The Beast

Thursday my wife says -There is going to be a car show at Rouer's in town on Saturday. I saw a flyer on the bulletin board at the grocery store and at the post office. You should take The Beast over there if the weather is nice.

The Beast happens to be a 1968 Pontiac LeMans. I'm the second owner and I've now owned it longer than the first owner.

Pontiac's Tempest line included the Tempest, LeMans and GTO.

My Car has a 350 engine and a two-speed slush box transmission. It is also a rag top.

It's called The Beast because only a beastly car would guzzle gasoline like this one and handle like a large pile of wet bread dough.

But that's how Detroit built their cars back then. Big and fast and short on the finesse.

Anyway, Retro Modz & Rodz is the local car club and this was their second annual car show hosted by Rouer's Grand Slam.

You talk about perfect weather! Sunny and not too hot. $2 burgers and $2 Millers in a frosty 16 ounce aluminum bottle. My garden was in so I'm all over this.

I pulled-off The Beast's shroud, retracted the top, dusted it-off and fired it up!

Ooooh baby. Just listen to that rumble.

Close the back door - you're going to make the house stink!

This was also the era before emission controls.














We counted about 75 entries for the show in this little burg. If my math is correct that would make the ownership of collector cars pretty close to two-tenths of one percent.

I wonder what it is elsewhere?

This guy drove his dragster from the shop a couple of blocks down the road.

I thought this 1956 Chevy was the best of show. I was wrong.















Chevy Malibu. Get the impression that I am partial to red cars?














1967 Pontiac Firebird.














1962 Chevy II Nova. I owned one of these in college. I paid $50 for it. Naturally it wasn't as show-worthy as this.














Here it is - The Beast.














So - I bring you the start-up sequence for a 1968 Pontiac GTO.

This is muscle car porn so don't let your wife catch you watching...