Lamar, We’ll Miss You!

Lamar G. Jacobs is called Home.

On behalf of the entire Tail Fins and Chrome team, and their families, we extend our heartfelt condolences to the Jacobs family with the passing of their patriarch Lamar G. Jacobs.  Lamar was called home Sunday, August 25, 2010 – he will be missed on earth and welcomed in Heaven.

A Man With His Heart In The Right Place.

In 1960, I purchased a 1960 T Bird convertible out of my Washington Senator’s bonus. It was the first car I ever owned, so it had a special place in my heart. It had a place in my wife, Jan’s heart as she, then just a girlfriend, used to take her old boyfriends out in it when I was on road trips with the Indianapolis Indians in 1961. (She really did!) When we got married in 1962, we purchased a 33’ X 8’ mobile home, had it painted robin egg blue to match the T-Bird, and subsequently pulled it to Florida for spring training and then on to Charlotte, NC, where I played my last year in 1963. We lived in that mobile home for three years, before we started having babies, then we bought our first home. Of course, with babies and such, the T-Bird was no longer practical, so we reluctantly sold it, always reminiscing that we should have held on to it for prosperity sake. So for years we casually looked for the long-departed “60-Bird”,to no avail. Accelerate with me now to Oct. 13th, 2000. I took the day off to celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary in Sarasota. (What a guy! See how old age makes you so much smarter!) On the way back to Bradenton, we passed a building that had a Chandler Chrysler Classics on it. (Only one mile from my office!) As we passed by, Jan said very empathetically, “turn around, I feel like your T-Bird is there!” As the years have passed, I have learned to appreciate and pay heed to my wife’s intuition! (Tis’ a Venus thing!) We pulled into the dark parking lot and peered into the dark showroom, not seeing anything conclusively, but there were definitely two T-Bird convertibles in the back. The next morning we went back with great anticipation and we were not disappointed. There in the back corner was a 1960 T-Bird convertible, the same robin egg blue color of my original ’60 Bird. Bob Chandler, the owner said, “ we just got that in last week. It had been in a barn in Atlanta.” It had all original equipment, the chrome was perfect and it only had 85,000 miles on the speedometer. I was virtually in shock! Needless to say. we purchased this marvelous vehicle. Yes we had to get a new paint job and have the engine detailed, but other than that, the rest is all original issue. That’s probably why you came over to look at it and to concur that it was most definitely a special car. But the story does not end there. We do not believe that this was just a coincidence. The odds of this car showing up so close to home was indeed supernatural! We believe that we have a loving God who not only cares for us, but provides for us, not only the essentials of life, but every once in a while, He provides us with a very special gift, like the 1960 T-Bird. I’m sure you can look back over your life and His hands at work. You might have labeled it just a coincidence then, but through “spiritual glasses”, you probably could relabel the event “supernatural.” Over the years I have come to not only appreciate God’s interest and activity in my life, but to become more and more thankful for the wonderous gifts of his Son, Jesus Christ, to mankind.

My First Car . . .

Back In my Hometown in East Moline IL. when I was 17 years old I went to purchase a 68 firebird that was in the local paper . The sellers garage door was open and I could not take my eyes away from this mean looking 68 Camaro Z/28 with a 302 4 speed, white with black webbing stripes, with only 1,000 miles on it! I asked him could he please take me for a ride. He agreed and was the experience of a lifetime! My heart was pumping and when he ran through all gears Wow it was a Rush! I will never forget that ride for the rest of my life! In the back of my mind I thought I would someday, when the time was right I would get a 68 Camaro.

I have been a “Car Nut” all my life, since I was 12 years old and started wrenching on cars. In high school I was the one that went straight home and worked on my cars in the garage, sometimes till the early morning.

My first car was a 1968 marina blue Chevelle SS 396 with a 4 speed.
I have owned several muscle cars from 68,70,72 Chevelle’s, 2nd  & 3rd Gen Camaro’s, Vette, etc. but my first love was still the 1st Gen Camaro’s, the 68!
In 1995 I moved to Florida to get away from those Midwestern cold winters.
In 1988 is when I met my wife Helena, and in 1990 we were married. Being in the car business we went through many cars!
My wife and I have now been marred for 19 years, and she has never denied me any of my toys.

In 2004 I purchased a motorcycle, a Harley FXDWG. I owned it for about a year, but my wife would not go riding with me because she was scared of the other drivers not paying attention to motorcyclist on the roads. I felt it was unfair that we could not enjoy this experience together, so we made a pack to sell the bike if we could find and purchase a 1st Gen Camaro Muscle car. We agreed!!!

It all started in August of 2005 when I purchased my 68 Camaro. I was searching around the Tampa Bay area on the internet for a 1st Gen Camaro. Finally I came across this 68 Camaro on e-bay. I had a flashback to being 17, and remembering my first experience with the ride in that ’68 Z/28 Camaro. It’s funny to think back & realize that was also my wife’s first car, which meant even more to me.

The 68 was located in Texas, it was in great shape very little flaws, so I talked with the owner and exchanged many e-mails and pictures back and forth. I had it inspected so I went ahead and purchased it! When it arrived I was in heaven!!!! I had planned to freshen up the engine, Trans, Rear end, Suspension and so on and drive it! And so I did.

Looking for help on the internet I found http://www.camaros.net.
So, I joined and obtained information about restoring my Camaro and also saw several people posting back and forth with helpful hints for restoration.

A friend and I restored it and freshened up the paint and began taking the car to local car shows, where I had won several Overall Best of Show Awards in my class for a Total of (8) Trophy’s. My first show was the Toys for Tot’s @ Biff’s in St. Pete Fl. December 2007. I won the Marines Choice Award! The best award of the show! Wow I was thrilled! Just when I thought I was done guess what I wasn’t.

I started to see a lot of first gen Camaro’s doing LS Conversions so I started to investigate the conversion and I came across a build thread on Pro-Touring
called “Bad Penny”! That was it! I had to change my 68 Camaro.
“Bad Penny” This was the Inspiration of my transformation of my LS-Conversion!

So I started my list of requirements to do the LS-Conversion, reading several articles on Pro-touring and ordering a book from Street and Performance on there conversions. And so on.

Since the completed project “Evade” it has been in Camaro Performers Magazine Dec/09 Seven Page spread,
Tremec Transmission Ad’s in Hot Rod, and Vintage Air Ad in Camaro Performers
Awards: 2010 Coco Beach Winternationals Won (4) Awards! @ The 18th Annual Winter National and scored “995″ out of 1000
Premier 2010 Best In The State Car & Truck Show! “Evade” Won the Grand Champion Award Modified!
Bill P. Tierra Verde, FL

They sit where I use to sit…

My name is Doug Lynch and I have a 1974 Nova. My  grandparents purchased it in 1974 from Ferman Chevy in Tampa Fl. My grand mother  used to take me to kindergarten in the car and a lot of other places. the car  was originally brown with matching wheels and dog dish hub caps. the interior  was beige also. The paint was really bad so I decided to go black on  black. The car had a 250 straight six engine with a whopping 100 hp. my  grandmother was getting old and was tired of driving so she sold it to me  for a dollar! When I got the car it only had 38,000 miles on it and never was on  the interstate. Well, I thought it was kinda slow so I took out the 6 and put in  a 305 out of a Camaro. after about 2 years I heard a knocking and decided to  pull that one out and put in a 327 out of a 65 vette! The engine was torn all  the way down and rebuilt and painted. Now its even more fun. Now my two boys sit  in the same spot I did when I was there age.