Reminiscing on cars…….

I can still remember vividly the first car I bought. I was sixteen. I worked all summer in my father’s drugstore and saved every penny to the dismay of my then girlfriend. I bought a 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle for $600 dollars from my great aunt. It was built and rolled off the assembly line the same year and month I was born. She had gotten too old to drive and the car had sat under a shed for years with a canvas covering over it.

I spent months polishing and repairing the vehicle. Many tireless hours were put into making it look “cool” for a teenager. I had it repainted corvette emerald green. I added really classy chrome rims and a nice stereo. I also completely rebuilt the 350 cubic inch engine and the engine bay glistened with chrome and fresh paint. I also lowered it 3 inches as was the fad in those days by adding new springs. Man, I was proud of that car. What was once a granny car was transformed into a sweet ride.

I still, to this day, miss that car. I occasionally see it around town and it looks worse for wear. I wonder how long it will keep running. The body is dented and the paint is peeling. Ominous clouds of blue smoke belch from the exhaust pipe. Not surprising since the car is thirty two years old now and the same age as I.

I am really enjoying my new car and walk outside many times to just look at it. I spent hours cleaning it up to like new condition. It is such a beautiful, green, glistening thing. Getting that car was akin to going from a Ford festiva to a Mercedes S-class. The only problem is the gas situation. It holds up to 15 gallons of gas. It costs me $30 dollars to fill it up. I only give myself $10 dollars a week for gas. That fills it up to just below the half way point on the fuel gauge so no joy rides for me. (I have taken a few but felt guilty about it.) To feel like that same teenager again with my 72 chevelle is a good feeling.

I have decided to donate my old car to a friend who helps take care of my Great Aunt in Waverly, Alabama. They are very poor and his son will soon turn sixteen. They have no way of purchasing him a vehicle. My old truck is going to be a fixer upper but this kid is very mechanically inclined and should turn a lump of coal into a diamond. I cannot wait to see the look on his face when I had him the key. I am sure he will love the four wheel drive and the convertible top. One good deed deserves another.