My coworker Karen came roaring into work today in this little number -- a cute little vintage convertible MG. It took me back to the 1960s when we lived in Carmel, California, and my Dad had a baby-blue MGB (Mom drove a Volkswagen bus with the words "Sue's Zoo" written on the side).I remember Dad picking me up from girl scouts one day, and taking me for a ride, at about 90 miles an hour, on the spectacular, curvy roads of Carmel Valley and out along the coast. I was absolutely terrified and absolutely enthralled -- to be flying like the wind, to be spending special one-on-one time with my father (a delicious rarity), and to be 10 years old in 1968 with the top down and the Mamas and the Papas on the radio -- we didn't need to be California Dreamin' -- we were living it!
That was a great car -- a little impractical for a family of 6 -- but iy was every 1960s businessman's dream car, I'm sure. Anybody else have memories of great cars growing up?
Wow, cool story. It's awesome how one car can bring back some wonderful memories for you. Nice photo as well!
ReplyDeleteWe were living in Pittsburgh and my father was Chevrolet's area zone manager for dealerships. As such he often saw the new cars before they 'came out' in the fall... which they used to do back then, kind of like a Grand Opening. The year that the Corvair was introduced [around 1959] it was a huge secret, with its engine in the back. So we had the excitement of having it stored in our garage until presentation day in the area. As I recall, we picked it up in Michigan and drove it back to Pittsburgh at night and the funny thing was that the car we brought back had a plexiglas hood over the rear engine so that when displayed everyone could see it. Not only that, but it was lit from within. So there we were, driving this super-secret car home to HIDE it until the proper moment, and we were going thru toll booth with a lit up engine in the back. My father was actually quite amusing about it, as he tried to explain it to toll booth operators. One of the fun memories.
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