Many years ago... more than I'd like to admit, it was the early '60's to be precise, when I fell in love with my first "Muscle Car".
My friend Otto and I were sharing an apartment in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was in a condemned building right on the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk on Florida Avenue (there is a Trump Casino there now) that was literally held together by these HUGE metal straps! No kidding!! We paid $400 to rent the place for the entire summer of '64 (we kept renting it through '69) and we would drive down there every Friday night in Otto's mom's brand new, 1964 Pontiac GTO.
That car was HOT... Cherry Red in color, white convertible top, white genuine imitation leather seats (bucket seats no less), glass pack mufflers, dual or triple barrel carburetor, Hearst shifter, and a huge 7 or 8 liter engine. It was a real chick magnet! And just to be sure, we even had a telephone installed in the car (remember this was 1964... mobile phones hadn't been invented yet).
Well, sort of... you see, we took an old telephone handset, and a cord, and glued it to the underside of the dashboard and put the handset in the glove compartment. Otto hooked up a ringer with a switch.. it was very loud.. and when we got stuck in traffic, or pull alongside some cute young ladies, we would press the ringer button, reach into the glove compartment and "answer" the phone! Hellooooo... Oh... it's for you... and we'd hand the handset out the window to whoever was in the car next to us!
Sounds stupid today... well, it was, but you had to be there to see it then. It ALWAYS got laughs. Sometimes we'd pull into an A & W Root Beer drive-in, order a burger and a frosted mug... mmmmmm... sooo good!... of root beer, and press the ringer when the waitress arrived. I wish you could have seen their faces! Hahaha.. we had a great time with that car.
I remember one summer night, we were coming home... it was a very hot and humid summer Sunday evening and we were stuck in a traffic jam on the Atlantic City Expressway, going from AC to Philadelphia. We had the top down, and were just listening to the radio (AM of course) when there was a news bulletin... the Astronauts.. Neal Armstrong had just landed on the moon. The hairs still go up on the back of my neck when I think of that moment.
That car was hot! In return for letting us use the car on weekends, we promised Otto's mom that we'd wash and clean the car for her.. wax it too. And that's where the KozaK Auto DryWash cloth came in.
We wanted to maximize our time riding in the car, and minimize the time we spent maintaining it..so..we got lucky. My grandfather came over one day and handed me a red package (no.. not an hong pau!) and said simply.."I've used this for years.. give it a try".
We ripped it open and unfolded the cloth inside. He took us outside and showed us how to use it. It was just amazing. He padded it up, and just wiped the car down in short, straight strokes. The road dust and dirt just disappeared into the cloth, leaving the car's finish glowing! In 10 minutes, WITHOUT ANY WATER, that '64 "Goat" as they were called was lookin' show room new.
I was hooked. My grandfather later told me that his dad gave him one, when he got his first car. That was a DeSoto Station Wagon.. probably in the '40's or late '30's. He had used them (the KozaK's) since and now, I guess, it was my turn. Right of passage perhaps? Father to son? Whatever... the KozaK had been invented in 1926... and is still used today! Go to http://www.kozakasia.com/ and read all about it.
And, I have used them ever since... on everything from a 1937 Plymouth (with Rumble seat) to a Dodge Viper, Ferrari Testarosa, Jaguar XJR and XK8, BMW 840i, a Lexus, my own '64 Pontiac GTO, my favorite 1957 Chevy (with power windows!), Datsun 240Z, Lotus Europa, Toyota Camery, Honda Civic, Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, and my very favorite "Pimp Mobile" ... a gorgeous, HUGE, 1985 Mercedes SEL Long Wheelbase with a FULL GERMAN AMG conversion. My cars were my love... and trust me, they were massaged and oiled frequently... but the KozaK cloth was for everyday cleaning and polishing. And those cloths NEVER, EVER, scratched the finish on one of my babies. NEVER.
That car was GORGEOUS... it was a special edition, painted in a deep Porsche Navy Blue, with very dark tinted windows, and huge wide Pirelli tires. The car had the full AMG body treatment, with spoiler, ground effect scoops... the whole nine yards, and the engine was completely redone by AMG in Germany and brought to the US as a "Grey Market Car". It must have been putting out 500 horses or more. On top of that, my mechanic, Brian, installed a super turbocharger on the engine that positively made it SCREAM down the highway. I could do zero to 60mph in less than 5 seconds, and the top speed was over 150mph. Not bad for a 4500 pound 1985 Merc, no?
Hey... let me tell you how I bought that car. It's a very good story. One Christmas evening in 1986 I was having a Christmas party in my home near Chicago. I was trading options on the CBOE back then, and commodities on the CBOT, and was having a few of my trading buddies and their wives over for dinner. One of them, Terry Boyle drove up in that '85 Mercedes and my jaw dropped open when he swung around my driveway. It was gorgeous... he had bought it for his wife Stella a few months before for $110,000 (1986 dollars!). He was really pissed too... his wife hated the car, and Terry didn't need it as he had quite a stable of cars himself. I took him aside and said..."I'll buy it... how much?" He said, let me think about it and I'll let you know in a little while" was his reply. Well, I made sure that Terry had a LOT to drink that night!
Later on he kinda staggered over, and said he'd sell it for $55,000. I ran upstairs and wrote him a check... and sent him and Stella home in a Taxi. The car was MINE! I kept that car until 2000 or 2001 and drove it almost every day. Went through a lot of tires too! Usually every 8000 miles or so.
I used to clean that car every day with my KozaK. I can tell you that when I would park that car on the street, a crowd would gather around it and just stare at it. It was that beautiful. People would ask me.."who details your car"... I would open the trunk and pull out the KozaK and they were amazed how easy it was. No BullS*%T.. it really works!
More later..... but check out the KozaK cloth on http://www.kozakasia.com/
My friend Otto and I were sharing an apartment in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was in a condemned building right on the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk on Florida Avenue (there is a Trump Casino there now) that was literally held together by these HUGE metal straps! No kidding!! We paid $400 to rent the place for the entire summer of '64 (we kept renting it through '69) and we would drive down there every Friday night in Otto's mom's brand new, 1964 Pontiac GTO.
That car was HOT... Cherry Red in color, white convertible top, white genuine imitation leather seats (bucket seats no less), glass pack mufflers, dual or triple barrel carburetor, Hearst shifter, and a huge 7 or 8 liter engine. It was a real chick magnet! And just to be sure, we even had a telephone installed in the car (remember this was 1964... mobile phones hadn't been invented yet).
Well, sort of... you see, we took an old telephone handset, and a cord, and glued it to the underside of the dashboard and put the handset in the glove compartment. Otto hooked up a ringer with a switch.. it was very loud.. and when we got stuck in traffic, or pull alongside some cute young ladies, we would press the ringer button, reach into the glove compartment and "answer" the phone! Hellooooo... Oh... it's for you... and we'd hand the handset out the window to whoever was in the car next to us!
Sounds stupid today... well, it was, but you had to be there to see it then. It ALWAYS got laughs. Sometimes we'd pull into an A & W Root Beer drive-in, order a burger and a frosted mug... mmmmmm... sooo good!... of root beer, and press the ringer when the waitress arrived. I wish you could have seen their faces! Hahaha.. we had a great time with that car.
I remember one summer night, we were coming home... it was a very hot and humid summer Sunday evening and we were stuck in a traffic jam on the Atlantic City Expressway, going from AC to Philadelphia. We had the top down, and were just listening to the radio (AM of course) when there was a news bulletin... the Astronauts.. Neal Armstrong had just landed on the moon. The hairs still go up on the back of my neck when I think of that moment.
That car was hot! In return for letting us use the car on weekends, we promised Otto's mom that we'd wash and clean the car for her.. wax it too. And that's where the KozaK Auto DryWash cloth came in.
We wanted to maximize our time riding in the car, and minimize the time we spent maintaining it..so..we got lucky. My grandfather came over one day and handed me a red package (no.. not an hong pau!) and said simply.."I've used this for years.. give it a try".
We ripped it open and unfolded the cloth inside. He took us outside and showed us how to use it. It was just amazing. He padded it up, and just wiped the car down in short, straight strokes. The road dust and dirt just disappeared into the cloth, leaving the car's finish glowing! In 10 minutes, WITHOUT ANY WATER, that '64 "Goat" as they were called was lookin' show room new.
I was hooked. My grandfather later told me that his dad gave him one, when he got his first car. That was a DeSoto Station Wagon.. probably in the '40's or late '30's. He had used them (the KozaK's) since and now, I guess, it was my turn. Right of passage perhaps? Father to son? Whatever... the KozaK had been invented in 1926... and is still used today! Go to http://www.kozakasia.com/ and read all about it.
And, I have used them ever since... on everything from a 1937 Plymouth (with Rumble seat) to a Dodge Viper, Ferrari Testarosa, Jaguar XJR and XK8, BMW 840i, a Lexus, my own '64 Pontiac GTO, my favorite 1957 Chevy (with power windows!), Datsun 240Z, Lotus Europa, Toyota Camery, Honda Civic, Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, and my very favorite "Pimp Mobile" ... a gorgeous, HUGE, 1985 Mercedes SEL Long Wheelbase with a FULL GERMAN AMG conversion. My cars were my love... and trust me, they were massaged and oiled frequently... but the KozaK cloth was for everyday cleaning and polishing. And those cloths NEVER, EVER, scratched the finish on one of my babies. NEVER.
That car was GORGEOUS... it was a special edition, painted in a deep Porsche Navy Blue, with very dark tinted windows, and huge wide Pirelli tires. The car had the full AMG body treatment, with spoiler, ground effect scoops... the whole nine yards, and the engine was completely redone by AMG in Germany and brought to the US as a "Grey Market Car". It must have been putting out 500 horses or more. On top of that, my mechanic, Brian, installed a super turbocharger on the engine that positively made it SCREAM down the highway. I could do zero to 60mph in less than 5 seconds, and the top speed was over 150mph. Not bad for a 4500 pound 1985 Merc, no?
Hey... let me tell you how I bought that car. It's a very good story. One Christmas evening in 1986 I was having a Christmas party in my home near Chicago. I was trading options on the CBOE back then, and commodities on the CBOT, and was having a few of my trading buddies and their wives over for dinner. One of them, Terry Boyle drove up in that '85 Mercedes and my jaw dropped open when he swung around my driveway. It was gorgeous... he had bought it for his wife Stella a few months before for $110,000 (1986 dollars!). He was really pissed too... his wife hated the car, and Terry didn't need it as he had quite a stable of cars himself. I took him aside and said..."I'll buy it... how much?" He said, let me think about it and I'll let you know in a little while" was his reply. Well, I made sure that Terry had a LOT to drink that night!
Later on he kinda staggered over, and said he'd sell it for $55,000. I ran upstairs and wrote him a check... and sent him and Stella home in a Taxi. The car was MINE! I kept that car until 2000 or 2001 and drove it almost every day. Went through a lot of tires too! Usually every 8000 miles or so.
I used to clean that car every day with my KozaK. I can tell you that when I would park that car on the street, a crowd would gather around it and just stare at it. It was that beautiful. People would ask me.."who details your car"... I would open the trunk and pull out the KozaK and they were amazed how easy it was. No BullS*%T.. it really works!
More later..... but check out the KozaK cloth on http://www.kozakasia.com/
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