Past time for my musings I know, but life goes on anyhow.
A very nice advisor friend says I should muse about the cars I have owned. I don’t think I can recall them all, but I will do my best. Heck, I do recall that when I was in high school my dad purchased a panel truck that you had to double-clutch to move it. The girl I was dating then did not want me to pick her up in it! The first car that I owned was a used 1941 Studebaker. It had a beautiful body – not a dent on it. The inside was not so good. I purchased it from a junkyard dealer who was a mechanic. He fixed a number of issues, but said that the timing gear needed work. However, I had run out of money.
I drove that car a lot, including 65 one-way miles to see a girl I was dating in Erie, Pennsylvania. I even fought it through one of the worst snowstorms I had ever been in! A friend and I drove it to graduate school in Philadelphia. We came back home for Thanksgiving. We were on the Pennsylvania Turnpike when I passed a car. I noted to my friend that I had just passed a Cadillac. I no sooner said that than the window washers flew up and the car had no power. It was the timing gear, of course. That was the end of my Studebaker.
My dad knew cars, so he found a 1949 Ford that was a jewel. It was the car that I had when I met The Blond in the House. It was great until one snowy winter night, I drove over a hill and there was a semi coming up my side. I could not stop, and he didn’t. I just had a pushed-in front with no damage to the radiator or engine. Thus, I kept driving it for a few weeks. Then I was going across the Y-Bridge in Zanesville, Ohio, and a guy in front of me decided that he wanted the other leg of the Y and backed into me. That pushed in the radiator, so goodbye 1949 Ford, although I did sell the motor to a car dealer.
I ended up buying a 1951 Ford from a cousin of The Blond. That turned out to be a bum deal. The Blond had never driven a car. I was drafted, and she took lessons while I went through basic training. She passed her driver’s test, but when I came home for Christmas, I found that the car went 25 mph without pushing on the accelerator. She thought that was great, and I found out that only one aunt would ride with her. I had it fixed and we drove the car from Pittsburgh to Fort Gordon, Georgia, without any incidents.
Once at Fort Gordon, I found someone who would buy the 1951 Ford. I then bought a 1956 Ford from a secretary on the base. It was a nice car, and the only problem I ever had was when I was released from Uncle Sam’s Army and took a position in Roanoke, Virginia. We had hooked a trailer on the back of the car. Roanoke is full of hills. Cars in those days did not have the power they do now. I was driving up one hill and could not make it to the top of the hill. I had never backed a hitched trailer and ended up where I couldn’t go either way. Luckily, someone came by and helped us. People in Roanoke are very nice. We kept the Ford until we bought our first new car – a 1959 Rambler American with a Continental tire kit on the back. Lots of stories there. Perhaps, I will have time someday to discuss them.
In the meantime, think about all the cars you have had. It is enjoyable.
Barry Evans is a columnist for Villages-News.com