Membser Stories - St Augustine Cruisers

Gary hare's First Restoration Project

8/17/2024

In 1986, I went looking for a car for our oldest son. Ron would be a senior in high school the following year & I wanted him to have a cool car to drive , as I did my senior year. My neighbor found this 1967 Nova Super Sport, but told me it needed a little work. It had no interior, no motor or transmission and a straight front axle. It had been used as a drag car for several years.

I paid the lady $300 & as we were loading the car on a trailer, she told me, " Oh, you're going to take the interior too aren't you. It's in the basement". The interior turned out to be a perfect condition black Super Sport interior, lacking only the console. When we got it home, my wife Shirley wanted to know why I would spend $300 on this piece of junk.

After much prep work, it was painted GMC truck white. Not being able to find an affordable 327 c.i. small block, I decided on a 350 hp/350 cu in with a 4 speed out of a Camaro.

Ron did indeed have the coolest car in the parking lot that year. One of the cars I have owned that I wish I still had.

Jay and Patty's 1963 Chrysler 300 'Pace Setter'

3/19/2024

Patty says: "Purchased Dec 2021. We first saw it on consignment at the Classic Car Museum. Jay tried ot ignore it sitting out front but it finally drew him in for a test drive. Decided to hold off on any decision but then it was gone! We later found the owner Chuck and one thing lead to another and it became ours.

It is an Indianapolis 500 Pace Setter Edition with less than 800 cars manufactured. It is completely stock with a 383 c.i. motor two barrel carburetor, single exhaust and torqueflite trannny. PS & PB. It has a unique steering wheel- rectangular. The transmission engages by push-button on the dash.

The interior color is 'Alabaster. Some of the things we have done to the car include: new convertible top motor, so we don;t get caught with our top down! New AM/FM stereo, since the original AM stopped working after 60 years! New cooling system, so we can cruise in the Florida heat.

The car drives nicely, floats along like a boat (just like my 66 Skylark~Editor..) Lots of smiles and thumbs-up along A1A.

Roy Wires 'Top Eliminator' 68 Camaro

3/12/2024

Most of us associate Roy with his dark ‘Claret’ Metallic 1981 Corvette, but his love of cars goes much deeper than that. At the age of 16 he convinced his father to install a floor shift and dual exhaust to the family car. Roy’s interest in cars eventually led him to the quarter mile dragstrip.

After helping some friends with their own drag cars, Roy decided to build one of his own. In 1975, after searching the St Augustine car market, he finally located a 1968 Camaro, and it was soon to be his drag car. After many revisions, he turned it into a great quarter-mile car.

Running primarily at Gainesville, Roy even took home Top Eliminator one night. To quote National Dragster Magazine, “Wires Breaks Gainesville Bank”. The car always ran consistent 10.80’s at 126 mph with a small-block Chevy for power. The car was sold in 1982 to another racer.

Michael and Catherine's 55 Ford Fairlane

11/29/2023

Catherine and I bought this last January. We found it on Market Place, and it was located in Sebring FL. It had the skirts and original hub caps. I removed the skirts the first night and swapped out the rims within a week or two. The car was originally Raven black, and the interior was blue on blue. The car was owned by a gentleman in Miami and I believe he was the one that changed the paint and interior.

Andy & Jenny's “Bad Betty”

10/28/2023

Bad Betty was built by an old man in middle Florida where he took out the flat head, front frame section and rear axle and replaced it with the running gear from a 65 impala SS. Which had a H.O 327 backed by a 2 speed powerglide trans and 8.2” rear axle. He drove it for a bit and ran into health issues where he put it up for sale. My best friend bought the car not running, got it running and did all the suspension work to it.

Took it to rod run one year and found another car he couldn’t pass up so we bought it knowing the work that was done was quality. We have had the car for a while now and have done just minor things as brakes and axle bearings. We have also replaced all the dash chrome and I have countless hours in polishing all the chrome and stainless and had my pinstriper Mikey lay down all the pinstriping you see on the car today.

Luis and Ruth's 66 Skylark

9/28/2023

The circle of life, or in this case, Buick Skylarks. My first car, at a tender age of sixteen and a half, was a red ‘69 Buick Skylark. That car got me thru the best times in high school. Fast forward to 2023, and I own this beautiful 1966 Skylark Convertible It’s in great shape for a 57 year old car! (more than I can say for the other relic in the picture). More importantly, Ruth loves the car! I’m recovered from the initial shock of again owning a Buick, :-) and fixing a few minor things, I plan to upgrade the ride a little bit by installing new suspension components.