PLASTIC OZONE DAYDREAM
The Corvette Chronicles
iUniverse.com ISBN: 0-595-15794-7 6x9 Trade Paperback 355 pages $17.95
"Stangworld" & "Magical Days" by Floyd M. Orr
Two original stories published only in Mustang Legends (May 2004)
"Vetteworld" from PLASTIC OZONE DAYDREAM featured in the April 2003 release
My first book was released 12/15/00 by iUniverse.com. PLASTIC OZONE DAYDREAM is my homage to the history of the Corvette in America. The book covers all the eras and aspects of the Corvette in a manner that has not been done before. The eras are broken into patterns that are very different from what you would expect. The attitude toward many Corvette models has a lot of variance that is discussed in the book. I have been obsessed with cars since I was knee high. The key that separates PLASTIC OZONE DAYDREAM from other car books is that, even with all the meticulous research that is reflected in the book, I am not a Corvette is the only car sort of person. I like Porsches, Ferraris, Lotus, Lamborghinis, Jaguars, Mustangs, Firebirds, GTO’s, TVR’s, Austin-Healeys, and even Fiat’s almost as much as I like Corvettes. There are many other cars that I did not even bother to mention in this list. Luxury cars, SUV’s, pickup trucks, vans, and ordinary sedans bore me silly. What I like are sports cars: big ones, little ones, expensive ones, cheap ones, old ones and new ones. An old Corvette is the most satisfyingly cost-effective sports car to own in America. If you want to see pretty pictures of Corvettes or read the tired old story of the ’53-’62 models, followed by the ’63-’67 Sting Rays, followed by the ’68-’82 Stingray/Makos, followed by the ’84-’96 C4’s, followed by the ’97-present model C-5’s, then read the hundred books that repeat this story endlessly. If you want to take your knowledge to the next level, read on. If you want to know why the late ‘70’s Corvettes are so boring or why the C5’s are so expensive, read on. If you want to know a detailed description of how Americans get what they deserve when they pay $50,000 for a Corvette instead of the $5000 it used to cost, read on. If you are a car nut who just wants to be entertained with more inside car culture jokes than you have ever seen in one place, by all means, read on.
PLASTIC OZONE DAYDREAM can be ordered directly from the publisher, iUniverse.com
I also recommend these online sources : Addall Amazon B & N BAMM
Signed copies of PLASTIC OZONE DAYDREAM can be found at three local bookstores in Austin, Texas: BookPeople (6th & Lamar) BookStop (38th & Lamar) Borders Books (Hwy. 183 North)
Available at Online Bookstores Everywhere!
Plastic Ozone Daydream
A close-up look at the American car culture of
1950-2000, as seen through
the headlights of its leading icon, the Corvette.
Published by iUniverse.com 6x9
paperback 355 pages $17.95
Most of these unusual daydreams, rants, and fantasies
starring Corvettes and other marques originally appeared in the award-winning newsletter
of the Longhorn Corvette Club of Austin, Texas, 1985-1994. The book contains additional
stories, 36 B&W photos, a 200-question trivia quiz, and a psychedelic imagination more
colorful than this page!
The Author's Comments
I was born a skinny little nerd in the Old
Southern town of Natchez, Mississippi, February 22, 1948. I have no knowledge of my blood
parents because I was adopted as a baby in Jackson, MS, soon after I was born. My parents
took me to the tiny town of Carrollton, MS, right on the edge of the Mississippi Delta. I
lived there until I was nine, when my parents moved to Greenwood, the culturally elitist
town of 10,000 just twenty miles away. Two years after that my family moved back to the
hill country, this time to West Point, a burg of 8,000 residents. We moved one more time
in 1964 to Starkville, 25 miles closer to Mississippi State University. The location was
actually smack dab on top of it: my parents' house was directly behind McKee Hall, a
girls' dormitory. Except for the few months I lived in Memphis and Campbell, CA, in my
feeble attempts to escape to civilization, I lived at Monkey State until I became a Dallas
resident in 1976. I spent a very pleasant four years at The Saracen Apartments in Oak Lawn
before they kicked out the residents to create a complex of clowndominiums. At that time I
chose to move my residence to Austin, a legendary town suitable to my attitude.
You don't have to have muscles to drive things,
so I became fascinated with motorized transportation so early in life that I cannot even
remember the origin. When the Sears catalog arrived, I eagerly snatched it up to check out
the ubiquitous Allstate motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds, immediately after a look at the
latest bras and panties, of course. This was a time before everything. There were no Honda
50's yet, and the Puch Twingles were a lot more serious looking than the Cushman Eagle and
Highlander. This was that narrow era between the Whizzer and Simplex motorbikes and the
Japanese Tiddler Invasion, the time when the red and cream $159.95 Allstate Moped was the
entry-level ride that every pedal-pushing twelve-year-old lusted after. We also lusted
after Marilyn and Bridgitte, but that's another story.
The earliest images of four-wheelers I have are
of my parents' drab beige '49 Chevy fastback and the two-tone green Buick that replaced
it. Soon thereafter I could identify any car by its taillamps, and my favorite became
those of the legendary '59 Cadillac. Within another five years my fascination would turn
to Corvettes, Porsches, Elans, and Austin-Healeys, not to ignore Mustangs and GTO's.
Daydream is a book about a love affair with cars. The appeal
should be to anyone of the Baby Boomer Generation who has grown up fascinated with cars.
Although the legends of the distant past may be mentioned in the book, the details are
strongly focused on the legends of more recent history. The premise is that America
reached a wonderful peak within the development of its own culture in the year 1970. The
availability of exciting cars that were actually affordable to the masses was at its
zenith in 1969. Most everything about America has been
rolling downhill ever since.
1967 Austin-Healey Sprite Mk. IV
1968 Triumph TR-250
(When I bought a Fiat 850 Spider in the summer of '68, I really wanted one of these, but $3750 was a lot more than I had!)
Click here to see if you have Tiddlerosis!
My first motorcycle: a red &
silver 1963 Yamaha Rotary Jet 80 (YG-1)
Homepage Elvis the Pelvis Traffic Ker-Splash!
10/25/06