Friday, January 23, 2009

History of Cars

I was coming home Tuesday night when I spotted an old car on the side of the road. It's amazing how memories can suddenly come flooding back at the sight of an old El Camino. My Dad drove one for years when I was young. I remember being dropped off to first grade in that pea-green truck (car/truck?) with grey bond-o on the sides.

My parents had some other winners, too. I loved the big green-and-white Plymouth van with blue and black astro turf in the back. The 'PLY' was missing from the back, so we lovingly referred to it as the 'Mouth' van. I thought this was one great vehicle. It was a bit disappointing to me that the sink in the back never worked, though.

Probably my fondest memory of a car my parents had when I was a child was the little maroon Pinto.
This was the coolest car. I could lay in the back under the enormous window and listen to Air Supply while my Mom drove. Ahh. Good times.

There were more ugly cars in between, but the one that is freshest was the banana-yellow Plymouth Reliant with poopy-brown vinyl interior that had a slipping transmission. This was the car I drove in my early high school years. I thought my parents were scheming to ruin my social life by buying this car, but it was the banana, or the bus. Everyone knows that the bus is the kiss of death, so I drove the 'K.

Now, I drive the largest vehicle on the street...perhaps in the whole neighborhood. But I'm really kindof glad for all the embarrassing cars in my history. You could say that I was well primed for this one.

And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way.



8 comments:

Unknown said...

You make that shuttle look gooood! :)

Liz said...

What do you drive now? After all that build up, I've gotta know! :)

And you know....the puke green mile-long Buick my parents drove when I was a kid almost trumps your non-working sink-in-the-back van! LOL!

Anonymous said...

So funny! I used to ride around in my grandpa's El Camino when I was a girl...then, after they taught me to drive when I was 10 (shhh-don't tell my kids), I used to drive the El Camino around their farm for hours.

-Dana

Angie said...

That's funny. The El Camino. What is it? Is it a car? Is it a truck? I had a neighbor with one growing up and I can still see it in my mind's eye.

I can remember the license plate of my parent's Buick Regal while growing up. JBG-549. Funny...

L.G. Reeves said...

I remember most of those cars. The el camino. The reliant k car. yall used to pick me up for church in that sweet ride.

Candice said...

We always wondered why you wore hats and dark glasses a lot, Larry. Liz, we have a 12-passenger van now.

Anonymous said...

I always thought you really didn't mind driving the banana, and I admired your lack of materialism...not sure how to remember high school now.
Elaine

Anne said...

Haha. We had "The Colonel Mustard" as my sister so loving referred to it. It was my great aunt's that my parents bought when my sister needed a car in high school. It might have been a Reliant too, I can't remember. All I know is that you had to pump the gas pedal a few times before you started it otherwise the engine wouldn't turn over. Oh and the horn was on the end of the winshield wiper stick instead of the middle of the steering wheel!