Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Cars!

(If you want, you can blame this post on TOP GEAR & on 1 of my buddy Crabby's most recent posts -- his Aug 19 entry briefly Dscribing his 286,000-mile purple "Frankenstein" with the solar-powered rear speakers: In the daytime all his car-stereo's speakers work, at nite only the front speakers do. Ergo, the rear speakers MUST B solar-powered.... You can read more about this at www.rscrabb.blogspot.com/, or by using the Crabby's Top 10 Site link below....)
I've wanted 2 do a post about some of the off-the-wall cars I've owned 4 awhile now. But my 1st motorized method of transportation wasn't a car at all -- it was a green Honda 250 motorcycle that almost killed me early 1 cold morning in Feb 1977 when its throttle froze-up on my way 2 highschool. Accelerating from a stoplight at Fairview Ave & Cloverdale Rd. in Boise, suddenly the throttle locked up & I went from 0 to 60 in about 3.5 seconds. I think I screamed. I was sure I was headed 4 certain death, & the only question was whether I'd lay the bike down at 75 mph B4 I hit some1.
But luckily -- after scaring the crap outta myself -- I kept playing with the throttle, twisting it back&forth until the throttle-cable finally broke loose & my speed came back down. I pulled over long enuf 2 throw up, stop shaking, check the cable 2 make sure it wasn't all frozen, then kick-started the beast & headed on 2 wonderful prison-like Meridian High School. & I got zinged 4 Bing 10 mins late. The 1st funny piece I ever wrote 4 the school newspaper was an attempt 2 humorize this near-death Xperience....
My 1st REAL car was a blue-green '62 Buick Special with no brakes, which I bot from my cousin Jim 4 $50 & then drove 100 miles back home from Cascade, Idaho 2 Boise, being Xtra careful along the way not 2 back-end anybody. Made it all the way with no major panics, 2 -- until the very last stoplight B4 my house, where I sailed right thru the red light & somehow managed not 2 kill anybody.
My Dad & I got the brakes fixed, but the Buick didn't last long. A coupla months later the clutch went out while my highschool sweetheart & I were in the car tootling around town. The Buick hadda 1/2way Dcent radio -- I remember hearing Orleans' "Still the One" coming outta the speakers shortly B4 I pressed down on the clutch & the pedal went all the way 2 the floor.... We hadta walk 2 the nearest phone 2 beg my Dad 2 come get us, but I thot my HSS took it pretty well -- she'd had her own adventures with an ugly white '62 Ford Fairlane that she could never keep on the road when it snowed....
After the Buick was retired, my Dad & I went car shopping & somehow stumbled over a maroon '62 Chevy Impala SS. It was GORGEOUS: chrome wheels, bucket seats, rockin' stereo, nice rumbly vrooom-vrooom noise when I stepped on the gas pedal -- all MUCH TOO GOOD 4 me at age 18.
I used 2 love washing the car off 2 make it look even better. Driving it was another issue. My Dad knew I was a little shaky with it; he asked me straight-out: "That car scare you a little, boy?" Damn straight it did. I knew I was outta my league.
Here's the weird part: I don't CLEARLY remember what happened 2 it. Possibly the gear-linkage went out (it was an automatic), possibly the transmission fell out -- I just can't remember. But I knew it was TOO GOOD 4 me, a theme which continues thruout this list....
Next car was a definite step down: A beige '62 Dodge Dart, utterly dull & boring in almost every possible way. But I learned an important life lesson while driving it: 1 morning I was running late 4 work at the car-parts store & left the house in a rush, not even 1/2 awake, made a half-hearted attempt 2 brush the frost off the windows, & jumped out in2 traffic. At the 1st stopsign I pulled out in front of some1 (cos I couldn't SEE), & when I realized I was gonna get hit I slammed the Dodge into reverse -- & backed right in2 some1 else. She screamed. She thot I was on drugz. It was ugly. Ever since then (& it was 33 years ago) I will NOT get Bhind the wheel without at LEAST 1 cup of coffee in me, & preferably a WHOLE POT....
Next car was a big step up: Baby-blue '72 Chevy Nova, jacked-up in the back, with foot-wide back tires & a ROCKIN' 8-track tape-player(!), on which I usedta play Caravan & Boston & Journey & the Rollers & others at top volume & would screech along in 2-part harmony with on my way 2 work at the record store each day.
This car was also MUCH TOO GOOD & it made a lotta nice rumbly noise. Felt pretty cool in it, 4 perhaps the only time ever. But this 1 also didn't last long: The transmission fell out after 2 months -- & I swear I was BABYING it!
We cannibalized the tape-player & speakers 4 the next car, a red '66 Chevy Impala stationwagon, big enough in the back 2 sleep in. It was HUGE, like a boat 2 drive. & it wallowed around just like a boat, 2.... It also didn't last long -- bad U-joints? Transmission went out? Can't remember. It was over 30 years ago....
If I thot the Chevy was huge.... Next vehicle was a black&white 1960 International Travelall, huge enuf 2 LIVE in -- & at 1 point I thot I might have 2. It was a huge freakin' beast, but it moved. Until the battery started dying every coupla days. & it was impossible 2 push-start cos it weighed 50,000 pounds. You coulda pushed it off of a cliff & it wouldn't've started....
Somewhere in there was a cute white '72 Toyota Corolla that kept boiling over, usually late at nite when I was MILES from home.... & if that wasn't the problem, then it would die every time I turned a corner....
Then there was a white '66 Mercury Comet with doors that wouldn't open. It Bcame my bedroom when I couldn't get enuf privacy in my parents' house. I also got married while still driving it, so when we went off 2 R honeymoon, me & the bride both hadta climb in thru the windows while the attendees laffed their asses off....
The 1st car the X & I bot was an '82 Chevy Citation, the newest car I've ever owned (we bot it in '83). The Citation held up pretty well & got us thru sevral epic trips across the American West (including 1 endless 2-week vacation/moving trip from Texas thru New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho & Wyoming), but was totaled-out when we got back-ended in downtown Cheyenne, Wyo., in the summer of '88. My 6-month-old son was in the backseat at the time....
I'm sure there were others I can't even remember now. The next car I remember was a brown '82 Toyota stationwagon that probly woulda gone 4 300,000 miles if it hadn't been totaled when a teen who'd been fighting with his parents smashed in2 the side of it while trying 2 get away from home in his parents' car. The proceeds from the insurance bot me a replacement car & got my X her 1st Internet-hookup computer....
The replacement was a gray '82 Toyota Cressida, a supposed "luxury" car that at least got me from Wyoming 2 Washington, & probly woulda gone a lot farther -- but my X totaled it on her 1st nite in Wash when she hit a deer. 6 years in Wyoming, a state filled with deer & antelope, a state she logged 1,000's of driving miles in, & she never got CLOSE 2 hitting any wildlife....
Later on I had a maroon '87 Nissan hatchback (with a nice stereo) in which the driver's-side window shattered 4 no known reason, & which suddenly started dying every time I made a right-hand turn....
Awhile back I hadda black '86 Ford Ranger pickup which held-up pretty well 4 about 6 years, but which finally died last Halloween when the clutch went out. It had been a long time in going: months B4 I'd lost reverse, & there wasn't much left of 2nd gear. The heater had stopped working LONG B4. When it finally died it at least had the grace 2 break down in my driveway....
Currently I'm driving a blue '87 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, which is -- let's face it -- like driving a Chevy Monte Carlo, only with a Cadillac badge stuck on it. I've learned in 9 mo's of ownership that the Cadillac badge just means that everything on the car is gonna B more Xpensive & more difficult 2 fix.
It was a little beat-up 2 begin with, but it might look better if some1 hadn't backed in2 it a coupla months ago while I was working -- AND THEN LEFT THE SCENE WITHOUT TELLING ME. I heard the BASH! when they hit the car, I'm sure they did too -- I just wonder how big the dent in their car was?
...So what R U driving these days, & what R yer favorite motorized beasts from yer past...?

1 comment:

drewzepmeister said...

My first post divorce car was a white 1986 Mercury Sable sedan. Nice car till I totaled it in traffic accident after a year of owning it. Yeah, it was my fault.

Shortly after that, I acquired a beat up sky blue 1987 Dodge Aries K station wagon from my brother in law. He had used that car for a courtesy car at his garage. No matter, it was low in mileage and ran like a champ! Never had too many issues with it, even installed a killer stereo into it. I LOVED that car! I had this car for about two/three years it got stolen! Yep, stolen in the middle of January. Someone hot wired it. The really shitty part of it was I had to pay $150 to get it out of impound after the police found it six days later. The car was rendered useless because the steering column was busted.

While the police was searching for my station wagon, I needed a needed a car to get back and forth to work. I paid $1500 for a 1991 Honda Accord. What a fucking lemon that was! I called the dealer with a few choice words and the response I got was take as it is-it was my problem not theirs. I was outraged! The car kept killing on me and sometimes it wouldn't even start! Mechanic after mechanic couldn't figure out what the problem was. When my brother in law heard about this, he offered to trade cars. God bless him!

For the trade I got a dark blue 1991 Chevy Caprice. Nice car-it served me well. More of that story and the new car I have now (a 2007 Chery HHR LT)with pics, can be found on my blog here.