My First Car

Living in Southern California has always called for your own set of wheels and when I was in high school, drivers ed. was a requirement. One semester in the driving simulators and the car, and one semester of health. The coaches taught all of those classes, and the thing I remember most about health class is how to fold a map. You thought I was going to say something else, didn't you? Coach Pence evidently taught a mean map folding class because that's all I remember of the semester I spent with him at Loara High School. Coach Brown taught driving in a real car on a real street, and Coach Chandler taught the driving simulators, which consisted of putting the film on, turning off the lights, and taking a nap. So, all of that to say that by my 16th birthday, I was all set to drive on my own. And amazingly, my folks let me do just that as soon as I got home with my freshly minted license. 

I drove my parents cars for the first year or so, including the AMC Gremlin my dads business had as a delivery car. But it wasn't long before I decided I needed my own set of wheels. I never minded my folks cars, but having to share was a drag and when Gramma decided she needed a new car, I jumped at the chance to buy hers. It was a great one that I wish I had kept.

Gramma was always a Chevy gal. In fact, I remember she really liked Novas, but the one that I managed to get my hands on was a 1967 Chevelle with real potential! Gramma had 29 grandkids, and she usually had one or more of us with her no matter what she was doing. So the first thing she always did with a new car was to put plastic seat covers on them. You know, like those embossed things that were actually put on like another layer of upholstery? So, the fabric seats underneath were pristine. The first thing I did was rip the plastic off, of course! 

She had also clipped a pole or something in a parking lot, so there was a scrape down the side. No problem. I managed to get the money together to get that fixed, and have it painted at Earl Sheib.

The car went from the stock Granada Gold color to a nice shade of copper brown. Then I added mags and wide tires, and jacked that baby up with air shocks in the rear end. It was sweet!! It had a pretty big engine in it as well. A stock engine in the Chevelle was 350hp. Not that I could tell you how quick it got off the line or anything. Of course not............. But when there was a little water in the nice flat cement gutters, it put up a really good rooster tail! At least......... that's what I was told. Sure. 

I have to tell you that I was kind of a nerdy kid. Never really comfortable in my own skin or confident that I possessed any talent. I was never in the cool group and pretty much marched to my own drummer. I wore glasses, and when photo gray lenses came out I got myself a pair of aviator frames. I had no real sense of style, I just thought they looked passable as both sunglasses and regular glasses. Little did I know that the combination of the car and the glasses made me intimidating. A girl in a college class told me that. So, obviously, I wish I had kept the car.......... AND the glasses!!

Acts 27 KJV

16...... We let her drive...

17.....And so were driven...

20.....All hope that we would be saved was then taken away...

Let not the foot of pride come upon me,

And let not the hand of the wicked

drive me away.

Ps. 36:11

My other projects