The garages and shops across america are littered with unfinished project cars. Invariably these cars are owned by "Someday Guy". You know the guy, He always says stuff like "Someday she'll run" or "Someday she'll be good as new" He always talks big but never finishes anything. I hate "Someday guy" and my 1973 Pontiac Ventura has been making me sound dangerously close to "Someday Guy" recently. I bought the Ventura on October,17 1993 for $2,200 It was my first car. My dad fronted me the money which I paid him back in weekly $20 installments. Back then my Pontiac was poop brown with a 350 two barrel Pontiac engine. It was a low-option "stripper" model with no A/C,power steering or power brakes,Like a real musclecar,even if it didn't really have a musclecar engine. I drove it in that configuration throughout high school racking up speeding tickets and bald tires from excessive "power braking". After graduation I purchased a 1970 Dodge Challenger with a 4-speed 440 six-pack combo. As I turned my attention to my new mopar I began to neglect the Ventura.South Dakota winters are brutal on vintage sheetmetal and eventually the constant barrage of road salt started to show on the lower quarter panels. Then after a close encounter with a bridge the Ventura became less of a head turner and more of an eyesore. I enrolled at Southeast tech in the Auto Body program,and in November of 1997 my much neglected pontiac entered the shop to go under the knife. I ended up replacing both rear quarter panels,outer wheelhouses and trunk extensions. The Ventura returned home in primer and still needing tons of work,Everything was worn out and needed to be replaced, I rebuilt both front and rear suspensions and upgraded the front brakes to discs. The 350 two barrel was yanked in preparation of a more powerful 400 cubic inch Pontiac engine. Then life happened,A couple crazy girlfriends and a home purchase put a hurt on my finances,By the time I recovered,my interest had waned and I wasn't sure if it was ever going to be finished. honestly for several years I didn't care if it ever got finished. The only thing keeping me from selling it was the fact that I could never recoup my investment (restoring a Pontiac Ventura isn't very financially lucrative) I turned my attention to some of my other project cars,and as I started making progress I began to warm up to the idea of working on the Ventura again. I still had a basement full of new parts for the car so it only made sense to forge ahead. Recently I finally got it painted and installed the interior,The engine is currently at the machine shop and I'm giddy at the thought of having a running engine finally.So now It's 2011 and I've owned the car for almost 18 years,With renewed ambition and fear of being "someday guy" I'm optimistic for the first time in a long time of resurrecting my first car. The plan at this point is to have a retro theme with the car. I've collected lots of vintage speed equipment over the years and I would like to use them on the car. With six cars in my fleet it's easy for one of them to get lost in the shuffle.I hope to make sure the Ventura never gets ignored again.
