MOTORIN’ MEMORIES

Do you remember your first car, the family car, learning how to drive, your first driving test, winning a car, first date in a car, attention getter, vacations, road attractions, cruising with your friends, your first new car, a car you wish you still had it today, a car handed down to you from your grandparents? and more. Let us know about them.

"SALLY" HER DREAM CAR

Dee became a collector car owner at 61-years-old; but, that does not mean that she is just now gaining an interest in cool cars. Owning a 1965 Mustang has been Dee’s dream, since she was a teenager. She has had her eye on the vehicle for forty-four years, to be exact. "When I bought my first car, I was living at home," explains Dee. "I come from a family where you got a job right out of high school. And, you didn’t just pay room and board; your whole check went into the family checking account. At that time, my dad didn’t drive, so when I bought my first car, it had to be the family car." Dee says that when she went shopping for the family car, she also had to keep in mind that four doors were necessary, as her mother had a medical condition that required it. "I would have rather have had the 1965 Mustang, but I ended up with a 1965 4-door Falcon," says Dee. "But, it still did have a 289 engine, and I could burn rubber in it! I really did need to have a family car and help the family. I never did get the Mustang… until 44 years later."

-Colorado

POETIC LICENSE

My first car was a $75 diamond in the rough. It was a 1952 Plymouth Cranbrook convertible that I bought in 1960 when I was 15 in Milwaukee, WI. I couldn’t drive until I was 16, so I had plenty of time to work on the car. I rebuilt the engine, lowered the car 4 inches and "shaved" and "decked" it. Sparing no expense, I had a local shop give it the deluxe $19.95 Royal Red paint job. The car proved to be temperamental and prone to breakdowns. My younger sister named it "Madeline" after the woman in Poe’s, The Fall of the House of Usher. It fit.

-North Carolina

RATTLING AROUND

My uncle built a car out of parts he found in 1922. He had it shining clean all the time because he was a barber and wore a nice white shirt back and forth to his shop. People on the curb would sing-song, "There goes Ray in his rattletrap."

-Arizona