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The Shadowfast supercar driver logs 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 supercar This page last updated on or about 10-28-11 a - j m o o n e y h a m . c o m - o r i g i n a l

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I grew up in a place mostly known nationwide for its dangerous characters, and regionally for its corrupt local government. News reports of the time frequently detailed various outrages wrought by both entities. So to me as a teenager, daily life often seemed much like that depicted in 1960s Hollywood westerns-- only with the horses being replaced by cars. Shadowfast was my very first car. My earliest adventures with him took place during high school, my last during a break from college. In his final form Shadowfast was an amazing machine, capable of matching or surpassing almost any other street-drivable car on the road-- and off. Drag strip, interstate, winding mountain road-- you name it, he did it. And that was just his racing credentials. If a contest flared up into a real road war he had a whole other set of cards to play... Of course, he didn't possess all these traits when I first bought him. It took a while for he and I to reach that state together. These logs describe the process and some of the adventures we had along the way. In the accounts below details like names, dates, and more have been changed for reasons which should become apparent to readers. I also include a partial list of the actual events from which these stories are drawn for those who are interested.

Reader feedback: "This was amazing to read! I read the no where to go but up, and all I have to say is wow." -- Brian J. "Shadowfast is amazing o how i wish i could have seen it...I couldn't believe the stories, they're like an amazing action movie, even now I would like to see Shadow even though wrecked he would be amazing to have. -- Kenneth D. "You really create such beautiful artwork...I know I am a gal, but I just think your illustrations are so beautiful...I'd love to be one of those women!" "I just happened upon your site and got sucked into your writings. I read about Bridget. And I was wondering if all these ladies waltzed into your life. Well they should consider themselves so lucky to have not only fabulous writing devoted to them, but stunning artwork portrayals! You're a fascinating person and you have one original and fascinating site. I feel very fortunate to have found it." -- Deirdre W. "I don't know how much of the stories of you and Shadowfast are fact and how much are fiction, but they're some of the most amazing things I've read online in a long time!" --- Paul H.

My high school days

The ebook Sirens is currently available exclusively as a KDP Select title for users of Amazon Kindles and Kindle apps everywhere, and contains the complete stories of Slip, Sliding Away and Too Close for Comfort, described below. Download free Kindle Reading Apps for smartphones, Macs, PCs, iPads, and more Buy A Kindle Slip, sliding away; Shadow's days as a mud-wrestler and surfer rod. He gets his first blacked out treatment. Races a GTO. Rescues damsels in distress. Too close for comfort; Building a supercar you must also drive on a daily basis can be a trying-- and dangerous-- experience. Shadowfast races an AMC Javelin AMX, a train, a truck, and crosses one bridge too far. Too far gone, that is. Hey, what can I say? Teenagers do stupid things sometimes. Especially where the opposite sex is concerned.

E-BOOK AVAILABLE: The Amazon Kindle ebook Necessary Ends contains the stories 'One small taste of Hell', 'A call to arms', 'The Daytona 1200', 'Wild horses' (and lots more!), readable on Kindles, (and via Kindle app) Android phones, PCs, Macs, iPhones, and iPads.

• One small taste of Hell; Me and a friend think we've found a kindred spirit and possible mentor, in one particularly fascinating fellow. Unfortunately we were about as wrong as we could possibly be.

A tip from one successful escapee: it turns out when exiting Hell it's best to do so backwards-- thereby keeping Hell itself squarely in your sights until the flames are no longer licking at you. And bring some paint!

• A call to arms; In 1970s Tennessee a cold-blooded killer could get by with an awful lot. But choose the wrong victims and even if the law lets you go you might meet justice from a wholly unexpected quarter.

• The Daytona 1200; Here I learn how sure-things can easily turn out to be anything but. Elements: Factory supercar versus home-built. Winged 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona. Hemi. 1200 mile round trip race to Daytona Beach, early seventies. Gentlemen: start your engines...

• Wild horses; By this time nearly my entire circle of male friends were driving 1969 or 1970 Mustangs-- cars similar to Shadow himself in looks and original factory specifications. But the events here would change that forever.

• The spring break plot; (this section still being written up) When much of our high school senior class managed to finagle a trip consisting of two bus loads of kids traveling to Daytona Beach and related attractions for a week, me and my friend Ben had the bright idea to tag along independently with our own cars (without alerting the teacher chaperones, of course). You know: arrange things so only we two of all our classmates on the trip had our own wheels? Alas, the plots of mice and men often go awry...

• Blue light special; (this section still being written up) Playing tag with the law: how often does an outlaw driver get to help train the local cops in chase techniques? And with the blessing of the authorities? Here it becomes obvious why this may not be such a good idea, as the game gets a little out of hand, making it fortunate for me I'm due to leave town and start college by that point anyway.

My earliest college campus days

• Fast times at Sigma Chi; (this section still being written up) Calling the fraternity chapter at my college "party animals" would be like calling a glacier an ice cube. Pranks, races, and parties wild enough to be downright scary and consume an entire campus were the order of the day. If this bunch couldn't expand your horizons (or blow your mind), nobody could. Shadow gets caught up in one of the biggest contests of his existence here, against (among others) a 1972 Jaguar E-type, 1964 and 1970 Chevrolet Corvettes, and a 1970 Datsun 240Z.

One summer vacation from college

• Deep in the throat of Texas offers accounts inspired by a summer from college I spent working construction in Texas and getting into scraps of various kinds.

E-BOOK AVAILABLE: The Amazon Kindle ebook Deep in the throat of Texas contains all the Texas-related texts below, and is readable on Kindles, (and via Kindle app) Android phones, PCs, Macs, iPhones, and iPads.


• Too close to the bone; Too close to the bone doesn't offer a lot in supercar antics, but mostly details how Shadowfast and I put ourselves in the Texas pickle to start with.
• No good deed goes unpunished; One reason why good samaritans are in such short supply.
• Kissing the wall; Question: You suddenly find yourself headed straight into a brick wall 50 yards away at 80 mph. And worse, you just got blinded by a foot of dirt coating your windshield. Oh, and let's not forget that police car chasing you. What do you do?

• When push came to shove; Shadow's top end is tested in a way never imagined by its driver/builder.
• Shadowfast versus the tornados; I guess this happened to prepare us for what would come next. Yeow!

  Heartbreaker; She was an irresistible force of nature neither man nor machine could deny. A woman who truly bordered on the supernatural. She (not me!) pilots Shadow during an unexpected highway deathmatch. Shadow also races a 1970 Ford Torino GT 429 Cobra Jet. To see lots more of Bridget, check out Heartbreaker.

E-BOOK AVAILABLE: The Amazon Kindle ebook Driving Needs contains the texts below of 'Breaking up', 'Black and blue magic', 'Ring of fire', and 'Over the edge', and is readable on Kindles, (and via Kindle app) Android phones, PCs, Macs, iPhones, and iPads.

• Breaking up; My return to college forces me to confront my own possible future head-on.

The toll of preceding events spurs me into taking a hiatus from college

• Liars and traitors and bears; (this section still being written up) A slick and gorgeous con-artist joins forces with an old class-mate I consider a good chum, and I fast find myself in deep trouble rather than the great job I thought I'd gained.

The true source of this page is

• Black and blue magic; In one of the wildest episodes of my Shadowfast days, we help a female ex-state trooper rescue her sister from a rising politician's bizarre secret cult. Basically this is an audition for a well paying job as smuggler escort. Certain tricks and gadgets are created and used solely for this particular mission, and never again.

• Ring of fire; When a raging forest fire forces the evacuation of one tiny town deep in the Kentucky mountains, one side sees it as a perfect opportunity to end a long simmering family feud once and for all. It's a massacre in the making. I'll give you one guess who happens to be lost in the vicinity and looking for directions when the killing starts.

• Over the edge; Shadowfast's biggest off-road challenge ever. Here we learn the hard way that Shadow can't fly. And also race four wheel drives and motorcycles through a mountainous wilderness. Not by choice!

E-BOOK AVAILABLE: The Amazon Kindle ebook Nowhere to go but up contains the texts below of 'Daytona 2.0', 'What goes around', and 'Nowhere to go but up', and is readable on Kindles, (and via Kindle app) Android phones, PCs, Macs, iPhones, and iPads.

• Daytona 2.0: Between a Ferrari and a hard place; A return visit to Tech to see my best friend while in-between jobs puts me in the sights of another out-of-towner: a fraternity member's brother boasting a 12 cylinder Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona. He's intrigued by the tale of Shadowfast's previous contest with the group's best cars and drivers, and simply won't take no for an answer to his race challenge.

Unfortunately, his car makes the winged 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona 426 Hemi of The Daytona 1200 look downright slow and clumsy by comparison. With a top speed near 180 mph, mid-thirteen's quarter mile time, the capabilities to stop on a dime and take curves better than many full-blown professional race cars, this second Daytona incarnation would definitely go into the record books as Shadow's toughest purely automotive competition of all time. This would basically be a match up between a cheap used American pony car hot-rodded on a shoe-string budget, and a rich guy's state-of-the-art Italian supercar costing ten times as much.

• What goes around...; When a gang boss gets a serious grudge against you, look out! He just might round up lots of folks you pissed off before, who are wise to your supercar's tricks. If you can't learn new ones fast, you just might be a goner! Z-28 owners both past and present may especially like this one.

• Nowhere to go but up; Shadow's leap into history. Historic cover-ups, that is. Saving a V.I.P. from kidnapping or worse leads to a parting of the ways for me and Shadow. We both retire from the supercar business after this.

• Notes from the actual owner/driver of the Shadowfast super car; Or, some pointers regarding the real life cars, people, places, and events which inspired these accounts.