The car has twin spotlights, fender skirts, big white walls and lots of shiny chrome. That is something you don't see very often nowdays. Plus the car most likely has the distinctive Ford motor sound that you could identify even if you didn't see it!. The cars we drive now don't have any personality, unique sound and I don't know what the kids of today will collect when they get older. It's their loss.
Do any of you remember the sound of dual hollywood mufflers or straight pipes? I do and miss the sweet gurgles of the pipes whether quiet or loud.
I remember watching my brother speed shift the transmission and thinking it looked easy. One day I snuck the car out and decided to speed shift it like my big brother did. The only problem was that I missed 2nd gear and popped it into reverse and hit the gas pedal. Ker bang, clunk, chatter, smoke and all those bad things happened in a flash. Oh boy! I did learn that 1st and reverse gears shared parts and took out both of them. No problem, I still had 2nd & 3rd gears and drove the car back home and parked it exactly where it had been parked before this adventure. I put the keys back where they were and never said a word about it.
Did I mention it was my "big brother's" car and I took it without asking? At the time he was 17, 6' 2", 240lbs, 50 some inch chest and had a short temper. I made sure I wasn't around when he got in the car and slammed it into reverse and tried to back out of the parking spot. Ker ban, clunk, chatter, etc and the car stopped. He had some choice words to yell out, slammed the door and walked off. We had to repair the transmission and once again I kept my mouth shut. I hope he doesn't read this blog or I will be in trouble.
One night in particular was quite exciting. The rear passenger door wouldn't stay shut sometimes and I pulled up to a stop sign on Gillespie main street, made a hard right turn and floored the gas pedal. The rear door flew open with my friend Nick holding on for dear life and screaming to stop. One little problem though. The gas pedals in those days had rods attached to the pedal. I had punched the gas pedal so hard that the rod slipped off and was stuck under the floor and I couldn't let up on the gas. I went zooming down main street about 65mph before I could get the rod unstuck. All this time Nick was screaming like a little girl for me to stop. I think that was the last time he rode with me in a car.
What a trip down memory lane!
We drove down to Costco in Frederick, MD today around 3pm. The traffic heading west on I-70 was bumper to bumper for miles and the closer we got to Frederick, the slower it was going. Labor Day weekend Fridays are always a mess out this way. Campers, cars with rooftop carriers and everything thrown in together. Once we finished our shopping we took US 40 West and avoided all the traffic. It is also a very pretty drive going up and down the hills with all the trees and greenery.
We did stop at Famous Dave's BBQ restaurant in Frederick so Gerry could get her BBQ fix. We were surprised when we looked at the menu and saw a small glass of draft beer was $5.69 each. The meals had gone up quite a bit also compared to last year when we went there. What in the world is going on with the prices there? We paid $5.25 for a pitcher of beer at the Ott House restaurant just a couple weeks ago. Granted it was on special, but even the regular price isn't that much more. Guess where we will be eating in the future.
Other than me having some blood drawn for a doctor appointment on the 8th of September, that was all the excitement for us today.
I hope you all had a nice day and I won't be writing about Pink Locker Rooms again.
I have never been a car person - as long as, whatever it was, ran - that's all I cared about. However, I do agree with you 100% that cars today no longer have any personality. I always used to be able to tell the difference between a Ford or Chevy but not anymore. Even Jim, who is such a car fanatic, has trouble telling what cars are today and really doesn't care anymore. Give him the old cars and he's a happy happy man. I know what you mean about prices. We took the kids to dinner at a Mexican restaurant the other night. For the four of us the bill was almost $80 dollars. For Mexican food. And that was no appetizer or dessert. Thank goodness we had some gift certificates.
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