph. But I digress. (Sorry Ralph). :icon_razz
Instead I thought I might share the story of how I found this place and what brought me over to the ‘Dark Side’ of hot rodding. Now….I’m going to have to issue a Long Story Warning here for those that don’t like lengthy posts. If you’re not in the mood, that’s completely understandable. Thanks for poppin’ in and we’ll see you on the board.
For those of you still with us….let’s begin.
About 5 years ago I was working as a Package Designer for GM at Engineering Center and I had a co-worker named Armando that had this killer ’68 Pro-Street Camaro that he had won numerous awards with. He still has the car by the way. Well…one day I’m talkin’ with him over at the coffee station and he tells me about this ’65 Chevelle that he just purchased out in California that was built ‘to the gills’. He was quite excited about it. I asked how he bought it and he said he found it online and fell in love with it. The plan was to fly out that following Saturday, pay for the car and then bring it home. I says, “oh….are you renting a truck to tow it home?” He said “No…I’m going to drive it home”. My first thought was, “this guy is crazy” but then again I’m thinking in the back of my mind that he bought another Pro-Street car that was going to explode into a thousand pieces before reaching the Nebraska state line. So I blow it off and go back to work. The following week he sends me an e-mail and asks if I’d like to go out to the parking garage to see his new toy. So we walk out there and I turn the corner and had to do a double-take when I saw it. It was a bright red ’65 Chevelle with a modified/fuel-injected LT1. The profile was slightly lowered. It had 18 inch Intro Wheels on it and a 700r4 transmission. I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not. The look was definitely different but I wasn’t sure what to make of it. So I asked him, “Why does it have those big wheels on it and the late generation engine?” He says, “Well….it’s a Pro-Touring car”. “A Pro-WHAT???!! I said, “What the hell is that??!!” He goes on to tell me about how it was the new rage on the west coast and how it was catching on in the hot rod world. I was confused. I was expecting a huge blower stickin’ out of the hood, Mickey Thompson 13x30 drag slicks, etc. And I wasn’t sure if this guy out in California that sold him the car wasn’t blowing smoke up his bum either. So I decided to do some research. I went back to my computer and logged onto the internet. I went into Google and typed in Pro Touring and hit the ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ button. BAM!!! Up comes Larry Callahan’s website. So I hang out there for awhile reading through the posts and checking out all the cars in the cars section. Didn’t take me long to realize that most of the cars were early generation Camaros like the one I had in the garage. Larry also had this great description of what Pro-Touring was on the front page (anyone remember that?). It talked about rowing gears through the canyons in an old classic car, using your car for what it was meant to be used for, throwing out all the old traditional ways of approaching hot rods. I was quite taken with it. It was very inspiring. This was around April of 2001. After a few months of lurking in the shadows I was convinced that this was a community that I had to be a part of. So that July I joined up and the rest is history.
You see…I was brought up in the drag racing/street racing world I remember being a young kid in the scene and having a hard time getting help with my car or obtaining information. There was no internet. You’re only real outlet back then were the race shops or people you met at the shows or at the street racing gatherings. Most of those guys were reluctant to share anything. Such was the mentality with drag racers. I found them all to be quite engrossed with themselves and completely intolerant of young kids wanting to learn the trade. I got the brush-off many times. It was a real struggle. But this place was different. Here you almost feel like you’re part of a community of car builders fighting for a cause. They are eager to help out and answer your questions. And you don’t just get one answer from one guy in your home state. You get 10 or 12 answers from people all over the world. And everyone supports everyone on the site…it’s like a big family. I remember reading in Hot Rod a few months back about Freiburger suggesting that the internet has been a disservice to Hots Rods. I thought to myself, “Is this guy crazy??!” This is a great time to be a car builder, and the internet is why. The support here is incredible. They don’t care what age you are…everyone is in your corner. I remember when Ralph first came on this site and thinking to myself, “My God….this kid would have been eaten alive in the Detroit scene about 15 years ago”. Instead, his persistent enthusiasm and support of Pro-Touring and this site have since lifted him to an Administrator here. I think that’s pretty damn cool. I wish there would have been an internet back then when I was getting’ into the hobby. But I’m glad there’s one around now.
Well…that’s enough from me. I’ll end this with a big “shout out” to Larry Callahan and the rest of the board members especially those that have been pivotal in helping me with my project thus far. Thanks for a fantastic 4 1/2 years. It has truly been a pleasure. I know the next 2000 will be even better. :cheers: