Readers Rides
Disability Is No Barrier To A Muscle Car By Tim Graves
If you are familiar with anyone who has a physical disability, you will know that in the majority of cases, it stands as no barrier to driving and it shouldn’t be.
Arguably, as long as vehicles have been around there have been ways to adapt a car so it can accommodate most types of physical disabilities, from simple hand controls to fully kitted out vehicles.
Tim Graves contacted us with his fine looking 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass and his experiences with a muscle car and having a physical disability.
Tim suffered a spinal injury when he was 17 in a motorbike accident, shattering his T5 vertebrae in his spine which made him paraplegic from the chest down.
Tim has suffered other physical setbacks since then, but it has not stopped him being out on the road and working on his well loved Oldsmobile Cutlass.
The car he bought in 1991, factory and with hand controls.
He worked in a machine shop at the time and spent most of his money modifying and enhancing the car.
It has a 468ci BBO, UMI tubular adjustable upper and lower control arms front and rear, QA1 coilovers up front, all new exhaust system 3″ , 50 series Flowmasters, X pipe, Electric cut offs, Hooker Super comp headers, Phoenix th350 2500 stall, 3.42 rear, 12 bolt posi, Procar bucket seats, B&M Hammer shifter all auto-meter gauges, grant steering wheel and many more modifications.
Current modifications needed to the car are a level ride height with his wheelchair due to Tim’s permanently damaged shoulder which hinders him from transferring in and out of the car. One option is to go ‘donk’ style to get the same level as his wheelchair, not for looks, but for practicality.
One of the major problems Tim faces is not just a mobility thing, but the practicalities of life trying to maintain a vehicle like this, simply money.
Tim has set up a go fund me page so he can perform the modifications needed. Check out his Gofundme page below and even if you can just spare a dollar, you will have the peace of mind it has gone into a muscle car and a worthwhile muscle car enthusiast, so it definitely will not be wasted!
by Tim Graves
Tim’s Gofundme page for modifying his Cutlass
More Muscle Cars For Sale – http://fastmusclecar.com/muscle-car-for-sale/
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