I know. You thought it was going to be a person, didn’t you? Since it's coming up on the month for lovers and all…but my secret love is different.
I love cars. All kinds of cars. I think I could be a car salesman if I were a guy. I’m not sure what all the technical jargon means, and don’t really even care that much. I just know what I like.
My first car was a 1962 Chevy Impala that I had to share with my sister, who was divorced and had moved back home with her two kids. I had my first wreck in that car. I was coming out of the parking lot at one of our high school football games and turned the corner too sharply, hitting the end of a 3’ tall rail fence. I scratched the back passenger side door all the way back to the wheel well.
My next car was a 67 Impala. Now, the wreck I had in this one was not my fault, and it was so freakish that I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it happening to anyone else. I was on my way to college one morning, and a West Virginia State Road Dept. truck was merging onto the interstate. His back wheel axle broke and half of it, with the tire still attached, crossed three lanes of traffic and stuck into my front tire. I loved that car because it was all mine—but after that, the frame was wrecked.
When I met my husband, he’d just bought a hot little car—a German made engine for Mercury graced the “Capri”. It was a 1974 ½ “special edition” car. I learned to drive a stick shift on it, and that car is still my all time favorite car we ever owned.
I think we’ve had about every type of car, truck or SUV out there. Favorite SUV? My Isuzu Rodeo, hands down. I’d still be driving it if the transmission hadn’t quit. Favorite truck? The Ford Explorer Sportrack. Beautiful, great to drive, but about as “un-functional” as a truck could be. My brother-in-law, the wisecracking lawyer, told my husband it had a “vanity bed” in it. We still laugh at that—it was true—there was nothing you could haul in that thing.
I have to admit, when it’s time to go look for a new car, I don’t dread it at all. I know what I want, and I know what the payment has to be to make it work. My husband tells his buddies that they should take me car shopping with them. I’m a tough nut to crack. Here's what I negotiated for the last time we went--a Chevy Cruze. I love it--it's got a killer Pioneer stereo system in it, and what's more, it never costs more than about $25 to fill it up. Yes, I loved my Silverado we had just before this, but...the gas was almost more than the mortgage payment.
My secret guilty pleasure? I LOVE watching Velocity TV. Wheeler Dealer, Pimp My Ride, Orange County Customs, Mecum auto auctions…yep. I get mesmerized, and I’ll watch those shows for hours. I look at the clock and feel like I’ve been sucked into a vortex somehow, of these never-ending car shows. I have to force myself to get up and go to the grocery store.
Anyone else out there like me? What’s your favorite car you’ve ever owned? Any memorable “car tales” you want to share?
Cheryl,
ReplyDeleteTR3 Triumph! Baby Blue. Purchased in Berlin in 1969. Shipped it back to USA, years later.
Charlie
'56 Porsche Speedster. Fantastic car. Fast and fun, the ideal car for cruising the beaches. And for impromptu street racing. The best car ever.
ReplyDeleteCheryl,
ReplyDeleteNice post. It's these little nuggets of background about an author that makes things interesting.
My favorite car when I was young was a 1974 AMC Javelin. The older ones were prettier but this one made me feel like a TV detective… I still love good old American muscle cars but I do admit to being a bit of a European sports car buff.
I was gassing up my BMW motorcycle in Colorado last fall when a guy in a beautiful new BMW M6 convertible pulled up at the pump across from me. He kept eyeing my bike and waiting for me to say something nice about his car. I finally said: "Is that a BMW too?"
He grinned and patted his baby on the fender.
"Wow," I said. "I didn't know BMW made cars too."
Charlie, my sister and her husband had one of those, but it was dark blue. When baby #1 came along, they had to trade it in. I think it broke everyone in the family's heart. That was such a cooooool car!
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Frank, I bet that was a great car. What color was it? I mean, when you weren't driving by in a blur...LOL
ReplyDeleteCheryl
Marc, what a great story! I love that! I bet he didn't know WHAT to say to that, did he?
ReplyDeleteI love throwing in a post like this from time to time--just off the wall and fun. I love to hear what other people drove, and what they liked about their cars, etc. You're right, it helps us to all know a bit about each other and get acquainted better. I always love your stories.
Cheryl
What a fantastic post, Okie! And who says women can't be car nuts, too? :-D
ReplyDeleteMy favorite car always will be my first: a mint-green 1967 Mercury Cougar XR-7 with a 390 engine and a Holley four-barrel carburetor. The engine was wedged into the frame so tightly it had to be jacked out of the car to replace the spark plugs! :-D
I loved that hot little car. The notoriously quirky hidden headlights worked until the day someone T-boned my poor baby (their fault, not mine) and totaled it. I was inconsolable (though thankfully not seriously hurt). :-(
After that, I had a Datsun SPL311 Fairlady (which I sold after a heater hose inside the firewall -- design flaw -- burst and scalded both of my legs [I was seriously hurt that time]) and an MG Midget. I was kinda into sexy roadsters there for a spell, I guess. :-D
Kathleen, you have had some neat cars! I had a Thunderbird that had the reverse-opening doors. SOOOOO neat. But I was driving it home from Dallas one day and it began to smoke. Then it started coming into the car. I pulled over and didn't dare raise the hood. There was a town --quite notorious for being nothing but beer joints--right down the highway, and this was before cell phones. I was only about 20 miles from home, and at 18 didn't know much about ANYTHING. I just walked down to one of those beer joints and asked if someone could help me! LOL A guy on a motorcycle gave me a ride home, and my sister (I was living with her) was SO mad at me! LOL Yeah. I truly saw nothing wrong with it. Car burned up--some kind of electrical fire. No more T-Bird.
ReplyDeleteThe scalding water HAD to have hurt like heck!
Cheryl
My sister and I shared my mom's old 500 Fiat, back when Fiats were not that great. Slowly, but surely, my sister took that car out in one mishap after another until there was nothing left but fenders and a steering wheel. My dad made us learn stick shift before he would let us get a driver's license and we had to change a tire, change out spark plugs and perform an oil change, too.
ReplyDeleteThe first car I ever owned all on my own was a 1963 Valiant. It was a great little car, but I ran it into the ground. It was still running when I sold it. By then I was married and we bought a '65 maroon and black Mustang. Later I got a Volkswagon bug. It was second hand and practically falling apart on the road, but I loved that thing.
I've had my Subaru Forester (Bubba) since 2002 and he's still running like a gem. I'm sticking with him until I can't get parts or he gets smooshed on the road.
I like Gas Monkeys and Fast and Loud. I got into them because of my nephew who is a car show addict.
I enjoyed this blog, Cheryl. Maybe guys think the ladies don't care about cars--and they would be wrong, at least about some of us.
I loved my 91 Grand Am. Drove it to death and was sad to give it up. But these days, I'm loving my Jeep Compass. It's great on snow!
ReplyDeleteBest car I've ever owned was my '65 Impala 2 door hardtop I bought for 600 bucks back in 1972. 283 V8, 2 speed automatic Powerglide transmission. Couldn't kill that car. In 1973, hitched up my horse trailer to it, put my bicycle on the roof of the car, loaded all my worldly possessions in one side of the horse trailer and Sam, my first horse, in the other and used that car to haul everything to San Diego... and then back a few months later when the job ended. It was still going strong at over 150,000 miles when I sold it and bought a Chevy pickup. Still have one of those today, my '99 S10 with 218,000 miles on the odometer and counting. Chevy's are the only thing I'll ever own, car-wise
ReplyDeleteWe both love cars too! Secretly sisters, I think. My first ride was a '73 Malibu. Along the way, I've driven a "77 Triumph TR7, a trusty old Blazer and "Miss Scarlett," my post-divorce '66 red Mustang. I drive an SUV now but I have a sweet little "71 MGB-GT fastback (British racing green, of course) sitting in my dad's shed waiting to be restored.
ReplyDeleteThis was just too fun. On the memories this post brought back. Doris
ReplyDeleteSarah, that was sooo neat your dad taught you how to do all that to your car! I still don't know how to change a tire! Thank God for my AAA membership!LOL Lots of good memories. Thanks for coming over and sharing yours. My sister had a little Fiat that she ran into the garage door. What was it with those cars? LOL
ReplyDeleteCheryl
Loraine, I love those little Compasses! So cute and look like they'd climb a tree if need be.
ReplyDeleteThanks for popping over here today!
Cheryl
Jim, those Impalas were great cars, weren't they? I sure hated losing mine. So dependable and when you shut the door it sounded so solid. My son had a Malibu for a while, and you talk about dependable. He drove the wheels off of that car!
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Micki, I mainly drive my Equinox now, and Gary drives the Cruze, because I like being higher off the ground. There's a big height difference in those two. Sounds like you have had more than your share of sports cars--those are so fun to drive. I have always lusted after a Mustang. LOL
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Doris, so glad to see you here! What was your favorite car? You didn't say!
ReplyDeleteCheryl
Great post about your car "history," Cheryl. I've owned a lot of favorite cars through the years. tough to pick just one! Among my favorites: 1967 green MGC and 2003 red 350z. Both fast and fun.
ReplyDeleteTom, those both sound like they were great rides. It's fun to look back on the good and the bad in our car history. I forgot to mention the year we bought a Chevrolet Monza. So cute, baby blue, and a lemon from the word go. We bought it new and traded it in as quickly as possible. I loved that car--the looks, the way it handled, etc. We lived in WV at the time, and boy, it was wonderful over those curvy mountain roads. But it had a LOT of problems.
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Cheryl, believe it or not a 1952 Chevy! Doris
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