Being fellow gearheads in our small farming community, and having grown up only about a million from each other, Bobby and I were good friends all through school. During our senior year of highschool, Bobby started building his Vega. The summer that we graduated (1979) he, like myself, started a full-time job and poured every cent into the car... By late summer he had it ready and started driving it on a regular basis.

Anyway, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, about a week or two after he had started driving it, I hopped in my truck heading towards the closest "big" town (Clinton, Iowa) ... Probably for something either model or real car related.

So, as l reached the bottom of a hill and rounded a curve, I noticed, to my left, a cloud of dust in the air... And big set of (N50-15?) tires poking up out of a cornfield.

Pulling to the side of the road l got out and rushed over, just in time to see Bobby crawling out of the driver's window of his pride and joy..... Pat Travers' "Crash And Burn" still playing loud and clear on the 8-Track he had installed... it was all a bit surreal.

Fortunately, Bobby was okay.... The car, not so much.