Man- I thought I'd had a lot of cars...
My very first real car I got in 1969 or so, and was a powder blue Herald
1200, sans bonnet, no back half- just exposed chassis... I was 4, and dad
had brought home his parts car, to go with the other two Herald 1200's in
the front yard. Many glorious and adventurous hours were spent on that frame
and firewall with seats sitting under the back elevated porch. I learned a
few things, too- Never hit a tire with a hammer. It will jump back and hit
you in the mouth. Never forgot that. Dont throw clumps of dirt at the
windshield when playing with your friends- dad gets real mad when the clumps
of dirt break the windshield because they have rocks in them... Never forgot
that, either... That car disappeared when we moved. I seem to dimly remember
it being towed out from under that elevated porch, sadly winding it's way to
the front yard, and out of my life. No idea where that ever went.
Mom's 63 Fury and Dad's two Heralds eventually left too, and we segued into
a 70 Country Squire wagon. Grandad's 60 Galaxie went when my sister
attempted to ford a stream with it. I miss that car- a neighbor has one now.
She got a 75 Honda Civic. The parents got a 76 Country Squire, and I learned
to drive in that car, but not before i owned my first car- a 1952 Willys
CJ2a. Least that's what the title said- it was actually a 46 CJ2A, and when
I finally sold her after 17 years, she was, in all truth, a 1944 MB. I still
see her when I visit my best friends in Baltimore...
I learned to drive in the Country Squire, and taught myself stick in the
Honda, which my sister had given to my parents when she got a Datsun. Cute
little red one. I drove the little Civic through its second engine- and she
gave up on top of a hill one night, with a solid oil pressure light, and no
cranking possible... I put my foot out the door, and pushed off- hoping,
vainly, to make it to the gas station a quarter mile away. No use- I was
pulled over by a cop halfway down the hill, and the last I saw of the car
was her sitting by the side of the road waiting to be towed to the dealer
she'd come from years before. Though I hated to admit it, I loved the little
car. Years later I bought another for $17.50 at a navy yard auction. I put
about $300. into her, and drove her for a short time, but sold her for
$500.- It just wasn't the same as the grey one.
I went to driving the 76 Country Squire, until we bought a 1982 Firebird in
about 1984/5. It was a former Avis car, and had a 4 cylinder engine! I blew
out the tranny one night(under warranty), and she ate starters like potato
chips. As mom had bought her, I ended up letting her drive it when I bought
a 1974 Galaxie 500.(My first driving car- the Jeep was a restoration, though
I had hopes of daily driving for years!) Blew out the beat up engine in no
time, and put a rebuilt in. Bought a second as a parts car. Mom traded the
Firebird one day for a Plymouth Turismo. That small thing they also badged a
"Fury" (At the time I hated it, but now wouldn't mind seeing one... That
later was traded for a Suburu, then a Buick, which she just sold for a
Lincoln Continental- 1999 Oh I love driving that one :) lol) I miss the
Firebird, very low end, but a comfortable car. Learned about sleeping and
driving in her- Extremely tired, I was driving north on 95 one sunny day in
Maryland, and the lanes shifted left, onto the shoulder. Luckily I was in
the left lane to start with, because when they shifted back, I didn't! I
woke up automatically correcting the skid I was in, and seeing 6 perfectly
spaced plastic traffic barrels flying an a smooth arc into the middle of the
wide median strip. It looked like a timed photograph of one barrel, at .2
second interval exposures! I pulled to a stop on the left shoulder, but no
cops came. My heart was a jackhammer as I inspected my vehicle damage- a
small abrasion to the l/f fender, but nothing more! A little compound fixed
her right up. And I learned when tired, pull into a rest stop ands nap.
The Galaxie was joined for a while by a 1944 GMC CCKW 353 6x6 with 1516 open
cab, and 270 straight 6... It was a restoration project, and was fun to tool
around the local roads on- especially with the top off, and no bed! There
were 4 drive shafts on the thing, and I could look over my head and watch
three of them turning! She was traded for a 68 Firebird restoration project,
and then we traded back. All I could do with that car was burn rubber up and
down the drive! Then I sold the CCKW outright.
The Galaxie got me a $1000 trade in on a year old 1988 F-150 XLT Lariat
pick-up. 12k miles, and beautiful light/dark grey two tone. I drove it for
about three years, till I couldn't afford it any more. Either this or the
then girlfriend's Honda Accord was the first time for me in a car. Both got
their share of use that way :) Prettiest truck I ever saw- bar none.
After I sold the truck- (and was taken in the deal, but it had to go- I
couldn't make one more payment...) I bought my 85 Impala Police Package.
Last year for the old style bodied Impalas, she was a runner.350, 4 barrel
Rochester Q-Jet, TH700R4, posi rear, close ratio steering, 9C1 Police
Package, I loved that car, and for around 10 years she was my best driving
buddy. I put 170k onto her- lots of that in excess of the speed limit! She
was 4 door, dark blue, with plain jane exterior, cop hubcaps and a
spotlight. A security car, she never saw police service, though fully
equipped(I found the gas pedal wouldn't go all the way down- so one day I
looked: the wiring harness for the overhead light bar came down, terminated,
and was balled up and jammed into the accelerator bracket! Relocated it- oh
boy!)> I lived in Pittsburgh Pa for a short time, and would commute the 300+
miles home weekly- My average time was a little over three hours from exit 6
(mm50) to exit 25(mm325) work out the math- 275 miles of highway in just
over 3 hours... On a regular basis! One time I came out of one of the
tunnels onto a straightaway which was fifty miles of straight road, and had
her wound up a bit- when I noticed a PA trooper pointing her radar at me. I
did the only thing possible- I had my low beams on, looked casual, and waved
with one hand, non-chalontly. She waved back, and reset on another car. I
was over 95mph at the time! Camoflague! That was a great car. I courted and
then lived with a girl for a few years, that car being our main mode of
transportation, and also for some excursions together... (She eventually got
an 84 Olds Cutlass Ciera, which ran good for a while, but then the tranny
and engine went- she'd lost third gear before my girl bought the car, so it
wore out. When she left, she gave me the dead car, which I fixed up, and
used as a spare when the Chevy was ailing. Sold the Ciera to my buddy who
bought my Jeep, and my 47 Plymouth- He likes my automotive work!.) Anyway, I
had that Impala for about ten years, and when I finally sold her, because I
told myself, I did not need a Chevy, a Pickup(purchased for work, and now
for sale) and a Triumph project, I felt awful. She went to a friend, who has
promised her back to me some day... I let him take the car for a week before
I sold it to him, then went down and did the brakes so she' pass MD
inspection...When time came for me to leave, I sat in the back of my big old
blue Impala, and cried. I mean cried. That car served me better than any
other car I've owned. She pissed me off at times, but I loved that car, and
I would rarely see her again... I sat there and thought of all the good
times I'd had in her, the adventures, Margaret... And I cried. My friend
buying the car understood, and left me alone for a bit.
For a while there was the 46 Plymouth Special Deluxe. $450. for a car worth
nothing, but I enjoyed working on her. I eventually brought a 1947 model up
from Arizona, and knitted the two cars into one decent rolling restoration,
which a friend bought, and sold to another friend when he lost space for the
project. That friend took my fully restored rolling chassis, and swapped it
under his beautiful bodied 47. which had an unrestored frame- Naturally the
other frame and body went together, and were sold as a restorable car. I
just had lost interest after five years of stagnation, similar to the 52
Seagrave Anniverasary Series pumper I had for two or three years- Too buig a
project, not enought room to work on it, but the good thing was I started
the Seagrave Owners Association- (www.seagraveowners.org) and that is up
over 150 members nationwide! I'm only a member now, someone else has taken
over, but I started it, because of my truck, which is now a donor for
another fire truck.
Well, the 88 F-150 I bought for a work truck is on its way out, as I have an
'88 Jaguar XJ6 I want to buy. I'll miss the truck, but I don't think we ever
bonded... And my 1969 Plymouth Belvedere may be going, too, as part of the
money needed. I got the Belvedere a couple years back, and she's always a
pleasure to drive- smooth, responsive, largs, but maneuverable. A true
American Driving Machine. I only hope I'll enjoy the Jaguar half as much...
Maybe I'll work something else out, but I do have one guy interested. But if
he can't meet my price ;)
And there's my Herald- bought from a friend, who bought her from a nice
couple who loved Heralds dearly, she will be around for a good long while. I
had the TR3 for a month or two, but we never connected- I liked the style,
but the condition was more than I wanted to deal with at the time. And the
money helped out. also had a Honda 125cc bike for a short time. But SWMBO
had issues with it, as did the mom unit, so it fattened my coffers rather
than fill my coffin. SWMBO is now on her next assignment, I am alone...Save
for my cars... The next one is a pretty grey-blue 88 XJ6, with tan interior,
and some hard ass seats. I think she will work out- just have to get used to
the layout, and all...Maybe look for a dark interior sometime.
Anyway, I just thought I'd let you all in on my cars- Some I've loved, some
I've only enjoyed, but all are memorable to me... I still get choked up when
I think of my Impala... No new one will ever do. I'm very particular that
way, and Chevy got a real nasty e-mail when ther rebadged a small car, and
gave away her good name...
Thanks for reading- hope you found it interesting, and hey- I said it was
long!
Scott
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