In The Beginning

I have always been a car guy. Always.

When I was four years old our family lived in Corpus Christi, Texas and my father had a new Mustang. So did one of the neighbors. My mother likes to tell how I knew when Dad was coming home because I could tell the difference in sound between his Mustang and the neighbor's Mustang. Later on, I built a ton of model cars. I liked to take parts from different kits and put them together to make my own custom cars. I read all the car magazines, and read all the books in the library about cars. I couldn't wait to get my own first car.

So I was nearly delirious with excitement when in the fall of 1980 my father said I could use some of my summer job money to buy an old car project. I prepared by spending some money on a pair of overalls and some basic hand tools. Then, after about a week of looking, I found a 1970 Dodge Super Bee. It was a real Super Bee, with a 383 and a 727 automatic. It was a total pile but it ran, and I had it towed home. I could hardly wait to dig into it.

About 8 months and at least three small fires later (two carb fires and one complete electrical meltdown) the car was in pieces, and totally undriveable. I was hopelessly in over my head so i decided to sell it. I got about ten cents on the dollar and after it was towed away I couldn't find my tools. I realized I must have left them in the trunk. After getting the new owner on the phone, I asked if he had seen my tools and of  course, he had not.

Thirty years later things have only gotten slightly better and I am still deeply involved in a love hate relationship with old cars. In fact, eight years ago I decided to quit a very decent white collar job to open a business called Schrader's Speed & Style. Now I spend my life restoring, preserving, modifying and creating cars of all types. It is by far the most difficult thing I have ever done and this blog is an attempt to show what it really takes to do this type of work, day in and day out.

Me and my 1966 Dodge Coronet in 1982. It was a real 4 speed, 383 bench seat car. I bought it for $400 and sold it for $1500. I thought I was a genius and that I would make a lot of money doing this stuff. Little did I know.