Nuts, Bolts & Patience

By Larry Smith, Resident and Bulle Rock Car Club Facilitator

We moved to Bulle Rock in 2014 when Karen and I retired. So far, retirement has been great if we don't include 2020. It has allowed me the time to pursue interests that I couldn't while I was working. Golf, woodworking, and I even took up Texas hold 'em, just to name a few.

But my real passion has been restoring old muscle cars. I come by it naturally after growing up in California in the '60s.

So, in response to me coming to my senses and not buying a Harley during my mid-life crisis. I decided to go back to my roots, and I found a car. I have been hauling it around (literally dragging it sometimes) since 1996. It is a 1969 Mustang convertible with a 390 cubic inch big block "UUUEEGGHH." I bought the Mustang while I was living in Colorado, sight unseen from a seller in California. I flew out to California and bought it the next day. It had a flat gray spray can paint job and was sitting in a vacant lot, looking very sad. I spent the next week underneath it, making it safe to drive back to Colorado, which took 26 hours non-stop! I drove it and worked on it, taking care of the mechanicals until we moved to Maryland in 2002. There it sat in the garage till 2014.

I was retiring, and it was time to get moving on the car. I found someone to do the bodywork, and the next phase started. Eight months later, got the car back. I moved the car to Bulle Rock and proceeded to take the car apart and put it back together again, which took an additional six months. I have had the Mustang on the road for about three years but only driving it in good weather. Each winter, I find some other upgrade to keep me busy through the cold weather.

Up until 2020, some of the events we attended were car shows, parades, First Fridays in Havre de Grace, and happy hours in the Bulle Rock