I don't really know why I appreciate lowriders so much....I live in
the Midwest, and the lowrider society didn't exactly originate around here. There's just a bunch of corn. : )
I know a few people who own lowriders - actually just a couple guys with mini-trucks in my old town.
Their trucks are cool, but the big, lowridin' cruisers from the 60's and 70's are what I've always liked, as
you'll see.
My first car was a 1983 Buick Park Avenue that had previously been owned by a family with two kids.
While it was a nice car, there was taffy stuck down in the carpet, some of the interior lights
didn't work, detail stuff like that. However, it was a big car and a two-door. I soon bought
some old American Racing mag wheels from a friend of mine and it was then that I realized how much better the car looked.
Unfortunately, the feeling didn't last a long time- one day a woman in a 1989 Chevy Astro pulled out onto a rural
highway in front of me, and that was all she wrote for my '83 Buick. I walked away from the crash, but my car wasn't so lucky.
My second car was a 1973 Buick Electra 225. It was stock when I got it with the original paint
(shown top left), original-style Buick rims, everything except for the Alpine tape deck the owner had graciously installed. That was only a premonition
for the stereo system to come, then and later. After I bought the 225, it had a complete makeover! Besides the stereo, I had it painted (of course) Dark Emerald Metallic (bottom right picture), put on ARE chrome rims with gold spinners on
Performance Radial GT tires, had the transmission rebuilt, all new steering, all new brakes, replaced head gasket (and other internal engine
work) and there were so many other extras (fog lights, interior mood lights, tinted windows, etc.) that it would take me all day to list them!
But my second car was sold when I was faced with an automotive opportunity that I just couldn't turn down....
My current pride & joy, a 1969 Pontiac Executive, is in totally original condition with no rust, a spotless 400 c.i. engine, and get this - 56,000 miles (a mere 38K when I bought it)! Picking up the car was an 11 hour roadtrip and we got snowed in (in April '97!) for an extra night, but hey- I can't have it all, right? Actually, the owner agreed to meet me halfway between Illinois and South Dakota (the town of Newton, Iowa). As much as I would have liked to preserve the "virgin state" of this automobile, we all know that couldn't happen exactly like that. Take a look at my Pontiac Excitement page for current pictures and lots of other info on my car!
Going back a little:
About ten months after I bought my '73 Electra, I purchased a used motorcycle.
Used, but not abused, let me assure you. Let me also say that it was all legal-
I had completed a state-recommended motorcycle safety course and obtained my
Illinois Class M license, and I always wore a helmet. Anyway, the bike was a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6 and it pains me
to discuss what happened to it a mere ten days after I bought it. From that intro,
you can probably guess, but read more about it here in a little story I wrote about
the incident for my English 101 course. Send me some e-mail and tell me what you think (my instructor gave me an 'A')!
I've actually found that I enjoy the show more now since the reruns
came on TNN, than I did when I was just a tot. To show my patronage to the Dukes, I
even installed a "Dixie" horn on my 1969 Pontiac Executive!
If you're reading this, you probably already know about the show, but here's a quick overview. Bo and Luke Duke were two
good ol' boys (as the theme song states) living on the Duke farm in Hazzard, Georgia. They lived with their Uncle Jesse Duke
and their cousin Daisy Duke (who actually did have the shorts named after her for obvious reasons). Also in town
was Cooter Davenport, owner and operator of the Hazzard Garage. Cooter could and did fix anything and everything
that needed fixin' in Hazzard County. Last came Boss Hogg, the county commissioner, and his right-hand dipstick- Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane. Boss's only goal in Hazzard County was to rip off everyone that crossed his fat path
in order to make even more money (along with Roscoe's help). The Duke boys always seemed to get in the way, however, so
all three members of the Hazzard County PD were usually intent on catching the Duke gang and sending them up the river!
I've actually got my own information on the "Evolution of Police Lights"- it's pretty interesting even if you've never really cared what kind of lights were
flashing in your rearview mirror!
Police and emergency vehicles today have so many warning lights that they're impossible to miss. If you're familiar
with Gall's public safety catalog, you know what I mean. Where J.C. Whitney sells automotive accessories, Gall's sells police
accessories. If you don't have one and police paraphanalia interests you at all, get a free copy from the Gall's website.
The Dukes have a special place in my heart. I remember watching and loving the show when I was a kid, like many other people my age (guys and girls alike).
Bo and Luke were my ultimate heroes, and let's not forget the greatest car to ever tear up the streets
of Hollywood, the General Lee!
Not that guy...this one!
Just looking at that beautiful piece of machinery brings a tear to my eye. ;~ ) A 1969 Dodge Charger R/T with 440 Magnum V-8. 
The predictable plots of Boss and Roscoe trying to nail Bo and Luke Duke still bring a smile to my face.
I also get a rush from watching the General Lee fly over every known obstacle in Hazzard County in the
boys' never-ending quest to shake Roscoe or whoever else seems to be chansing them. Come to think of it,
many jumps took place when Bo and Luke were chasing someone... and of course the only way to cut them off
was to fly over whatever car, truck, house, barn, roadblock, river, lake, valley, or construction site was in front of them
in order to block the road.
The U.S.P.D.
Here's another topic with a mysterious origin. I never lived next door to a police station, no one in my family has been a police officer, and I never had any close interaction (positive or negative) with any police agencies as a kid. Yet, I think that law enforcement and police-related stuff is so cool (especially police and other emergency vehicles...read on)!