Fire is a hot rodder’s best friend and can be our worst terror as well. So long as the flames stay inside the combustion chamber we’re all good but when it escapes or comes to life by other means, it can be heartbreaking. We don’t know the circumstances that caused this guy’s 1970 ‘Cuda to become a car-b-que but judging by the condition it is in, it burned pretty long and pretty hard. Whether is was there to see his pride and joy self-immolate or not is irrelevant. What is of importance is the guy’s attitude that allowed him to see the situation for what it was and manage to have some fun anyway.
Replacing hoses and whatever else melted in the fire, he got the car running and took it to the Mopar Nationals last year, entering it into the burnout contest and when the green flag fell, he let the car have it for the allotted amount of time. It sounds great, it fries the hell out of the tires, and for a few brief, shining minutes, this guy was loving his car.
We hope that right now the thing is being rebuilt and brought back to life in the factory form he seems to have had it in. We knew an old guy who had a garage fire and lost some cars and the ensuing heartbreak and stress literally killed him. It was terrible and while it sucks to see someone’s car in the condition you see this ‘Cuda below we think it says a LOT about this man’s attitude that he was not only able to do this but put in the work to do it.
Cars can break our hearts on occasion, but they can also teach us valuable lessons as well. In this circumstance, you are seeing a man spit in the eye of adversity and have himself a damned good time. That’s winning in our book.
The car was refinished at at nationals last year. Wouldn’t have known it had he not had a poster out front saying “remember me?”
Can’t find the pictures though