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Old 04-10-2018, 07:06 AM   #24
wingski
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Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Cave Junction, Oregon
Posts: 432
Default Re: tell a Model A related story

When I first started driving, my model A’s were not real weather-proof. You didn’t want to hit a big pot-hole or you’d blow a tire, and if that pot-hole was full of water, you got wet. I got so used to drafts that now I feel uncomfortable unless there is a fan blowing overhead. And the rattles, whenever I rode in a modern car back then, it seemed so quiet. My god, you could even have a conversation without raising your voice.

Those days are long gone now, but whenever I drive any of my newer vehicles I’m still amazed at how dry and warm I am when it’s really raining out there. I make a comment to my wife about lucky we are to be so comfortable, and she looks at me like I’m nuts. When I comment about how well the wipers work compared to my old cars, she just shakes her head. I guess you had to experience the drafts, wet floorboards, shitty visibility, and rattles to be able to appreciate how far cars have come.

Her first car was a brand new 1964 and 1/2 Mustang convertible, and she lived just outside Detroit. I’ve always wondered what the serial number was on that thing before her older brother wrecked it. It might have been one of the first 100 Mustang convertibles ever made.

My first car was a 1931 Ford coupe for $25. Hey, it was only 27 years old at the time, and I thought that car was the neatest car in the world. Only my older friends had cars, and all my friends that were my age couldn’t believe that I had my own car. They didn’t know that I was too young to legally own it. The title was in my folk’s name, and I really didn’t own squat, but every penny that bought and went into that car had come from me and me alone.

I can remember the other boys my age coming over to watch me work on it. I taught them a lot about what wrench was for what. I remember the girls I had grown up with coming over to just watch Mike work on his car.

Those were very different times, and they made me who I am today. I feel so fortunate to have had parents that realized that a greasy, grimy 13 year old was better than one out getting in trouble.

Mike
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