Homepage for Current Entries

Clarence's Car Journal   More Years Past

(2008)  (2009)

12/28/08...My first drive was a near disaster bailed out by my dad. Check out Childhood Driving Experiences...The 48 Ford.

My second drive was in the summer of 1955. My dad decided it was time for a driving lesson. I was certainly ready at the ripe old age of eight years. The car was our new 55 Pontiac 870 Chieftain Catalina. The photo shown here, taken in 1957, shows my dog, Chief, and me on the bicycle with the Pontiac in the background. Pop was risking quite a bit here. We piled into the car with me taking the driving position. Then he familiarized me with all the little things I needed to know. This car was our first automatic so the kid should be able to do okay with it.  Pop's first direction after I started the car was for me to select reverse so that I could turn the car around to go down the driveway. The transmission was a dual-range Hydramatic. This was  America's first really great automatic both in operation and reliability. It had no "park" position. "Park" was reverse and only actuated when the ignition switch was cut off with the lever in "R" position.

This car had one idiosyncrasy which may or may not have been common to other 55 Pontiacs. The spring tension on the gas pedal was very strong and not progressive as the pressure required was hard at first and then about midway it became easy to push. This meant that the gas pedal needed a bit of thought to operate smoothly. In other words, if you pushed a little, nothing happened. If to compensate, you pushed too hard the engine would race and away you would go. So, there was the kid barely able to see over the steering wheel. I click, click, clicked the lever to "R." I pushed on the gas. Nothing happened. "Push down harder," Pop's slightly excited voice instructed. I had to stand on the gas pedal to get it to move. The pedal went to the floor. Whoosh! The car raced away swaying side to side in reverse. A really large tree was in our backward path. Pop quickly and instinctively reached over and cut the ignition switch off. The car lurched as the reverse parking pawl took effect and the car stopped--inches away from a wreck. We got out. I have no idea what Pop said at that point, but the lesson was over and my next one didn't come for another year.

It's a good thing that my Dad didn't buy a Ford that year. He could not have reached the left mounted ignition switch and the Ford did not have a reverse parking feature. We would have bought that tree in a Ford.

My second attempt at driving was a near disaster and once again I was bailed out by my dad.

12/17/08...I have lots of automotive ephemera. In those many years on the road I covered most states east of the Mississippi and attended way too many auctions along the way. Now that I am off the road I am trying to go through the piles of accumulation. One primary goal these days  is to live long enough to organize this stuff so that my heirs don't have to. I want my final auction to be neat and tidy and an enjoyable experience for all the attendees.

However, my collection of old car photos is really small. Maybe there are ten. I don't need to collect anything else, but every time I go to a local auction I am tempted by the box lots of old photos and only for the three or four car pictures in them. Mostly I have resisted. If I ever get organized, I will start collecting old car photos. Collecting is a good gene, you know. Accumulating is a disease.

There is a story in every one of these photos. Imagining the story can be fun. Maybe I should just make one up for this picture. Naw, let's just stick to the evidence. Cars help date photos. Let's suggest 1936 or 37. The car on the left surely looks like a 34-35 GM car. The car on the extreme right in the blur is likely 35-36 vintage--maybe 37. Did you see the lady standing there? She could tell us, but she doesn't talk much anymore. Anyway, we can read, "Season's Greetings." The trees still have leaves on them. This photo likely depicts a scene from Tampa, New Orleans, maybe even Southern Cal. Forensic scientists could probably figure out all the letters at the base of the manger scene. It is possible the letters spell out a name, particularly since the last word seems to be McPherson. Do you suppose that the inventor of the McPherson strut lived here?

Well, no matter, y'all, warm southerly Season's Greetings from Clarence, the McPhersons and the lady in red.

12/11/08...There are all kinds of ways to collect things. Most collections are unique and the items collected represent a theme. Here are some variations for promotional car collectors. Some people collect promotional car models...

1...of all kinds as well as non-automotive promos such as miniature Esso gas pumps, Hoover vacuum cleaners, GE electric ranges, etc.

2..of the full-sized cars that the collector once owned.

3..exclusively from Chrysler Corporation or General Motors, for example, or a single automotive brand such as Ford.

4..the collector once owned as a child

5..for a specific car along with related promotional material including sales brochures, owner's manual, shop manual, advertisements, showroom banners, etc.

6..that are banks.

7..that are from a particular year such as one's birth year of 1959.

8..that are from a certain era such as the fin era or the muscle car era.

9..for one year and make of automobile in all the promo color combinations and variations available that year.

Note the 56 Pontiac color collection here. There are lots more colors of this one to collect.   

There are almost as many variations on collecting as there are people who have collections.

Do you have a different theme for collecting promos? Help me add to this list by sending it in.

12/09/08...Ever since my Toyota pickup was wrecked and then sold, I have missed having a pickup around. I am burning lots of wood in order to limit my oil usage to one hundred gallons down from five-hundred fifty in previous years.

My first thought was to replace the Toyota with a utility trailer. I have looked at various commercially made trailers and just don't get excited about them. Then a brainstorm came to me that a redneck trailer is what I really wanted. The kind of redneck trailer that I want is the kind whereas a pickup truck is cut in half and the rear half becomes a trailer. Sometimes a pickup bed is taken off a truck and then mounted on a handmade or existing frame. These trailers can be very cool and particularly so when they follow a similar style pickup truck of the same color. It's like déjà vu all over again!

I began my search on the Internet. About four weeks ago I found an auction with a Studebaker redneck trailer offering but with no pictures. This was truly appealing since I have owned twenty Studebakers over the years and this would be my last one ever. Since the auction was over a hundred miles away, I called the auctioneer in advance. He said he hadn't seen it but the "boys" told him it was in pretty good shape. I went to the auction and was it ever beat up! The tires were dry rotted and tube-type. The hitch was packed with dried mud. The handmade frame used a solid front axle from a big truck. It was welded well but nothing was symmetric.  I didn't even stay for bidding. This trailer could not likely be pulled back home without trouble. Where are you going to find a used sixteen-inch tube-type tire on a Saturday afternoon?

So the search continued. I decided that I liked the old step-side style pickup bed and started searching for those. Those searches also produced pickup trucks with step-side beds. In Madison County Georgia there was an 85 Ford pickup step-side pickup with a picture. This truck was a surplus vehicle for Madison County which had purchased the truck new. This truck had a look about it that I liked. Hmm, do I really want another pickup? I called the auctioneer who knew nothing about the truck but returned a call the next evening saying the truck ran well.

On Saturday morning, I left home at 5AM with Bud and headed to the auction. The trip was pleasant with good conversation and a leisurely fast food breakfast. We arrived at the auction site in plenty of time. My inspection revealed that the truck had minimal rust and had only one tiny dent-rub on the front fender--a really straight solid truck. The bumpers were straight and the bed was not beat up but did have quite a bit of hardened asphalt dotting the bed floor and walls. The interior cab was okay and needed lots of cleaning and some attention. The mileage was 133,000. This little truck had lead a fairly decent life and was probably under a shed most of the time. The bad news was a bad break in the windshield. Otherwise, this vehicle had an ugly patina but underneath it had some great possibilities. The other bad news was that there was no key in it.

This auction and a Chinese fire drill had a lot in common. A man eventually came around and put the key in it. More bad news. The key turned but the battery was totally dead.  Then a truck came around with booster cables and jumped off every vehicle in the row except this 85 Ford. Then the key disappeared and the man in charge of keys said that he was holding all keys, but not to worry. All the vehicles would be started and running when they were up for bidding. I then wondered if the motor in this truck was bad or if they were trying to make this truck questionable to favor a local.

With all this circus going on, I  milled around the truck for quite a while. By chance I talked with three people who worked for the county and knew something about this truck. All these folks were cordial and volunteered that this truck was a good truck with maybe some transmission problems but still operable. They also pointed out that it had new rear brakes and a new muffler which I had already discovered as well as new rear shocks. The third fellow was charming if for no other reason than that he looked like (brand new denim overalls) and talked like my grandfather and he was as skinny as me. He had worked for the county for forty years and still did part time with them. He had driven this truck many times and remembered when it was delivered brand new to the county. It was delivered with an identical twin. The identical truck sold two years ago in a surplus auction to...HIM! 

"So," I said, "I guess you might want to bid on this one."

"Well if the price is right, I will," he responded.

After about an hour the auctioneer had worked his way down the line to the 85 Ford. "Crank it up, boys!" he called.

"The solenoid is stuck. It won't start," they yelled back.

Man, was I going to bid on this thing without ever hearing it run? The bidding started pretty low and moved up and it was about to sell. I bid. I am a risk-taker and I don't like being manipulated. It was close to my upper limit. I nodded it up 25 dollars twice more. The truck sold. I owned it. 

"I just bought a truck that I have no idea if it will run and a tow bill to NC will be costly," I thought. "What have I done?"

I went to the office and paid for it and asked for the key. The response was, "You can't have the key until all the other vehicles sell."

Well, I needed to get busy and I brought just about nothing to work with. I hadn't done any planning at all. I went and got my tag and put it on and checked all the fluids which were okay. In about twenty minutes all the vehicles had sold. I got the key and then I searched for the mechanic with the booster cables who told me he would help start it. I never saw him again. Then I found a guy nearby boosting his deputy-car purchase who said he would loan me his cables when done, but his car never started even though it did run during the auction.

Aha, over there on the county truck hood were some stout booster cables. I borrowed them. The boosters were connected--a moment of truth. There was barely enough juice to turn it over but it did turn over a few times, sounded raspy and then the battery faltered. We let it charge for a few.  Five minutes later the key was turned and it fired up, didn't blow smoke and ran quietly. Whew! The gas gauge showed empty. There was a gas station two miles down the road. We wondered, "Do we chance driving it down there and running out on the road with no way to start it again?" Yes.

I drove out of the lot and onto the highway. The tires were flat spotted from sitting for six months so it was bumpity bumpity. The transmission took forever to shift into a higher gear. I pulled into the station to fill it up feeling humbled and doubtful.

A local walked out and to our amazement said, "I figured you'd buy that truck. They said a man from  North Carolina was coming down to buy that truck no matter what and I see your NC plate. You know, I put almost all those miles on that truck. It's a good little truck. You got a good deal. No young boys ever jerked it around."

Then I checked under the hood again. The radiator was leaking just a bit. I went back into the store and bought some oil and some antifreeze.  As I began to pull out of the lot Bud leaned out of the Cherokee nervously and yelled, "Don't stop anywhere. Let's go home." We both wanted to see home before dark. The trip down in a good vehicle was three hours.

We knew it would be a longer trip back. There were lots of worries. The first one was, "Will it go fast enough when we get to the Interstate? Will it overheat? I pushed the gas pedal down a little bit more when we hit the interstate and it ran okay for a few minutes and then started to miss a little. I backed off to 62 mph. It was happier there and the temperature gauge stayed steady. That was only a twenty mile stretch. Then there was a long stretch of two-lane and then the next worry--a long steep climb up the mountain to NC. Would it overheat or would it miss so badly that it wouldn't make it?

Just before the big grade, there was a long downhill run. I pushed the gas down a bit harder and since the truck wasn't pulling, it speeded up. I wanted a good running-go at the incline to ease the truck's burden. Then the climb began and the truck did an amazing thing. It started running better than at any point of the trip. It really took off. It ran 60 and 65 all the way up and the temp gauge only moved a notch. When it got to the top and leveled off, it ran like it had been running before--like a vehicle needing a tune-up really soon. Crossing the crest of the mountain and the state line was a point, needless to say, of lessened worries. It had done all the hard things. Now it had to go about thirty-five more interstate miles and it would be home at last.

Around 4:40 PM, well before dark, we pulled in.  I thanked Bud for the help and said, " I owe you a really good dinner. You know, I think I started liking this truck just about the time I pulled it into the driveway! Do you realize that we truly had a miracle on the mountain?"

"I dunno," Bud laughed, "sounds more like a lot of plain old dumb luck and what in the world was that thing about the starter solenoid?"

11/27/08...Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday even now that I am 98% vegetarian. Actually food has nothing to do with it.

Several summers ago I got strep throat and was really sick for two weeks. Towards the end of that ordeal I was feeling down in the dumps and sorry for myself. I happened to remember that it is a good thing once in a while to take stock of all the good things in one’s life. I started out with--I have a roof over my head and plenty of food to eat. A lot of people don’t. I have hands and feet. Some people don’t. On and on. Remarkably after going through this exercise I started feeling a lot better. Thanksgiving is a good time to renew.

 I am thankful… 

…for Bojo, the troublesome neurotic dog, who will be 14 this December.

…that my mom’s necessary move to an Alzheimer's unit in a different nursing home went much more smoothly than I had imagined.

 …for an above fifty-degree day today that provided me a chance to get some stain protection on the porch before winter.

 …for a son who is beginning to mature. I have been waiting a while.  

…for all the apples my trees bore this year after bearing not one last year.

 …for the scraggly peach tree that I thought about cutting down which bore one white peach…simply the best peach I ever ate.

…for the discovery that several of my fruit trees have turned out to be plum trees. 

…for good health. 

…for a year of roller skating without serious injuries. 

…for friends who have been friends for a really long time. 

…that I was born when and where I was and to whom I was. 

…that I read “Healthy at 100” and “A New Earth” this year, both of which have affected my attitudes and behavior. 

You get the point. This could go on and on forever. Enjoy your moments. 

Oh, and since this is a car journal, let me throw in at least one car thing. Hmm, oh yes, and this is really big. I have come upon a car that my grandfather likely bought brand new in 1916. It resides about ten miles away. I will soon go visit the owner (He is the third titled owner.) and take a look at the car. If the owner ever wants to sell this car, he has one person waiting. You will learn more as this progresses.

11/25/08...All times are uncertain and some times are certainly more uncertain--such as the time we live in. I recently got an email suggesting that I help save American car brands by buying one of their cars. Well, there are several American cars that I would like to own, but just saddling up and going to a dealership and buying one is not in my budget right now. I have decided to do the unthinkable though. I am going to buy some Ford and GM stock. It is cheap. I'm not going to invest much and I realize the risks including the one that my investment could wind up worth zero. Tough times present opportunities for those who are alert and creative. I hope I am one of those. It would be nice to make a profit and help out the American brand autos a bit.

Speaking of stocks, I bought a literature collection this summer that had some sleeper stocks in it all the way back to the dawn of the automotive era. These unissued stocks, Ohio Automobile Company, were for the birthing company of Packard motorcars.  In 1898 James Packard was already a well-to-do man and decided to buy a horseless carriage. He bought a Winton, one of the best cars of the day. The one that James Packard bought was not so great. It had all kinds of problems on it's maiden voyage from the Winton factory to Packard's home. Packard contacted Alexander Winton with various suggestions for improving the car. Winton told Packard to build a car himself if he was so smart. Packard did and the rest is history.

The unissued stock certificate, shown above, for the Ohio Automobile Company is worth (in collectible value) about 16 times as much as a share in Ford Motor today but not as much as it was originally issued for, $100, earned penny by penny.

10/17/08...Cool. An email just arrived:

Hello Clarence,

I was reading your website and thinking about car ownership patterns.
We have a theory we've been working on in our office. The woman who works with me is on her second Miata and has had several sports cars over the years. Her father had a new 1960 TR 3 when she was born and that's what she came home from the hospital in.  Although I love them all I've driven domestic cars over the years and I came home in a (almost) new 1950 Olds 88 (the red one--ed). We think there may be a kind of imprinting that takes place when we've asked people. One friend has a 5 Series BMW wagon. Her first ride was a 450 SEL. We did have on anomaly- we have client from Chicago who came home on a street car. He has an Acura MDX. Any thoughts? --DM
 

There's always a theory to be had here!

In First Ride...So to Speak I just tried to put a few ideas into words and make it entertaining along the way.

You can make the auto imprinting idea fit by just trying a little. It's a lot like astrology.

For example, the person who came home in a street car owns a "car" so there is no anomaly. That is stretching it a bit, but maybe not a lot more than the 450 SEL comparison which has almost nothing in common with a 5-series BMW wagon other than being German.

Perhaps the likelihood is that the circumstances that created the car that you rode home in were highly related to a mindset and lifestyle of your parents.

My dad was a car guy. He was interested in all styles and brands and open to the unpopular brands of the day. I picked all that up from him for sure.

Thanks for reading and responding. I hope I haven't doused the flames of automotive imagination. It surely is fun to think about. How about the readers out there? What was your first ride and were you imprinted by it?  --cy

09/25/08...Last evening I passed a bunch of gas stations which had no gas except for one which had about fifty cars lined up for gas. This morning no stations had any gas at all. It makes you think about economy cars although even they won't run on nothing.

I have owned a bunch of economizers. I am cheap and have always preferred economy to zoom. One of the lures of an underpowered car is driving it without abuse but keeping up with traffic. In other words, there is a challenge there.

Hint One:  Race down hill and it will get you halfway up the next.

Hint Two: In city driving always try to find a pace in rhythm with traffic signals. If you are rolling when the light turns green you are already way ahead of the jackrabbit sitting at the light. Brains over brawn.

Hint Three:  Sometimes you can actually pass another car if it is going slowly enough. Observe the terrain as well as traffic. You have no burst of power. Work smart. What you have to do is lay back. Find your moment. Keep building up revs and speed. Race up towards the rear of the car with foot ready to brake. Pray. Road clear? Yes. Whip left with pedal to the metal. Pray. Observe oil pressure if you have a gauge. Oh, I forgot. You cannot do this going uphill or even with slight uphill grade. You can only do it on the downgrade. I am 62 and have made it so far, but then I've been lucky.

The car shown in the picture is a 62 Citroen 2CV that I once owned. CV means French horses. The engine is one-third of a modern Porsche 911. Yes, it's a two-cylinder boxer engine. This car topped out at 50 mph. I'm not sure I ever passed anyone with it. But, it was an amazing ride. It is the only car I ever had that felt like it was at sea bobbing over the waves. The windshield wipers ran off a cable connected to the front wheel. Yes, at traffic lights, it had no working wipers, but the wiper speed was continuously variable according to speed. It had no gas gauge and I think no reserve lever like early Beetles. It did have a stick attached to the gas cap just in case you needed to check. The windows were hinged and opened upward. Nobody could steal this car. The shifter came out of the dash and required pushes and pulls and twists to get the right gear. Totally fun. The cloth top was truly cloth. It was a very flowery sheet I think. My barn surely helped keep the car dry.

I bought this car in the early seventies from a hippie guy and gal who lived on a remote mountaintop. Someone told me that the hippie guy left her long ago but that she still lives there. Maybe she would date me.

The scenes shown were done by a professional photographer friend around 1975.

In the upper right-hand photo that's me checking the gas and that's the photographer who set his camera up and then ran like crazy just in time to be in the picture. It looks like a movie promo glossy! Maybe we should have a contest for coolest caption.

In the lower photo you see me trying to pick up a girl with my 2CV. She just turned up her nose at me and motioned me on!

09/16/08...Only car guys and car gals would even think to ask the question. In what kind of car did I first ride?  I wish I knew the answer. There are only a very few people living now that could answer that question, but then that's a relatively inconsequential item in most folk's memory bank. 

For many years I romanticized that I was driven home in a 1936 Ford Phaeton. What's so romantic about that? The Phaeton, a four-door open car with button-up windows, was a sporty car but a dying body style in 1936. During the late 1930's  President Roosevelt flashed around in one at his Hyde Park Estate in New York.  Today not many 36 Phaetons remain. They are treasured by flathead V-8 Ford collectors and enthusiasts.

Recently I have been visiting the last living friend of my dad's. Earl has a pretty sharp memory. He has not been able to tell me about the car that I traveled home in from the hospital. He has been able to tell me that it definitely was not the 36 Ford. I was disappointed to discover that my dad sold that car to a friend mutual to my dad and Earl sometime in the first half of 1946.

I was born in September, 1946. Hmm... likely, the first car that I ever rode in was that 1936 Ford Phaeton shown in the picture above. In the late winter and early spring of 1946  I was probably the warmest person in that Ford as the cold winds flapped through the cracks and crannies of those buttoned-up windows. Think about it. And, maybe now we know why I prefer convertibles.

Incidentally, the picture shows that Ford with my older brother in the foreground doing an Appalachian sun bath.

09/11/08...I must say I was dreading the aggravation of dealing with an insurance company related to the recent accident in my Toyota pickup. It's been a decade at least since I've made any claims.

Well, it has turned out not so bad. I was courteously treated by my own company and the company paying the claim. The test of seeing how all this would play out seemed to be on the day that I took the Toyota to a body shop where I met the insurance estimator. This gentleman was friendly and turned out to be a car guy with a 1970 Malibu in his garage. It was his second car and he has never let it go. Good for him.

Before he looked at the damage, I walked him around the vehicle and showed him how nice it was. Then I showed him the almost like new original interior and the low mileage on the odometer. I told him how much I paid for it more than a year ago which was certainly more than any "book" value. Now why did I do this? I did not want this vehicle to be written up as a total loss resulting in a salvage title.

He then did his job of estimating. Upon completion we went to his van which was a fully equipped mobile office. He put everything into his computer. Out came the estimate. It sounded okay and I was assured that if unseen problems arose that a supplemental check could be made with proper verification. He then issued me a check for that amount. The vehicle had not been totaled. Whew.

I went to my truck and started figuring. With this check, how much could I sell this truck for now? I arrived at a figure and headed straight to a friend's used car lot. My friend employs a salesman, Walt,  who loves my generation of Toyota pickups. Only a week before the accident he had said that if I ever wanted to sell this truck to bring it to him. Little did I know that we would be doing a deal just a few weeks later. He tried to bring me down on price, but I let him know that it was what I had to have. He bought it.

Walt will make money on the truck. More power to him. I certainly didn't make money on the truck, but surely I lost little if anything and on top of that I had obtained a good bit of use out of it. One of my greatest pleasures is getting a free ride and this time I got 12,000 miles of free riding.

08/29/08...Every once in a while it's going to happen. Your number will come up. You will be involved in an auto accident. August 26th was my turn.

After the event is over and you realize how lucky it was that no one was hurt, you start thinking about the "what ifs." I was on my way to the gym and in the name of saving gas I had intended to have an order aboard to mail at the post office. On the way I realized that I had forgotten the package. I turned around safely without incident and headed back to the office. I wish I had not made that turnaround. About 45 seconds or so after the turnaround, I approached the rear of a car stopped at an intersection. That car pulled out into the highway and into the path of an oncoming car. I comfortably stopped at least a hundred feet from the action. Those two cars bounced around like a hot game of "Crazy Demon Ride" on a pinball machine. And then...one of them came straight at me, spun and careened and slammed my 89 Toyota pickup almost head on. Just like my grandfather said, "It's dangerous to be safe."

My little Toyota 4x4 is dirty in the picture but is a very nice vehicle with a low 126,000 miles. Already two people have asked to buy it, including the highway patrolman who worked the incident.

08/18/08..."Robert Mitchum roars down the hottest highway on earth,"  says the original Thunder Road theater poster.

There is a highway, so to speak, just as famous as Route 66 for a lot of old car fans--particularly in the Southeast. It's Thunder Road. Thunder Road was a movie first released in 1958 which included a famous song, The Ballad of Thunder Road. Robert Mitchum wrote the movie and co-wrote the song and was the feature star in this black and white film. Not a lot is authoritatively known about the historical aspects of the making of this movie.

Here is a link for a bit more info about this Appalachian cult classic.  Be sure to check out the lyrics of the ballad and absolutely listen to the audio version of it.

Much of the movie was made in and around Asheville, NC. I am rather sure that the explosion scene at the Atlantic service station is a station that my family passed on every trip made into downtown Asheville from Weaverville. By the way, the continuity of this movie was truly B grade. For example, when the man turns the key to his car thus triggering the Atlantic service station explosion, he does it in a 1951 Ford. The 1951 Ford dash was "show-car" futuristic and unique to the 51 Ford. Nowhere in that scene is a 51 Ford to be found. There is a 49 or 50 Ford near the sign and there is a 49 Mercury sitting at the pumps. Hopefully, I will get a DVD of this movie someday and do the automotive continuity of it. There are many examples of mistakes so that should be a hoot.

Supposedly, some scenes for this movie were made near Weaverville on the road going up to Beech. My place is on that road and the picture, above right, shows the old road as it looks today. Curves in the old road were straightened or abandoned just about the time I started driving legally in 1962. I rode on this road many times and drove on it also.

This road once called "the hottest highway on earth" is now rather serene and idyllic-- the ebb and flow of time.

 08/05/08...Well, so far, I have paid more than $4 a gallon for gasoline only once. Nevertheless riding around is not cheap anymore and I am driving around on the Internet more than usual. On the way I stumbled upon a couple of web sites that might provide you some fun.

First, if you have little kids in your life or if you haven't quite lost all the kid inside you, the following site might be fun: Coloring Book. You can print cars out and color them with your choices of media. You might even be able to take it a step further and color them on your computer. Note that many other items are available.

1951 Studebaker at Texaco station picture is from "The History of the American Automobile Coloring Book" by A.G. Smith (Dover Publications).

Second, if you have ever enjoyed playing an online game or some sort of advertising game, here is one that could be fun for you: Saturn Astra Slot Car Race.  You can custom design your own raceway or use the standard startup raceway provided. A train runs across the track; you must be not only fast but skilled. Also, there is a cow that wanders onto the track sometimes. My best two-lap time on the standard track is 17.42 seconds. See if you can beat it. I have found that hitting the cow fast and hard slows me down less than stopping for it! Maybe you can drive with more finesse and create less hamburger.

07/16/08...Last evening while driving, I noted that gas most everywhere is now over $4. So far I have not paid $4 and also noted that one station has it for only $3.94. Hmm. That was Citgo. I have been boycotting them because of the connection to Chávez of Venezuela, who seems to hate our national guts. He seems to like our money pretty well, though.

I have a debate with myself,  "Do I break the boycott or pay more? Well, now that I think about it, most of the other folks pumping oil these days are pretty much in the same category. I will buy Citgo in the morning."

Morning comes and I roll into the station, "This is probably the last time I will ever buy gas for under $4." I put my credit card into the pump.

It asks me if I want a car wash. "Well, no, I don't. I've already washed this car this year."

Then as I put the nozzle into the Saab, I see that the price is $4.09.

"What is this? This is false advertising. They ought to string these people up."

I do a double take of the big new sign out front. It says, "Unleaded $3.94 with carwash. $4.09 without."

My card is  authorized. I could buy one dollar's worth and get out of here. "Don't be silly, it will cost you more to start the car and go elsewhere than to bite the bullet right here."

When I clanked the nozzle back into the pump, I am sure I heard a metallic, "Gotcha!"

07/11/08...On the right you see a 1948 Ford 4-door Deluxe sedan. This was the first car I ever drove. And, that's me posing in front of it. My best guess is that I drove this car around the time when this picture was taken. My dad replaced this car with a 1949 Ford 2-door sometime in 1951. I was born in 1946. The kid looks like a four or five-year-old.

The Ford was parked beside our cabin on a down sloped  driveway that led to the woods and a good sized creek. My dad was a car guy and I picked it up early. One day I decided to get into the car and "drive" it. I did all the things my dad did. I pushed in the clutch and shifted gears. Then I released the emergency brake. At some point I hit neutral and away she went. My dad was pretty close by apparently as he came running out of the cabin screaming words that did not sound comforting. The emergency brake was left of the steering column so he was able to stop the car quickly. Had he not been around there would have been an accident for sure. I honestly do not remember getting a "whipping" for this stunt but cannot imagine that I didn't. I did not drive again until 1955 and that is another story.

07/08/08...I sold my beloved 1990 Miata last week. It was one of the very first ones made and was sold to the original owner in August of 1989. I bought it from her with just over 200K miles in 2005. It had nearly 220K miles when I sold it and is original and still a pretty good car. I bought it for $2500, spent $1100 on it and sold it for $2400. I figure it cost me around $400 a year to drive it for three years and put 20K on it during that time. I am Miata's number one fan. The car is economical, reliable, long-lived, maneuverable and tons of open-air fun. The new generation stayed true to the original formula. That almost never happens. If you missed the Model A roadster generation, you got your second chance with Miata. This was my second Miata but most likely will not be the last.

I bought it from a lady and sold it to a lady. Is it then only a lady's car? Well, only if your male ego is easily bruised.

06/30/08...Have you noticed? Suddenly older economy cars are hitting the highways. For years I have seen a green early 70's VW Karman Ghia sitting in a garage-shed nearby. Gosh, two years ago it sat out by the road with a For Sale sign on it. No takers apparently. The other day I met this car coming down Main Street.

Then over near Doggett Gap I met a 66 VW Beetle that I had never seen before. It has 1966 NC plates so is registered as a collector car. I have seen it twice now, perhaps doing daily work.

Yesterday, I met an amazing vehicle near the skating rink. It was a late 60's Citroen 2CV truckett in beautiful restored condition. I am not sure I have ever seen one of these in the USA. Of course, there were a few sedan versions imported to the US. I owned a 1962 and have a picture of it somewhere. Maybe I should post that picture.

And, oh yes, there are bunches of old Toyotas, Ford Festivas, Nissans etc. running around with red hoods, yellow doors and blue hatches accented with duct tape and coat hangers.

06/25/08...I got out of the skating rink late and ran to the Miata. It was dark and I was eager to get home. Just as I pulled the ignition key out of my pocket, the key slipped out of my hand and down between the transmission tunnel and seat. You couldn't put something down there if you tried.

"Oh no, it's dark; I can't see it or feel it.  Maybe if I move the seat, tilt etc. I can get it."  And, then, "Oh wow, there it is just on the short rear floor behind the seat. What great luck!"

 I inserted the key . "This key isn't working. What's wrong here?" I pulled it out and looked at it and laughed.

After a bit of fumbling I managed to find the Miata key and was on my way with a long lost Toyota pickup key.

06/24/08...Well, I'm pretty laid back and don't utter too many bad words; however there is a certain parking garage in Asheville that really hates my money. The coin op used on weekends refuses to take my single dollar bills and it takes two of them to get out of there. One Sunday several months ago I was there and as usual it was not taking my money and a growing line of cars behind me was getting very impatient. Finally, I put in a five. It took it pronto and ching, rattle, ching and out came three coins. I knew it! It screwed me out of $2.25. I threw the change into the ashtray and hauled out of there.

A couple of weeks ago I found three shiny new $1 gold coins in my ashtray. Who put these in here? Did one of my good little deeds get rewarded with this great little treasure? Is someone playing tricks on me? Then..it came to me. The parking garage didn't screw me after all!

03/17/08...Richard was a couple of years behind me in high school. We were and still are friends. I saw him the other day at the post office and he was obviously waiting for me. We exchanged pleasantries and started talking cars.

"Is that your black Saab Turbo in the front parking lot?" he asked.

"Yep," I answered, "Never thought I'd own another one, but I drove by the supermarket one day, having no need or thought of buying a car, and there it was with a For Sale sign on it so I whirled into the lot for a look: very nice body, front seat cushions ratty, cracked dash (all of em do) and an almost cheap price. Long story short, I offered $300 less and the owner took it."

Rick smiled and pointed to the post office side lot and a Saab hatchback like mine except it was silver, non turbo and an automatic.

In the late 60's I introduced Rick to Saab. My first one was a 1964 3-banger oil-burner "Bullnose" 96 series. His first one was a 1965 3-banger with oil injection and it was a series 95 (Wow, that is a rare wagon today!). My second Saab was also his second Saab--a 1970 series 99 which I bought new as the first titled owner but which was a year-old demonstrator with about 10,000 miles . I sold it to him a year or two later. We subsequently had one more Saab each.

Anyway, Rick had decided that the Chevy Suburban that he totally likes was too expensive to operate on a daily basis in his land appraisal business. He wanted an older economy car.

Interestingly, Rick's 1992 Saab was priced identically to my 1988 Turbo and he paid exactly the same for it as I paid for mine and this all happened around the same time.

Our lives run in cycles, I suppose.

03/16/08...About a week ago for no reason I was thinking about a promo that was stolen from me many years ago. It was a 54 Chevy 2-door sedan in Shadow Gray with a white stripe on the side. I was wondering about the real car it represented. I don't ever recall seeing one exactly like it. I do have a vague recall of one that was almost the same but with a matching white top (instead of the gray top on the promo).

Well, yesterday I was on the Interstate and saw a Shadow Gray 54 Chevy far ahead of me on a car trailer. A major intersection was coming up ahead. Man o man, don't take the off ramp. I am guessing that this Chevy will be a 210 as the gray color at that time was a more conservative color and more likely to be found on a lower priced model. I speed up. The guy doesn't take the off ramp. I finally catch up and run alongside. It is identical to my promo of long ago! What are the odds of thinking about something and within a few weeks having the question answered at random?

Homepage for Current Entries

Clarence's Car Journal   More Years Past

(2008)  (2009)