I can't say I learned to drive in one, but we had a Dodge with a push-button transmission once, and I did my share of pretending. I must have been close to 13 because I remember getting "car crazy" around the same time the hormones started kicking in. It was hard to imagine racing while pushing buttons -- little did I know the same technology would characterize Formula One in 2010 -- but it was all we had, so I made do.
Later on, the Dodge was replaced briefly by a mid-sized Ford Torino Squire wagon with imitation wood siding. We hadn't had it long when the transmission died in a snow storm late one evening. It was a case of man and machine against nature, and as you might expect, nature won. I recall seeing my father in the driver's seat, staring into the rapidly falling and piling snow as if to say, "We'll meet again, you and I." He didn't get out, draw his six gun and shoot the Torino as a movie cowboy might when his horse stepped in a prairie dog hole and broke its leg, but I'm sure he was sorely tempted.
That night was memorable, not only for my father's self-control, but for the fact that it heralded the end of his romance with Ford. A few days later, he purchased a Pontiac Grand Safari wagon, and remained faithfully wedded to General Motors the rest of his life. Admittedly, he had a brief and torrid love affair with a 1966 Ford Mustang, but we don't talk about that in polite company.
So, back to my friend's wagon. In a few more years, it will be a classic and if it holds together long enough, maybe a collector's piece. As it stands now, you wouldn't want to run into it with a Honda, unless you're intent on totaling your car while his rolls away without a scratch. It actually has a steel hood stout enough for the two of us to sit on without denting. Yup, he's driving Miss History, perhaps more mine than his, but that's okay; he loves her and that's all that counts.
(GNU Free Documentation image via Wikipedia)
I still have fond memories of Christine, the 1979 Chrysler Town and country with the fake wood sides. She got her name when the steering went haywire.
ReplyDeleteDad ran the Pontiac until it had well over 100,000 miles on it without an engine overhaul. Pretty amazing car.
ReplyDeleteUnder 30 and wouldn't have ridden in a wagon?! Nonsense! My parents had station wagons when I was growing up, got rid of the last one RIGHT before I got my drivers license. The Caprice Classic was my favorite, I loved the backwards facing rear seat and the door that could not only swing open but also pull down like a truck tail gate. Perfect for a family of 5 and dogs. The thing was a tank.
ReplyDeleteI stand corrected -- maybe I should amend it to read, "under 20?" And I remember the Caprice Classic -- that rear seat was cool. We never had one, but the dual-door closure was a real convenience on the Pontiac. With a 400 cubic inch motor and four-barrel carburetor, it practically flew down the highway.
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