<VV> Movie stars-of CARS 2 - (no Corvair)

[Ray Rodriguez III]

Just wanted to give you a little piece of my history on this one.  We had a 
red 78 Gremlin X with white stripes and black interior in the garage that my 
father bought new for the first 9 or so years of my life.. the car arrived 
before I did as I was born in 80.  Near the end of this time period we 
picked up a second Gremlin.. in yellow!!! but not an X.  Both had the 6 
banger.

Well in around 89 while sitting at a stop sign in the red car with my father 
(I was sitting in the back on top of the folded down seat) my father spotted 
a tri-axle dump speeding toward the intersection which at the moment was 
clogged with cars.  He reacted quickly and backed about 30 feet back before 
we got hit broadside.  The driver knew he couldn't possibly stop and was 
going to slam into the cars in the intersection so he left the road 
intentionally, accross someones front yard, through the wall of shrubbery, 
and came flying out of the shrubs 15 feet to our left.  This was a tri-axle 
dump with a full load later estimated to have been traveling at about 70mph 
by the police investigators.

Apparently we spun quite a few times before coming to a rest against an 
embankment but it all happened so fast I really couldn't say... all I know 
is when it was over I was still sitting on the package tray gripping the 
passenger seat, completely unscathed.  My father (the hit was driver side) 
was just bruised up and had some cuts from the glass shattering.  That was 
the end of our Gremlin X =(.

Also of note we never did get any insurance payout.  The dump truck belonged 
to a company that had gone out of business roughly a week before the 
incident and was consequently uninsured.  The driver was supposedly 
completely unaware that the truck had no insurance.. it was a fine legal 
mess and my father dropped the case before he racked up any crazy legal 
costs.

A couple years later my father gave the yellow Gremlin to my aunt who was in 
need of a car as a gift and picked up something he liked better (he was 
always a Cadillac guy).  My aunt destroyed the car within a couple years.

Ray "Grymm" Rodriguez III
Lake Ariel, PA
66' Corsa 140 coupe
63' Monza PG (winter driver)
65' Corsa 140 coupe  (under construction)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tony Underwood" <tony.underwood at cox.net>
To: "Jay Pitchford" <jay.pitchford at gmail.com>; <Sethracer at aol.com>
Cc: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>; <fastvair at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2011 2:34 AM
Subject: Re: <VV> Movie stars - of CARS 2 - (Thank goodness, no Corvair)


> At 06:56 PM 2/25/2011, Jay Pitchford wrote:
>>OUCH ... time warp!
>>
>>In 1978  had a '74 Gremlin X, 304 V8 and (dig this ....) denim-covered
>>seats and door panels, complete with Levi's orange tags. Mine was baby
>>blue with the white hugger stripes. G50s rear, E60s front on American
>>Racing cyclone-style aluminum spokes.
>>
>>What a hoot!
>
>
> '74 Gremlin-X loaded, roof rack, alloy wheels, disks, 304, orange
> with hockeystick.   Sounded like a Mach-1 Mustang.   Extremely nice
> all-original shape.   Sold a while back for a tidy sum.
>
> '73 Gremlin-X Levi-Edition (which included blue paint and denim
> upholstery and trim with LEVI badges on front fenders).   232
> 6-cyl/Auto, white hockey stick, but no roof rack.  Still have that
> one, in storage.   Has a Camaro radiator in it, of all things,
> courtesy of yours truly.   Ever try to find a radiator for a Gremlin?
>
> Gremlins are cool.
>
>
>
> tony..
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