Some old scanned pics you all might like

[gm4ever]

Was over at my parent's house this weekend and scanned in some pics from their scrapbooks you might get a kick out of. Enjoy!

My mother in 7th grade, on the outside with the J showing on her shirt, '60 Caddy, homecoming parade, Jonesboro Arkansas


My Dad and his '63 Nova SS, 1966


1964 Homecoming Parade. Mom on the far right again


Both my grandfathers standing in front of my Dad's Dodge Polara, Hawaii 1970


My Uncle Lloyd's "new" Corvette, Poplar Bluff Mo. 1972


My grandfather, and me on the tricycle, with his new Suburban Estate Woody, and Mom and I below, Poplar Bluff Mo, 1976



Me on the trike again, Dad's '72 Cutlass Supreme in the garage behind me, West Texas 1976


Our brand new '78 Pontiac Grand Safari. Me in the car, Mom posing for the pic, and showing off the wild Valencia interior Dad special ordered. Spring 1978, Tulsa Oklahoma , and about to ride on the Trail 90 with my Grandad, Waco Texas 1978, good door panel shot




Me, my neighbor friend Valerie from behind our house, and my baby brother David washing Dad's Cheyenne Super, Mom's '78 Grand Safari in the garage behind us. Tulsa Oklahoma, 1979



My father's best friend liked our Safari so much that he went and ordered a chocolate brown one for his family! He brought it over the day he picked it up and Dad and he parked them nose-to-nose in our backyard. His had tan vinyl seats in it. I remember thinking how plain it looked compared to ours inside. Ha! 1978 Tulsa Oklahoma


Mom's Valentine's Day gift from Dad, Feb 1983, Tulsa Ok, 1969 Pontiac LeMans convertible. I LOVED this car!


My Uncle Lloyd pulling up in his brand new Olds Ninety-Eight Regency, 1982, Waco Texas


My Mom and Dad, Tulsa Oklahoma 1982, Dad about to go to work. Dad's Olds 98 and Mom's Grand Safari in the garage.


Skipping forward a few years, we moved from Tulsa to Denver Colorado. Here we are with the Safari on our first trip into the Rocky mountains. This was Dillon Colorado, 1985, my little brother Dave and I.



And another trip into the mountains, just below Long's Peak Co in our '69 Lemans Convertible, around 1985


Just to show wagons were always in the family, here is my aunt Roseanna and my cousin Rob in their Caprice wagon. Mid 80's



Fast-forward a bit more. We moved from Denver Co to Basking Ridge NJ in 1986, and Dad got Mom a brand new '86 Electra Estate Wagon. He thought it was SO fancy but HATED the 307 compared to the Pontiac 400 our Grand Safari had.
Mom and her BRAND NEW '86 Estate Wagon, temp tags still on it. My homemade go-cart in the 2nd pic. Ha!



Long Beach Island, Jersey Shore, late 1980's


First day of school, 1987, Dad and my brother Dave



Our '69 Lemans in front of our condo in New Jersey, 1987. Rust starting above the rear wheel well after just one winter in New Jersey. Car had been in Oklahoma and Denver only until this time.




Visiting friends on Long Island New York. Their home was used in the long-forgotten movie "Hello Again" with Shelly Long. They also had a talking Chrysler New Yorker (your door is ajar!) and the little red Alfa that I totally fell in love with. Me, age 14, 1988






Skipping forward a bit more, Dad bought my 17-year-old "baby" brother this 1994 Grand Prix SE. I was GREEN with envy! Ha!


My buddy Laird and our friend Michelle and my Mom and Dad, with Laird's 1967 Pontiac Executive. New Jersey 1994



Just a little blast from the past. Take care all!

-Mike

[sYc_Nova]

Very cool. Love the old family/car pics.
It's like the best few pics of 2 hours of looking at vacation slides.

[gm4ever]

Jan 27, 2014 0:32:07 GMT -5 sYc_Nova said:

It's like the best few pics of 2 hours of looking at vacation slides.

Exactly! Ha!

-Mike

[gm4ever]

I still get a kick over that '78 Grand Safari, and wish like anything we'd kept it! Dad hated trading in his '72 Cutlass Supreme coupe for a "Mom Car", but my younger brother was on the way. Reading that '78 was the last year of the 400 engine option, he went to Ernie Miller Pontiac in Tulsa and ordered that car exactly how he wanted it, with as much power and as many options as he could check off. It ended up costing over $10,000, more than a Corvette that year. It was LOADED.

The colors are what really stand out. Dad wanted the extra-cost tan Valencia interior from the Bonneville Brougham, but he wanted a silver car, and the dealer said they could not order a silver car with tan interior, it would not look right. They wanted him to order the red Valencia interior, which was an "approved" color for a silver car. Mom did not want red interior, so Dad insisted on tan, saying with the dark woodgrain trim, it would look fine. The dealer put the order in, and Pontaic built the car, and it was a total knockout when it came in. They even asked to put it on the showroom a few days when it arrived. Ha! Dad said soon after taking delivery, there were other silver-over-tan Safari's in the lot at Ernie Miller. He started a fad I guess.

As mentioned it was special ordered with the last of the real Pontiac 400s', with the tow pack for the lower rear gearing. It would scoot for a 70's car. It was also geared so low that when we came down the mountains in Colorado, if Dad took his foot off the gas, it would slow down!

He also ordered Pontiac Snowflake wheels for it, but when it came in, it had wire hubcaps. Pontiac dropped the snowflake option from the wagons, saying the mags could not support the load the wagons might carry, so they were only offered on the sedans. Dad had the dealer swap on the Rally II wheels you see in pictures before he would take delivery of the car.

One other mistake on Pontiacs part that did not get corrected, he ordered it with a tilt column and cruise, and the wood-trimed Bonny Brougham steering wheel. For whatever reason, it showed up with a fixed steering column and base-level Bonny steering wheel. It did have the cruise control however. The dealer would not put in a tilt column, but agreed to swap the wheels. Dad lived with it, but never gave Ernie Miller any more of his business.

He sold that car to a teenager down the street from us in Denver when we were moving to New Jersey. It was still in nice shape, had about 90K miles on it then. The wood under the door handles was starting to peel and the hood was fading, but other than that, it was still in fine shape.

Dad bought the silver '86 Buick Estate Wagon in the pics above as soon as we got to Jersey. It was a nice car, fancy inside, but gutless with the 307, and it was never as special as that Safari was.

If any wagon nuts in Colorado every come across a silver over tan '78 Safari with wild-looking interior trim, please drop me a line. I hope that car is still alive somewhere!!

-Mike