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Six Cars In 60 Minutes!

Sid's Corvette

The other day, we got a call from our good friend Sid with a very special invite! If you’ve been following Barn Finds for a while, you’ve probably heard of Sid in the past. We’ve featured his Corvette barn find and his Snoopy car. Well, he had an idea for a special feature on the site, but he didn’t want to spoil the surprise until we were at his shop. Knowing Sid, we knew it would be worth clearing our schedule for. So we made our way to his shop as soon as we could. When we got there, we were greeted by a smiling Sid in a pristine Caprice Landau. He told us to jump in, so we obliged. Once we were buckled in, he told us about his idea. He wanted to show us 6 of his cars in 60 minutes! It sounded like a great idea to us, so off we went.

Sid's Caprice

Sid knows we enjoy the story and history of a car almost as much as driving it, so he thought why not take us for a 10 minute spin in each car. During which he would tell us a bit about the car’s story, why it’s special to him, and show us what it can do! The first car might not sound all that spectacular, but this Caprice has a special story with incredible meaning to Sid. You see this perfectly preserved ’76 Caprice was owned by his parents. They took several trips in it before it was parked. It really didn’t see much use after that and when they both had passed away, Sid inherited it. He has gone to great lengths to keep this car in peak condition without affecting the originality, and it shows inside and out. I could tell from how excited he was to tell us about this car, just how much this car means to him and I can understand why! In hindsight, I wish we would have filmed the whole experience so we would have a full record of Sid’s story.

Sid's Chevelle

After going around the block, we arrived back at Sid’s shop. He opened the garage door to reveal 3 of the 6 cars we would be experiencing over the next 50 minutes. Up next was his wife Vicki’s beautiful 1972 Chevelle SS 454. This black beauty is an impressive machine that has been restored from top to bottom with more than a few performance and visual upgrades! The 454 big block has been worked over from top to bottom and produces a great sound. We all climbed in this hot rod and started out. At first Sid took it pretty easy, only showing us a bit of what this car was capable of. Soon though we found ourselves on a secluded back street. Sid had been telling us about all the work that had been done to it and something about the differential gearing. The next thing I remember was a cloud of smoke, an incredible amount of noise, and the smell of burnt rubber. This was without a doubt the most impressive burnout I’ve ever experienced. When we returned to traffic though, it returned to being a well behaved and comfortable classic.

Sid's 280SL - 2

Once we were back at the shop, the next car couldn’t be more different from the two cars we had just experienced. He recently had the opportunity to buy a lovely Mercedes-Benz 280SL and when he found out it was a well maintained and documented survivor, he had to have it. The seller had inherited it from their mother-in-law when she could no longer drive it. She loved this car and had been incredibly meticulous in how she cared for it, having it serviced every 9 months whether it needed it or not. He has a binder full of every receipt and document, proving the story and mileage. From here on out, Sid’s plan for only spending 10 minutes in each car kind of got messed up, but that’s really our fault. With room for only one of us at a time, we had to take turns in the rest of the cars. Sorry about that Sid, but I wasn’t going to let Jesse have all the fun! The 280SL seemed slow, quiet, and soft after riding in the Chevelle, but then again it was built to be a comfortable touring car. It really was a wonderful ride that sent us straight back to 1969. Sid even pulled out a fedora for me to wear!

Sid's Corvette - 2

Sid parked the 280SL and led us to the next car, his 1965 Corvette Stingray. From the outside, it looks like a fairly stock Corvette, but once he popped the hood that image quickly evaporated. The 350 V8 has been massively upgraded and has one of the finest custom fuel injection systems I’ve ever seen. He wanted a modern system, but he also wanted it to look like it could have been built in ’60s. Inside, the interior has been updated with more modern Corvette seats, a billet steering wheel, a custom shifter surround, and an iPod connector to the stereo. Once he fired it up, I knew things were going to get a bit crazy! Jesse went first and when they returned, he climbed out with a big grin on his face! I jumped in and off we went. Between the exhaust note and the whine coming from the Muncie gearbox, I almost thought I was in a race car. Once we hit an open section of road without traffic in front of us, he gunned it and I felt the massive acceleration pin my body to the seat. He slammed it into third and the tires spun as 385 horses were sent to the rear wheels. When we got back to the shop, Sid asked what we thought and we both responded that we wanted one! That’s when he made one of the most profound comments of the day. He looked at us and said, “Everything is relative. You can be young and unable to afford something like this, or you can be old and able to afford it. So which situation would you rather be in?”

Sid's Porsche

After sharing more information about his Corvette, we jumped in the Capri and drove a short distance to a Porsche 911 convertible. Jesse took the first ride and it seemed like they were gone for ever, but soon I heard the distinct sound of a boxer six and burning rubber. A moment later this beautiful 1990 Carrera 2 pulled up. They had switched cars and returned with this outlaw 911. Jesse opened his door and he looked frazzled, but happy. He looked at me and said, “you need to experience this!” So after he climbed out, I jumped in and off we went. The noise from the custom exhaust was incredible and each time he floored it, I had flashbacks to the last American Le Mans race I attended. While I loved the Corvette, this was a completely different type of rush, especially when he took us down a curvy side street. That was the moment I realized how crazy Sid could be and how well this car handles. We ripped through the curves at 60+ and as we slowed down, he chuckled that he hadn’t even pushed the car to its limits.

Sid's Snoopy

So the experience ended up running about 40 minutes over what he had originally planned, but we were alright with that! And as an added bonus, we got to check out his Snoopy Mobile. It’s now been fully restored and looks fantastic. Sadly it was out of gas so we didn’t get to take it for a spin. After talking a bit about his shop, he asked if he could look at our Torino, so we showed him our latest project. While it isn’t nearly as cool as any of the cars in his collection, he seemed impressed and gave us a few ideas for things to fix and change. As we finished up, we thanked him for the awesome afternoon. He smiled and replied, “I’ll have to to show you one of the other shops next time”…

Comments

  1. Avatar St. Ramone de V8

    Great feature, Josh! You must have had a great day. Let’s see more of this, please.

    Like 0
  2. Avatar jim s

    if i can not have the cars i would love to have a garage like that. i think jay may have some competition. i like his parents car the best because of the story behind it. thanks for sharing. i hope to read about more visits in the future.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Dolphin Member

    Teriffic idea, but who wouldn’t want to spend more time with each car?

    This is one of those truly varied collections—American/foreign, sports/performance/sedan/novelty. Lucky guy. I’d be interested to hear how Sid came to be interested kin such different vehicles.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Woodie Man

    Great story. Lucky guy. I’ll take the SL please though the Corvette is yelling at me loudly. Of course Sid has a point about vehicular envy. I’d split the diff. Can I choose a midpoint between young and old and still have a couple of cars?

    Like 0
  5. Avatar DonS

    I like this Sid guy. I like his cars too. Smart dude…

    Like 0
  6. Avatar pontiactivist

    I remember dad having an almost twin to the caprice. Think dads had a blue top but otherwise identical. Was the most comfortable seats I had ever sat in. But then again I was young and it was brand new. Also was way nicer than the worn out baby shit green 69 impala seat I was used to before it. Lol

    Like 0
  7. Avatar type877

    Great Feature! What a great experience. A lot of us are super jealous. Love it!

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Tom Member

    I agree, great feature. Nice cars, nice collection. I like seeing the vehicles that are not as common.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Jeni belle

    I’m Sid’s niece. I remember grandma letting me drive her car to town for groceries when I was a teenager. I have to admit I put the petal all the way to the floor before I got to town. I felt like I was floating on clouds as I raced down the country road. The car was so smooth. I never told grandma how fast I went, but I’m sure she knew all of our secrets. Thanks Uncle Sid for taking such good care of grandpa and grandma’s car.

    Like 0

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