By JJ MARSHALL

jjm023@latech.edu

 

Imagine a ’77 Cadillac Coupe Deville, ’68 Camaro, ’68 Firebird, ’95 Camaro, and two ’74 Super Bugs in one place at the same time. This is no Saturday night car show; these are the personal belongings of junior aviation major Robert Davis, car collector.

Davis’ love for cars grew into his biggest hobby when he got his first car, a ’74 Super Bug, his sophomore year in high school.

“I got the Bug completely beaten up, and I used my own money to fix it,” he said. “After I fixed up the Bug, I realized how much I enjoyed doing it, so I found some more beat up cars and did the same thing.”

Davis enjoyed working on the car so much he just kept going, he said.

“Then I got the ’68 Camaro, fixed it up, and decided I wanted to race it,” he said. The Camaro has 500 horsepower, and runs a quarter mile in 10.7 seconds.

“I got up to 160 [miles per hour] in the Camaro,” Davis said. “I could have gone faster but I got scared and stopped.”

Davis has loved cars all his life and has always had a knack for knowing the names of most vehicles.

“When I was four or so, my parents would be driving down the freeway, and I could name almost every car on the road,” Davis said. “Or that’s what they tell me; I don’t remember.”

Although his dad is an airplane mechanic, Davis said his parents are not “car people.” He certainly does not get his fervor for fixing cars from his parents.

“I don’t know where it comes from,” Davis said. “My parents sure don’t care about cars like I do.”

Davis does not just give his projects facelifts. He understands that true beauty is on the inside, and it is what is underneath the hood that counts.

“Robert doesn’t care about the appearance,” Davis’ roommate, junior engineering major Brad Babineaux, said. “He just cares about the engine. He likes to drive like he is on a track everywhere he goes; it’s kind of scary,” Babineaux said.

Davis said racing is the motive behind fixing up all those beat up cars.

“I like putting all of those parts together,” Davis said. “But I really do it because I want to see how fast they can go.”

When Davis finds a car, he takes it completely apart, puts in all new parts, takes the frame off, paints everything, beefs up the engine and puts it back together.

He found the ’68 Firebird in a field, located the owner of the land and offered $125 for the car.

“The owner gave it to me, and I took it from being worth $125 to about $20,000 now,” he said.

Davis said leaving those cars back home with his parents is hard because he put so much work into them.

“I’m sure they’re taken care of,” he said. “I just wish I could bring them all down here with me.”

He is currently taking the ’68 Camaro apart again.

“I’m putting in a new power plan, an L81 V8 with 6 speed transmission and a Daniel 44 rear end from a brand new Corvette,” he said. “It’s all new technology from new cars but on an old muscle car.”

Babineaux said he enjoys the perks of having such a car-crazy roommate.

“He fixes my car for me,” Babineaux said. “I don’t have to worry about going to the shop.”

Babineaux said even though Davis fixes his cars, that is about all that is special about living with him.

“There’s nothing really cool about him,” Babineaux said. “I guess that’s why he’s my friend.”