My 16 yo sons first drive with 400hp......

[PQ]

Many of you know the story of member JustAGuy and the loss of his beloved son. Well, in talking to him here on C5 I wanted to do something, with his blessing, as a small token of honor to his late son Dawson.

Dawsons story made me personaly realize that time is slipping away with my kids at their age. And so the following experience was with that in mind. I shared this with JustAGuy as I told him I would do this, and he has given me the green light to share it with you guys.

(C5 Rocks........ )

This is a copy of the PM I sent to JustAGuy, edited a bit to make sense to the forum.



Well, today I took James out and let him drive my car.


I called him out to the driveway telling him I need him for a minute. He came out and I just got in the passenger seat and sat down. He came to the passenger side and looked in like I was gonna show him something from inside the car.

I looked at him and said "Get in". The look on his face was priceless. As if to say "Are you serious?!" and "But you need to get out first" all at the same time. I told him he's getting in the driver side. Then he thought I was joking. He just stood there staring confusedly like I just shot his girlfreind or something. lol

He got in the drivers side, adjusted his seat, and looked at me and said, "If this is a joke, you better tell me now, cause I'm doing it".

So I held him up a bit and explained to him the story of Dawson and fellow member JustAGuy. I told him that I wanted his 'Maiden Voyage' in his first power car to be in honor of Dawson, and I wanted him to know why. (I had already discussed it with JustAGuy) I was very proud of him in that I could see him reflect the depth of the situation, and instead of getting back to the situation of driving, he asked me a few questions about Dawson. Some I couldn't answer having never personaly known him, and some I could. I told him of the letter about what the Camaro means to me, and the correspondence I had with JustAGuy, and of the letter that JustAGuy had shared with Fbodfather and subsequently Scott shared with us here on the forum. James just thought to himself for a moment. I fought back a lump as I saw my son in a selfless moment and told him I want his frist drive in my car to be in memory of Dawson. So he said, "Ok. This is for Dawson".

So I punched him in the arm (I was getting emotional) and said "Ok, now fire it up."

So on to the drive. He put the key in and was about to turn it and of course being the smart alec that I am I said "EEEEEENNNNNNTTTTTTT (buzzer sound lol) FAIL"....... He immediately shook his head, smiled and went straight for his seatbelt. (I know, I'm an A-Hole, he'd have put it on anyway) So he goes to turn the key and held the key til it started, haha, I explianed that he doesn't have to do that. .....(he drives our Jeep Liberty) ........(poor kid)............The car fires up and ...YUP, there it is....PERMAGRIN!!!!!!!

He backs out wonderfully........ NO mention of the big bad scary blind spot...... he just lifted his head high behind and backed out of the driveway. So then he puts it in drive and away we ................................... go???

Uhhhh........ Son,... you can do better than that.

Well, he put his foot in it alright. WHOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO...........................

I backed him down a bit, we are still in the neighborhood. Caught him a bit off gaurd. LMAO

So we got out on the open road. Left turn at the light,,,,,,, Ok son. Mash on it....................



<<<<<<<<(ya, the smiley seems to have an M6, but the effect is still there) haha






I let him thrash on it a bit, and again I was very proud because he was visibly scared of it. (Ok, maybe I exagerated the power a bit to him over the passed year. lol)

He got comortable really quick. He was very surprized the first time he was doing 80 and the speed limit was 65. He couldn't believe the speed was that fast and didn't feel like it. (There was a shaking he asked me about but that's getting fixed. lol) We drove around on those back roads for about 30 minutes and headed home. He's still grinning. I'm still grinning. It was awesome. James turned 16 4 months ago. And it was a real treat to see him with an even BIGGER look on his face than when I started teaching him to drive the Jeep the first time.

So there you have it. My sons first drive in my Camaro. In memory of Dawson.

[LuckyWife]

What an awesome moment to share with your son! Thanks for sharing!

For Dawson!

[guiLT]

Awesome!

[swansor]

Great Story and dedication Randy. Time sure does fly by quickly so make the best of it

Noooo those arent tears welling up in my eyes...

[Steve Dallas]

Awesome!

[TahoeCamaro]

[Big Brunsy]

Totally awesome. i can't wait to teach my boys how to drive (in 10 years)

[Jeanius]

[67 Convertible]

Nice story and tribute!!

[JaxJags]

Great story.

[2010 SSRS]

Very nice

[HELLION TURBO]

Fantastic man!

[ArkySS]

Okay PQ 2 things, first of all things for making me cry and make a fool of myself at work. Second of all...your old dude! (although I am probably older lol). Props to PQjr on the ride in the beast. I had a basic engine mechanics session last night in the garage with my boys. The 10 year old is already extremely analytical and he got it.....the 6 (almost 7) year old just wants to tell me about hitting a triple on Wii baseball so it's all good. I did discover that with my Hypertech you can limit the top speed all the way down to 25 mph LOL maybe the kid can get a Camaro after all. Props to you PQ for a great story and great tribute! Dad's stand and deliver!

[justmeron]

awesome share.