Share Your GM Memories

[z28luvr01]

We're all on this site because we've been touched by GM one way or another. My question is: How so? Share your experiences with GM here. Only one requirement....keep things family-friendly, mmmkay? I'll get the ball rolling: Some of my GM memories: When we (my sisters and I) would visit my grapdparents in the Bronx for the weekend, we'd either be riding around in a 1973 chocolate-brown Monte Carlo or a 1955 Bel Air hardtop. The Monte was in pristine condition, the Bel Air was much less so having been stolen so many times. For both cars, my grandmother made clear plastic seat covers (think "Everybody Loves Raymond") that you would usually stick to in the hot weather. My father, with the exception of a 1993 Eagle Vision, has always owned GM cars. When I was really young he had a 1965 Corvette that he promised to me when I learned to drive. It was custom-painted red and had some custom bodywork on it. When we went out a family, one of us would sit on my mom's lap and the other one would sit on the console. The heck with safety, it was a great car. When he got a job in Long Island City (65mi away), my dad bought a '76 Monte for $200. The car was in OK shape except for some rust spots, and the red paint had oxidized to the point where it was Hello Kitty pink. my dad never put a dime into that car. When the radiator hose sprung a leak, he wrapped duct tape around it. When the exhaust system leaked, he took it out and welded the holes shut. The floor mats were cut from our old living room rug. It never, ever saw a wash while we had it. Despite all this, it ran and ran........and ran. He actually made $50 on it, selling it for $250 several yers later.

[HarleyEarl]

I have had many GM experiences. The hightlight was when I bought a new Corvette...about 19...I still remember the exhilerating feeling as I fired it up and drove away from the dealership. I almost had an orgasm, I was so taken with this car. And that feeling was almost always there when ever I drove it. It was a special car and a special time in my life.

[balthazar]

Shortie: I remember as a kid looking over Dad's shoulder while he drove at night and seeing the red Indian Head high beam indicator on our Pontiac's speedo. I was always somewhat awestruck by it- it seemed such a.... 'non-automotive' symbol and thusly... somehow both mysterious and powerful.

[HarleyEarl]

Balthazar, I love those little details in cars.....even now they have a powerful affect on me.

Edited September 24, 2005 by HarleyEarl

[Cory Wolfe]

Blazer... A goddamn nightmare. :P Anyways, I have many GM memories. Most from when I was really young. The first of which was my dad's old Cutlass. It was an '80s-something and two-tone cream/brown colored. I don't remember much of it as I was only about 2 (1990). Back then we lived in a trailer on Evans St. The other car was an 82 or 83 Plymouth Turismo. One specific memory was when me, my mom, and my then newborn brother were going for a walk. My dad pulled up and I hopped in the back seat. The interior was a brown color. That's about all I remember. I only have two pics of it... both don't show much. Also in pics, my dad had a jacked up red Chevy pickup. I don't remember it all. The second memory is from right after we moved into the house we live in now. I was about 3 (1991). My parents traded in the Turismo for an 89 Buick Regal. It was silver and practically loaded (other than leather and a few things). I remember my first ride in it... it was with my Grandpa who took it for a test drive. As we drove along, he said "this thing has more buttons than my truck!" He had a brand new loaded 91 Silverado. It was black and charcoal and had the 350 V8. He had many extras installed on it. He would always take us camping with it and the truck camper in the bed. Mostly up at Pymatuning Lake. Always had lots of fun. Back to the Regal... I loved that car. I always wanted it. It was a deer magnet, though. My mom hit two with it and my dad hit one. Because of this... the front was always different colors. My dad finally painted it a darker silver, but that was before he hit a deer with it. After he did... it just sat in our driveway until he finally sold it to my uncle who got rid of it shortly after. I only have a few pics of it... and most are of when the front looked horrible. I have the stand-up emblem from it, though. So that's a nice thing to remember it by. Another GM memory takes place shortly after that one. My dad replaced the Cutlass with a 77 Chevy Scottsdale pickup. It was cool. It was dark silver with light blue stripes on the hood and on the side. It had a custom chrome grill and push bar. Over the years the bed rusted and had to be replaced. After that, he spray painted it camouflage. I wish he hadn't now, but I like it at the time. A few years after he just painted over it with flat black. That truck would go anywhere, though. Through the woods and over logs. Through 2 feet deep snow and water. I have many memories of this kind of stuff. Eventually, it started giving him trouble and parked it. After that he put it up for sale. The next memory is of the car that started my love for Pontiac. It was 1996. My mom wanted a new car since the Regal was being repaired for hitting a deer. She looked around. She saw a purple car.. her favorite color was purple. She didn't know what it was, but she had to have it. What was it? A 96 Grand Am SE coupe. It also had a stick. She bought it without realizing it. So she had to learn how to drive it. What memories... She always stalled it and frequently grinded the gears. Because of this, the transmission and clutch did last long. Anyways, I can remember the extras the dealer provided for her. A key chain, a folder, and a few subsription to Pontiac Drivng Excitement magazine. I still have all of it. Very few pics, though. Another memory is of the car that solidified my love for Pontiac. It was 2000. It was my mom's birthday, so she and her sister went shopping. They ended up going to a dealer. She saw a bright blue car. A 00 Grand Am SE coupe. She test drove it. When I came home from school... I saw it parked in the driveway. I had always wanted my mom to get the new GA... and it was as if my dream came true. I just looked at it as soon as I got off the bus. For a good half hour. She didn't buy it, though. Just a take home test drive. I got a ride in it to go to baseball practice. She took it back. I got picked up in our 96. A few days later, though, she finally bought it. I loved this car. I dreamt about having it. I loved to drive it. Anyways, she was in this business at the time and went to a bunch of meetings. One night, she was drunk after going to a party for it. When the road that went to our house came up... She passed it and ended up taking a wrong turn onto a dirt road. That doesn't mix too well. She lost control and hit a bank then came into a bridge. Well, it wasn't pretty. Luckily the cops somehow missed her being drunk. It was her first accident. The GA was close to being totalled. It wasn't, though, and got fixed. Sometime after that, she got rear ended. Had to be fixed again. Anyways, we got our exchange student and realized that it was just too small for all of us. The lease was running out anyways. We replaced it with the 00 Blazer... and it was to hell from there. The last few memories are just minor. Including my grandma's two Berettas. They were both red. Nice cars. She replaced the second one with a 97 Sunfire. Pretty basic. She had it for a while and racked up many miles on it from taking alot of trips including a few cross-country ones. My cousin got his license and she let him borrow it. He totalled it the day he got his license. She replaced it with a 00 Malibu. It's loaded and dark blue. She still has it. Then there was my aunt's red 93 Grand Am GT sedan. A nice car. Eventually she replaced it with black 97 Grand Prix GTP coupe. Also a nice car. That was years ago... She ended up switching to a Neon. Next up was my other aunt's 87 Trans Am. A really cool car with a red/gray interior and dark red exterior. She still has it, but it has been sitting for a few years. I'd like to buy it off of her sometime... After this is my other cousin's 91 Firebird. I think I had wet dreams about this car. It was like new. He had his license for about two weeks. The roads were wet... He lost control and slammed it into a tree causing it to flip onto its side. He totaled it. He hurt his back and wasn't wearing a seatbelt. If he was, they said he may have died since that where the tree crushed it. He had it replaced with a jacked up and modded Ford Ranger. See... many good memories. :D If it weren't for that goddamn Blazer... <_< :P

[mustang84]

My freshmen year in college, I lived across the hall from a guy that was really into Corvettes and Chevy in general. He had 1:24 scale model Corvettes from every generation sitting on his desk, a big 50th Anniversary Corvette poster on the wall, and seemed to be wearing Corvette t-shirts every day. Anyway, I got to know him pretty well because he was the only other person on the floor into cars, and even though he didn't like Ford much, we got along well. He saw my drawings of cars and asked if I could draw him a C5 Vette (no C6 pictures had been released yet) so over the course of a few weeks I drew him a C5 Vette. I forgot about it for a while and then rediscovered it and finished it before the school year was up. He offered me $5, but I told him he could have it for free...I draw for fun. He said he'd repay me someday for it. So the summer passes and I forget all about it. He lives in the same apartment complex as me next year and one day in October I get a call saying to come down to the parking lot for a suprise. I go downstairs without a clue what it is...and lo and behold, he's standing next to a 2002 Corvette. He said his dad brought it up for the weekend and said he could drive it around for that afternoon. So then he says "get in"...and off we go. We chirped the tires heading out of the parking lot and onto a 40 mph road, he floored it up to 90, and then we kinda drove around the main drag in Ames. It was awesome...being in such a high profile car like a Corvette gets you a lot of glances from pedestrians. Some dude in a riced out Honda Civic pulled up next to us...we left his ass in the dust with ease. The roar and rumble of that LS1 was like a dream. After about an hour of driving around, we decided to head back and he did a powerslide into the corner near the apartments. I had never had an experience like that before...it was a bigtime rush. Good thing there were no cops around the entire time...two 20 year olds in a Corvette is just asking for a ticket. That experience solidified my love for GM...I could never have that much fun in a Honda or Toyota. :chevy:

[Dsuupr]

Back in 1991 I convinced my Grandfather to trade in his 1985 honda accord for a new 1991 Buick Regal. From then on every time Grandpa Ferguson and I had a conversation we talked about the latest Buicks. My last conversation with him was about him waiting until later this summer to purchase a new Lucerne, as I had talked him out of the LaCrosse. At that point in his life he was already diagnosed with terminal cancer and knew he would pass away within 6 months but he still wanted a new one.