2018 F250 FTX 6.7 Powerstroke
My current truck. I bought this one in 2019 from Hobblit Ford in Colusa CA. I was searching for this specific model and found it about 50 minutes from my house, and also the only one in California.
This is #240/500 made that year from Tuscany Ford. Most people do not know what it is by looking at it and assume that I did all of the after market mods myself.
The modifications that Tuscany did to this truck are Shelby hood, Amp motorized running boards, tuned shocks, 6″ lift, carbon fiber package interior, blackout paint on mirrors, grill, front bumper, side skirts, light bar, 37″ Toyo MT rubber, fender flares and graphics.
I added the shell, carpet kit, storage and power run to the bed. Last mod done to it was the Putco illuminated logo on the front grill. I love this rig! It goes almost anywhere and looks good doing it. It makes me not mind the 13MPG that I average.
2018 Ford Raptor
My Raptor was purchased new from Redwood Ford in Ukiah CA. It was fully loaded with the optional paint upgrade. Never understood why deep red on some manufacturers vehicles cost extra, but in any event this is called Ruby Red.
The only mods I did on this one was a tune using the Diablo programmer and painting the bead locks yellow. For those that are old enough it reminds me of the hotdog cart color scheme in Windows 3.1, but perhaps I just dated the shit out of myself.
This truck was amazing at everything it did. For a truck this size it was actually very nimble in corners and I have tested that part quite a bit here in Clearlake on Highway 20. I never once felt out of control of the vehicle and it was just a blast to drive.
It also had no issues towing what I needed to tow with it. Including a Bass boat, Pontoon boat and a bunkhouse travel trailer. When I was towing them I would forget they were there for the most part since it had ample power to muscle through all of it uphill.
I am more of a fan of what you do not see on the road which is why I traded it in on the FTX. Certain towns you visit Raptors are a dime a dozen and everyone has them which sucked the special out of it for me.
2018 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2
I bought the ZR2 because.. well… Look at it! The lines were sexy, the color was phenomenal and the stance just looks REALLY aggressive.
The truck itself was fantastic, but there were certain things that just grew to bug the shit out of me that I thought when I bought it I could live with.
The entertainment center was a lot smaller than I was used to coming from other vehicles and I found myself fumbling around with it.
It had remote start, however no proximity sensor for unlock so you had to use the key fob in order to unlock it which just seems archaic with the technology vehicles come with now. It did have a button on the handle to push and lock it while going into the store so at least there was that.
The BIGGEST annoyance was using a key! I know that seems petty, but once you get used to pushing the start button it is impossible to go back and pissed me off every time I got into it and had to unclip the keys from my lanyard that I keep around my neck. That is what brought me to sell it.
The good things about it were the chase rack with lights up top. Reminded me of Back to the Future Toyota that Marty McFly came back to. Always wanted that truck with the KC lights. The matching spare in the bed of the truck and the aggressive looks to the ride. Plenty of power to merge (albeit nothing in comparison with the Raptor) and the handling was good.
2016 Corvette C7 Z06/Z07
My baby girl! I LOVED this car. She NEVER saw rain and always sat on Racedeck flooring in the garage when she was parked.
This was my 2016 Z06 with Z07 track package and 3LZ option group. She was Longbeach Red which looked amazing in the sun.
650HP 650LBFT and was an absolute exhilarating experience to drive. The only time I heard the tires make a peep was when I hit a bump taking a corner and she skipped. Other than that you could throw this in and out of corners like a mad man. I got a steal on this ride and because I did not option it I had to deal with an automatic. It was the only Corvette that I have owned that has not been a manual which I am sure that the tires appreciated. Speaking of tires it came with the Pilot sport cup 2’s. Everyone that saw them thought that I had been burning the shit out of them, and I had to let them know that is how they came from factory and they look like they are bald from the factory.
Miss you Lacy!
2016 Ford Explorer Sport
I know what you are thinking. Corvettes and an SUV? I purchased this for one reason… storage.
When I was going to visit Clearlake I bought a fishing inflatable boat with trolling motor etc. No where near enough room in the Corvette to get all of the stuff loaded.
It was a great SUV! Technology, handling, storage, I had no complaints whatsoever about this purchase. This one even had DVD screens in the headrests for back seat passengers, however I did not play a single DVD and I do not recall ever having anyone back there. The seats were down the whole time I owned it.
OK, I guess I do have one complaint, but it has nothing to do with the SUV. It is the drivers that see this in the mirror and think you are PD. I could never go anywhere without people slowing down to the speed limit in front of me.
2016 Corvette C7 Z51
This was Lucy. She was a 2016 Corvette C7 Z51 3LT package in Velocity Yellow. This was an amazing car that was a blast to drive. It was a manual 6 speed with rev match. When you turn the rev match on and down shift the computer would match the RPM with the current speed which made a symphony of sounds that I can’t explain in words.
When I first saw the C7 I hated it. This is not a Corvette! They ruined it. Look at those stupid fucking tail lights! It looks like Alice Cooper is crying! However when I stopped looking at it as a purist and focused on the sexy lines and attention to detail though functionality it bit me. It was the next generation and even though it looked like a Ferrari on a budget I fell in love with the new design.
2012 Corvette C6 Grandsport
My first foray into the world of Corvettes. This one was a Grandsport with the LS3 motor in it.
I put a ton of cash into the motor on this ride. I had it supercharged with an Edelbrock stage 2 kit, new trunnions and custom tuned on the dyno. We blew out a catalytic convertor on one side on the second pull on the dyno so I drilled them out (shhh don’t tell the DMV!)
In the end I got about 510WHP out of it and never did install the Z06 full exhaust kit. Anyone want to purchase that?
2015 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport
This was another ride I put a bunch of money into. The mods I added where 3″ Fox with remote res coil overs, Allpro front bumper, Allpro rock rails, Allpro expedition leaf packs, Hella 6″ lights and bed mounted tool box.
This truck was fun to go wheeling in, but did not have the A-trac option that the TRD Offroad does which makes a huge difference off road.
This one also had a key for the ignition, but at the time I had not been ruined to it with push button starts.
It was a great truck and very comfortable to make long Bay Area commutes in. In retrospect, when I bought it they had a bunch of RBP emblems on it. Rims, logos, nerf bars. It was only after I bought it that I found out it meant Rolling Big Power which of course belongs to diesels and bigger trucks. Not a Toyota with a V6.
2015 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
What can I say about this purchase? First, that is not a picture of mine as there was nothing special about it.
Mine was the rag top, completely stripped and I bought it as a commuter since my FJ only got about 10MPG and I had a two hour commute one way every day. The Mini Cooper was supposed to fit this need, but with the long commute the Mini was just uncomfortable. Do English people have skinny asses?
You know how you are in line to check out and they have the impulse products next to the register? This was my car version of Skittles. Wasn’t craving them when I came in, but might as well go ahead and get them anyway.
This car was also when I learned the truth about sales tactics and the “if I could get this at a payment that you could afford…”
It was bare boned as in manual crank windows, manual push button door locks, no entertainment system, cheap everything ride. The only good thing was taking off the doors and putting the top down to commute. Other than that I hated every single thing about it. This was by far the shortest time I have ever owned a vehicle. It was gone within 6 months. Buh-bye cheap Jeep!
2010 Mini Cooper S
Fun car! I bought this one originally to commute in and have some fun while doing it. The whine of the super charger was great. The handling was awesome. You really felt that you couldn’t go too fast into corners because it was just on rails.
I really can’t get across how much fun this was to drive. It was just so planted to the road and the fact that it was a manual just made it even better!
Now for the bad. You knew there had to be something right? It was not comfortable on long trips in the slightest. I mean I would actually get to my destination and my hips would hurt so bad I would limp into the office. This along with the fact that it was made by BMW which meant that head gasket is inevitable made my decision for me so I sold it.
2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser
I spent many hours wheeling this in Hollister CA. Not once did it even come close to failing me.
Mods I did. 6″ lift, ARB roof rack, IPF lights, high lift jack and shovel mount, 35″ Toyo MT, matching spare, fender flares, 2000W amp with DVD BT stereo, 15″ sub, Uniden bearcat CB.
With this rig I ended up joining the Norcal FJ group. We went on many outings (mostly wheeling in Hollister) and I got to be part of a group because of this truck.
One of the outings we did was for a little kids 5th birthday party. His Mom put out a post on craigslist asking if anyone that owned one could come by the party and that his favorite color was “lellow.” We rolled in about 20 FJ’s deep and the look on the little tikes face was priceless.
It was after this truck that I started to join forums to do get togethers, but none were as cool as this group of owners. If you ever meet Potato tell him Tonka says hello.
2001 Black Mustang Bullitt
People who have seen the movie will know that the original color is green, however mine was in black. It was #303 made and unfortunately it has a sad story after I sold it.
After I sold it I received a notice in the mail that it had been reported stolen. Apparently the new owners got it back but totaled the car and it ended up being parted out. Here is the link to the owners registry.
This car was the beginning of the retro era revival. It had interior pieces that made it look like the original car like the speedo, seats etc.
It was a completely different feel than the regular GT back in the day and you just never saw them in the wild. It actually started going up in value before they announced they were going to do a remake of it which is when I sold it. The value started really tanking on that news from Ford.
1994 Mustang Cobra SVT5.0
I was so proud of this car. Back when I owned it, this turned heads like crazy.
Mods included Eibach springs, Koni adjustable shocks, long tube headers, BBK CAI, after market headlights with clear markers, MP3 stereo with kicker sub, white guages, LED lighting (yeah I know, but it was huge back then) and aftermarket body kit with hood.
When I bought it there was a totally different kit on it. One day a coworker came to my cube and told me he backed into my car with his RAM truck. Turns out the tow hitch put a hole in the fiberglass rear bumper, so I had to get a whole new one since they no longer made that kit. It was in the shop for so long that I ended up buying the Bullitt because I could no longer stand the rental.
Many donuts happened in this car!
1999 Dodge Durango
This is not a picture of mine. It was all black however.
Mods included 3″ suspension lift, 3″body lift, custom chrome push bar, chrome side steps, chrome rims, 33″ MT, flowmasters and blacked out headlights.
This was the only ride I have ever had repossessed. In 2002 the .com bomb went off and everyone canceled orders. I owned my own company E-mem International at the time and I had everything blow up with the business. Parts that I paid $16.50 for went down to a value of $0.87 in one night (I had a couple hundred thousand of them in stock) and with all of my orders canceled I was forced to close the doors and sell all of them to make payroll and give severance package to my employees so they were not left high and dry.
As for the truck I was so proud driving it around. It certainly turned heads and you could hear the 360 with Flowmasters and tire noise coming from a mile away.
1994 Ford Probe SE
My first new car! I think it was about $15k OTD back then from the dealer with my credit at the time.
I was so excited the first night it was in my driveway I seem to recall sleeping in it. Ahh the new car smell!
I actually kept this car until 2013. Some jackass teenager with no insurance t-boned me on the freeway doing 65 and pushed me into the guard rail which totaled it. *safety note: always keep steering into the guardrail so you do not bounce back into traffic and take your thumbs out of the wheel!) Thankfully I knew this and did just that which probably saved me from further carnage and saved my thumbs*
There was nothing special about the car beyond the new car smell and the looks at the time. It looked like a space ship back then and you did not see many on the road at the time.
1988 Ford Taurus
Mine was actually silver/grey. It was ugly and no frills, but it got me where I was going.
It had quite a bit of space which is exactly what I needed at the time. I would go to band practice 4 nights a week and I was able to fit a full stack in the back without a problem.
In the end it died and was a trade in on the Probe for $500. It was a good car at the time and certainly served its purpose.
1994 Renault Fuego
Hell yeah baby! Cars of the future! This car was sporty looking as anything around.
OK, not really.. It was actually a total POS, but what do you expect from the same company that brought you the LeCar.
I have fond memories of this ride overheating on ANY hill. I had this car when I was in the California Conservation Corpse and drove it from San Luis Obispo CA to San Jose CA on a monthly basis which meant climbing an incline on the drive. My passengers knew they were in for a special treat when I would crank the heater on a 100+ degree day to make it up without pulling on to the shoulder to let it cool down. Ahh the good old days…
1978 Dodge Colt
While the picture is not mine (there was no smart phones back then) I think it does this car justice for what a steaming pile of shit it was.
While there is not much to say about this vehicle, it was part of my line up for cars I owned.
The good was that the price was right. This was back when you could buy a car out of the local paper from a section call $500 or less.
I think I paid about $400 for it at the time and it ran like total garbage. I did a full tune up on it. Wires, distributor cap and some liquid magic in a bottle for the stale fuel. Oddly enough it was one of the few cars from back then that did not over heat, so it also had that going for it.
Aside from that it was just ugly. Stains everywhere inside. Missing stripping. Tears in all of the seats etc.
1967 Impala SS 327
This was my first true love. I bought this one from the $500 or less section. I negotiated the seller down to $350 due to the fact that it needed to have the carb rebuilt or be replaced.
Mods include baby moon rims, new JVC stereo, back seat was removed for a custom built speaker box. I built that one myself and used home stereo speakers in it. It was the epitome of everything that was wrong with teens back then. The 327 was bored over .60, gauges to monitor oil pressure and temp etc., hooker long tube headers, california red glass packs, Edelbrock manifold, Edelbrock valve covers, Edelbrock high rise air filter and a refurbished Rochester 4BBL carb.
*The replacement of the carb was the downfall of this car. When I replaced it, I first removed all the vacuum lines etc. and then unbolted the old carb. When I pulled the old one off I heard a tink, tink, tink and thought to myself “ohh please let that not be a washer that just fell into the manifold.”
Upon further inspection it was indeed a washer that feel off the top. I looked under the car to see if maybe it fell through and landed on the ground (wishful thinking on my part.) Low and behold I found one that matched perfectly! Unfortunately for me I worked on the Nova in the driveway as well and in the back of my mind I knew it was not the one.
So I went about bolting on the new one, hooking up all the lines etc. and then jumped into the drivers seat to start the beast and hopefully hear everything grunt to life once again. Please God, please don’t let that washer be sitting in my manifold waiting like a little ticking time bomb!
I turned the key and hoped for the best. reer, reer, VROOM followed almost immediately by ting, ting, POP and blue smoke filled my driveway. I unleashed what I can only describe as a tongue tantrum…
So now for the damage. I worked night and day on it to no avail. Everything I replaced just revealed more damage this little tiny seemingly insignificant part did to the insides.
The journey it took was down into the head. The valve opened and let this little bastard into the cylinder where the piston to out all the years of built up aggression on it. The piston turned it into a bunch of smaller demons that found their way to the side of it. There went the ring and the cylinder wall. Then a bigger chunk found a good home under2 main bearings making quite the deep grooves in them as the crank shaft spun. Once they had the motor a full frontal lobotomy they all decided that the meeting place would be the oil pan for a nice after party.
RIP 327 # matching Impala SS.
1973 Nova SS 350
This was more of a donor car for my 1969 Nova non SS.
It was in no where near the shape of the pic here. It was the same brown, but it had been rode hard and put away wet.
I saw it in a driveway and went to the door to see if he would be interested in getting rid of it. I explained that I had a 1969 Nova with a straight 6 250 and that I was planning on swapping the motors out. He told me that if I could get it off his property I could just have it. So the price was certainly right.
I grabbed a friend and we tied a rope to the front of the frame to pull home. We made it, but that shit would never fly today. Talk about asking to be pulled over for being unsafe. It never did get swapped as you will read in the next recount of the 69.
1969 Nova 250
This is another pic that does not match.
Mine was a nice baby shit green spray paint color.
This ride was my first experience with customizing and boy did I go nuts with nonsense.
I started with Jasco paint remover and then started to primer with Rustoleum black, but I never finished it so it was half black and the other half that shitty green I mentioned. I thought that a snorkel would look awesome on it so I got a 9″ snorkel and put it on with rivets and blue RTV to hold it together. I was at a stop sign one day and a cop looked over to see this HUGE snorkel on the hood that I could barely see around. He slowed down and you could tell he was listening for something with substance under the hood. All I could provide him with was the soothing sound of a straight 6 with the stock single pipe exhaust. He actually was visibly laughing as he drove off. What a fucker…
Being totally humiliated I decided it was time to do the swap. You will give me the damn respect I deserve!
Cherry pickers were expensive and no one rented them so I bought a come along and devised a plan that I would use the tree in the front yard to pull the motor. To my amazement it actually worked. but now I have the 6 swinging from the tree and no way to get the 350 out and put back in.
So while I saved up for a cherry picker the interior carpet needed attention. The carpet was worn badly so I decided to replace it. Problem was I did not have a replacement, but there was a carpet place up the street. Surely they would have some remnants that would work! So after digging through their dumpster for a while I found a nice large piece of red indoor carpet that would look cool. Turns out house carpet does not go very well in a car. I managed to get it in with hours of trimming and grunting, but it was a tad on the deep side as you can imagine. It looked like crap in my car, but my thoughts went to how awesome it must look in Pimpy Joes shaggin’ pad decked out with bright red carpet.
It was towed before I did the swap and that was probably for the best.
1979 Honda Accord
Where it all began. My very first car!
While it does not look like much, it was my first ride. Ohh the freedom ye’ shall bring!
I actually used this more parked in front of the house. I got it at the ripe old age of 14 and it would sit until I got my license (which I didn’t get until I was 18.)
I have fond memories of this car from sitting in it and day dreaming of all the places I would take it while being full of teenager angst listening to Pink Floyd The Wall on repeat.
Those dreams never actually came to fruition as I sold it to a friend. She was 16 and had her license so we went everywhere in that car. It is how I learned how to work on cars out of necessity because of how many times it broke down.
We ended up taking a road trip in it from San Jose CA to Marquette MI. I had a plan to go live with my Dad and we left in the middle of the night in February. Being a kid, I did not think about what the journey entailed in Winter.
In the Rockies we broke down because the catalytic convertor blew a hole in the side. We chewed a huge mouth full of Hubba Bubba bubble gum and I used it to fuse the hole closed. It worked, but that was far from the biggest problem.
The clutch would go out. This meant that you could go through all of the gears and it would never engage the transmission. I turns out there is a little clutch piston on the side of the transmission that when the clutch is depressed the piston pulls out and when you re-engage the clutch it is supposed to go back in. The going back in was the issue, so we would have to use the tire iron in the trunk to pop the piston back over so it would slide in, then bleed the lines in order to get it working again. Until you bled the system the clutch would not work. Did you know you can drive a manual with no clutch? Me either. So we would pull up to a light and turn it off. Then put it into first and start it… Jerk, jerk, jerk and drive. Let off the gas and force it into second. Griiiiiiind, thunk second gear. Repeat into 5th.
We scraped together enough change to get a 32nd of a tank at the beginning of Michigan and it made it all the way to my dads place in Marquette. It actually ran out of gas as we pulled into the driveway.
RIP Honda Accord.