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Like every other old fool, I've owned countless cars...mostly metal junk.
I think it started in the early 1950's, before I even had a driver's license. My best buddy and his Dad wanted me to go with them to the County seat so that he could get a "drivers permit" (which allowed someone only 15 to drive if accompanied by a licensed driver). About 2 miles from the County seat, my friend's Dad asked me if I had ever driven a car. I said, "No." He had a new Buick "Century" and pulled it off on a side-road. Then, he put me behind the wheel with quick instructions, and had me drive it around the square, farm mile. I was scared, but honored.
So, my friend's Dad drove us into the County courthouse, where my friend easily passed his "learner's permit". Then, to my surprise, a State Trooper approached me and said it was my time to test for a driver's license! I hadn't planned on this and wasn't at all prepared. Amazingly I passed. So, with my new license and my friend's permit (and his old 1935 Ford without heat), we had transportation to and from high school....with a dollar's worth of gas.
My brother, Ray, who was 4 years older than me, had the first car I really loved. It was a 1932 Ford coupe with a "rumble seat". It was weightless and could have easily been lifted by two men. But then, Ray decided to "soup" it up by replacing the old, small Ford engine with a big '48 "Mercury" engine...so big that the engine covers on the old car couldn't be closed. To do this job, my brother thought it would be neat to make a hoist over my Dad's garage door. The door was on a slitted pipe, allowing it to slide sideways. Needless to say, the hoist bent the slitted pipes. And as my Dad angrily explained afterwards, "You can't repair a bent slitted pipe!"
Ray traded the '32 Ford for a '57 Thunderbird. Either would be valuable today. I missed the rumble-seat on the old hot rod: it was great at a drive-in theatre! Ray often let his girlfriend drive the Thunderbird. And one time, when she was behind the wheel and he was standing outside her door, they had an argument. She got mad and drove over his feet!
Later, Ray had an old 4-door Kaiser, right before he went into the Army. He sold it to me for $100. It was really ugly. The maroon paint had faded so badly that it matched the rust. And the radiator leaked. A couple of friends and I took it to Mitchell SD just for fun. We had to put five gallon water bottles on the backseat floor so that we could stop several times on the way there and back in order to fill up the radiator. I let another high school friend drive it one night. He made a left turn at a stop sign and lost control of the steering-wheel. The Kaiser ended half-way up an oak tree. The next day, I went to see the local junked-car dealer. He said he'd tow in the Kaiser but that he could only offer me $150 for it. I said, "Well....Okay."
Like most kids in the 1950's, I was awed by the automobile. But my "dream car" wasn't one worshiped by most of my peers (but then, I've always been a "maverick"). In my office, there's still a photo of my favorite, the car I would love to have a restored copy of today: the 1957 Studebaker "Golden Hawk". It was sleek like the first "Thunderbirds", but better built. Originally designed for a small engine because of its lightness, the factory made a last minute change because of a merger with the old Packard company. They put in the biggest Packard V-8 engine available, which made the "Golden Hawk" an unbeatable powerhouse. Unfortunately, neither the company nor the car survived the large Detroit competitors of the day. But, I still have my dream and my office picture of it. |
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Posted by Gabby on 2008-04-07 19:49:26 | Rating: | Views: 36
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