WHAT'S IN MY GARAGE? Firebirds, Trans Ams and more

Pontiac heaven? No, just Tommy Simmons' garage.
 

Garage envy? Your fellow gear head has a cool collection of cars, tools and stacks of NOS parts safely tucked into your dream hot rod garage. Want to take a peek inside those giant, garage mahals and intriguing old barns but don't have the nerve to ask. We've got the scoop on real man caves - the garage.

Tommy Simmons, 48, of Pleasant Grove, Alabama has a garage, make that an airplane hangar, any gear head would crave. Lots of space, more than a handful of vintage cars and a built-in lift to work on his vehicles like a pro. Simmons got bit by the car bug early in life. "I have a picture somewhere of me in diapers at 3-years old sitting on the 283-cubic inch engine in my dads '55 Chevy with a wrench in my hand," Simmons says proudly.

Floor pans for a 1967 Firebird are sitting on top of Simmons' 1987 Pontiac Trans Am GTA.

Simmons has owned more than 30 muscle or pony cars from the golden years of Detroit. "I have never owned a foreign car and as you can see, I'm pretty Pontiac heavy. My first car was a 1967 GTO that once belonged to my granddad." Chevy fans get ready to groan. Simmons held on to all of his Pontiacs but parted with his 1957 Chevrolet 4-door. (left, rear of top photo) "I sold the '57 to buy my oldest something newer to drive."

Current cars in garage
1967 Firebird convertible - Project from Illinois, found it online on Performance Years site in 2001. "It has a 400-cubic inch engine with a 400 tranny." Simmons also has new trunk and floor pans to replace the rusty ones.
1987 Trans Am GTA - “The red GTA was bought around 2000. A shop had told the owner it needed an engine and a wiring harness. I tuned it and replaced the missing and blown fuses and it ran fine. All three of my kids and one son-in-law have used that car at one time or another and it shows."
1979 Trans Am - "The black '79 was a 301 powered, one-option car when I bought it in 1997. I have found and installed every option you can think of since then, including WS6 suspension, 400-cubic inch engine and a 4-speed. I don't know why but I just love that car."
1981 Trans Am Special Edition - It's the red car on right in back of top photo. "I bought it for parts but it was so straight and I had so many parts stored, I decided to build it. This was THE ONE we all dream about, the one we FINISH. The car still had the nice, factory Recaro interior, so I went all in. I built a stroker 455 engine (now 472-cu. inches), super strong tranny, rare 12-bolt rear from a '70 Formula. I added a '73 Formula Firebird front clip, then painted it Dodge Viper Red. I finished it in the summer of '05. 3 days later it was stolen from my driveway in the middle of the night. I didn't see it again until 2007. I'm really just now making myself work on it any." 

1996 Trans Am - its all one color now.

1996 Trans Am - The black '96 (above), originally bought by Simmons' daughter, was totaled in an accident in Montgomery in '08.  "My son and I used parts from three Firebirds, of different colors, to make what it is now."
1978 Trans Am - "The burgundy Bird, (left, front in top photo) actually belongs to one of my brothers. It's really a 1980 base Firebird but we used some of my stash to turn into a '78 T/A."

You can't have too many Trans Ams.

You know your serious about your garage when you put a bathroom in it.

Garage facts
Simmons found his garage inspiration at a gas station. "I actually bought my building out of that little, free ad magazine in convenience stores. The building is made by American Steel Span and was intended to be an airplane hangar." The building is 40'x50' and it took Simmons almost two years to build, doing almost all of the work himself.

A look at Simmons' American Steel Span garage under construction.

Cool stuff
The surfboard on the back wall isn't real. "Its a display piece from a beer company." What airplane hangar would be complete without airplanes? "Me and my brothers were pretty heavy into the remote control airplanes in the early '90s. As my basement empties into my shop, things get hung wherever they can go."

Why so many cars? 
Simmons would buy junk cars with blown engines that someone wanted out of their yard. "I fixed them and drove them as cheap transportation, then pushed them into the back of my yard when they needed more than I could afford to do to them," says Simmons. "My three children came along, and most of the cars  turned into school clothes, household needs, or whatever was needed. Dad's toys had to go when momma's babies needed something." By the looks of it, Simmons has plenty of toys since his children have grown up. "Most of what I still have, has been bought since the kids got older or was in too bad a shape to sell."

Got a cool garage? 
Send photos, stories or info about a cool garage to junkyardbull@gmail.com

READERS RIDE: Homebuilt trike a junkyard motorcycle that's more car than bike

Call it a homebuilt trike or a recipe for a wild ride. One part Buick, one part Chevrolet Camaro, add some Toyota for good measure, then stick a Harley-Davidson fork in it. 

At first glance the 231 cubic inch Buick V6 with Holley valve covers looks right at home on Charles and Beverly Pilkington's trike. A closer look reveals homespun ingenuity and the evolution of parts that were added to meet needs as they developed. I didn't stop at their house to look at the trike, it just happened. 

Open air fun with a car's engine and transmission.

My wife, friends and family will attest that I will knock on anyone's door to talk about cars. On a recent Friday in north Alabama a black 1957 Chevy caught my eye (photos coming soon). I made a quick u-turn and ended up staring at this fierce looking trike guarding the front door of the house. I've dealt with some mean dogs on the way to doorsteps before. I never faced an owner that spawned a diabolical trike. 

Knock, knock

I knocked and a lady answered the door, her western drawl was friendly but she sounded a bit skeptical of my intentions. I assured Beverly I wasn't crazy, that I just wanted to photograph her cool cars and that trike. She told me that every time they take the trike out for a spin it draws a crowd. She filled me in on the details.

Trike specs
Engine: 231 cubic inch Buick V6
Transmission: Buick 3-speed automatic
Rear end: 1999 Camaro with drum brakes
Master cylinder: 1979 Toyota
Fork assembly: 1974 Harley-Davidson FLH 3 inch overstock
Gas tank: boat
Rear wheels: 20-inch diameter

Homebuilt parts

• Frame
• Custom Fat boy gas tank - for looks only. Real gas tank from a boat at rear of  trike.
• Rear seat built in shop, front seat bought at Sam's.
• Side steps added after melting shoes on exhaust

Test drive?

After taking photos Beverly asked me to come back for a ride on the trike when Charles was home. She promised me it would be a ride to remember. That big burly trike is scary sitting still. Is my life insurance up to date?

Send your photos and stories to junkyardlife
Email junkyardbull@gmail.com

Junkyard crawling in Wisconsin: The forgotten junkyard!

Dream of finding a ‘lost’ junkyard? John B. of northern Wisconsin sent junkyardlife these scenes from a forgotten junkyard near Rhinelander, Wisconsin. “About 50 years ago, they closed this yard up, and hauled everything away, or so I thought,” John said. A dozen cars of 1920s and 1930s vintage are scattered in the woods. Ironically, the cars sit on land that belongs to the Nature Conservancy. “I don’t think they would acknowledge having a junkyard on their property.”

Bring a chainsaw

“I believe the cars could be had for little or nothing if the owner's (whoever they may be) even know they exist,” says John. Removing the one or two larger hulks would be a monumental challenge because Mother Nature has reclaimed them for herself. “The cars are going to have to be hand carried out because the trees have grown up through the cars.” 

“I wish I could have ‘rediscovered’ it sooner,” says John, a former truck driver who has been everywhere and seen his fair share of junkyards. Unfortunately, rust belt roads wreaked havoc on these ancient automobile shells long before they landed in this forgotten junkyard. “Most of these hulks are now paper thin or worse but they are still fun to look at,” says John. 

Thanks for the photos John! We like to look at automotive history that has escaped recycling too.

Send your photos and stories to junkyardlife
Email junkyardbull@gmail.com

Readers ride: 1959 Ford Ranch Wagon, 2-door classic stationwagon

When you see this 1959 Ford Ranch Wagon, your looking at a junkyardlife. Tyler Fleming and his dad Steve, of Gadsden, Alabama, live a junkyardlife. The pair buy old cars, wrench on them, drive 'em and sell them when another project comes along. More than a dozen vehicles from the '40s and '50s have crossed their path in the last few years. "We buy and sell cars," Tyler says. "We have an enclosed trailer that we keep pretty well stocked with parts. When we go to car shows my dad will take the latest project car and I'll take the trailer, loaded with parts to sell."  

1959 Ford Ranch Wagon 2-door 

The father, son duo know driving dream cars doesn't come cheap. "We figure since we are already at a show, we might as well try to make a little money," Tyler says, matter-of-fact. "It's sorta like killing two birds with one stone. Have fun at the car show and make few extra buck at the same time. Nothing wrong with that right?"

Tyler spotted this '59 Ford 2-door Ranch Wagon for sale on Craigslist last fall.  "The owner, in Russellville, Alabama, said the car came from south Georgia," the younger Fleming says. "I believe him, after laying under it and all the red dirt falling in my face, it had to come from south Georgia." The previous owner made it drivable and took it to a few car shows but was ready to move on to something else. That's where the Flemings went to work.

 

BEFORE: Original 1959 Ford 223-cubic inch engine

Engine swap, more
The Ranch Wagon's tired inline 223 cubic-inch engine with the 3-on-the-tree tranny got the boot. "We installed a 302 cubic-inch engine with an automatic transmission out of a '79 or '80 model Lincoln Versailles (aka the top of the line Granada)," Tyler says. "We've changed out the straight shift rear end gear for one that will work better with a automatic trans, reworked the brakes, put the shifter in the floor and had the front seat recovered." 

 AFTER: 1979 Ford 302-cubic inch engine now in the '59 Wagon.

Future plans
Since these photos were made, the Flemings have added a luggage rack to the roof, along with surf boards that were bought at a trade day. The father-son duo keep the wheels and wrenches turning. "The plan is to leave the paint as is and just make a cruiser, surf wagon out of it," Tyler says. The rear seat will be recovered this winter, providing they still have the car. "We plan on keeping it for a while or at least until something else comes along."

Comment below or send your photos and stories to junkyardlife.com

Junkyard 1967 Chevelle Super Sport, SS 396

Have you seen a battered, big block 1967 Chevelle SS at your local junkyard? A reader from Mobile, Alabama sent photos of this rusty, abused, muscle car. All that is left is a shell of a beast that was factory-equipped with a 396-cubic inch, V8 engine. To say this is a basket case would be a compliment.  

 

The engine and rear end have found new homes. A distinctive 1967 SS big block hood, crumbling into a thin layer of rust, leans against a fender. The inside of the Super Sport looks as bad as the outside. Time is running out for this 1967 Chevelle. The crusher looms.

Comment below or send your photos and stories to junkyardlife.com