When we first started taking my 77' Maverick to car shows, we faced a lot of opposition from the Chevy ranks. One of those guys was a young guy named Lenny who happened to own a 1976 Vega Wagon. He loved that car and it was actually pretty nice...for a Vega. As fate would have it, we almost always ended up parked next to each other and his Vega would always lose to our Maverick. Although he never openly put down the Maverick, he was clearly frustrated by the fact that he was repeatedly being beaten by a Ford. At the time, my car had a few extra chrome engine parts on it, so Lenny made it his personal crusade to have the Maverick tossed out of the stock classes whenever he could. I don't know why, but I never really got ticked off at him. I guess I just found it all rather amusing. We finally decided to remove all the chrome from the engine and put back to stock. I was tired of winding up in the Street Machine classes and the chrome was a pain to keep clean. Now with no more excusses to remove my car from class, Lenny sat back and quietly accepted the fact that he was going to loose to a Maverick. At one show we atteneded, we were once again parked side by side, and once again, the Vega lost to the Maverick. At the end of the day, it had started to rain and we all were trying to get off the field before it turned into a mud hole. When we got back to our car, Lenny's Vega was as dead as a doornail. The carb was flooded and the battery had died. We were the only ones who had jumper cables with us, so we helped him get his car started again. That must have been the turning point for him. From that day on, we became rather good friends. We got to know each other better and had a good time when we met at the shows. Imagine, a Chevy owner becoming friends with a Ford owner. When some nutcase was going around keying show cars one year, Lenny guarded both his Vega AND our Maverick whenever we had to leave it alone for a while. Turns out, he really was an OK guy. Last year, we didn't see Lenny at any of the shows. We thought maybe he was working on the car or had just dropped out of car shows altogether. We just learned that Lenny had died of lymphoma last year. We never knew he was sick. It may have had a rough begining between us, but it showed that Chevy and Ford folks can get along. It's not just the cars, but the people who make a car show fun. Sometimes we just have to try a little harder to make it work. I'm going to try real hard to remember that this year. I'm going to miss Lenny and his Vega.
good story. my best friend at the track drives a beautiful 57 chevy. we always get on each other as much as we can about the other brand. last year we were on our way to the et finals at bakersfield, california and were sitting in a restaurant having lunch. when a young girl came up to us and asked about the 57 chevy. he tows it on an open trailer. i said "you mean the ugly chevy, we keep the good car in the enclosed trailer". her jaw just dropped and so did his. bottom line is a car person is a car person no matter what brand your preference is. that's what makes this hobby great.
My experience is car guys in general usually get along pretty well. Heck one of my best buds drives a 10 second Supra (drag radials) and we usually go to the track together. We still give eachother crap about eachothers cars but all in good fun. Then I really give him some stuff after our buddy shows up with his 8 second Mustang (single turbo drag radial car). Good Fun!!!
Its all in good fun. I got friends with Chevys, Fords, and Mopars. We often play jokes on each other. At one show my friend left his Chevy II for me and my friends to watch for a few minutes. He has a real nice car. While he was gone we made up a sign that said For Sale -- $250 OBO and had someone wanting to talk deal to him when he came back!! Sorry to hear about your friend. To me its about enjoying all the older cars and hearing the owners tell their stories!
So sorry to hear of Lenny's passing. Glad you got to know the real him. Sometimes it takes some real patience to get to know someone. Dan
my niece's husband and i have a fun time messing with each other about chevy vs. ford (he's a chevy man) but it's all in good fun.he helps me work on my cars and i help him work on his and although we disagree on which is better,our fondness for each other is obvious cause the bottom line is that we both share a love for cars period so i'm glad you got to be friends with Lenny and were blessed with his presence in your life. god bless
It's kind of ironic that this post should resurface again. About a month ago a black Vega Wagon was listed for sale in the local newspaper. Rumor had it that it was Lennys Vega that was being sold, but I never heard any more about it.
