Chapter 3

MORE THAN JUST METAL

As the warm days of 1971 came to a close, and Gary having spent the past two summers terrorizing the
streets of Hamtramck... there were also downsides to the endless amount of fun. First, he had been
getting into a lot of trouble. Plenty of tickets and even more warnings, began to weigh in on his driving
habits. Also, with all of his street racing and what he liked to call "Neutral Shots", he actually broke the
transmission in the Roadrunner a couple times. The dealership told him that they knew he was racing
the car a lot, and warned him that they would not warranty another transmission. Additionally, Gary had
recently gotten engaged to Pat and felt that it may be time to start thinking about settling down. So, the
Roadrunner had to go. He traded her in to Krajenke Buick for a 1971 Buick GS Convertible. Nowhere
near the Street Terror he dropped off. But it served the purpose that he "thought" he wanted.
A short time later, Gary and Pat broke up. And he had immediatly regretted selling the Roadrunner.
Gary eventually married (the girl across the street) Cindy, and together they started a family. They had
two sons, Bryan and Gary (or Gary Allen, as his mother called him, to distinguish between the two
Gary's).

Through the rest of the 1970's and the 1980's, Mr. Kozlowski shared different bonds with this two sons.
With his oldes son, Bryan, they shared a love for music and playing various musical instruments.
Particulary those of Polish Folk Music nature. Bryan was quite the prodigy, learing to play the Button
Accordion as young as 4 years old. He and Mr. Kozlowski would "jam" together quite often. Especially
when Mr. Kozlowski's old racing buddies and cousins would come over.
With his youngest son, Gary, however, Mr. Kozlowski had a connection through cars. From Gary's
earliest memories of childhood, he was captivated by the street racing stories from his father and his
uncles. Especially when the Roadrunner was brought up. There would be countless discussions
between Mr. Kozlowski and his cousins/friends (Greg, Vic, Matt and Ray), who were all GM fans. And,
then, just as now, that age-old debate on who made the better, fastest and coolest cars. The
arguments would go back and forth like a tennis match. That is, until Mr. Kozlowski would bring up the
Pink Roadrunner. At that moment, the tennis match was interupted by an Atom Bomb being dropped
onto his friend's side of the court! The Roadrunner took on a persona of being more than just a car. It
was THE car. The car to beat. The car that wouldn't lose. The car that was larger than life. And that's
what grabbed hold of young Gary.

​

That fasination would evolve over the years. From an exciting story, to a childhood idol, to a thicker-than-
blood bond, and eventually into an obsession. Young Gary would take his mother's nail polish and paint

some of his Hot Wheels cars to emulate the Roadrunner. Of course always being the unbeatable car on
the Family-Room floor. As he grew older, he'd customize 1:64 scaled die casts more acuratly than when
he was 5, and build numerous 1:24 scale model cars of the Roadrunner. from childhood all the way into
his teens, Gary and his dad would find themselves talking about old cars quite often. Mopars in
particular. And always spent time discussing the Rag Doll and her street-racing stories.
These discussions grew increasingly important, as Mr. Kozlowski battled PTSD from his time in Vietnam.
The war really effected him, and in later years, it tore his family apart. Mr. Kozlowski did not know how
to cope with his PTSD. Nor did anyone. Back then, it wasn't diagnosed and was seldom treated or even
respected. Trama like that sent many former soldiers and veterans right into the bottle. Mr. Kozlowski
was one of them. Over the years, his alcoholism got worse. And his family suffered the results. He was
not a happy man when he was drunk. Mr. Kozlowski's relationship with his son's was tattered, at best.
And his marriage was destroyed. The grip that Alcohol had on him derailed every aspect of his life, other
than his job. He stayed sober at work and kept his job at Chrysler. But the job he did as a father to two
young boys was not very good. Nor was the job he did as a husband. After 19 years of marriage,
Cindy had enoough and left him in Divorce. With the boys being young men by then, Mr. Kozlowski was
on his own.

 

He had tried to get his life together and embrace life as a bachelor. But his demons continued to haunt
him. Not long after the divorce, Bryan had move to northern Michigan. Aproximately 4 hours away.
Gary and Mr. Kozlowski remained close and were even "across-the-hall" neighbors in the same

appartment building for a while. Though they butted heads quite a bit, due to Mr. Kozlowski's battles with
alcohol, there was always a bond that kept them connected. That bond was the Roadrunner. No
matter how damaged their relationship would get, no matter how mad or upset Gary would get with his
father, discussions of the Roadrunner seemed to extinguish those flames.
By the turn of the Century, Mr. Kozlowski had done a miraculous job reparing the damaged
relationship with his youngest son. That's all he had, and he knew it. And all of that mending was made
possible, because of the Rag Doll. Mr. Kozlowski wished he could find her and bring her home. He
spoke of the things he would have done if he kept her. Or how he would customize or modify her if he
were to find her again. For Mr. Kozlowski, she was "the one that got away". And for Gary, she was like a
long lost sibling. Seperated at birth. Like a twin, forever in search of his brother/sister. And that was
what kept the two Gary's connected.

Though he had mended one relationship with Gary, and yearned to mend the other with Bryan, Mr.
Kozlowski was never able to break down the biggest wall. His demons kept a hold of him until they
eventually defeated him in 2002, at the age of only 54 years old. His death crushed Gary. He felt that
he and his father had gotten so far and it was taken from him again. At Mr. Kozlowski's funeral, Gary
placed a custom made 1:64 diecast car that he had made to look exactly like the one thing that bonded
him to his father. He placed that toy car in the left chest pocket of his father's suit coat. So that no
matter what, Mr. Kozlowski would never be alone and would always have a reminder of the bond he
shared with his son. A symbol of a car that represented so much more than just Steel and Iron.
That bond became a mission for Gary. An obsession. In the years following his father's death, Gary
made it a quest to find his father's lost Roadrunner. Ever since he was a small child, Gary remembered
always staring out the windows of his parent's car or the school bus, or any time he was out traveling.
Constantly looking in backyards, fields, garages, barns, etc. Always looking for his dad's car. Gary had
been searching for it his whole life. Now with his father gone, Gary would ramp up that search. With the
arrival of the internet, many more doors would open over the next few years. The reach began to get
larger. But with every passing year, the probability of find that car grew smaller. Gary, however never
gave up hope. He knew she was out there, somewhere, waiting for him to find her.