One of my dream cars has been a '69 Mustang Convertible since I first saw one as a kid when they came out. I can't imagine owning a hanger so full of classic and/or antique cars that you need to stack them up. I definitely have car envy at the moment. Dang!

Back when I was in school. I had two close friends who both drove 1968 red Mustangs, they were older "used cars" at the time. And a third had a 1967 yellow convertible - and she couldn't even drive yet, was planning to learn, LOL. How amazing it would be if they'd held on to them... I love vintage cars. We have a lot of car shows around here so I see them on the road.

many are used as every day transportation.

Hubby and I are seriously considering getting an older car as our second car. He grew up as a 'shade tree' mechanic fixing and tweaking the older cars (not to mention farm equipment), even one of his degrees is as a transportation engineer, and I learned how to do a lot on the older cars because hubby #1 was also a 'shade tree' mechanic, etc so although we 'can' work on the newer ones, we really prefer the older ones for their simplicity and durability and, often, beauty.

In 1979/80 I had a dark green '69 Mustang... I LOVED that thing but the frame cracked and my FIL at the time wouldn't help us fix an 'old car' only get us a newer used one (which ended up being a big lemon). We were young, struggling and had a young child and one on the way so I didn't feel that I had a choice. I loved the man but to this day I still miss that car and get upset thinking about it.

My adoptive dad was the same way about a '72 Le Mans I had, loved and needed help to fix in 1985/86. Old = bad... Newer = good. :sigh: and unfortunately being female, even though I knew more about cars than him and a lot of men back then, didn't help my case any.

The American muscle car era coincided with my late teens and early twenties. I was a Mopar man, but had several friends who were Ford enthusiasts. There were more Chevy fans around than anyone else, but my 1970 340 Duster would generally cross the finish line first against most of them. Thinking about those times really makes me realize what a long, strange trip it's been, and it's not over yet. The things I thought were so important at the time were just a passing fancy really. Some people, like this guy, made it a life's obsession.

Thanks for posting this, Rhiannon. Great memories.

I had three friends in school who had Mustangs - but they weren't "vintage" back then, just an affordable older used car that students used to get around. But these days, when I see one on the road they get my attention!

And my first car was a 1971 Plymouth Duster! I inherited it from my mother when I learned to drive and needed to get to work. My mother got a new car every 10 years, so she passed the Duster on to me. I loved that car! And I'd still have it today if it didn't rust - a hazard of salt on the roads during New York winters - and wouldn't pass inspection. I tried getting it fixed, but I was told it would take too long and they preferred insurance work.

hung on to mine too. I didn't lose mine to rust, I lost it to 3 trees after coming off a dry winter road onto an icy side road. I wasn't going that fast, but "wide ovals" (remember them?) didn't grab well on ice and snow. I had just removed the snow tires (I lived in western New York) and snows were a must in the winter. 1970 Hemi 'Cuda replaced the Duster, and do you know what that car would be worth today? They only made about 650 of them, and I'd sure like to have that in my garage right now. I was never one to amass "things" though, and I sold it in 1977 when I got married. Dumbest move I ever made. The marriage didn't last, but the car is still going strong (the same guy who bought it from me still has it. Lucky stiff!).

Ahhhhh, the "gear head" days. There have been many cars since then, but those two are the only ones that still stick out in my mind.

I hadn't been driving that long and was on my way to lunch with my friend from work when a guy came racing through a red light and hit me broadside. The cops were actually confused about which way we'd been going. My Dad took action for me and got me a lawyer, also found out that this guy (school principal!) had a history of such accidents. We took the guy to court and I won, and though the amount of the settlement didn't cover all the work needed, but I was determined. Another woman I worked with knew a guy who worked out of his house and he did a beautiful job on it, but then came the rust and the terrific repair guy had passed away.

And I know about winter roads, too - Western New York is a nightmare, but it's no picnic here in the Northeast either. I had studded snow tires for my Duster. I remember driving to the garage (remember them? and they also sold gas!) on the last day that they were allowed to be on, but the roads were so bad that when I got there I told them to leave them on...

My daughter graduated from Paul Smith's College, so I spend quite a bit of time in Saranac Lake and Lake Placid. If you're up around the Potsdam, Malone or Plattsburg area I've spent a little time there as well. I'm in the Rochester area. Lake effect snow, you know? It's a hearty breed that can put up with the winters in upstate New York, heh? There's a new movie coming out in November on Showtime about the big Dannemora prison break, starring Benicio del Toro, Patricia Arquette and Paul Dano. Directed by Ben Stiller. I'm looking forward to that since it took up so much of the news in New York for so long.

I'm in Warren County, just north of Glens Falls and south of Lake George, I mainly grew up in Saratoga. The winter last year was a brutal as I can remember, record low temperatures and nor'easters through the month of March. And then there was Hurricane Irene in 2011 which devastated this area.

And of course I'm aware of the prison break, that was big news around here, especially during the manhunt and the aftermath. It sounds like it's well done and it is quite a story, thanks for the heads up!