(first posted 6/16/2013. Larry Squires died a few years back) This post was inspired by Jim Cavanaugh’s moving Father’s Day homage to his father’s 1969 Ford LTD. The original idea was to list all the cars my father ever owned, but then you’ve heard the stories about most of my father’s cars already. The last time we visited Stephanie’s dad, I got him to list all the cars he’d ever owned. It’s long, eclectic, but has a pattern, all of which of course fits his personality. So I’m going to list his, and then feel free to list your Dad’s, or father in law, if you like.
Larry Squires’ first car was his Dad’s ’36 Ford coupe. Whether it was a three window or five window, I don’t know. And exactly how he came to have it, I’m not sure. But he drove it from his home in Salt Lake City to San Francisco, shortly before the war (if I remember correctly) where he now lives once again, after many moves (and cars).
Larry served in the Merchant Marine during the war, and the years shortly after the war when he went to college and before he met Stephanie’s mom are a bit of a mystery. We know he was married briefly then, and apparently the only car during this period was a rather tired ’39 Ford coupe. Stephanie’s mom Dolores remembers the tail end of its ownership.
The memories of the MG are much more vivid, as Dolores learned to drive in it, and Stephanie remembers riding in it as a very young child. Larry went into Maritime Insurance after he graduated, and bought the MG around 1952 or 1953. No one can confirm it, but I’m assuming it was a TF because they all remember it having wire wheels. He had a good paying job, and like so many Americans at the time (especially on the coasts), he got sucked up in the rampant sports car fever. That it wasn’t exactly a practical daily driver for a family with a child gives you some insight into Larry’s personality, as well as explains many of the cars he bought. Thinking about the wife and kids was apparently low on the list of priorities, if there were any.
Well, with a second kid on the way, the MG just wasn’t going to do. So it was replaced by a Simca Aronde (CC here), not all that unusual a car for San Francisco during the great import boom of the fifties. I couldn’t get much detail from Larry, but presumably, it was troublesome, at least after a while, because it gave way to something much less exotic.
A ’57 Ford Fairlane replaced the Simca, around 1960 or so, and we know it was red and white. And by the time it was replaced, there were three kids. And this was during the time Larry ditched his well-paying insurance gig in LA and went back to graduate school, for a Masters in English Lit. Today, someone would be considered certifiable for doing that. But that was a different time.
A used VW Beetle of uncertain vintage replaced the Ford in about 1963, right about when Larry’s fourth child was born. A rather curious and impractical choice, considering the circumstances. Stephanie has very vivid memories of a camping trip up the north coast of California in cold fog and several bouts of car sickness from siblings play a key role. Fun times, undoubtedly.
Larry got his English Lit degree in the summer of 1964, and immediately received numerous job offers(!) from various universities and colleges. He accepted an offer from Humboldt State, in Arcata, on the north coast of California. He treated himself to a late-fifties Mercedes 220S, with beautiful leather interior, genuine wood, and a sunroof. It was one of only two Mercedes in all of Humboldt County then. This car will go down in the Squires family memory as the only car Larry ever bought that they actually liked. And in typical fashion, it was soon replaced.
Not surprisingly, the elderly Mercedes turned out to be a money pit, and a student of Larry’s really wanted it. So it was replaced by “The Shitty Little Chevy”; a used two door stripper Chevy II that Larry described as ” a tin can lined in Saran Wrap”.
Around this time, Larry’s dad died, and he inherited his green Falcon (similar to this one I shot in next-town-over Eureka, CA). Briefly, the Squires were a two-car car, but the Falcon was soon sold off in favor of the Shitty Little Chevy.
Larry got involved with TM (Transcendental Meditation) quite early on, and went to India to be trained as a teacher by Maharishi in 1968. A few years later, the whole family packed up and traveled with Maharishi in Europe for the better part of a year, in Italy and Spain. When they returned in the summer of 1972, Larry picked up something in a familiar vein, a used Plymouth Duster. By this time, the older kids were teens, and quite used to being stuffed into the back of compact two-doors. At least the Duster was fast; presumably it had the 318 V8.
During this time, Larry was having an extended (and public) affair with one of his students, and that finally resulted in a breakup, the very summer the Duster appeared. So the Duster went off with Larry and his new wife, and Dolores and the kids went back to Spain with Maharishi.
A VW Rabbit became Larry’s next set of wheels.
In 1978, Stephanie and I took our first trip together up to Humboldt County and Arcata, and we saw Larry driving a brown Datsun 310 just like this, as she was showing me her old neighborhood. They weren’t yet back on speaking terms, so I only got my first glimpse of my father in law as he drove by us going the other way. But that long freeze soon thawed.
A Datsun pickup apparently fits in here somehow.
Then came the legendary 1980 or so Jetta Mk 1 Turbo Diesel. This was perhaps the first year or so that the turbo-diesel was available, and what a difference it made. I drove this one a visit to them, and was very impressed; one could feel a genuine little push in the backside when the boost came on. And it still got 40-45 mpg. Unlike almost all of Larry’s many cars, this one had a very long life, because he gave it to Stephanie’s youngest sister when she was in school, and then her brother got it, and kept it running for many years on. It may have been pushing twenty years when it finally fell out of the family. Tough little car.
A Nissan Sentra fits in the time-line here, but it might have been his wife’s.
A B3 Passat arrived with him one day at our house when he came to visit. He let me take it for a ride, and I was suitably impressed; both by its roominess, its handling and performance, thanks to its VR6.
A Saturn graced his driveway the next time we went to visit him. Cheap interior.
According to them, a Mazda 626 fits in here somewhere too, but I don’t remember seeing it. If you’re getting the impression that Larry changed cars often, it’s true. And they changed houses just as often; literally just about every year. And these were all bought and sold. Stephanie once counted 19 houses in 20 years that they lived in growing up. And that kept going until pretty recently. The real estate agents undoubtedly loved him…
Then came the Subaru era; something like four of them between the two of them (I haven’t been including his wife’s cars). I know Larry had at least two Legacy wagons, and she had one as well as an Impreza wagon. Or something like that. This largely overlapped the years they moved to SLC, after Larry retired.
And here’s where it ends, and a fitting finale it is: a gen1 Prius (bought used). And his wife bought a Civic Hybrid (still has it, I assume). Is there a pattern in all these? Californians are often stereotyped as trend-setters, or is it trend-followers? From the original sports car wave, to import sedans, VW, Mercedes, Japanese cars, VW diesel, Saturn, Subaru….Now it was time to save the planet. And a smattering of cheap American cars that were expedient in their time.
Larry is no longer driving, so the Prius was the end of the road auto-wise.
That is quite the collection, and about 180 degrees from my midwestern experience. My parents dabbled in the great import boom in 1959-60 with a Ford Anglia and a Karmann Ghia. But then it was back to American iron almost exclusively.
My father’s earliest cars were a 30-something Dodge which he tried to rebuild the engine in, without success. He told of how he and a friend hauled it into a no-parking zone and let the police tow it away. He also had a 47 Mercury convertible which he was extremely proud of, and that his mother sold without his knowledge while he was away at school.
He also spent some time in California in the early 50s, owning a bullet-nosed Studebaker Starlight Coupe. He was in an accident in that car, and I recall as a kid being mesmerized by photos of the three wrecked cars. He was the lucky one, who got sideswiped by an oncoming car before it did a head-on impact into the car following him.
A very nice piece. It is true that we car-people can certainly pick up a sense of a person from the cars he or she has owned.
Wow, Paul, your father-in-law certainly had eclectic taste! Hi dad’s tastes ran a lot less adventuresome. His first car was a 1957 Ford Fairlane. Dad says it had some sort of police pursuit engine in it and was mighty fast. Then there was a 63 Galaxie, and then a 66 Galaxie 500, a 71 Impala sport coupe, a 74 Matador Oleg Cassini, a 78 Chevy van, an 83 Renault Alliance, an 86 Escort, a 91 Escort, a 98 I think Windstar, an 06 Focus (that’s mine now) and now a 12 Focus.
My father’s cars? I have to think about this, but there is certainly a commonality amongst them.
A ’46 Ford sedan received from his grandfather. He later sold it for $10, and I have the exterior sunvisor that was on it.
A ’56 Mercury, purchased well used. It ran well once you finally got it started.
A ’62 Falcon he purchased new.
A ’65 Ford Fairlane sedan also purchased new. I’m still baffled why at that time a 22 year old would purchase a four-door, but that was his call. Who knows, I might have done the same.
In 1969, another new Fairlane. He also test drove a ’69 Charger and picked the Ford.
For 1970, an F-100 with the 240 straight six and a three speed – the first vehicle I ever drove.
After I came along, a 1973 Ford Torino.
After my sister came along, a ’78 Plymouth Volare two-door in the same shade of brown metallic as the Torino.
An ’81 Dodge Omni
An ’83 Plymouth Reliant
An ’84 F-150
He went large in ’85 with an ’85 Crown Vic.
Another commuter car with an ’88 Ford Tempo.
The CV went away for a new Dodge Dynasty in ’91.
The Tempo went away for a Mercury Cougar in 1995.
The ’84 F-150 was replaced by a Dodge Ram 1500 in ’98 (he still owns it).
There was also a ’97 Crown Vic, an ’00 Grand Marquis, and now an ’07 Ford 500.
Not much variety, but he replaces them often as he accumulates a bunch of miles on them.
A terrific piece. I once asked my father-in-law what all he had owned and he simply doesn’t remember them all, although he had much more variety than did my father.
My father’s cars:
1932(?) Pontiac. I remember my dad told me it had artillery wheels. Not certain what color it was. May have been maroon. I think it may have been purchased used.
1939 Oldsmobile 4-door. I think he said it was painted black. Purchased new.
1949 Oldsmobile 88 with the OHV Rocket V8. 4-door, Hydramatic transmission. Also painted black. Purchased new. I remember this one as a small child.
1960 Corvair 700 4-door. Painted medium metallic green. Purchased new. This was in 1959 and was the first Corvair delivered by the dealer it was purchased from. It kept throwing it’s fan belt and my parents had enough and traded it in 1962.
1962 Buick Skylark. 2-door hardtop. 215 C.I. aluminum V8 with Rochester 4-barrel carb. 10.25:1 compression ratio and Dual Path Turbine Transmission. Tan metallic with white painted faux convertible hard top. This was kept until 1972.
1972 Pinto Squire Wagon purchased by my mom. It was privately sold after 1 year and was almost immediately totaled in an Amtrak Autotrain accident.
My dad had only 5 cars in 40 years and usually kept his cars for 10 years. He was a GM only man and had cars from the Golden Age of GM. The two outstanding cars which I wish we could have kept were the ’49 Olds and the ’62 Buick. For a conservative gentleman he chose 3 innovative cars. He was much more discerning about his cars than me. I have had over 20 cars and none were of the caliber of his choices. I think he did rather well being born in the end of the 19th century and not driving until his thirties. I miss my dad and his cars that I knew.
My father’s cars?…He worked for General Motors so–suprise–they were all GM cars; I have vague memories of a two tone blue ’52 Chevrolet(I was only about 5 at the time), another two tone Chevy, a green and white ’54, a blue and white ’56(my folks apparently liked two-tone color combos); a yellow and white ”58 Chevy Biscane followed by a white ’60 Bel-Air and another white ’62 Impala. I remember around 1960 my dad bought a ’50 Pontiac 2dr; he had it a relatively short time-if I remember it had a six volt electrical system and he apparently could not couldn’t find a battery for it. This was followed by a ’55 Chevy .Bel-Air with the 265 c.i. v8 and then in 1965 he bought another ’57 Bel Air with the 283. I have rather fond memories of that car.
My fathers cars are also quite a diverse bunch ranging from Hemi Mopars to the most basic economy cars depending on the times and if he was taking care of us kids. Some in this list existed concurrently:
1957 Dodge Custom Royal (an early hemi engine car, I believe) – my Grandfather’s car that he drove.
1965 Plymouth Sport Fury with the 426 Hemi – also my grandfather’s car. My dad blew it up street racing and my grandfather traded it for a
1967 Chrysler Newport
1971 Chevy Monte Carlo SS 350 – dad’s first new car that he actually bought for himself – was stolen and replaced with,
1973 Chevy Monte Carlo 350 (he hated this car – heavy and no power).
1976 Volkswagen Beetle.
1979 Ford Mustang Turbo (mom’s car – horrid car – would not buy many other American cars because of this one)
1981 Subaru Wagon
1983 Subaru Sedan (mom’s car – last he would buy for her due to divorce)
1984 Pontiac 6000 Wagon
1982 Honda Civic Sedan (my future car)
1984 Honda Prelude (got wrecked in a few months)
1982 Honda Civic Sedan (bought another one for himself after giving me one)
1987 Nissan Maxima
1991 Nissan Maxima
1995 Ford Thunderbird (my car – he paid for half of it)
2000 Nissan Sentra (my car – was just in his name – I paid for it)
2001 Nissan Sentra (we bought two Sentras on the same day – mine was a leftover, his wasn’t – this was his last new car that he would buy before he died in 2007, still drove this car until he died)
2004 Toyota Camry (bought as used car for his wife when he remarried).
It is not possible that he had a 65 Sport Fury with a Hemi. There were no Hemi C-bodies. Also the 426 “street” Hemi wasn’t available until 1966 model year. You must mean a 426 wedge.
Interesting.
I have pictures of the car – will need to see if I have one with the hood up. I know that he told me that it was not a street hemi, but a full race Hemi with dual quads. My Grandfather ordered it with a 383 but My dad changed the order and paid the difference to get it. Was not purchased off the lot.
Dad was prone to exaggeration sometimes, but I have heard the account from others about this car as well.
Could it have been a 426 wedge with dual quads, and he was spinning a tale to us for all these years?
I do know that it was ordered with whatever top race-ready engine that was available that year.
My father was a chemical engineer and as is often the case with engineers I think, his attitude toward cars was to consider them necessary travel appliances although he was always interested in new automotive technology. When buying a new car he would always opt for the lowest cost with no options, at least until his two children were raised.
He graduated from college in 1937, got an engineering job with a process equipment company and immediately purchased a new 1937 Ford V-8 2 door sedan. As far as I know it probably had a heater but no radio because he didn’t think a radio was necessary in a car. The Ford lasted until sometime in 1942 or 43 when something under the hood caught fire on a short road trip. I don’t know how they got the car home as they were about 60 miles from home and it was before my time. He told me that after that fire he could never get the car running properly though local experts worked on it. So he disposed of it in some manner. At that time cars were in short supply due to the war so from that time till the end of World War II our family did not have a car. My dad had a bicycle that he rode to work, probably a distance of about 2 miles from the house. Family trips were by train or bus. I came along in 1944 so I do remember going to my grandparents by train at least once. Possibly all the trips we made went into one memory for me. Sometime around 1946 dad purchased a beat up black 1937 Dodge four door from a fellow who worked at his plant. That car turned out to be less than desirable so I do not think we kept it long.
On a trip to my mother’s parents house near Oil City, PA one weekend in about 1947, dad found a very nice 41 Dodge 4 door sedan in a light cream color. I remember that it was a very sharp looking car. That was the family driver until 1949 when it was traded on a new 1949 Kaiser Special in light green. The Kaiser was quite plush and huge inside but no radio. As described in a comment yesterday, the Kaiser took the family on a road trip from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles and back during June of 1949.
The Kaiser stayed in the family for seven years until being traded for a new 1956 Ford Ranch Wagon, 3 speed V-8 with dual exhausts. Once again no radio but I loved the look of the Ranch Wagon, the sound of the V-8 and the durable ranch vinyl seats. This was the car I drove in my high school years so I came to appreciate the power of that Ford V-8. During the late fifties we also had a 52 Nash Rambler 2 door hardtop for a couple of years as a second car. He hated the idea of a second car but my Mom had gotten a job and needed a car for work. We bought the Rambler from a guy trying to sell it to Big Joe’s Used Car Lot one Saturday morning for $225. Big Joe did not want it as the trunk and rear fenders were eaten up with rust. We took it home and did a truly horrible fiberglass job on it. It looked awful but the surgery was a success. I painted the whole car grey with a brush using Dupont Duco enamel and it looked pretty good, no brush marks or at least very few. Did not have to paint the roof as the original black paint was good. The bottom of the car was originally yellow.
When I came home for Christmas my freshman year of college dad sent me down to the local Chevy dealer to see about trading the Ford for a new 1963 Corvair Monza. I arranged to trade the Ford for a new factory ordered Monza with metallic beige paint and red interior, four speed transmission of course. We lived on a hilltop 2 miles above the town so dad thought the Corvair would be perfect for winter hill climbing and it was. Actually, the 7 year old Ford did just fine as well with all its power but the Corvair with four speeds took the hill winter or summer in stride.
Dad liked the Corvair but he had a few engine glitches with it so he surprised me by trading it for a new 65 Monza four door hardtop, all gold inside and out. By the way, both these Corvairs had radios. We had begun to crack the options list. I was not around much during the years he had the 65 but it seemed to hold up quite well. While I was over in Vietnam in 1968 he had an accident with my 66 VW and traded it in for a new 68 Dodge Coronet four door sedan in medium blue with black vinyl top and a whole list of options including cruise control. He kept the 65 Monza for my Mom to drive. When I returned from Vietnam I found that the new Dodge was in my name and he asked if I wanted it. I said no thanks and we put it in his name. I bought a demo 68 Pontiac Catalina 2 door hardtop instead.
In 1974 dad traded his 68 Coronet for a new Plymouth Fury again in blue with a black vinyl top and lots of nice options. That was the last car he ever drove because by 1976 he was well into early senile dementia at the age of 64. He had to retire a year early and from then on my mother was in charge of the cars.
In 1978 my folks had moved back to their hometown where my mom had family to help out and the house she bought had a garage at the back of the lot that was totally perpendicular to the driveway so there was no way she could get the Fury into the garage. I helped her pick out a new 78 Rambler Concord with every option in the book including CB radio (which nobody ever used). The car was on the showroom floor and was a very pretty grey with half burgundy vinyl roof and matching burgundy interior. We liked it so we got it. It turned out to be a great car that she enjoyed driving for about 6 years.
In 1984 she bought her first Toyota Corolla followed by another new one in 1989 and yet another new Corolla in 1996 when she was 79 years old. At that point I bought the 89 for my daughter who was in her senior year of college. Mom had to give up driving when she moved to assisted living around 2002 and we sold the 96 Corolla to her next door neighbor for their college age daughter. My father was able to live at home for 5 years with his dementia and then spent 15 years in nursing home care until he passed away in 1996.
Really cool set of cars. If I had lived through that same time frame, instead of the one I am living in, I’d like to think I probably would have owned very similar vehicles… except even more of them, and even less sensible choices, most likely. The Simca is obviously the coolest, but that Jetta made my ears perk up, too. Not because of the red paint, lowered suspension and shaved (yuck! nice otherwise) rear door handles – but because I didn’t know the A1 cars came with a turbodiesel engine, apparently the same one from the A2 Jetta. I looked it up and they produced 68HP, which was totally respectable for a car of that size and era… and get about the same mileage as the later ECOjet powered cars. Early Jettas seem to be extremely rare in general, and I’m sure diesel fanatics have caused the prices of this particular model to skyrocket, but that’s a car I’d love to own if I ever came across one.
My dad wasn’t/isn’t really a big car guy, but he went through cars at a similar clip until recently. I can’t really remember all of the ones he’s mentioned owning before I was born… ’58 Chevy, ’60 Falcon, a ’78-’80 Monte Carlo and two Pintos stick out in my mind – but I know there were way more than that. A couple of bikes too (Honda 350 is the only one I recall). He loved the Pintos more than anything else – one was a very early model and one was from the last year or two of production. Both were highly optioned “Rally Package” (as he says), 4-speed cars and I think they were both dark green. I’ve seen pictures, they did look cool. One day I’ll have to rack his brain and dig through old photo albums.
The first car I can remember him having (though I may have already been born when he still had the Monte or second Pinto, not sure) was a Ford Fairmont two-door sedan. Then came a K-car Chrysler New Yorker, a Chevy Corsica, a Lumina Euro 3.1 sedan, ’93 Astro – which I learned to drive in, a ’95 Grand Marquis which I later ended up driving, a ’94 Sedan deVille which lasted all of a few months, and an ’01 Intrepid 3.2 was the last car he solely owned. Since then, him and my mom have just shared a car – first an ’00 Passat (their first ever non-American car!) and currently a ’98 Contour.
Wow – what a collection! My dad has had a much more conservative group of cars, but its still an interesting collection.
His 1st car was a 1968 charger, 383/auto. It was a light blue with a black vinyl top. He really liked this car, and he constantly tells me stories of his youth in the early 70s cruising in it and getting into shenanigans. The car he traded it for was his least favorite car he’s ever had, which was…
A 1976 mustang II, a car that he kept for not even a year – the shortest he’s ever kept a car. He remembers it not having enough power to climb certain hills. He doesn’t talk about it too much, so I can’t say too much more.
His next car was a 1978 Pontiac Grand Prix, one he remembers fondly. It was a pleasing departure from the mustang II, with its classy yet sporting looks. It was a two tone red/silver with a red interior, and the T tops. He gave it to his brother, who gave it to his friend, who neglected the maintainance, resulting in some kind of engine failure that sent the poor car to the junkyard in the early 90s. Sad end for a cool car.
After the GP was a celebrity, can’t remember details about it. It was a company car, and was good anonymous transportation. When the company decided it was going to sell it, my dad bought it and kept it until his next car.
This was a 1991 sable. This is the first car he owned that I have memories of, as I was born in 1994. I was brought home in this car, and remember riding around in it. Some of my first memories are of this car.
After this car was a 1999 Concorde. This was a cool car, and I have a ton of memories with this car, from pretending to drive it in the driveway to throwing up in the backseat. I was very upset when he traded it in.
He traded it for his current ride, a 2006 300. I remember he loved the look of this car when it debuted in 04, and he knew he was going to replace the Concorde with this. This was the car I learned to drive in, and before I bought my brougham, I drove it all the time. He still loves this car, and plans on trading it for a new 300 at some undetermined point in the future.
Well, there’s my fathers cars, a mildly interesting group cars, but ones I’ll always hold dear, since my dad owned them.
in honor of my dad!
Morris Minor he met my mom in
1960 Chevy Biscayne
1963 or 1964 Chevy Nova
1969 Fiat 124 wagon
1969 Opel Kadett Caravan(wagon)
1968 Ford LTD wagon
1965 Ford Ranchero-oldest brother dreamed of putting mags and flames on.
1971 VW Super Beetle which he traded the ranchero.
1968 Yellow Rambler American I always remember that manual choke.
1978 Dodge Aspen Wagon he really wanted a 78 Ford Fairmont wagon but the dealer bait switched him on price, even though he talked for years of the slant 6 in the dodge.
Around that time was a white 65 Plymouth Valiant that could be heard for miles.
1988 Ford Tempo….he was proud of that one god knows why.
1996 Saturn SL…… Even prouder of it American made he would say. My kids called it the potato…or la patata in Spanish.
2002 Mitsubishi Galant
2005 Honda Civic his last car god bless him, love you!
My dad has always bought decent used cars, then driven most until they were all used-up. His first two cars were 1956 Dodges, the second one was a Custom Royal.
Next was a 62 Chrysler Saratoga with a 383. He later bought a 67 Plymouth Sport Fury convertible, metallic dark green with white interior, but kept the 62 for awhile as a weekend dragrace car. The Fury was also a 383 4-bbl.
Then he acquired my Grandad’s like-new 66 Chrysler Windsor sedan in 1977, when I was 2 years old. That was his daily driver until 1986, but he still owns it. It is metallic maroon with matching interior. Another 383 car but 270hp 2-bbl.
The Chrysler was briefly replaced with a 1981 Ford Fairmont, a hand-me-down from my grandma. I loved the color combination: black over silver with a red pinstripe dividing them, and a red interior. It was a stop-gap until he found what he really wanted at the time… well, almost.
He wanted a Suburban with the 6.2L diesel, but settled for a 1984 GMC van with the diesel. He finally did replace that with a 1988 Suburban in 1998, and gave the van to me. The Suburban was his DD until about 2011. He still has it, trying to sell for parts.
Dad wanted to replace the Suburban with a pickup with the Duramax diesel. I advised him to steer clear of 1st gen Duramax, but buy one before they added the new emissions controls, which meant he wanted a 2006 model specifically. That’s what he bought, and so far he’s been pretty happy with it.
My dad had a nice range of cars
His first was a mustard yellow 1972 Ford Torino 4 door with a green top. According to him it was no slouch with the 351.
He then got his grandads 1972 Dodge Demon with a 318 which he said drove as fast as it rusted. He had the quarters replaced twice on it. He had that until 1995 at which time it only had 70,000 miles on it. But it was blowing black smoke. He sold it for $150 bucks to some guy in the next town.
For a brief few months, he owned a hot rod 1956 Chevy Bel Air! Apparently it had a built 327 and would shake the road around it. He sold it when he got a job at a university and it was too big to fit in the parking spots. I wish hed kept that one.
While he had the demon, he also owned a 1986 Pontiac Trans Am which he said was the best handling car he ever drove, he liked to scare my mom by driving it as fast as he could on exit ramps on the freeway. It held the road like it had hands.
He also had a 1985 Ford Bronco which he said was a POS that rusted like crazy, but went like stink off road.
After the bronco rusted away he bought a 1995 Honda which I have now haha.
Please forgive me, but do you have any idea of the company he worked for in maritime insurance in Los Angeles in the 1950s? My grandfather ran a firm called Swet and Crawford in LA and I think it may have been the largest maritime insurance broker in LA. Would be quite amazing if he worked for Papa!
I asked Stephanie, and to the best of her memory, it was one of the large well-known national companies; Farmer’s is what came to her, but she’s not 100% sure. I didn’t know these companies did marine insurance too.
Thank you so much for checking!
Ok, cars of my father, in order of purchase. Dad would have turned 16 in 1957 and he died in 2012. As my dad did all the car purchasing while my parents were married, I’ll include her cars during that time.
1953 Buick (don’t know much about this one, his brother sold it while he was away and he didn’t have a car for a while)
1959 Ford Ranch Wagon
1961 Chevy Corvair Monza coupe 4-speed
1963 Chevy Corvette Sting Ray Convertible 327/300 powerglide
1965 or 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 Convertible
1966 VW Squareback (mom)
1967 Chevy Impala
1969 Chevy Impala
1970 Buick Skylark Wagon (actually called a sportwagon, but without the long wheelbase or skylights) (Stovebolt Six and Rally wheels) (mom)
1972 Ford Torino
1974 Opel 1900 Sportswagon
1974 Chevy Vega Sportwagon
1974 Audi Fox
1975 Jeep Wagoneer (mom)
1975 Mercedes 300D
1977 Mercedes 230
1979 Mercedes 300TD wagon (mom)
1981 Mercedes 300TD Turbo wagon (mom)
1982 Mercedes 300D Turbo
1984 BMW 533i 5-speed
1984 Saab 900 Turbo 4 door
1986 Mercedes 260E
1987 Mercedes 190E 2.3 5-speed
1983 Mercedes 380SL
1989 Honda Accord
1991 Mercedes 190E 2.6
1993 BMW 525i Automatic
1989 Mercedes 560SL
1995 BMW 530i Automatic (V-8)
1991 Mercedes 500SL
1997 Mercedes E420
1995 GMC Jimmy
1994 Mercedes 500SL
1999 Audi A8
1989 Mercedes 560SL (second one)
1999 Mercedes SLK230 Sport 5-speed
1999 Ford Explorer
2002 Saab 9-5 Wagon 3.0t
2003 Mercedes C320 Wagon
2003 Mercedes SLK320
2005 Acura RL
2009 Acura TSX
2010 Honda CRV
2011 Mercedes C300
Some fascinating machinery! My Dad’s cars have been more on the conservative side–he’s just not a “car guy”. Practical has always ruled the day, with the majority of the cars purchased used.
Dad’s first car was a ’62 Chevy sedan, purchased just after he got his license in ’68. His best friend also had a ’62 Chevy, but a convertible, which he said he was rather jealous of. When he was in college, the ’62 was replaced by a ’66 Impala fastback coupe. He doesn’t have any pictures but remembers it as being attractive, an opinion I certainly share. During high school and college his part-time job was as a delivery driver for a pharmacy, so he also got a lot of seat time in the pharmacy’s cars, which were Volkswagen Beetles and Buses. He learned to drive a stick in one of those Beetles, almost running over the town’s mayor in the process…
Upon graduation from college, Dad bought his first new car, a dark blue 1972 Nova coupe with the 307. That would also prove to be the only brand new car he ever purchased. About five years later it was already developing rust problems, so he sold it to his sister and purchased a mid 70’s Dodge Dart sedan, tan with a brown vinyl roof and the slant six. That’s the only one of their cars that he doesn’t remember the year of, but he did like it. Despite the affection that’s the only Mopar product he (or Mom) ever had. Dad was still driving the Dart when I was born in 1980 – it may well have been the car I came home from the hospital in.
By ’83 the Dart was starting to develop problems, so it was replaced with a 1979 Ford Fairmont 2-door sedan. White with tan rockers, a black vinyl interior, and the 4-cylinder. That’s the first of his cars I remember well, and one of my primary memories is how scorchingly hot those vinyl seats got! Even with A/C it was always unpleasant going anywhere in that car in the summer. Mom also hated to drive that car because it was so underpowered with the I4. The Fairmont stuck around until ’88, when it was replaced by an ’83 Escort hatchback. That one was a stripper Escort L, white with red interior, no A/C, no cruise, no wheel covers, 4-speed manual trans. Factory radio had been replaced by the time we got it, but was almost certainly AM only. Very basic car, but he kept it for six years and it required very little maintenance, reaching almost 120,000 miles.
The Escort was felled by a broken timing chain in 1994 and, in a complete about-face, the strippo Escort was replaced by a German luxury sedan, a 1986 Audi 5000 S. That one is partially my fautl, as I was the one who noticed it on the lot and asked the salesman about it. Should have kept my mouth shut…it *was* a very cool car, and priced reasonably as Audi resale values were still low at the time. However, it was also a gigantic money pit, suffering from near-constant electrical gremlins in the 4 years he owned it, as well as needing a head gasket replacement at considerable expense. That was the first of his cars I had the chance to drive, and when it was working, it was rewarding even though it was not a turbo or Quattro model.
Once the Audi succumbed to its myriad problems in 1998 and was sold for parts, Dad ended up with a 1984 Honda Accord LX sedan, Greek white with a blue cloth interior and a 4-speed manual. We had bought that for me to take to college and Dad was going to drive my old Malibu in the meantime, but I had a change of heart and decided to keep driving the Malibu so Dad got the Accord. And he was quite happy with it–he liked smaller cars and manual transmissions, it got good mileage, and it was a great little car to drive. That one was around until 2002, when a carburetor replacement plus some general maintenance was deemed uneconomical. It was replaced with another Accord, a charcoal gray 1991 LX sedan, that I had driven for a year but grown tired of. So, again, Dad got the Accord, and drove it for the next 7 years until it was totaled in a relatively minor accident in 2009. That one’s still the all-time high mileage champion of the family, reaching almost 190,000 and still running after the accident.
At that point, as Mom hadn’t worked since the late 90’s, they decided they could make do with only one car, so he and Mom shared her ’97 Crown Vic for the next few years. The Vic was replaced in 2012 by a 2010 Mercury Grand Marquis LS, also shared, until early in 2014 when they decided to add a second vehicle once again. Mom got the Grand Marquis back and Dad bought a 2011 Toyota Corolla. It doesn’t get much more appliance-like than that car–white over tan, minimal options other than Automatic and A/C–but he seems to like it. Plus it only had 8000 miles on it when purchased. A practically new 3 year-old car. Dad just retired from work a couple of months ago, so I presume he’ll be driving the Corolla for many years to come.
I have forgotten (if I ever knew) my father’s cars before I was born. So this is a shorter list than most:
1953 Olds Rocket 88
1956 Mercury Montclair 2-door
1960 Ford Falcon 4-door
1964 Ford Falcon station wagon
I don’t remember the Olds, was only told about it—and the Falcons were pretty much just utilitarian objects. The car I loved was the Mercury. This isn’t it, but it’s exactly like it:
My father was definitely not a car guy, and he passed long ago, so this list might not be complete. Compared to many other fathers described in this article my father tended to stick with a car for a long time.
As far as I can tell my father didn’t own a car before being in the army during WWII. He graduated from high school in 1941 and my grandparents owned a car so he would have had access to this vehicle on some basis. I have no idea what this car would have been other than knowing it was a V8 Ford of some vintage.
Cars were in short supply after WWII and my father ended up with a late thirties Chevrolet that was just about on its last legs. Apparently it had a disturbing habit of jumping out of gear while driving which was “fixed” by wedging a stick between the dash and the gear lever. The Chevy was replaced not long before I was born (late 1951) with a 1947 Plymouth. I have seen pictures of this car (light green four door) but have no real memories of it.
The first car I can actually remember was a 1950 Ford two door, ironically it was about the same shade of green as the Plymouth. As a six year old I used to “drive” the Ford in the driveway and the garage; I learned to my surprise that the starter button was live at all times and managed to make the car leap forward into the back wall of the garage. No real damage to the car or the wall and if my parents knew about this they never mentioned it to me.
The Ford only lasted a year or so before being traded for a 1954 Plymouth, a Belvedere four door sedan. I don’t know for sure but I suspect my mother got tired of manually shifting and put her foot down; in any case the Plymouth had the two speed automatic. My parents drove the Plymouth for seven years before it was replaced by a 1960 Ford. This was the car that I wrecked shortly after getting my driver’s license; I purchased a 1961 Ford and we had the engine and transmission from the ’60 swapped in. By this time my father was driving a 1962 Pontiac station wagon that had led a hard life; the body sort of ran downhill from the left rear to the right front. Of course we got several years of service from the wagon before my sister was involved in a wreck.
By this time my dad had moved on to a 1964 Chevelle that ended up remaining in the family for nearly 20 years. The Chevelle survived being rolled over into a muddy field by my brother and ended up being the extra car, the one you borrowed when your car was out of service for some reason. I remember driving it for a week or so in the early eighties; one of my sisters drove it for a couple of years after that. It finally got so rusty that it was no longer safe to be on the road.
The next vehicle I can remember my father owning was a mid-seventies GMC pickup truck. It had the 250 CID six and three on the tree; it was slow but relentless. I used it to move some furniture from my uncle’s house in Ohio for a family member in Kentucky; it was about eight hours each way and the beast had neither A/C nor a radio, good times.
The final vehicle my dad purchased, and the only one he ever bought new, was a 1985 Dodge pickup he acquired shortly before he retired. Naturally he still owned the truck when he died in 2000, although he had pretty much given up on driving a couple of years before that due to health issues.
A happy father’s day to all.
Quite an assortment. My dad didn’t own nearly that many, and he didn’t have the fascination with them that I have. I’m not sure what he drove when he first came to Canada in 1953 – something about an old Chevy, but he’s no longer around to confirm. I’ve mentioned his cars in other posts, but here they are again:
-A ‘58 VW Bug
-A ‘61 VW Bug
-A ‘67 Beaumont (2 door sedan, straight 6, Powerglide and a non-functional radio that he never fixed)
-A ‘73 Impala Custom coupe (350 2-barrel, automatic, working AM radio, dark blue with a white vinyl top). There’s an identical Impala in one scene of “Live And Let Die” – I always look for it whenever I watch it. We kept it on the road until 1980 and scrapped it in 1982. It still ran, but lots of rust.
-A ‘78 Cutlass 4-door bought new (V6, automatic). The infamous “Gutless”. The assembly quality and paint job was sloppy, but mechanically it just kept on running. Not bad for 3 kids learning to drive on it, We kept until 1990.
-A ‘77 Century 4-door (350, automatic) bought used in 1980. A much better car than the Gutless in every way. Sold off in 1986.
-A ‘90 Nissan Axxess (5 speed stick). Lots of room, well built, fun to drive. He had few problems with it (normal maintenance plus a new clutch) and sold it to our neighbour after 12 years.
-A late ‘90’s Camry. He really liked it, but unfortunately he put it into a ditch up on Manitoulin Island. The car was written off; he was fine.
-The last one – an early 2000’s Saturn, bought used at a dealer on Manitoulin to replace the Camry. He liked it, and it got him around until they took his license in late 2009. He was getting very forgetful, and a diagnosis of senile dementia put an end to his driving at 84. The Saturn sat in my parents’ driveway until my dad died in 2010. He used to sit in it and smoke his pipes since my mom wouldn’t let him smoke in the house. When my sister and her husband cleaned it up to sell it they found at least a dozen pipes. Needless to say, it got a good clean-out!
My Dad’s first car was a ’40 Ford sedan missing the left fender. He told me that he taught himself to drive with that car. Back in the Day the seller would show the buyer how to start the car and shift gears and My Dad lurched off to figure it out on his own. This was his second car, it has both front fenders! That’s him on the right. I’ve got a few photos of him during the early 1950s. He told me that he had a ’41 Cadillac at some point before his bath tub Nash. I’ve got a photo of him with that Nash in a shoebox somewhere. I’ve got great memories of prowling the low buck car lots with him back in the 1960s. He could fix cars when needed but cars weren’t a passion thing for him, mostly just transportation. He did allow himself one indulgence, a five year old 1963 powder Blue Lincoln Continental. I got to drive this car in high school, what a great car.
Like Father, Like Son, X2. Here’s a nice Father’s Day image of my Son and myself with a Hot Rod project. My Son currently has a Yamaha XJ900 and a Porsche Boxster. The acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Living in the Netherlands, the list of cars my father owned is maybe a little different.
1962 Citroen Ami 4. I still remember this car vaguely. We went to the beach in this car, a three hours drive from our home. In am the little one in the front of the picture.
1965 Glas 1204. An embarrassing 5 kilometers from home the horn started working and did not stop until we got home. I remember my father being very angry with that! He also remembered the car as being “very fast”.
1966 Opel Rekord B station wagon. A two door station wagon. During a holiday we had an accident in it which severely dented the side from the B post back to the rear. A local garage hammered it out so we could drive on. In fact we finished our two weeks holidays with it. I also remember my father was able to start the car without the key in the lock.
1972 Peugeot 404 Familiale. A great roomy car (three rows) for our 5-children family. I learned to drive in this car, it had a column gear change. The car had to be scrapped because of severe rusting – the back door could not be opened in the end because the roof hinges were rusted loose.
1977 Triumph 2500TC. We children all loved this car with its big six cylinder engine and overdrive gearbox and steel sliding sun roof. I got my drivers license and borrowed the car as much as I could. Rust also killed this car.
1979 Mitsubishi Galant 1600. It felt tinny. The first of many boring Japanese cars. Luckily I had not much experience with them because I had left home by then.
1987 Toyota Carina II. I remember it having electric windows, wow!
1992 Honda Concerto. This got replaced in the end because the drivers window always fell in the door when slammed a bit too hard.
1997 Toyota Corolla 2 door liftback. A mistake, followed by a similar aged Corolla but 5 door.
2003 Mitsubishi Space Star. A local trimmer replaced the cloth seats by leather which my father preferred because the dog could sit on the rear bench.
2008 Renault Vel Satis. Finally a car he really was proud of, big, roomy, fast and a little strange. His last car, he died three years ago aged 89.
Certainly a really .eclectic collection of cars. I believe my parents married around 1930 or so; I didn’t come around until 1946-I assume the long delay was economic hard times and WW II. My father worked for General Motors so naturally all the cars were GM-I vaguely remember a ’52 Chevy {two tone blue), then a ’54, ’56, ’58, ’60 and ’62 Chevrolets-they all had 6 cylinder engines and powerglide. The ’62 was a 2-dr; my mother absoluted riding in the back seat so in 1965 they bought a four door Impala ( 6 and powerglide as well). About 1963 or so my dad bought a second car-a ’55 Bel-Air and then in 1965 a ’57 Bel-Air. I learned to drive on both of them; I have really fond memories of the ’57. The last car he bought was a 1973 Pontiac Ventura-he died in 1975.
My Dad had a 1950 Plymouth, a 1955 Dodge Crusader, and a 1966 Valiant. All low trim level cars, at the least expensive end of the spectrum.
When I see one of these three today at a car show, they get an extra heaping dose of my attention. And camera time.
My Father in law’s cars are mostly beyond my wife’s memory, it seems the cars were only used for him to drive to work, everyone else walked everywhere. From what I can discern from her family photos, there is an early to mid 1960s full size Ford, and an early 1970s Comet or Maverick. The only car of his that I saw in person was in 1982 – a 1976 Plymouth Fury. It had been neglected for months by the time I encountered it as he had been suffering from cancer and stopped going out. I fired up the 318 and I felt lucky to make it around the block as it snorted and wheezed all the way. The body was shot. The brakes were not much better. The engine likely required an overhaul. It resembled a 15year old car in its condition. One of my sisters in law had it scrapped before any of us brothers in law could have a say in the matter.
My wife does however have great memories of driving around in her aunt’s cars as a kid – great large red full size convertibles, flashy and shiny like no tomorrow. I once pointed out a 1959 Chevy convertible and she proclaimed that to be one of Aunt B’s cars.
Happy Father’s Day 2019!
Cars of my father, who died last year at the age of 90:
1953 Pontiac Chieftain Deluxe. Straight 8, Hydra-Matic.
1957 Plymouth Belvedere. 4 dr HT with power steering and brakes, but a POS.
1963 Olds 88 4 dr. HT. First car I drove. Huge and quite fast.
1969 Ford LTD. 390 and his first car with A/C. Trouble free for 130,000 miles.
1975 Ford LTD Landau. His first 2 door. Quite an ugly pig.
1982 Mercury Marquis Brougham. First with power windows. Quite plush.
1989 Lincoln Town Car Signature. Retirement gift to himself. Trouble free.
1989 Ford Taurus. Bought as a second car, as mom loved to drive the Lincoln.
2002 Lincoln Town Car Signature. Mom still driving this one today.
2006 Toyota Camry. V-6. Only foreign brand. Kept until he stopped driving in 2017.
All were purchased new, with the exception of the ‘57 Plymouth, which was an emergency purchase after the ‘53 Pontiac threw a rod on vacation.
The worst one was easily the ‘57 Plymouth, which fell apart by 1963. Was so bad he would never consider a Chrysler product again. All others were fairly reliable for their time. He was deeply impressed with the Camry, which never needed a non-maintenance repair in the 11 years he drove it.
There are a number of cars between my dad and two stepdads. Most cars were shared with my mom, each using the vehicle best suited for the day, or commute.
Dad: From his high school car to his last. His demons and alcoholism precluded him from driving for his last decade of life.
1961 Comet two door. He loved that car. I only saw pics of it.
195? Ford wagon. I’ve only seen one pic of the rear of it, parked at our apartment in Toronto, after he got out of the navy. Not only did he hate it, he couldn’t afford it; not as a young father of two toddlers. Very short-lived.
1965 Chevy Bel Air two door. The first car I remember. Bought from our landlord in Lackawanna, NY for $800 in 1970. Dad’s favorite car. Ran like a dream with the 283 V8. Finally failed inspection when the frame collapsed due to western NY winters. Ironically, the frame collapsed due to rust while on the lift for it’s annual safety inspection in 1973.
1971 Mercury Comet 4 door. Dad pined for his old Comet, so he got a new demonstrator model in 1972. A leftover ‘71 model. $2200. We were now a two car family. Dad always bitched about it, called it a lemon; yet they drove it up and down the east coast four times, nearly totaled it twice, he never changed the oil, and he sold it to a dirt lot used car lot with well over 100k miles on it in 1976. He got this car in the divorce. Upon selling it, he had no car for a couple of years.
1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass S 2 door. With the demise of the Bel Air, he needed a replacement. Bought for $700 in 1973. Mom took this car in the divorce the next year because it was paid for, and the “nice” car, the Comet, was not.
These last two cars migrated to Florida, where they both essentially died of rust-related issues within 2 to 3 years. Dad kinda got his act together, remarried and moved to Delaware in 1980.
1967 Chrysler New Yorker 4 door hardtop. The car dad picked me up in at the Philly airport in ‘81. He considered it the absolute best car one could buy for $600. And it was a beaut. But he let his new brother-in-law drive it. Pushed the front bumper in, and had to cut out 4 cores of he radiator. Worked pretty well for dad, but the car would overheat regularly when my 18 year old self drove it. I hated it, I never cared much for that era of Chryslers, even though I’ve heard people here on CC rave about them. But it did ride like a cream puff, the girls even told me that.
Dad’s new marriage was rocky, his wife was as bad an alcoholic as him. The car quickly became rather ratty under dad’s care. The Chrysler was lost to Wilmington impound for parking tickets. They had no car until they moved to Florida in 1984.
1976 Chevy Caprice 4 door sedan. I don’t know how he came about this one. It was pristine when he got it in 1985. Practically like new. And it still was when he sold it a year later. I think they needed money.
1974 Mercury Capri. Bought in 1986 for not much, by the looks of it. What a piece o’ crap. Strictly “A to B” transportation. When it ran. I never rode in it. Always broken down. Dads last car. His 2nd marriage disintegrated soon after and he spent the next dozen years on the streets homeless until cancer claimed him. He was finally freed of his demons.
Father’s Day this year marks the end of an era: Dad has decided to stop driving. He’s 92 and had been doing just fine until about a year and half ago, when the realization that his contemporaries are gone (Mom passed away 10+ years ago, and the last of his in-laws 2 years ago) and, while loves us kids, grandkids and great-grandkids, he’s just done. Anyway, you’d think, being a machinist, he’d be a real car-guy, but, while he did love cars, he wasn’t exactly a hobbyist. From 1962 on, he walked to work, launching his own in-house shop in the mid-80s, so driving was very occasional – grocery store, church, whatever other errands my non-driving Mom needed to go on. Being the son of an Italian immigrant, coming of age during the Depression, and serving in World War II, he naturally had the affinity for Cadillacs, and was able to realize that dream later in life. His cars, as I can recall from his recollections:
The beginning is hazy. There was a ’36 Ford and I think a ’38 Chevy. Mom remembers dating in the Ford in 1948-49. Don’t know if he had both cars at once, or maybe the Chevy first…
Not long after my parents got married, a ’49 Mercury came along. That was Dad’s commuter until it was stolen one morning. Mom recalled him running frantically up and down the block, wondering if he had forgotten where he parked it! They spotted a chopped and dropped car months later in the area and were always convinced it was theirs.
I think a ’53 Mercury replaced the ’49, but this time is hazy, as I wasn’t here yet, and my siblings were all young.
The first car best recollected by everyone is the turquoise ’59 Mercury Monterey. If you’re spotting a trend here, my Mom’s uncle was a Mercury dealer for awhile and got them good deals. My dad always talked about their move in 1962 to the house I grew up in and the change from wide, 1950s-era subdivision roads to narrow 1930’s area neighborhood streets with parking on both sides. He always feared for this car’s fenders!
Then came the first car I remember. The move to a new house was precipitated by the birth of my brother, kid #5. The need for a bigger house was followed a few years later by the need for a bigger car: a 1965 Chrysler Newport Town and Country 9-passenger wagon. As kid #6, I remember riding front and center as a small child, the roof-mounted cargo bag that went up for our beach vacations, and the fact that one of my cousins drove this car well into the 1980s after Dad got rid of it – total shock to see him pull up one day in a car I thought was long gone! That 383 wouldn’t quit.
The next car came around 1975. My siblings were moving out, and the ones that didn’t were getting cars of their own. Plus, Dad was feeling like he finally wanted to live a little. Cadillac #1 showed up: a Palmetto Green 1969 Sedan de Ville hardtop, with dark green vinyl top and matching Dardanelle cloth and leather interior. The American Dream was becoming a reality! Sadly, this car did not age well (it was already 4 years old), but my oldest brother fondly remembers embarrassing a hot-rod Mustang in an impromptu drag race. No substitute for cubic inches! Anyway, the paint had started to flake on the hood, leaving unsightly black areas, the driver’s seat fabric had torn, and there was some rust. And, of course, the fuel consumption, even for a non-daily driver. Dad sold it to a co-worker (interestingly, he bought it from a different co-worker) who lived around the corner, and it was so weird to see it at their house. I heard the engine blew a year or so after they bought it.
Time for Cadillac #2: a two-tone grey/pewter 1978 Coupe de Ville with grey velour interior in 1980. As much as I loved this car at the time (and it would become my first car), I would trade it for the ’69 any day. The CdV’s paint chalked very badly on the hood, and by the time I was driving it, it needed a transmission rebuild and various other fixes. I made my own memories when this car was mine, but as Dad’s car, it was kind of a place-holder.
By 1988, we were down to 2 kids in the house, and my brother was actually driving his own car (first a Celica GT, then a Mustang). Dad was in business for himself and things were going very well. Hard work, tight budgets and fewer mouths to feed meant my parents had paid off their house and it was time to live a little. They had their house re-sided, put up a new fence, and Dad got a new car. Only his second new car ever and his first and only new Cadillac: a 1988 Sedan de Ville, white with a black vinyl top. I remember my brothers taking Dad car shopping and trying out Lincolns (“too blah”), Chryslers (“look at that little engine!”) and even a Mercedes (“a foreign car??”). All along, all Dad ever wanted was a new Cadillac, and that’s what he got (it was a toss-up between a yellow Seville and this one), and he even paid cash! I still remember him flashing the gold keys to anyone who would look. He kept that car for almost 20 years, the only major problem being the HVAC system failing in a way that finally necessitated a switch being added by a mechanic to force the compressor to keep running. It’s the car he had the longest and in my mind is attached to the best years of my parents’ lives – they traveled and lived well with this car.
The final car in my Dad’s life is a bit of let-down, at least to me. It’s still a Cadillac, a 2006 CTS in black, but it was purchased as my Mom was on her way out (in fact, she never rode in it), and it wasn’t even what he wanted. He’d wanted a DTS, but my siblings were pushing a spend-down in his assets for Medicare to pay for my Mom’s care, and they basically forced this car on him. He (and I) drove this car for 10 years, and it has served well, but now it’s time for it to go. I won’t really miss it, except for the fact that it means that Dad is that much less independent. It’s willed to me, but my Dad is still living and my wife and I don’t need it. It looks as though my nephew may take it, and I hope it serves him well, as he’s going through some difficulties of his own right now.
All in all, my 2 favorites of Dad’s cars (that I can remember) were the 2 Sedan de Villes. I enjoyed driving the ’88, and wouldn’t mind having one again. My hope one day is to get a ’69, though. I’m sure my memory is colored, but that was a nice car!