The black and white plumbing truck you see behind the Cougar and other vehicles in this picture was my DD during High School:

Sorry I don't have any surviving pics of the "Beast" so that one will have to do. Yes I also had the XR-7 in the pic as well. Anyways back on topic, one day I was taking a classmate of mine home I decided to take the truck over a series of dips that other friends of mine jumped their own junk over. Well, I had to go over this series of dips to see how high I could get this truck in the air.

So there I was driving down the street talking to my friend about the dips on the street and he's telling me they are pretty severe. I think "Ahh this truck can take it nothing can kill this truck! Hell, there is a bullethole in the fender to prove it!" see the dip and nail the throttle. Both barrels on the Autolite 2100 on top of the 390 open fully, atmosphere mixed with leaded fuel mixes and gets sucked down the venturis of the autolite. It makes it's way through the intake valves to be compressed, ignited and shoved through the exhaust port to partly pass through the exhaust manifold gasket with a glug and the rest passes through the rotted exhaust. 20, 25, 30, 35, THERE IT IS, the twin black ramps of fun the Perdidito DIPS! "Aww crap!" I think then say, the dips are larger then previously seen, these are mountains! I slam on the brakes, ahh shit no good I'm gonna auger in if I do that, Full throttle! The venerable old truck's front wheels meet the first dip and compress the front suspension. The compression caries until the crest of the first dip then rebounds and pushes the front end of the truck in the air. Here we go.... The rear end starts to gain altitude just as the front tires reach mother earth. The front suspension compresses again this time with the full weight of the truck on them and once again rebound teetering the center of gravity of the truck to the rear axle just as the rear tires reach the ground the rusty over-packed leafs compress further than they have compressed in years, then rebound with the full force that 24 leaf springs can muster pogoing the rear end 6-8 feet into the air. Anything that was left in the bins are now spilling out the rotted tailpipe flings off the truck and the two kids in the cab are both screaming "OH SHIT!" The truck lands, pipes and fittings land, the tailpipe goes somewhere and after several un-dampened bounces of the suspension the truck and the two scared kids glug-glug off down the street.

That old truck lasted several more years after that, always starting in the morning and always getting me home, even with a head cracked in half. It was a sad day when the wrecker finally picked up the Beast. Every dent, every bailing wire fix, the headlight held on with P-Tape, the 3' scar along the driver's side fender the bullethole in the passenger side fender, the kicked in door from a bar bouncer that caught me dumping branches in their dumpster, the pole mark from the low-ling pole that I bumped into, the paint scratches from getting pushed along by an 824 operated by ol 'beckerhead the blue paint flecks from the Honda Cvcc I backed over, the bits of rubble from knocking holes in the wall in the school parkinglot, the scratches in the undercarriage from the pep boys exhaust that fell off on the 57 freeway, the screwed-in loading ramp that almost scalped a passing Accord ahh yes, the old Beast you will always be remembered.

Yes, I do take the top off of mine on a regular basis.

but that one takes the cake.