Hoyt

One of the many friends I reconnected with on Facebook was my school buddy Hoyt.  I recall admiring various aspects of Hoyt’s life when I was in school.  Hoyt was very much into cars and very mechanically inclined.  I always envied the cars he drove, especially the Gran Torino with the Cobra Jet engine.  I remember taking a ride in that thing one time, it was downright scary when he mashed the gas. 

Hoyt helped me one time get my four door, 69 Buick Special Deluxe back on the road.  The car only had an inline 6 cylinder motor so it lacked the torque to do a conventional burnout.  However at some point I discovered that if I was drifting forward and then quickly slammed the car into reverse, the shift in weight off of the rear tires allowed me to light the tires pretty well.  I recall doing reverse burnout donuts around parking lots on more than one occasion.  

Well of course this behavior was not good for the drive line.  Apparently my antics eventually loosened the bolts connecting the torque converter so that I was no longer able to move the vehicle.  I had figured that I wrecked the tranny, it was Hoyt that discovered the problem which was as easy to fix as putting the bolts back in.

Hoyt is third from the right.

Hoyt was a hard worker and had been earning money for quite awhile which allowed him to do cool things like buy the Gran Torino.  I think everything Hoyt had he paid for himself.  My mom was kind enough to buy me the Buick for $800.  It wasn’t until after she got me the car that I started working at K-mart as a stock man to help pay the associated bills.

Finally Hoyt was strong and fast.  He was sort of built like Popeye.  He was thin but had huge biceps from endless work with his home weight set.  Since I had little to no muscle mass at scrawny 150 pounds and 6′ 3″, Hoyt was an example of what I would have wanted to be more like physically.  Hoyt was fast in both short and long distance runs.  The presidential physical fitness challenge was a piece of cake for him, something I never could complete.

On top of his skills Hoyt was just a cool dude, very laid back, very willing to lend a hand in pretty much any situation.

Anyway in several ways Hoyt was a role model for me although I’m sure he never realized it. I remember starting my first personal work out routine that basically consisted of using my 16 pound bowling ball as resistance.  My love of cars grew from there as well and although I never achieved the level of mechanic ability as Hoyt has (he was lead mechanic at a Ford dealership for years) I always aspired to do more.  I think the most complex car work I may have done was replacing an intake manifold and carburetor. 

Once we graduated I never saw or talked to Hoyt, I heard updates about him from the few people I kept in contact with from school. It’s been a real pleasure finding him again on Facebook.  Hell he has a kid now that is going into college for god’s sake…  He actually lives on the east coast of Florida and seems to be at a good place in his life.  I have his number to give him a call, I need to do it.  It’s just a weird thing trying to pick up a conversation after a 24 year time vacuum. 🙂