February 2008 LXOM: Mr. iNCREDIBLE

**DMAG** · 02-04-2008, 08:17 PM

written by Mr. iNCREDIBLE

Cars… Motorcycles…. Trucks…….

Modding, customizing, changing…

For me is started with books, Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars as a kid... my parents bought me every book about cars that they found... custom cars, specialty cars, everyday plain Jane cars…
Dad started taking me to the Los Angeles Auto Show when I was 6 or 7; back then he had a 1962 Corvette and a 1968 Ford Thunderbird Landau. By the time I was 12 -13 I was really into 2 things, computers and cars... the Vette was gone dad sold it when he was laid off from the Aerospace Industry in 1974..

I remember sitting in the living room at the coffee table all my Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars lined up in the “Matchbox Car Parking Garage” and drawing pictures of the cars, and what they looked like with fat rear tires and raked in the back… As I got older I draw pictures of the cars I wanted and how I would make them look…

When I was 15 with my learners permit I wrecked my mom’s 1968 Impala, flipped it on a wet rainy freeway, with mom in the car… Panic Breaking...
Shortly after that Dad decided I needed to learn how to drive correctly and spent a few thousand to send me to Performance Racing School in Spokane, they offered a Teenage Safe Driving course and a high performance race day….. After I passed the course Dad and I set out to find me a car…

His original plan was a mini-truck, those 1980’s Toyota/Nissan things... YUCK... I bought my first car for $300 at a police auction, a 1978 Anniversary Edition Pontiac Trans Am… spent 2 summers when I was 15/16 “restoring” that car, dropped a 1988 Chevy Truck 454 motor in it, out of a wrecked P/U truck from Ecology Wrecking Yard in Norwalk, CA… 7.4L and 400 odd hp, didn’t get to drive it until about a month before high school graduation, and then only for the summer prior to my USMC enlistment date… but it was the best summer of my life.. Complete (well almost, still had a curfew) freedom, fast car, and my 50watt (total) Radio Shack in-dash cassette player….

Found out while I was in Basic Training and MOS school that dad drove that car to work almost every day, instead of his then 1985 Ford Crown Victoria….

I Didn’t get back into cars much after my stint in the USMC, a DUI broadsided the Trans Am the following summer totaling it, and all I could afford was a POS 1989 Ford Escort...

I started getting into Motorcycles and bought a 1990 Honda VFR to learn how to ride. In 1993 I had saved up a lot of money and wanted a Mustang... Well that was the year that Ford changed the Probe body and it was Motor Trend Car of the year. I saw it next to a Mustang in the showroom at the Ford Dealership and decided I wanted it... GT version with the V-6 and a 5 speed... Biggest mistake of my life… live and learn I guess… That car was plagued with problems and recalls... still I modded it, removed the back seat, put in 2 15” subs and 10 speakers in the cab, 4 amps, lowered it, 18 inch wheels (stock where 16 and 18’s where a big deal back then)… custom paint.. By 64K the motor was shot, it had a factory recall on the air intake, it would suck water in heavy rain, and mine did just that cracking the block...

Warranty/Recall repaired it (extended service contract) but it was never the same… traded it for a 1996 Chevy Truck and swore off Ford forever… Didn’t do much to the truck... by then I had really gotten into Racing Motorcycles, so I spent my time and money on that venture, 1993 Honda Hurricane, 1996 CBR 1000F, I raced and modded the bikes until I got busted on Highway 105 in Los Angeles doing over 180mph on the Hurricane, police took the bike and my motorcycle license got suspended for 3 years. I still raced on circuit tracks, up until 2003 had the CBR 1000F and a CBR954RR both raced out and far from street legal….

In 2000 I traded the 1996 Chevy for a 2000 Silverado Z71, as I had gotten into Snow and Jet Skiing with my fiancé, (soon to be wife) and I needed the 4x4. That truck rekindled my Car modding fire... Raised it 12 inches (8 suspension, 4 body) did a lot of modding to the exterior; put a nice sound system in it with a small 5 inch LCD TV. I loved that truck… but after my wife died in 2001 I lost interest in everything, sold the truck, the jet skis, all but one motorcycle and I just existed for a few years… in 2003 I was in a horrific motorcycle accident and shortly thereafter found out my then girlfriend was pregnant.. I needed a vehicle and as soon as I was able to walk/drive/ride again I bought a 2002 Chevy Impala… Nice car, but in dire need of being personalized and motor work, coming off a 350 hp truck, and 150 plus hp motorcycles, the 3.8L FWD V6 was highly under powered.. I set off to tweak that car, which I soon discovered to be almost impossible, so after a year of owning it I started searching for a RWD V8...

Originally a 2002 Camaro is what I wanted, but with a child soon to come I needed a real back seat….
That led me to the Chrysler LX cars… I looked at all of them, the Charger was my first choice, but I found out that the insurance was very high, Magnum was next but as I discovered the Magnum lacked some of what I felt should be basic options, both my Trucks and the Impala had Heated and memory seats, auto down windows, and a few other tid-bits… so I went for a Chrysler 300.. I couldn’t afford the financing on a new one, as I was coming of disability for my motorcycle accident, so I got a leased returned vehicle with 19K miles on it...

And so started my first Mopar experience… at first my mods where small: grill, dash kit, LED bulbs... then I discovered that the 300 had the 2 things that as a child/teen I loved... a powerful V8 motor and a sophisticated computer system… Cars and Computer in one…

my list of mods? Hell I don't remember all of it.. the car is always changing and evolving.. I know it's big. and I try not to think about the money aspect of it.. that would ruin the fun of modding it.

So after searching the WWW for some info on the 300, I landed at LX Forums, and soon discovered the vast wealth of knowledge and techno geeks I am now proud to call my friends and LX Family. A few meet and greets, lasts years Spring Festival and I was hooked, the major modding started and hasn’t stopped. I find peace and stress relief in working on the car, I find solace in helping members of the forums and exchanging and sharing my knowledge with them...

I am a 40 year old happy teenager again, and I enjoy driving my car, it is not just transportation any longer. It is an extension of who I am, as is the Mr. Incredible moniker... Originally given to me by my daughter when she was learning to talk, she saw the movie "the Incredibles" and called me "daddy-credible" for several months, my best friend Jorge picked up on it, and in his famous style of always razing me he started calling me "MR. INCREDIBLE" in a very loud voice every time he saw me. The name seemed to fit, so it became my alter-ego you could say..

I believe that my new fiancé and my daughter, (the reason behind owning a 4-door Sedan as opposed to a Camaro) are the 2 things in my life that make me happy, make me feel alive, and both of them understand and share in my desire to customize my 300C, my daughter is a very active part of everything I do to the car, and she shares her opinion openly about what she likes and dislikes. She is out with me every Saturday washing the car, and has assisted in oil changed and installing my Air Hammer... She loves my car and loves the sound and to tells me “go faster daddy”.

My 300C has brought me new friends, and provides me with a stress relief valve when I need it… my family shares my love for this vehicle which make it that much more fun to mod and drive…..

The LX community is unlike anything I have ever experienced... People from around the world, coming together to share a common interest, their love for their cars…. Never did I ever think I could be part of a community of 20,000 plus people worldwide and actually share something in common with them, much less add to the wealth of knowledge and experience about that interest….
LX Forums is an outstanding community, some of the Governments of the world can take lessons on how to achieve peace from this forum...

**Magma** · 02-04-2008, 08:18 PM

HUGE congrats man!!!!

**blackmagnum06** · 02-04-2008, 08:20 PM

great write up! congrats you deserve it!

**Leadfootluke** · 02-04-2008, 08:26 PM

great write up Marc, well deserved LXOM.

**36 chambers** · 02-04-2008, 08:30 PM

you the man mr I...a true superhero!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Carfinish** · 02-04-2008, 08:31 PM

Congrats Marc....about time

...great write up

**MrHemi2U** · 02-04-2008, 08:36 PM

Congrats and great write up.

**kool300c** · 02-04-2008, 08:37 PM

Dude, you brought tears to my eyes!! I share both the love for family and the love for cars. You deserve it. I've been following you at 300cforums.com and just recently here at LX. Congrats!!