About me and my passion for cars

Well there is not much to say about me personally except that I'm a girl and I try to think outside of the box when it comes to cars. For me bigger and blingier is not always better and I can't keep anything stock. I guess that is pretty evident from my car... LOL...

I think back to what got me into cars. I can't pin point anything in particular. My dad was not really a car guy. He tinkered, but that was about it. He used to bring home hot wheel cars for me though. Nothing really got me into cars except sitting there watching Knight Rider and wanting a car that could do cool stuff like that. Wanting a car that was unique like KITT with a personality. Seems every fbody owner has to bring KITT into it sometime. LOL... 2000 is when I really dove into modifiying the bird for shows.

When I'm working on ideas for my cars and others, I like to blend ideas from all types of car groups. From street rods to muscle cars, and yes, even those pesky annoying imports can lend some ideas. For me there is something to learn from every type of car out there.

Since I have been showing for many years, I can get pretty bored at car shows. Seems you see alot of the same old same old. I like to walk around and get fresh ideas though. Something I have never seen before can always trigger an idea. Mind you different is not always better, but if you work it right the changes can flow togther quite well. My ideas keep evolving with each car I see and each project I gain.

I had to learn early on that if you don't have a current model car, you can forget about any real aftermarket choices. And since there are so few choices you see the same thing over and over. So I had to learn if they do not make it, then make it yourself. Adapt and use what is already out there. The best reward has come from doing things myself, without paying a shop. Seems I have higher standards then most shops do, especially when it comes to not chipping or messing up the paint and interior when the car does have to go for service. That is the main reason why I gave that up.

I think the one thing I get ragged for the most is the fact that I kept the car what it was... V6 based. Well what started as a need to keep the car running as it was my daily driver, then morphed into the need to prove a point. The more I was told I was an idiot for keeping the V-6 the more I pushed to get something extra out of the motor. I had to prove the engine could actually do more then people thought. My first triumph after swapping to the 3.4L with a basic cam & head porting job was adding a 3 inch exhaust and actually getting gains after I was told it would not work. Then I got a custom one off intake manifold that added 40 ftlbs of TQ without even being in tune. Now I have further ported the heads and lower intake and can't wait to see the gains. Then I will get it all dialed in with a custom chip.

My first car

1987 Pontiac Firebird (the one I still have). The first one I drove was a Buick Skylark.

Car I wish I still had

I would have loved to hang on to my Mom's gold convertible Buick Wildcat. I had the racing engine and really packed a punch for an older car. Man I miss that car. I wish I could track it down. Now that I show cars I really could have done alot with it now.

My dream car

Well I'm not into exotics since its not something you can drive and enjoy everyday. I would love to get a Sky and put and LS1 based ening in it. Now that would surprise some people. But I dream that GM will get it right one day and bring back the Firebird/TransAm.

Car clubs I’m in

ACFA, GAFBA

Favorites

• Type of racing: Autocrossing
• Driving song: anything with bass and a good beat
• Car movie: Transformers (New Camaro)
• Car magazine: Anything I can learn from

— Profile last updated: Jul 24, 2009