Topic: THE Car I Searched Little Rock For, Back In Sept Of 1970, To Find My Lady!

[bill440cars]

       Yep, here's Brenda beside HER Gold and white 69' road runner. That was the car I was looking for, when I stupidly let her get away that day and "Didn't Even Get Her Name, Address OR Phone number! Looked for THAT car for a MONTH and thought I'd never see it again! Then, I saw it and had to do some real manuvering to catch up to her. But, I DID and the rest is History!


                                




         And, THIS was the end result, lasting for ALMOST 40yrs! I was THE happiest guy on the Earth that Say (at least I FELT like it!)

                        

[Hush]

Damn that's a big car!

[Ecosse]

that's great bill. cool car and cool lady.

my '68 was the same color and a hardtop too. alas, no pretty girl to go with it.

[Ecosse]

Damn that's a big car!

in the '60's that was a mid-sized car and was good for 14's at the drags with the right gears. america rocks baby!

[bill440cars]

 And, THIS was the end result, lasting for ALMOST 40yrs! I was THE happiest guy on the Earth that Say (at least I FELT like it!)


                 

[bill440cars]

Damn that's a big car!

         They WERE pretty big compared to cars now days, but as Bill (Ecosse) put it, THEY were considered a Mid-size car back then. The Fury was larger. Also, the angle of the shot, made it look even larger.  

[bill440cars]

that's great bill. cool car and cool lady.

my '68 was the same color and a hardtop too. alas, no pretty girl to go with it.

           Yeah, she was PERFECT for me! AND, no one could say I was after her because of her car, cause I had my own 69' road runner! And That always seemed to be proof that WE WERE MADE TO BE TOGETHER!

           And NOW, it just seems so wrong , that she's GONE!    Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want her to be here and suffering and I KNOW that it's all part of Jesus' plan and I'm working to get on with things (til MY time comes), but there are STILL times that set me back! Her birthday (Oct 3) is coming, then there's Thanksgiving (Nov) and Christmas(Dec) and our Wedding Anniversary (Jan) and Valentine's Day (Feb) My Birthday (We always went out to eat a meal, just the 2 of us for 1 meal and with Karla for another) Then Easter(April) and actually everyday that goes by, has a special meaning to me, because SHE was in it!

           Okay, I didn't mean to get off on that, in this thread. I simply MEANT to show her with her car and then the 2 of us getting into MY car, indicating that we'd just become "Mr. and MRS. Bill Van Pelt!  

                               Thank you all for ALL you've done for me, Bill

[333]

Nothing like seeing what you want and then going after it.

[bill440cars]

Nothing like seeing what you want and then going after it.

           No disagreement here!   I dare say that I'll NOT do ANYTHING else that will be ANYWHERE near THAT undertaking! It was CLEARLY meant to be! AND, if I had it to do ALL over again, there IS one change I'd make!



                            I'D HAVE GOTTEN HER NAME, ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER, THE 1ST TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 



                         Then, I'd have been able to have MORE time with her!!!!!!

[Sam Green Racing]

 

[grumburg]

Damn that's a big car!

Only weighed 3450 lbs, same as a 2009 4 cyl Accord. With all the safety and electric gear, new cars have gotten Sooo heavy. The 2010 Taurus SHO weighs 1000 pounds more than the 1989.

[bill440cars]

Damn that's a big car!

Only weighed 3450 lbs, same as a 2009 4 cyl Accord. With all the safety and electric gear, new cars have gotten Sooo heavy. The 2010 Taurus SHO weighs 1000 pounds more than the 1989.

          You know, I never thought about it, but I can imagine that the newer cars DO weigh in pretty hefty. I would give ANYTHING to have those 2 cars back, and not for the actual value. I'd have to build a proper garage for them and take care of them. Course I don't have to worry about that because, I'll never be able to swing the cost of ONE road runner, much less TWO!!!!! And one would have to be a coupe with the other one being a hdtp. I CAN promise you one thing, there was no carbon buildup in that engine of HERS! SHe would ALWAYS claim that hers was faster than mine and I never tried to find out because I didn't want to possibly outrun HER OR find out that hers WAS faster and catch it because of that either.    It's been 2 and 1/2 months since I lost her! I'm getting to where I don't wake up as often, expecting her to be there. I STILL find myself not believing just how things went though. It just seemed like I should be able to see her and just to hold her in my arms, you know. I'd better go, I'm doing better, but I still have times that it is just SO overwhelming!

[Ecosse]

Damn that's a big car!

Only weighed 3450 lbs, same as a 2009 4 cyl Accord. With all the safety and electric gear, new cars have gotten Sooo heavy. The 2010 Taurus SHO weighs 1000 pounds more than the 1989.

i've noticed. and there current civic is bigger than the '94 accord i owned. heck it's bigger than the 2000 civic i have now. that one is relatively light at about 2300+ lbs. no super commando under the hood (bonnet) though.

[bucky katt]

wow, 3450 pounds is 549 pounds less than the 1979 Z-28 i used to have. Bill, great pics. I can see why you fell in love with Brenda.

[bill440cars]

wow, 3450 pounds is 549 pounds less than the 1979 Z-28 i used to have. Bill, great pics. I can see why you fell in love with Brenda.

           Thanks Jeff, I'll tell you something else, I never had to wonder how she felt about me or if she was out messing around either!

            And, I'm not saying that we didn't have some times when we weren't too happy with each other, but we (she was mostly German and I am mostly Dutch) were hardheaded enough to make it work. But, we really had some great times as well. But, we also had SOME times that the details will be forever kept between her and myself. Off and on she would say or do things that she expected would embarress me and would ask me if she did and I would usually say "No".  Now and then she would embarress me though. But she would never do it in front of anybody. It was more of a private thing. In one way, we were totally opposite. Like, when she would get mad, she would have her say and then cool down and it was over. Now, I'm just the opposite, I was (my fuse burns alot quicker as I get older) slow to get mad, but when I DID get mad, it took me a while to cool off. So, she would get mad and as she was cooling off, I was just getting started. There are several things that I can look at now and realize that we were indeed intended to be together. For example, the way we met, my trading off the 66' Charger ( which was my PRIZED possession and I was missing that car right after I traded it off ) that I traded for the road runner, so I could meet her, the fact that ended up getting myself a Civil Service job about 5years before Karla was born (She started having seizures at 11 months old) and I had GOOD health insurance along with a good amount of leave time to use for her needs, we only had one child because we were concerned that another child wouldn't get enough attention and feel resentment towards Karla (not realizing that Karla would NEED extras and all. But, anyway, Brenda and I had a connection. lots of times one of us would start a sentence and the other one would finish it. I've heard married folks say that "she's like my right arm!" Brenda and I went deeper than that, when she passed away, I felt like I was just split in two! I feel like I've actually lost half of myself and IF I ever did come across someone (and I'm not looking) that could make me feel like a whole person again, they would have to understand that I still have a very DEEP love for Brenda, that I wouldn't just throw it in their face, but it WOULD  be there all the same. But my life changed Drastically on the 1st of July 2009 and it will NEVER be the same.

 

[78 k550]

Beautiful.
Nice car also.

Paul

[bill440cars]

Beautiful.
Nice car also.

Paul

         Thank you for that Paul, I ALWAYS felt VERY fortunate that I was able to SUCCESSFULLY catch AND HANG ONTO a gal like THAT! I can't tell you how many times I thanked God for her! She was Definitely a KEEPER, only thing is GOD called her HOME! And I sure can't argue with that, but makes me wish HE would have called us as a PAIR! She has been saying for several years now, that Jesus was coming back to take us ALL home and a little while after she started saying that, my MOM passed away (2002), then my Sister (2003), then Brenda's Dad passed away (2003) and NOW, Brenda's GONE! Well, time just keeps on going (like my Mom told me, years ago) and I have to learn to cope with things, as they come. The next few though, are gonna tougher than anything I have ever experienced before. Well, better go for now, tomorrow's another day.

                                                  Take care, Bill

[78 k550]

You just have to keep your head up and keep going. One day soon i hope your able to take some days for yourself.
I like it with couples that stay together long time like you. I love hearing stories about the old days and the stories each could tell about one another.
I have a Jeep group I hang out with and some of the stories are pure funny.

Paul

[Lamp]

Only weighed 3450 lbs, same as a 2009 4 cyl Accord. With all the safety and electric gear, new cars have gotten Sooo heavy. The 2010 Taurus SHO weighs 1000 pounds more than the 1989.

sorry to get off topic a little, but i just had to look that up. 3450 just sounds way too light for such a big car. what i found says they weighed 3,940. thats about the same as a modern day crown vic.

[bill440cars]

Only weighed 3450 lbs, same as a 2009 4 cyl Accord. With all the safety and electric gear, new cars have gotten Sooo heavy. The 2010 Taurus SHO weighs 1000 pounds more than the 1989.

sorry to get off topic a little, but i just had to look that up. 3450 just sounds way too light for such a big car. what i found says they weighed 3,940. thats about the same as a modern day crown vic.

       Okay, since we ARE a bit "Off Topic", check this link out. it says that the road runner weighed     "3436lbs" . I didn't remember how much myself, but I sure couldn't see how it could weigh as much as a "Crown Vic"! If you have any knowledge about the concept behind the road runner, you would know that the cars originally had nothing that wasn't needed and was built to go against the GTOs and 442s (and with thoise cars, you had to pay extra to get more performance, while, with the road runners (and Super Bees) you paid extra for the "convenience" stuff. Sure, if you wanted the 440 or Hemi ypou had to pay extra, but the 383 was a pretty good runner as it was. The road runner was about the same size of a car as the Crown Vic and the the Crown Vic is a 4door car, which adds weight as well. I don't know where you got your figure but it is just a bit off.

       Not trying to get into it, just trying to enlighten.
                                                  



                   http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/default.aspx?carID=1623&i=2#menu

[tramp]

admit it bill
you just wanted the car

[bill440cars]

admit it bill
you just wanted the car

                                                         

[Ecosse]

admit it bill
you just wanted the car

 

regarding weight of the rr: i've noticed weight disparity among differing sources for just about every vehicle i've checked. i tend to believe the lighter of the measurements as the rr has a lighter big block than chevy and is a unit-body, lighter than the comparable full frame chevelles. those "ss" chevelles tended to be associated with higher poundage than the rr and closer to the 4000 mark. remember, these cars had nothing but air inside them. unlike today's cars. even my 1960 dodge was light by today's standards.

also, consider there is no way you can assign one weight when there were several factors. the hemi was quite heavier than the rb (383, 440) engine, some hemis came with the 8 and 3/4 and some (with four speed) came with the dana 60, that rearend was heftier than the 8 & 3/4 . 440 six barrels only came with the four speed and dana and all 440s and 383s had 8 & 3/4 rears.
 

[BIKE]

Those are awesome pictures!

[bill440cars]

admit it bill
you just wanted the car

 

regarding weight of the rr: i've noticed weight disparity among differing sources for just about every vehicle i've checked. i tend to believe the lighter of the measurements as the rr has a lighter big block than chevy and is a unit-body, lighter than the comparable full frame chevelles. those "ss" chevelles tended to be associated with higher poundage than the rr and closer to the 4000 mark. remember, these cars had nothing but air inside them. unlike today's cars. even my 1960 dodge was light by today's standards.

also, consider there is no way you can assign one weight when there were several factors. the hemi was quite heavier than the rb (383, 440) engine, some hemis came with the 8 and 3/4 and some (with four speed) came with the dana 60, that rearend was heftier than the 8 & 3/4 . 440 six barrels only came with the four speed and dana and all 440s and 383s had 8 & 3/4 rears.
 

    You bring some good points up Bill. Our runners had the 335hp(rated) 383 with the 727 Torqueflite and the 8 3/4" rear end. I later put a 440 in "her's" after I got to call it MY car, when I bought her the new 76' Volare' road runner. While the 76' wasn't anywhere near the runner that the others were, it wasn't a bad car and rode like a BIG car, with the torsion bars positioned crossways in the front of the car. I even pulled a "FULLY Loaded" 21' Travel trailer from Barling Arkansas (just outside of Fort Smith) to Alexandria VA (for a school at Fort Belvoir VA) and back. Gas mileage went to crap, but
we enjoyed the trip, Karla was about 9months old! We even took our dog (Butch) and our cats (Boots and Scooter)! What was I thinkin'!   Brenda and I really enjoyed the sight seeing on the way out, while we were there AND on the way home!