I bought the Camaro in my senior year of high school or soon after graduating. I can’t remember exactly when. During my high school years I worked in a gas station. It was good for me because I learned how to work on cars. 

My First and Second Cars

I was driving a 1954 Ford truck. It had lots of problems so it wasn’t long before I realized a replacement was in order. You can listen to that story here. I bought a Red1964 Corvair Monza that was in good shape. Just needed tires and new carpet.

The Corvair was fun and very reliable. I bought new tires. They were called Tiger Paws if I remember correctly. They were wide and had a red stripe on the sidewall. I bought some small Chevrolet hubcaps and repainted the rims black. Like I said it was fun but I wanted something more.

Moving up to a Camaro

The Camaro had stock wheels with ugly hubcaps. A common look for sporty cars in that time was to have split rims. They were modified to be wider than the originals. You would take the tires off the wheels and send them to a machine shop. 

They would put the wheels on a lathe and cut them, or split them into two pieces. Then they would bend a piece of metal that is two, three, or four inches wide and weld it into the wheel. I think mine were two or three inches wider than stock. I only did the two rear wheels because that was the look I wanted.

When you mounted the tires on the wheels it spread them out. With wide tires on the back and stock on the front it look sweet! The car didn’t need much more work other than a good wash and wax. But after driving it a while I noticed it would jerk slightly or shudder when I let out the clutch.

General Motors Motor Mount Breakage Causes Clutch Shudder

I started a process of trying to figure out what was causing the shudder. That problem turned into the most difficult mechanical issues to resolve of all my vehicles. It resulted in me pulling out the transmission probably six times. 

I replaced two clutches, a new flywheel, and a transmission overhaul to replace the throw-out bearing sleeve on the front of the transmission. Checked the clutch linkage. Lubed everything relating to the clutch. I just couldn’t find the problem.

The owner of the gas station I worked at was a master mechanic. We worked together on it but couldn’t figure it out. I talked to other mechanics but no one could help. One day I was talking to a guy about the problem. He mentioned that Chevrolet cars in that era had problems with engine motor mounts breaking. 

If the motor mounts were broken and the driver accelerated hard the engine would lift up. That would bind the throttle linkage and cause the throttle to stick in that position. You can imagine the problem with having the throttle to stick in a heavy acceleration position. The car would continue at that speed even after the driver took their foot off the gas pedal.

Rather than replacing motor mounts on hundreds of thousands of cars GM decided to put cable straps from the car frame around the exhaust manifold and back. The purpose was to hold the engine in place during a hard acceleration.

After talking with that guy I had hope of coming up with a solution. When I got to work that night I had my boss watch the engine when I let the clutch out with the park brake on. The engine lifted up and the car shuddered! The broken mounts could have not only bound the throttle linkage but they also could affect the clutch linkage. That was the cause of the clutch shudder. I replaced the engine mounts and the problem was fixed.

After all the problems and working on the car so much I got burnt out and thought I would make a change. During that time small pickups had become popular. One day I made an emotional decision and decided to buy a new Ford Courier pickup.

What a mistake! The truck was cute and had some features that were nice. I bought a camper shell and padded carpet for the back. Not sure why. The sales guy probably just sold me on it.

So yes, that Camaro is the car I wish I had never sold. It was fun, easy to drive and looked great. You can see a photo of the car on one of the other stories on the Auto Owner Story page about my sister Gayle’s car story.

As I sit here telling this story it’s amazing to me how clear my memories are about this time in my life. I had some emotional times as I progressed through high school and college. I’m sure many of you had similar life issues as you learned and matured.

Personally I wish I still had that car and frankly even the old Ford truck and the Corvair. I have many memories of my cars and years working in the automotive service industry. 

After college I worked as an auto mechanic at a British car dealership. I drove and worked on Jaguars, Lotus, MG’s and Triump TR6 sports cars. It was hard work but I made good money for a first job. The sports cars were fun to drive. I liked the TR6 cars the most. One of the most comfortable and quiet cars I’ve ever driven is a Jaguar  XJS 4 door sedan. They were a great road car.

I hope you enjoyed this story. I’m sure many of you have stories like this of cars or trucks you wish you still had. We would love to hear your story!

Please share this with your friends or family. Help us spread the word about the Auto Owner Story podcast so we can get some more fun car stories.

If you’re open to sharing a story please go to the Auto Owner Story website and click on the Schedule a Call link in the menu at the far right.

We can talk on the phone, connect via email to set up a time to do a trial recording or just record your story.

Additional Resources:

Gayle’s First Cars Story

My First Vehicle 1954 Ford Truck

I bought the 2003 Buick LeSabre used with 18,000 miles. It has been one of the most reliable cars I’ve ever owned. It’s like that TV commercial from years ago for the Timex watch. It just keeps on ticking! It’s got 343,452 miles and every time someone goes out to use it starts and runs with virtually no problems.

It’s been semi-retired for years so it sits a lot but when needed it’s ready to go.

My family has used the Buick as a back up vehicle for situations when someone needs transportation while their car is being worked on. My wife likes to use it for short runs in town rather than taking the truck.

The car is a white four door with cloth interior. It has A/C, cruise control, electric windows and locks. It’s a Custom model car but fully loaded. The engine is the famous 3.8L 3800. I believe it’s the best engine GM has ever made. The engine has a lot of miles but it’s as reliable as it can be.

There are slight engine oil leaks but it never needs to have oil added between oil changes. I have replaced some gaskets for oil leaks over the years but the car is 17 years old so that is expected.

A comfortable car for long road trips

I was a sales representative for 15 years. Southern Idaho and eastern Oregon are located in the northwest part of the U.S. The area is sparsely populated. Both states have a lot of farms, agriculture and open rangeland. 

Living in Boise Idaho I was centrally located in my territory. Travel times to the far edges of my area were five hours in each direction.

I was successful in my position but to do that it required a lot of windshield time, meaning I was always driving to my next sale.

I chose the LeSabre because it has a long wheelbase compared to many front wheel drive cars. That makes them a very stable and comfortable road car. Something needed when you are driving eight to ten hours a day on the road. The other thing I liked about this car is the abundance of legroom for my 6’ 2” body. There was plenty of room to spread out and move around while driving.

Having been a mechanic and technician for many years I knew the value of maintenance. Oil changes, transmission flushes, coolant services were always done as needed. Even with maintenance the car still needed repair work at times like water pumps, transmission repairs, axle bearings, etc.

The body has been great. Doors and windows all work well. The paint looks good. 

The brake pulsation problem that wouldn’t go away

One of the common problems I had was disc brake rotor warping. It caused that pulsation you get when you apply the brakes. I would have a repair shop turn the front rotors and install new brake pads to fix the problem. The next time it needed fixed I’d just replace the rotors and pads.

I started having an intermittent pulsation problem that varied by the type of road surface. It confused me, and two of my shops, for several years. They turned rotors, replaced rotors and checked everything they could think of on the brakes. They couldn’t fix it. One day I was at one of the shops getting an oil change and a new mechanic checked my front end. He found a loose ball joint. We discussed it and determined it could be the cause of my brake problem.

I wanted to get a second opinion from a suspension mechanic so I had a tire store look at it. That turned into a fiasco because the young mechanic who check it said the ball joint was good but that it had a bad steering tie rod end. So I went across the street to another tire store to have them check it. They said the tie rod was okay but the ball joint was bad.

Those are the type of things that happen in the auto repair industry. All service industries have those types of problems. They’re the result of lack of training and education. It’s common in small businesses because it’s hard to spend the time training front line employees. That is not an excuse though. There is a lot of room for improvement.

So I went back to the first tire store and talked to the manager. I wasn’t upset, I just wanted an accurate diagnosis so it could get fixed.

The lead mechanic raised the car. Determined the ball joint was bad and brought me out to the shop to show me the joint. It was bad. They replaced both lower ball joints and aligned the car. The brake pulsation was finally fixed! 

Conclusion:

So my high mileage Buick just keeps on going.

I just keep doing a little maintenance to the car. I pay the minimal car insurance bill. When my wife or family member needs it, it’s ready to go.

I wanted to tell this story because it’s an example of the type of car stories I’m looking for on the Auto Owner Story podcast. If you have a story about a car you had or have now that is interesting or funny we would like to hear it. 

Maybe you have had an experience with a shop where they went above and beyond the norm that you could share with us. 

I do have another podcast and website called Auto Shop Connection. I would like to get auto repair shop stories for that podcast. If you are interested in sharing go to Auto Shop Connection and click the Schedule a Recording link.

Sharing positive automotive stories are good for all of us to hear. Most of us are aware of the negative experiences many have had getting their car fixed. We’re not looking for those.

For many of us a first car experience can turn into a great story. Many people name their vehicles. The name may come from its appearance or some other situation that brings out a unique name. We would love to hear your first car story.

If you like these car stories please share them with a friend or family member.

If you’re willing to share you can contact me to schedule an initial informational call or to record your story.