GOODIES

His passion for vintage American cars

Firebird Patrick has always liked beautiful American cars from the seventies.
This passion began when he was very young.
One of his neighbours and friends, who owned a new 1972 Mustang Mach 1, came to visit.
For young Patrick living in France, at the time it was like seeing a UFO. It made a very big impression on him. The look, the sound, he will never forget them.

Several years later Patrick went to buy his first guitar at a store. He discovered the store owner had just purchased a new black 1977 Transam.

Patrick began attending American car meetings as often as he could, hoping for the day when he would own one himself.
He dreamed about these cars and what they would look like in the future.

He would have been disappointed if he had known Kangoos would replace Mustangs, Chargers, Challengers, 442s etc.



# His love of music and guitars came later and became his main passion. It took up a lot of time and effort, which is always the case with a passion.

As his career started progressing he had the opportunity to buy American car came in November 1990. He bought a red 1975 Firebird Esprit with a custom hood (it turned out not to be the only modification made to the car). And then began the long restoration process.

He enjoyed doing it but nevertheless quickly realized the car was in a much worse state than he judged at first sight. It required an enormous amount of work.

# In 1991 Patrick met François Primard, who was even crazier than Patrick about American cars.
They quickly became good friends and spent a lot of time together, amusing their friends by working on their cars.

For Patrick it is a way to escape, to clear his head and to be alone with himself whenever he feels the need. François warned Patrick the Pontiac Esprit project was probably an impossible task as the car was in such bad shape.

Patrick kept at it until 1993 when a friend of François said he was selling his 		#


Owning and driving a big American car is not and never has been a way for Patrick to show off. His passion for the sound and the design of these seventies monsters dates back to his childhood and has grown with him.

He studied them and read many books on these cars. At a glance he knows the year of a model and its characteristics.
Over the past years he has collected and watched the biggest classic American car film collection.
His favorites are :
- Bullitt
- Vanishing Point
- Mad Max
- Gone in 60s



Some photos

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Some pics of his formula back in 1990 At the PMD club in, 1993 when he bought his white firebird During the restoration process
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Pontiac Firebird Formula 400 with its chromed headlamp bezels, honeycomb wheels, body  accent stripes and ram air formula  hood: a dream  come true ! Patrick drives it  whenever  he can and still  restores it  because there is always something  to  do  on this old car and  he loves that  too.


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Balade en famille à Toulouse au Tommy’s
Au PMD


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Patrick répète chez Cyclope Studio /Clichy-sous-Bois avant les concerts
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Ibanez advertising in 2000 photo rené Guérin..
Juste pour vous donner une idée à quoi ça ressemble et ce qu’on ressent derrière le volant d’une de ces voitures américaines, traversant le Pont de Normandie par une très belle journée ensoleillée.

 

Bon et bien après 17ans, j'ai vendu ma Pontiac... à Vincent un ami... pas facile comme décision... tant de souvenirs...
mais à mon âge il y a des rêves qu'il vaut mieux réaliser !! Je cherchais depuis des années une Mustang 71 /73 et surtout 71 /72 car l'avant est très légèrement différent... j'ai trouvé en annonce cette mach 1 1972 il y a quelques mois. Ensuite avoir le temps de l'essayer etc... bref ça demandait pas mal de temps. Pas étonnant que les compos soient en retard!!

Cette voiture est entièrement d'origine: elle n'a pas été restaurée, jamais repeinte et elle n'a eu que deux propriétaires. C'est pour cela que je ne vais pas la refaire entièrement comme la Pontiac. Je vais juste effectuer les travaux pour qu'elle soit fiable : roulements arrières, poussoirs, échappement, pneus.

1ère visite à l'atelier Mustang

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Mm!! elle est bleue intérieur bleu... j'adore !! Très 70's, j'aurai choisi ça aussi. D'ailleurs j'ai pas mal de guitares bleues il me semble !!!

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1er essai avec François qui connaît vraiment bien ces voitures et Kilian. C'était le 1er avril 2010, et la décision a été prise ce jour là!!
De retour chez François au PMD pour une expertise, avec une euh... Ford... sacrilège!!

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Avant l'assurance.

Je tiens à remercier François pour son aide et son amitié. Un grand merci à Vincent pour sa patience, sa confiance et sa détermination. C'est grâce à ça que j'ai réalisé mon rêve, et je sais qu'il prend soin de la Firebird. Merci aussi à Patrick Serpagli pour l'accueil à l'atelier Mustang.