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Garage-Girls Profile; Chris Gibbany

Garage-Girls Profile; Chris Gibbany.

When we saw that Chris was into cars, bikes and animals (hedgehogs specifically, they are sooo cute) we knew she would fit right into our community of “Garage-Girls”, so we just wanted to share her with you!

GG. Tell us about you, where are you from, what are you into and what do you like to do with your free time?

CG. I was born in California 39 years ago, but have lived almost all of my life in Arkansas, presently in Harrison. I am married to my soul mate, Gabe and am child-free by choice, having my tubes tied in my 20’s. I raise hedgehogs, one of only about 40 breeders in the US, I was a professional wedding photographer for 10 years, I am an

extreme couponer and I help my husband build bikes. I am also the

Arkansas State Representative for the Worldwide Camaro Club and I

started the local Camaro Club here in Harrison. My whole life

revolves around cars and bikes. I like to ride around the roads here in Harrison-we have some of the best riding around AND you don’t have to wear a helmet. I like to just throw on a backpack, put on a bandanna, tie back the pink hair and see what happens.

GG. How did you find your passion for motorcycles and cars how long have you been doing it?

CG. When I was just a kid, I never played with dolls or was interested in any of the stuff the other girls were. My first obsession, was with balls (yeah, sounds funny now). And then when I was about 6, in first grade, I fell in love with cars- Hot Wheels, model cars, race tracks, etc. I remember when Christmas exchange came that year and of course all the boys were told to buy girls “dolls and that type of stuff”, we just happened to know the boy (Craig Loggins, now a cop)

and my parents told his parents that I wanted CARS! And they did,

they bought me several Corvette Hot Wheels- cars that I still have to this day. I also was SO in love with Dukes of Hazzard and when we played it on the school yard, I couldn’t understand why all the girls wanted to be Daisy and I wanted to be Bo, driving the General! So I fell in love with cars at an early age. I also collected the little motorcycles as a kid and later learned to ride when I was 16, learning

to ride before I learned how to drive! My current obsessive love of

bikes came several years ago when my husband and I started building vintage Harleys and now I have sold a LOT of my possessions, even went down to 2 cars, to buy more bikes and parts. I am a true addict.

GG. What do you love most about it?

CG. I mainly love the lines, the history, thinking about who might have owned it and what happened, why they “got rid of it”, how it made them feel, if they loved it the same way I do. I really love the machine, pure and simple. I also LOVE the smell of WD-40, racing fuel

and tires burning rubber. Those smells drive me CRAZY! First time I

ever went to the drag races, my emotions were so strong I just KNEW I had to do that. I am not a spectator, and after that, I started drag racing. The feeling you get when riding or drag racing, is almost indescribable to someone who doesn’t know. The scene of Nicolas Cage touching the car in Gone in 60 Seconds- it just describes the love of the car that unless you love a machine, you don’t understand. I love being able to manipulate the car, to make more power, to intimidate someone at a stop light. With bikes I just like the ability to get on, spend a little on gas and just GO. These “toys” that we own, they are far more than JUST pieces of metal, in my head, they have emotions, they are my BABIES and I guard them, protect them, and occasionally have to run out of places threatening to kick someone’s ass for getting too close to them.

GG. Do you have one specific car or bike you would like to tell us about?

CG. I’m down to two cars now- my 81 Corvette and my 78 Z-28. The 78 is truly “My baby”, I’ve had it for almost 20 years. I bought it while in college and bought it with my “extra” money left over from scholarships. It was the second car I ever bought. Instead of eating out everyday when I went to school, I packed my lunch (was made fun

of) and saved all my money to buy cars. I have virtually built it from the ground up, even built the motor myself, sanded it before being sprayed at the body shop I worked at, and I have a TON of money and love in it. I actually sold it to my husband about 6 months ago because I was going to buy another Corvette and after seeing it sitting at his work, I had to buy it back. We buy things from each other all the time. I first built the car to enter in car shows, but that was really impossible to compete against people making $50,000+ a year. So then I turned it into a drag car. It has around 500 true horsepower and since not everyone has the balls to race, I figured I would have a little more luck on the track than at the shows.

GG. What are you most passionate about in life?

CG. Definitely my cars and bikes. My world literally revolves around them. I bought my first Corvette while making minimum wage (goal being buy a Vette before I turned 30) and then ended up with three of them before I turned 29! Everything I do is really for the continual enjoyment and gaining of new toys. I just bought another one (that only YOU Sara knows about). Other areas of my life that I am passionate about are my hedgehogs, my husband, GOD, my Pit Bull and changing people’s views of them, eating healthy and living as naturally as possible in today’s toxic world.

GG. Is there anything you would love to learn to do?

CG. I am learning to weld and of course, I have to learn to kick start my 56 Panhead that I am presently building in my living room. My 2 major goals of this year. I am very goal oriented and each year I set new goals.

GG. Where would you most like to visit?

CG. Not really much on traveling, but if I had to, I would travel to England just to bring back a bunch of hedgehogs.

GG. What is your idea of relaxing?

CG. Riding my bikes, washing my cars is relaxing.

GG. What type of music do you normally listen to?

CG. Waylon, Hank Jr, Merle, Don Williams, Johnny Cash, David Allen Coe, Jamie Johnson, Alabama, Kid Rock and Everlast (but NOT when they are rapping), Metallica, AC/DC- Most “real” country and 80’s rock- I also like Neil Diamond

GG. Do you collect anything?

CG. Hedgehog stuff, of course! My kitchen is done in hedgehogs as is their room. All my other rooms are done up in motorcycle, Corvette or Camaro type art/pictures/signs. I also still collect Hot Wheels in late 2nd gen Camaros and C-3 Vettes. I guess I also “kinda” collect bandannas, fingerless gloves and scarves and really cool knitted

hats. Oh and pink hair dye!

We knew we had a connection with her when we read that she liked to “play” Dukes of Hazzard on the school play-yard as a kid, hell yeah thats a Garage-Girl right there!!! Thanks Chris for taking the time to share your great “Garage” lifestyle with us!

CG_cycles

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