Sunday, April 15, 2007
Car Talk
I was just grousing to my boss about the Mideast desk having to write Turkey stories. In my opinion, Turkey is part of Europe. Lost that argument simply because he's my boss. But then I mentioned that there's a factory over there that's still churning out '55 Chevy Bel Airs. They are popular with cab drivers. Then I got to thinking about the cars my family owned. My dad had an almost supernatural instinct for buying cars that were doomed. We owned a Desoto, a Nash Rambler, an Edsel. I guess those are classics now, but they were just lemons back then. And he never owned a new car in his life.
Cars then were a wee bit different than now. Open the hood and there would be room for an extra engine. Plenty of room to work in. Now, the engine compartment is so crammed and the engines are so complicated, you have to study from birth to work on them.
And safety features? Brakes and a horn. The dashboard was made of metal. No seat belts. No air bags. When my dad would take sharp corners, we kids would slide from one side of the car to the other. The doors probably weren't locked.
Ah, those were the good old days. Survival of the luckiest.
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8 comments:
In my youth, I once owned a 1956 Desoto with a 353 hemi. Desotos were the poormans' Chrysler. That car was fast and powerful and certainly no lemon!! Lots of fun!!
I remember sliding around the back seat, too. Great fun unless you were the one on the down side that got everyone else on top of you. LOL
My mom had an old Chevy that looked like those taxi cabs, though I don't know if it was a Bel Air or not. That was first-class leg room in that car!
Tracking it back through a memory of the hood ornament, I believe ours was a 1951 DeSoto sedan
the earliest car I can remember my parents had was a '59 Chevrolet Kingswood station wagon. ( I was the youngest of 6 kids so we needed a wagon).
A visiting preacher in our church had one just like it. One Sunday night after church, I wandered sleepily into the parking lot and climbed into the back of his car by mistake and went to sleep.
He discovered me after he got home, and drove me back to the church where my parents were still looking for me.I never woke up the whole time.
And you were 16 at the time?
And still getting drowsie in church?
Well, who doesn't? That's how the Sunday afternoon nap was invented.
My dad gave me his 1932 Model A coupe a 2 seater and the trunk flips open to hold two more. We call the car "Betsy."
My grandfather owned it first.
To think people rode in a seat made out of the trunk with no seat belt and sat in the open air. But I guess that is not such a big deal since it only goes 32 mph. Original engine is still in there. Only has two gears.
My aunt used to pick up from school in a rambler. She drove it all through the 70s. I had no idea that car was a lemon?
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