Some of you know that my bugeye was owned by a neighbor when I was a teenager.
After teaching me about cars as he fixed it up, we parted ways not to meet
again for 30 years. I looked him up back in 1999 and bought the Sprite from
him that I had watched rebuilt all those years ago.
That first day with the Sprite tucked safely in MY garage, I began a close
examination and clean out of the interior prior to the first total strip of
the car. Headfirst, on my belly, I reached my hand into the rear fender wells
and started extracting all kinds of crap. Kids toys from the PO's child
rearing years, an old feeler gauge, a few nuts and bolts, old gas receipts,
and a very nasty looking black leather glove.
Time for the "Wayne's World" flashback sound effect......wave fingers through
the air........
1970, Riverside Raceway. My neighbor/friend/bugeye owner and I stand in the
infield watching the Riverside 500. The drive to Riverside from Gardena with
the top down in his newly restored bugeye was cold and I wore my leather
gloves. Thrown in the back when we arrived, I didn't need them on the way
home. Later, while searching, I could only find one of them and gave up the
search. My neighbor said not to worry, if he found it he'd give it back
because it would be way too big for his smaller hands.
Flash forward sound effect (with finger waving gestures)
Now thirty years later as I recall this dim teenage memory, I pry the fingers
apart and slowly push my hand into the glove like OJ. Nasty, ragged, stiff
and stained, it fit perfectly. No, Rod Serling was not standing in my
driveway with his hands clasped in front of him.
Glen Byrns
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