The Big 10 with Jeff D'Alessio, May 31, 2015 - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette
With 3,000 classics headed to Champaign a week from today for the Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour, we asked this week's panel to tell us about their first car. "It was a sea foam green, 1987 Chevy Caprice Estate Wagon with wood paneling. "My parents bought it when I was in kindergarten and it was the coolest thing I'd ever laid eyes on. I didn't realize, at age 5, that the wagon would be the vehicle I'd be parallel parking on the streets surrounding Central High School. "One of its most memorable quirks was the radio would short out any time I came to a stop. "The end of the wagon's life was an epic one. Our neighbors were yearly contenders in the Champaign County Fair's demolition derby, and they were searching for the perfect derby car. My dad sold it to them in 2002 for $1, and it won the derby. "She was a beast, and she went out like a beast. "My first car was a 1978 Fiat X1/9 convertible. "I should have known something was wrong when the owner suggested he drive it to my home but I was 16 and didn't know how to drive a stick shift so I was thrilled to have my car home that night. "Growing up, I lived right across the street from a gas station/car wash and my dad gave the OK for me to drive around the gas station a couple of times after they closed to learn the stick shift. Source: www.news-gazette.com
