Thursday, May 12, 2011

My First Car(s)

When I was 17 yrs old, I got my license. I didn't by any means have the money to buy my own car, so my parents let me drive one of theirs.




It was a 1963 Mercury Monterey.


It was fast also! However, I didn't drive it fast. I was a good girl. :o)


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As I would drive it, I had older folks give me a thumbs up as I wanted to shrink down into my seat. I mean come on....the thing was a boat!

Okay, sure...it was cool cause the very back window rolled down......but it was a boat!

But then it was deamed unsafe to drive, so that stopped and I was back on foot again.

~~~

Then I moved out with my fiance (husband now) and he would always drive. When he could, he would even drive me to work.

Then my brother told me about a co-worker who was selling a 1970 Chevy Nova.

It was white and had rust spots around the window. Really not in that great of shape but I thought it was good enought to get around in.

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Then I took it to the mall that was a couple towns over, probably about 25 miles away and the thing overheated on me. It happened twice!

Then one day while our apartments were repaving the parking lot, we had to park our vehicles in the designated areas or out on the street. There was no parking and I saw people parking in the red zones, so I did too. Big Mistake! It got towed. It was actually a blessing in disguise though, cause the thing hadn't really ran good for 4 months by that time so it was an easy way to get rid of the thing.

I was back on foot again.

~~~

Then my parent's neighbor said he would sell me his 1979 Datsun 280ZX. Right on...a little sporty looking car!!! I was so excited!!

It was in pretty good shape too. Only thing was, the engine had been rebuilt and whoever did it, didn't do a good job. It was a 6 cylinder but drove like a 4 cylinder.

Who cares! I loved my little 280ZX

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It was a burnt red and had the luvers on the back window.


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I loved my little car!


Then one day while my fiance took a trip to Michigan, my friend and I decided to hit the road to Big Sur for a camping trip. We were taking my car so I took it down for new tires.

Side note: The hood on the Datsun 280ZX opens from the window side out. Not from the front of the car and up.

So, the hindges to the hood of my car were broken so you had to align it just right, the front tucked under and then slam it down to shut it by the window. I told the guys at this Firestone this, incase they needed to lift the hood as I've seen before. Still doesn't make sense to me but whatever.

When I picked up my car, all looked good. I went on over to my friend's house to pick her up, finished loading up the car and we were all set.

We hit the freeway and not more than a quarter mile up the road the hood flew open from the front of the car up and was blocking my windshield. I couldn't see so my friend guided me to the side of the freeway.

Apparently the guys at Firstone neglected to tuck the front of the hood under the metal and then shut it by the window.

Later that day I had to go to the junkyard to pick up a new hood, a black one at least, cause the orginal was nearly folded in half. Talk about a scary moment.


I drove that car for a couple years until I got hit on the side and then everything just started to go at that point.

I bought a 1996 Mitsubishi Mirage and traded the 280ZX as "sight unseen" but as the dealership came to tow it away, I did not have a dry eye available. In fact, my friend thought my dog had died. That's how sad I was to see my "baby" go.

~~~

I've bought a few more cars since then and now own 3......a Mustang, a Mits. Diamante and a Pontiac G6. My favorite would be my Diamante and I'm dreading the day she goes "bye-bye" as I know those tears will be shed once again.

This has been apart of Mama Kat's Writing Assignment.




2 comments:

Sweet Tea said...

Loved seeing & hearing about your car history. Heaven only knows I have driven some Clunkers, and many of them w/o AC! Can't say that I've really had a "thang" for any of them. But it does make me thankful for the good, reliable, AC'd Honda Pilot that I drive now. . .Very scarey hearing about your "hood incident" - amazing that didn't cause an accident!

Nikki B. said...

dude...you shoulda kept that monterey! that's rad!!