29 Second Mile (A Story)
12-10-2010, 03:46 PM
#1
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Nevada
Posts: 544
29 Second Mile (A Story)
I got my driver's license on my 14th Birthday in 1980. Growing up in Southern Louisiana, where your nearest neighbor was a half-mile away, it was kinda a big deal. It mattered. Now you have to understand that back then, the cars the teenage boys would drive were Mustangs, GTOs, Chargers, Grand Turinos, El caminos... not because they were cool, but because they were the worn-out hand-me-down junkers from the previous generation. They were the cars that uncle Ted had driven into the ground for eleven years and was willing to give up so he could buy that Oldsmobile that he always wanted. They were the kind of cars that a teenager with a job could buy for $500.00 and hope to fix up.
And fix them up we did. See, in those days, there was a class called "shop" in high-school. It was a place where a young man could learn to overhaul and engine and learn how to rebuild a carburetor at your kitchen table. It was a place where kids without a lot of money could pick up tricks like that spray adhesive could stop a belt from slipping or that the cardboard backing of your algebra notebook and a razor blade was all you need to cut out a new gasket for your holley four barrel.
A kid good with his hands could get a car that could run 110mph on the back roads. There was nothing like screaming down a hard-dirt road with your hair on fire with Aerosmith screaming out of a 25watt home stereo speaker sitting sideways in your back seat. Then there were a few, and you could count how many in the nearest three towns on one hand, could pull off what we called a 29 second mile. It wasn't really a race, and it wasn't really a particular stretch of road... it was a concept. It was simple math.
Everyone knows that 60mph is a mile a minute, so 120mph would be a 30 second mile, therefore IF you could hold a car steady at 120mph for 20 seconds and then punch it to WOT for another 10 seconds you obviously just hit a 29 second rolling mile (or better). Simple math, but a legendary accomplishment by a teenager in a hand-built car.
I was in a car in 1981 that made it. Scare the hell out of me, but the driver was suddenly talked about for miles around. My buddy who did it was in a 1970 mustang. I drove a Ford Maverick and never had a chance... just wasn't in the cards for me.
29 years later...
Last night, on a lonely stretch of dark, desert highway -here in Vegas- I suddenly realized that I was 44 years old and I was finally driving a Mustang GT. The road was straight and there was no one around. It would only take me a few seconds to get 75 up to 120 and then history and dream was only 29 seconds away. So I floored it.
As expected, the trip from 75 to 120 took only a few heartbeats. Then I hit my stopwatch and kept her steady for 20 terrifying seconds in the dark. Too late to turn back, I hit the 20 second mark and buried the gas pedal in the floor. Within the next 10 seconds I managed to creep up on 128mph (near top-end apparently for a stock GT)
In 29 short seconds I went back in time 29 years. I could see my buddy in the seat next to me smiling. It scared the hell out of me again, but I finally did it; I joined the 29 second club. No one was there to see it, and these days, it's not even really an accomplishment with today's cars. But, I don't care... the boy with a Maverick finally, finally got his day to brag.
The End.
*I've never been to a track, and I never will. I'm not a reckless driver and have rarely ever had my car over 90. This was a part of history that I HAD to revisit. I needed this. It mattered.
**Now, let's see if there are any "old-guys" out there that can relate. Or if anyone will even bother to read this long-assed post. LOL
And fix them up we did. See, in those days, there was a class called "shop" in high-school. It was a place where a young man could learn to overhaul and engine and learn how to rebuild a carburetor at your kitchen table. It was a place where kids without a lot of money could pick up tricks like that spray adhesive could stop a belt from slipping or that the cardboard backing of your algebra notebook and a razor blade was all you need to cut out a new gasket for your holley four barrel.
A kid good with his hands could get a car that could run 110mph on the back roads. There was nothing like screaming down a hard-dirt road with your hair on fire with Aerosmith screaming out of a 25watt home stereo speaker sitting sideways in your back seat. Then there were a few, and you could count how many in the nearest three towns on one hand, could pull off what we called a 29 second mile. It wasn't really a race, and it wasn't really a particular stretch of road... it was a concept. It was simple math.
Everyone knows that 60mph is a mile a minute, so 120mph would be a 30 second mile, therefore IF you could hold a car steady at 120mph for 20 seconds and then punch it to WOT for another 10 seconds you obviously just hit a 29 second rolling mile (or better). Simple math, but a legendary accomplishment by a teenager in a hand-built car.
I was in a car in 1981 that made it. Scare the hell out of me, but the driver was suddenly talked about for miles around. My buddy who did it was in a 1970 mustang. I drove a Ford Maverick and never had a chance... just wasn't in the cards for me.
29 years later...
Last night, on a lonely stretch of dark, desert highway -here in Vegas- I suddenly realized that I was 44 years old and I was finally driving a Mustang GT. The road was straight and there was no one around. It would only take me a few seconds to get 75 up to 120 and then history and dream was only 29 seconds away. So I floored it.
As expected, the trip from 75 to 120 took only a few heartbeats. Then I hit my stopwatch and kept her steady for 20 terrifying seconds in the dark. Too late to turn back, I hit the 20 second mark and buried the gas pedal in the floor. Within the next 10 seconds I managed to creep up on 128mph (near top-end apparently for a stock GT)
In 29 short seconds I went back in time 29 years. I could see my buddy in the seat next to me smiling. It scared the hell out of me again, but I finally did it; I joined the 29 second club. No one was there to see it, and these days, it's not even really an accomplishment with today's cars. But, I don't care... the boy with a Maverick finally, finally got his day to brag.
The End.
*I've never been to a track, and I never will. I'm not a reckless driver and have rarely ever had my car over 90. This was a part of history that I HAD to revisit. I needed this. It mattered.
**Now, let's see if there are any "old-guys" out there that can relate. Or if anyone will even bother to read this long-assed post. LOL
12-10-2010, 04:02 PM
#2
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: CA
Posts: 368
Thanks for sharing. Not sure if I'd drive that fast at night, I usually prefer better visibility when driving fast. Glad you finally hit your 29 second mile. I've always thought it would be cool to join the 200 mph club. The fastest I've driven is 155 and the fastest I've ridden was 180-190 in an Indy car at Fontana.
12-10-2010, 04:35 PM
#3
6th Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Honolulu, HI
Posts: 6,130
cool story, bro. no wonder you write books. 
i can sort of relate. but in a different way.
back in high school my dad had a 77 mustang II that he got from a friend that moved and left him the mustang bc it didn't run.
we had it rebuilt with a 302 and a 600 carb, thats all i can remember it had.
all i wanted to do with it was make it loud.
so i went down the the local performance shop, picked up a set of hedman headers and some sonic turbo mufflers.
the whole set cost me less than $200.
the instructions said 6-8 hours to bolt in the headers. easy, or so i thought.
well a week went by before me and a friend completed the job, with many busted knuckles, and hundreds of 4 letter words mumbled and shouted.
come to find out the midpipe does not bolt up to the headers, and i would need the muffers welded in.
so off i went to the local muffler shop, driving with uncapped headers, loud as hell.
going for the cheapest route, i had the shop bolt up a 1 foot pipe to the headers and weld in the sonic turbo mufflers right there under the cabin and dump the exhaust right after the mufflers.
let me tell you, it was mission accomplished. that thing was LOUD!
the moral of my story is, I ain't doing headers ever again!
many years went by before i drove another stang. it was pickups and sedans until i got the 07.
so when i got my 2007 i brought it to my friends shop and paid him to do it for me.
but every time i get on this 1 onramp and get up to speed hearing my exhaust,
it takes me back to when i was driving my dad's old '77 mustang II with the 302 and the loud exhaust.
i can sort of relate. but in a different way.
back in high school my dad had a 77 mustang II that he got from a friend that moved and left him the mustang bc it didn't run.
we had it rebuilt with a 302 and a 600 carb, thats all i can remember it had.
all i wanted to do with it was make it loud.
so i went down the the local performance shop, picked up a set of hedman headers and some sonic turbo mufflers.
the whole set cost me less than $200.
the instructions said 6-8 hours to bolt in the headers. easy, or so i thought.
well a week went by before me and a friend completed the job, with many busted knuckles, and hundreds of 4 letter words mumbled and shouted.
come to find out the midpipe does not bolt up to the headers, and i would need the muffers welded in.
so off i went to the local muffler shop, driving with uncapped headers, loud as hell.
going for the cheapest route, i had the shop bolt up a 1 foot pipe to the headers and weld in the sonic turbo mufflers right there under the cabin and dump the exhaust right after the mufflers.
let me tell you, it was mission accomplished. that thing was LOUD!
the moral of my story is, I ain't doing headers ever again!
many years went by before i drove another stang. it was pickups and sedans until i got the 07.
so when i got my 2007 i brought it to my friends shop and paid him to do it for me.
but every time i get on this 1 onramp and get up to speed hearing my exhaust,
it takes me back to when i was driving my dad's old '77 mustang II with the 302 and the loud exhaust.
Last edited by onederful100; 12-10-2010 at 04:37 PM.
12-10-2010, 07:00 PM
#6
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Arlington, Virginia
Posts: 1,305
That also 7.25/quarter mile! But seriously, nice story brings back a lot of memories of how highschool used to be and what we did to make things work, and the crazy ideas we came up with to make it all happen
12-10-2010, 08:25 PM
#7
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: St Louis, MO
Posts: 962
Very cool story. Made me think of the first time I hit 100mph. I was 16 and driving my grandmas Olds 88 Royale Brougham through a winding 2 lane highway. Punched it on a straight stretch and hit triple digits. Scared the hell out of me. That thing drove like the boat it was. You could literally watch the gas gauge go down! Thanks for taking me back a few years.
Last edited by ffk_pennywise; 12-10-2010 at 08:29 PM.
12-10-2010, 08:37 PM
#8
6th Gear Member
Great story. I recall many evenings going to one of the many unofficial strips in the Philly area where we'd congregate and have one run after another until the cops came thru and would kick us out.
But I hate to tell you that a stock GT's top end is about 147 MPH, give or take a few. If you're driving an auto, take it out of OD. I've done that 29 second mile and then some except I hung at 135 (with room to go) for a bit more than a 3 mile sretch.
But I hate to tell you that a stock GT's top end is about 147 MPH, give or take a few. If you're driving an auto, take it out of OD. I've done that 29 second mile and then some except I hung at 135 (with room to go) for a bit more than a 3 mile sretch.
12-11-2010, 05:03 AM
#10
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Nevada
Posts: 544
Yeah, it was kinda like that.
Last edited by Fifthwind; 12-11-2010 at 05:10 AM.