Hello,
I know this will be some news for the long-time car forum community. I searched some forums I frequent and see that no one has posted this. I just went to tag my friend John Paige on a Facebook post and ended up finding out he passed away in December.
Where do I start with this?
Basically since the internet, forums and car pages started, John (NOT A TA) was a significant contributor to many different forums. Pro-Touring, NastyZ28, Trans Am Country, 78TA, etc. Most people know him from his red 1970 Pontiac Firebird "The 14 Car". He didn't talk about it much online but, unless you spoke to him, he had a car collection outside of that specific car such as an 1980's Porsche Carrera, 1960's Camaro convertible and others. He worked on many high end cars over the years for customers and friends. I am truly sad to hear that he passed away and didn't get to finish out his 1970 Firebird project. That car had 315 tires set up before the days of everyone having 335's, link suspension, etc.
https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/83259-The-14-Car-Performance-Therapy-Project-Baers-Rushforths-Yokohamas-and-more?highlight=john+paige
John Paige by
Jonathon Randolph, on Flickr
In my time of knowing John through the forums, having long conversations with him exchanging ideas or relating in life, I found him to be a very intelligent individual and lived a really diverse life. He was originally from the Northeastern States but relocated to Delray Beach, Florida about 10 years ago. During his time down in Florida, he had worked with his local village engineers for engineering projects, assisted with a local engine shop and worked for-hire helping locals build their project cars.
Some of the Firebird/Camaro community may know John from his business called Lab-14. I was his first sponsor along 3 other guys for the parts he initially developed to strengthen, correct and repair factory 1967-1981 GM F-Body subframes. To this day, I am thankful for John being generous to offer me his parts and even mailed me a drilling jig to drill my frame. With many life events and situations getting in the way of me making progress with my build, I never got to display John's parts in the manner I would have like to from him sponsoring my build. I'll always remember apologizing to him for not being able to display the parts he sent me and offering him money, but he always said it was fine.
https://www.lab-14.com/pages/about-usWhile many of us car guys know John from his car-related content, John owned a BMX and Skateboard shop called Rad Rob's in Connecticut for many years. From when I had spoken with him, he had said his shop was one of the biggest distributors in the country for BMX and Skateboarding. He used to race BMX in the 70's and knew a lot of the originators of the sport such as Bob Haro (Haro Bikes). Here is a video of a 1992 commercial from the shop he owned...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvVp71e1DWkI don't even know where to end on this. John was a very smart man, really worked on a lot of things throughout his lifetime and was a great guy to have a conversation with. I remember he had once told me he had been in development with a group to make a pedal-powered helicopter that you would basically ride like a bicycle. From what he had said, they got it to work but it was not a project that was designed to be sold to people or become produced commercially. This was a totally out-there project but that was exactly the type of thing John would be involved with. From having 315's on his leaf spring Firebird before many people had 315-335 tires, to developing a bicycle-helicopter or performing aerodynamic testing for classic muscle cars, John was great at mechanics and engineering.
RIP John Paige (aka Not A TA)
