this is Matthias, and I'm from Germany.
Currently 50 years of age and an automotive engineer.
I was born and raised in Motorcity Rüsselsheim, this is where OPEL has it's roots and main plant / development center. (Opel = former General Motors brand 1926 till 2017, now part of Stellantis).
A car nut from birth (acc. to my parents my first outspoken word actually was "Auto", not "Mama" or "Papa") I grew up immersed in Opel cars and the GM-vibe. EVERYTHING here is Opel.
So naturally, Opel is still engraved in my heart and I own two older Opel vehicles with rear wheel drive.
However, since my early teens and since I first conciously heard an American V8 engine and made the connection that this best sound in the universe had its roots in this engine style, I was hooked on American vehicles.
As you might imagine, American cars are nowhere near as plentyful in Germany as they are in the States, so being an American car enthusiast automatically puts you in the outcast role over here.
Many...sorry...people with questionable taste and life choices being US car enthusiasts, too, didn't make it easier. With questionable taste, I mean airbrushes, high jackers, chrome differential covers, chinese dice-door-knobs and -valve-stems, cheapest chrome rims, chinese chrome-everything in the engine bay, suspension parts painted in yellow, red and so on....you get the idea. This was the common treatment of German US-cars guys to their Trans Ams, Camaros and trucks.
I was always more the kinda guy for whom the mechanicals were way more important than the looks.
In the late 80s / early 90s, there was this small group of guys around Motorcity Rüsselsheim, who were into Opels and US cars with high performance engine/trans/suspension but crappy body and interior. It was called "Dirty Rotten Carz". THAT appealed to me a lot. Burning rubber making all kinds of cool sounds in something that looked like it was on the way to being parked for good at the junkyard.
Most noteable cars from around here in the early 90s: A Chevy Caprice Station Wagon (boxy, 70s/80s-type), faded silver paint with rust, lowered, big meats on steel rims, otherwise completely stock on the outside, except a "McLaren"-sticker on the tailgate. Interior completely gutted....nothing in there, bare metal, a racing bucket seat for the driver, Autometer tach taped to the steering column.....and, under the hood a high revving small block with McLaren heads and guts. That thing sounded mean, hauled ass and looked like nothing.
The other one was a little more flashy, but the more impressive.
A Cobra kit car with everything stripped that's not essentially needed to drive. Trunk lock was a piece of a leather belt, battery was in the passenger footroom, driver seat was the plastic seat shell from a soccer-stadium, no windshield, matt black paint, matt black sidepipes, Halibrands....and under the hood an all-aluminum Chevy Big Block!! (Not a ZL1, of course, but the dude worked for General Motors in Rüsselsheim and had connections to the right people @ GM) That thing sounded so ridiculous, way overpowered, monstrous cam, absolutely amazing vehicle.
Remember, this was the early 90s in Germany, not the Roadkill-induced trend in the US that goes on for the last 10 years.
Anyway, that's the kinda car I like.
Sadly, I never had the money nor the garage to afford a V8-powered vehicle.
Until a few years ago, when my American wife wished for something American to remind her of home.
Since my wife is rather Ford-bred (first car was a 65 Mustang), it needed to be a Ford.
A friend of mine imported a 1970 F-100 5 years ago, from Washington State. So we bought it.
It's been sitting since then and this year I finally find the time to start restoring it.
Meanwhile, 2 years ago, I treated myself to a V8, too, finally, after only 35 years of dreaming: I bought myself a 1968 Chevy Camaro project car. But that's another story for probably another forum
I hope I can receive tips and tricks from you experienced guys and I also hope that I can pay back by sharing the little I know.
regards
Matthias
