New in Florida!

[FloridaFordGuy]

Greetings from Tampa Bay!

What a great site! I've been on for about a month and have already found so much that has helped with my new project. The VIN decoder is incredible! My thanks to all who have contributed.

I doubt I'm alone in saying that my interest in a car or truck is not so much about the attributes of the vehicle, but far more so the personal and even spiritual relationship that I have developed for that ride. I still have the car I grew up in, a '71 Buick GS convertible that was my father's first new car. One of my earliest memories is of standing in the gravel lot at the dealership in upstate New York and watching my father start it for the first time. Exciting stuff for a four year old. Even though I have owned it for more years than my father, now long since passed away, I will always feel like I'm 'borrowing the old man's car' when I take it out on the weekends. I can roll down the road and still feel what it was like to sit next to him in the middle of the bench seat, waiting for the moment when there were no other cars on the road so he could scoot me up onto his lap and let me steer.

I've come to FORDification.com through a similar connection. My wife's brother Stephen, older than her by a decade, was in the Air Force in Montana in 1977 when he bought a 1970 Ford F-250 4x4. A good vehicle to have there in the winter, I imagine. When his service was up in '79, he drove it back home to Houston and enrolled in college. Six months later, at 23, he was hit and killed by a drunk driver while walking home after a class. His truck sat in his parent's barn for over thirty years until my 16 year old nephew got hold of it and started 'rednecking' it. Now out of high school with a new truck and other interests that don't involve this old F-250, he was planning to sell it to someone in the neighborhood last month until I got wind of it. After a check and a piggy-back ride to Bradenton, Stephen's truck now has a new home:

Ford.jpg

I've had more than a few commuter cars, vehicles that served an important purpose but to which I had no great emotional attachment. First cars are rarely that. Like that first girlfriend, they embody all the pent up dreams and passions of our imaginations that have now become reality. More than at any other time, they stand as a testimony to who we are, not just where we're going. I immediately fell in love with my first, and I have to assume that the same was true for Stephen and this Ford. Having his old truck is the one opportunity I have to get to know him.

My plan is to restore it back to its former self as best as possible, so there is much work ahead! My thanks again to those who manage this site and to all the contributors. Your answers to my future questions are greatly appreciated!

[lennyp]

from Massachusetts. Nice truck.

[Mancar1]

Welcome aboard from Gerber, Ca. Enjoy that Ford and keep on Trucking........John

[jimmy828]

from Asheville,NC

[SeapineF37]

from sarasota and kudos for saving that beauty. always nice to know of more florida members. all the best on your project and look forward to catching in person sometime... cheers!

[fireguywtc]

from Alabama!

[sargentrs]

Welcome from Georgia!