[Gary Merrick]

My first street car was a 1961 Ford Country Squire - 9 passenger station wagon, with a robin's egg blue Earl Scheib paint job, chrome skirts, and yes, it did have the wood grain on the sides. This was in 1967, so my Dad bought it for me to go to college locally, I think he spent about $650.00 on it. When we test drove it before buying, it was a real slug and could barely get out of its own way (I guess he figured I couldn't screw this thing up, it was bullet proof). I was working at a gas station part time and decided it needed a tune-up, so my buddy and I took a closer look and found out it was a 390 cid, four barrel, dual exhausts, so we did the usual - plugs, dist cap, wires, air cleaner, fuel filter, it ran better, but it was still a pig. At that same time, the family car was a 1964 Ford Galaxy 500 fastback with a 352 - 4 barrel, dual exhausts and for what it was, it would haul, surprised a few people on the street. My brother, who was three years older showed me how you could manually shift the automatic by pulling it all the way into low, put it in drive and then pull it back to low and it would shift to 2nd gear and then shift it again back to drive it and it would go to high. The reason I tell the story about the 64 is that one day I was driving the wagon to work, running late, went to pass somebody, pulled it all the way to low, floored it, the front end jumped up in the air and it started to really haul, shifted the wagon like the 64, it smoked the tires when it went into second and it was like, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This thing is faster than the 64. Finally figured out that the shift linkage was messed up and it was always starting out in 2nd gear, even though though the shifter said it was in Drive, which should have been 1st gear. I did not tell my Dad until years later after the car was gone. He could not understand how the rear tires were only lasting about 8 weeks. Needless to say, I surprised a few GTO's and SS 396 Chevelles for the first 500 feet, of course then it was all over, but that thing sure was a sleeper. Oh, I did take off the chrome skirts before I drove it the first time. LOL

The first race car was a brand new 1969 Yenko Camaro, that was driven on the street to start with and then converted into a drag car over the next several years. This would be a lengthy story, but I will say the first NHRA points meet I went to in Columbus, Ohio, Marty Barrett told me to take my car home and fix about ten things before I could race, which was in 1972. The first NHRA points race I finally got to compete in was at Tri-City later that year, in Saginaw, Michigan and I raced John LIngenfelter first round (quite a story in itself) and Ron Mancini (Hemi-Dart SS/AA) the second round and then we went home, but it was a great day and needless to say the rest is history.