Photography of Vader...part two:

These two photos were taken when I was TDY to Savannah, Georgia in June 2005. I was down there for a month teaching a class. One day after class I was able to sneak Vader inside a hangar and get some shots next to one of the vehicles used for my job in the Air Force. That bohemeth makes Vader look like an ant.

This photo was taken a little while back. My wife and I were going to pick our oldest son up from school and it had been raining out. We pass by this pond everyday to and from my son's school. On this day, we noticed the low lying fog hanging over the water. It was still there when we passed back by so I rushed home and hopped in Vader to get some shots before it disipated. I think it made for a cool back drop against Vader's gunmetal exterior.
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July 30, 2006:

I cleaned Vader up, all shiney, before takind a drive to downtown Fayetteville for a photo shoot. The downtown area has several historic and older buildings that made excellent backdrops for the photos. In all, there are 104 photos that were taken and you can see them all in my FLICKR Photo Gallery in the album called Vader photo shoot July 2006. Here are a few selected favorites I have from the photo shoot...

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In January of 2007 my car club attended the DropJawMag.com Winter Tour Cruise show held in Spring Lake, NC. After the show was over, a couple of us went behind the old Wal-Mart building and put on a smoke show. :) This is the first burnout that I've done in Vader.

After the burnouts we had to get out of there because we started to attract too much attention. This is why...

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This is the first burnout photo with my new setup. It was taken across the street from the garage on a backroad. The funny thing is that the Police Station is less than 1/4 mile up the road from where we were. LOL! Livin' on the edge.

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In December 2007 my car club hosted our first event, a charity clothing drive called "Cruisin' for Clothin'". It was a huge success and we were able to do a lot of great things for our community in the way of clothing that could go to someone who really needed it during the holiday season. Before the event even happened we got some exposure in the local newspaper The Fayetteville Observer. Here's the article...

Published on Saturday, December 08, 2007

Club adds muscle to charitable event
By: Chick Jacobs
Staff writer
Photo: Stephanie Bruce
Staff Photographer

Patrick Abel loved his car.

He also loved his wife.

So when he was ordered to serve in Korea for a year, he had to give up one to help the other.

That sacrifice (he gave up the car, in case there was any question) sparked the creation of the Fayetteville F-Body Club — and the creation of a new family for guys and gals who think of their cars as more than transportation.

F-Bodies — better known as Firebirds and Camaros — are pure American muscle cars. Their owners tend to be fiercely loyal, disdaining other models and makes.

That’s why Abel died just a little inside when he had to trade his beloved Firebird for a (shudder) Dodge Dakota SUV.

“But I had my orders, and she needed a car for the baby,” Abel said of his wife, Niki. “The last I saw of my car, it was sitting in the car lot.”

When he returned, Abel found another Firebird, one nearly as old as he was. He also discovered in his year away that there were far more of the cars around than he remembered.

“Maybe I wasn’t paying attention,” he said, “but they seemed to be everywhere. I figured if they loved their cars like I did, we should get together.”

They did, and now the F-Body Club is one big family — literally. The group often meets for family gatherings, birthdays and social events.

“More than many groups, we’re very family oriented,” said club member Michael Mauldwin. “Some clubs get together, and they get into things like illegal street racing. We’ve got a lot of guys in their 20s in our group, but we’re real good about policing ourselves.

“We may be proud of our cars, but we’ve got a saying: ‘If you want to race, take it to the track.’”

“It’s American muscle, the best muscle in the world,” added Bob Dalton, another member. “You can drive it anywhere, and people will turn and look at your car.”

This weekend, the club is offering people a chance to do more than just look. The inaugural “Cruisin’ for Clothin’” will begin at Market Fair Mall at 11 a.m. today

“We’re inviting people to bring useful, usable goods to the cruise-in,” Patrick Abel said. “We’re fortunate to have a family of friends here, but there are a bunch of people who aren’t so lucky.”

The group is looking for clothing, toiletries and canned goods for Fayetteville Urban Ministry, even pet food for the Cumberland County Animal Shelter.

“The key is that we wanted people to donate items that can be used right here in our community,” Niki Abel said. “We didn’t want to donate stuff, then have it get sold. This is from the heart, to the needy here. Everybody is welcome.”

Even if they drive a Mustang? Abel chuckled.

“We might have a rivalry, but none of that matters when we’re talking about helping others,” he said.
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This is a couple of pictures that I took once the car was all done. The front on shot was taken right before I did my first burnout. The frontal shows Vader's new, more aggressive appearance thanks to the new fiberglass hood. The photo beside it is just me being creative after I got the car back home. I've still got a little work to do on the hood to form it right, but other than that...I like this pose.

It doesn't get much better than this. It was originally planned that we were going to try and find a car similar in appearance and year as mine for my wife, Niki. We thought it'd be cool to have a his and hers car. What we didn't plan, we just happened to be in the right place at the right time, was to get her a car that was a lot more similar than we thought.

Right after her father passed away in the Spring of 2007 we came across a 1990 Formula 350 that had previously belonged to a former member of our club. It had a 350, mine had a 350. It had WS6 Suspension, mine had WS6 Suspension. It was grey on grey, mine was grey on grey...SWEET! It was almost as if it was fate...

The wife's car, Black Betty, and my car, Vader, sitting side by side in the yard.

Fayetteville F-Body Photo Shoot 2008:

The car club and I got together on a nice Saturday and drove around Fayetteville taking some pictures. It started out a little cloudy, but by the end of the day it was all good and the sun was shining. Those that wanted their cars photographed showed up and I took care of the photography. I didn't get as many as I would have liked for everyone, but it was still a good day. Here are some pictures of Vader from that day. :)

We went to Myrtle Beach and had to get a picture of my car next to the ocean...or at least as close as I could get it without being on the beach. I would have hated to get my car stuck in the sand.

2009 Photos:

Vader's home now and I'm looking forward to getting some good photos this year. 

This past Friday (24JUL09) Fayettevile had their huge social event downtown called Fayetteville Fourth Friday.  It's an event where they shut down the historic section of downtown to vehicular traffic and have open air vendors and specials at the businesses as well as live entertainment.  At the transportation museum they have invited local clubs to bring their cars out and park on the grass and in front of the museum to help draw attention.  This past week was no exception and we were there.  I was one of the last people out and took the opportunity to snap some night shots of my car with the lights along the gravel drive.  Wish I had taken my tripod, but these turned out pretty decent.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: RPO and Technical Data
Page 3: How RARE is it?
Page 4: Photography of Vader...part one
Page 5: Photography of Vader...part two
Page 6: Photography of Vader...part three
Page 7: Vader's Heart
Page 8: Inside Vader
Page 9: Modifications, Upgrades, and Repair...part one
Page 10: Modifications, Upgrades, and Repair...part two
Page 11: Modifications, Upgrades, and Repair...part three
Page 12: Modifications, Upgrades, and Repair...part four
Page 13: Literature and Awards
Page 14: Car Shows and Events
Page 15: The Track and at Play
Page 16: My other Firebirds