Hello I'm Bobby Bennett and this is my first post on this site even though I've been a member for a few years. I enjoy most of the informative conversions and some of the not so informative debates over some very interesting topics and then the more opinionated comments and some times the insults thrown out there just from a difference in opinion over cars in general or a mechanical procedure or method to doing something. I've been a Blue Oval man for as long as I care not to remember, even though I may have a Brand X or two in the yard and maybe even a couple rice burners, but don't hold that against me, everything has it's place.Of course the Fords far out number the others and the Mavericks and Comets are the majority of them. My Ford, or car infatuation in general came about at a young age of 5 or so with the newest of toys called Hot Wheels, and then models (which I still enjoy today) and then the full scale cars became my play ground of choice. My father was a lifer mechanic for 51 years, 23 years at a Ford dealer in Tampa and 28 years at the Hillsbourgh County Sheriffs Garage before retiring last year. I still remember the first time I saw a Ford Maverick, or at least the first time I stood up and took notice of one anyway. It was 1973 and I was at work with my Dad (Back in the day when you could do that) just hanging out, playing in the new and used parking lot of Fords, messing around behind the parts department where all the old core engines were kept for Fred Jones to pick up, or out back at the Paint & Body Shop with the smell of bondo dust, gas welders, lacquer thinner, primer and paint fumes, and the sound of the air chisels, body hammers, grinders all around, and of course all the cussing and story telling that went on between the bodymen and painters was always entertainment to me. At the end of the day Pop and I were on our way to the employee parking lot to go home and instead of getting in our 1968 Mustang we loaded up in a 1970 Maverick. The Maverick was a new car trade-in, and Pop had to have it. Even though the car was only three years old somebody had already put the hot rodders wrench to it, because it was sporting a healthy 289, 4 on the floor, 5 lug rearend, and a nice set of 65 T-Bird bucket seats,...oh that car was fun! I guess you could say the rest is history. You know what.....That's been almost 40 years ago and my dad at the ripe young age of 68 still has a 1970 Maverick play toy, but this one has a late model 5.0 roller with the ol' mighty top loader 4 speed, P/S and air, and he still tries to jerk the Hurst shifter out of the floor with his 6000 RPM speed shifts. Well, that's all for now. BobbyB
Nice to have you officially as a member Bobby! I enjoyed reading your story, and quite the cars you and your dad have had the fun to own.
Not sure a "welcome" from me is appropriate since you've been here longer than I have but welcome anyway! Great line up of cars you have there. I look forward to seeing some pics and borrowing (stealing!) some ideas from you!
Well, thanks to all that gave me a welcome note here. I'm not a novice computer user by no means, I've been an ebayer (buyer & seller) since 1998, and also bought & sold on Craigslist as well, but I'm still learning how to navigate this web site, I guess I'm still wet behind the ears. Yeah... there's a good handful size of cars out back in the corral and the shop but some are just parts cars, projects, someday projects, and never-get-to-projects. Most all will know what those are, (Never-get-to-Projects) those are the ~Diamonds in the Rough~cars, the ones you spot sitting in the side yard abandoned or forgotten, and the wheelin' and dealin' begins until you get it on your trailer and off to home you go with your newly aquired project and all the thoughts of what your going to do with it, how it's going to be built, stock, street-strip, cruiser, drag, or all the good parts it has, so it's going to sit in your yard and pose as a parts car. These are the thoughts of a young enthusist with a little bit of scratch in his pocket, and a head full of dreams. When nasty reality sets in, and you begin to realize that your pockets can't even come close to funding all your dream car projects, then it's time to let some (most) go on to the next fellow with his dreams and enthusiasm. Ive spent most of my off time working on, building, & fixing, other peoples cars to fund my projects, or buy that next abandoned project, that I have a yard full of and hardly the time or money it takes to build something nice. I have a few cars that I've owned so long that I bet I have spent close to 1G just in car covers trying to preserve what's there until I get around to it. If I live to 105 years old, I still couldn't build all these cars, even if I had the funds. So I'll be letting some of these cars and parts go to the next guy so he can have his fun. BobbyB
Thank god for people like you Bobby. Or a lot of those would end up rusted beyond belief or crushed for the scrap metal prices. If I had the space, and cash I myself would have acre's full. I have seen so many go to the scrap yard in the sky over the last 15 years. And more than a fair share turn into nice rusty flakes of use to be.
Well Thanks Big, I can't stand those people that have an old relics sitting forever and they won't sell it, junk it, work on it, nothing, and it just sits till it becomes part of the landscape. I guess I was one of those kind of guys for a while, but I didn't have too many people trying to buy anything out of my stash because you can't see my cars from the road, and I never advertised them. I live in a small town right in the middle of three large cities, Orlando, Tampa, and Ocala about 50 miles to any one of these towns. There has been a few car gurus that looked me up because they heard that I had at one time 13 Mavericks and Comets here, between my Dad and I. We lived next door to each other. There was a running joke amongst the car circle here in town that our place was where all Mavericks and Comets come to die and then be resurrected,...LOL Yeah..I'm going to be posting some parts, and possibly some cars for sale soon I hope, I just can't stand to see this stuff sit here any longer, and not do anything with them. BobbyB
Welcome BobbyB -- Your location you say, is central Florida. How far are your from Sebring? We live in Ontario Canada and winter in Sebring.
Hello, I'm guessing here but it's a good 75-100 miles or so from Sebring to Bushnell, Fl 33513 BobbyB
