(My grandmother, circa 1949)
Most of you know how I like to bring up my grandfather and his Oldsmobiles, but you may notice how I rarely mention my grandmother when discussing cars. There’s a good reason. My grandmother never owned a car because she never had a driver’s license.
(Their street in Southie, early 1950s)
When my grandparents were first married and living in South Boston, he was teaching her to drive. Unfortunately, one day when my grandfather’s car was parked at the bottom of a hill, a parked truck’s brakes gave out, and it rolled down the hill into my grandfather’s car, severely damaging it. Nana was spooked by the incident and never got behind the wheel of a car again. For the rest of their 53 years of marriage, they were a one-car couple. In addition to raising five children, my grandmother was often working multiple jobs for many of those years. She had to rely on walking, public transportation, and rides from friends and family until she retired from her final job as my great uncle’s secretary in her early sixties.
That didn’t stop Nana from liking cars and having some opinions regarding them. She was not a huge fan of small cars, as she felt that they weren’t as safe or comfortable. She also preferred vehicles that weren’t particularly high or low, as ease of entry was important after her hip replacement. Despite this, there was a yellow Mazda Protege5 we would frequently spot over at Castle Island (a popular walking spot in South Boston) that Nana would always joking say would be her first car. Yellow was her favorite color.
(My grandfather’s actual ’97 Eighty-Eight, in its final years)
Had my grandmother driven, I picture her driving a Buick or Oldsmobile like my grandfather. He and her brother were both GM people, so I assume she would’ve followed. Nana also required cars with lots of storage for her trademark white visor, oversized sunglasses, Family Circle magazines, and the ever accumulating stash of Dunkin’ Donuts napkins (she never had to buy Kleenex!).
I also recall one specific memory in her final years when she was enamored over a car we saw in a parking lot. It happened to be a new Jaguar XF. Nana had expensive tastes!
(c. 1990)
My grandmother passed away four years ago at the age of 86. Her 90th birthday would’ve been today. Although she never drove during my lifetime, I have a lifetime of cherished memories and stories of her, many that took place in cars. So, even though my grandmother didn’t drive, I’m sure most of yours did and I’m curious to know what they drove. Did they like big comfortable cars like mine, or smaller, more economical cars? Or, did they drive something surprising like the little old lady I saw climb up into a ice blue Tahoe the other day?
My grandmother on my father’s side passed away 9 years ago and while she had her driver’s license since the 1950s, she never drove much. She burned the clutch in my grandfather’s Ford when she learned how to drive and after that, my grandfather always bought automatics so she could drive them.
My grandfather’s first vehicle was a ’28 Reo (see picture) which he used to sell orange juice. Then, much later he bought a well used ’39 Dodge, a few new Fords in the 1950’s and 1960s, always lower end models. Then he had a Plymouth Duster, a ’78 Cutlass Supreme, a 1984 Cutlass Ciera Brougham and 1990 and 1994 Honda Accords.
My other grandmother on my mother’s side died 17 years before I was born, in the summer of 1960 at age 36 and I can’t tell if she ever drove a car but she didn’t own one! Many of her sisters are still alive and driving but I can’t tell if she did!
My grandfather drove many Buicks from the 1940s and 1950s (he had a ’56 Special 4 door hardtop and another ’58 4 door hardtop). In 1964, he wanted to replace his ’58 that was always garaged and had only 6000 miles on it for a LeSabre but the Buick dealer couldn’t get one as there was a strike or something like that at the Canadian GM factory so he bought a ’64 Galaxie. Then he had a ’67 LeSabre hardtop coupe, a Mercury Marquis, a 1977 Continental, a 1982 Chevette and he traded both the Continental and the Chevette for a 1985 Hyundai Pony. By that time, his automotive tastes had changed to cheaper is better so he had a very basic Pony with a manual transmission. He traded it for a 1987 Stellar CXL and finally a 1992 Sonata GL which he kept until he died in 1994…
My grandparents and my uncle visiting my parents with their ’67 Ford Custom in 1973. My father’s 1970 Volvo 142L and what looks like a 1973 Canadian Chevy Biscayne.
Great shot! I love the period architecture in the background too!
Here’s another shot showing a few different details. There’s also a Vega that visible on this one.
My dad’s parents didn’t drive at all, they basically rode the streetcars or walked everywhere.
My mom’s mother was a traveling corset/underwear saleswoman from about 1923(with time off to have mom in early 1925) until about 1943 or so. She always drove Mopars, on the job and off, too. She hated slow cars, so no slant six for her, I think her last car had a 383 in it, but I don’t know what engines were available in her last car, a ’64 Polara, like this one, but missing the aluminum strip on the side. Sadly, a guy was going way too fast one morning when it was icy out, and clobbered her Polara when it was only a few weeks old. It was never the same, and she was about to trade it in when she died in 1965 on Easter Sunday, a couple of hours after we had taken her out to dinner. Today, we would be suing the docs that missed all the symptoms of congestive heart failure she was having, but back then all that happened was my parents didn’t pay her hospital bills, our neighbor, who was the main doctor who misdiagnosed her paid it himself.
Neither grandmother (1880’s vintage) drove.
Mother’s mother did not drive until her husband died. Then it was Ramblers, always a white 4 door.
Father’s mother did not drive until after her children were all married with kids, then it was:
a red 65 Mustang fastback(given to her by her daughter)
early 70s pink Thunderbird(given to her by her son)
mid/late 70s blue Granada(given to her by her husband)
My maternal grandmother had a 1927 Essex in the late twenties.
She was student teaching somewhere in the San Joaquin Valley so she drove the Grapevine twice a week — back when it was a very harrowing drive in the skinny-tired primitive cars of the time.
My paternal grandmother finished her driving career with a 78 Caprice. At age 94 she was still chauffeuring around her 70- and 80-ish friends who had already quit driving.
My grandmother loved interesting cars. She drove a BMW 2002 tii, a BMW 1600ti, a Karmann Ghia convertible and a Fiat convertible over the years. She had quite a presence in her furs and stylish sunglasses as she tooled around in her Inka Orange BMW. After she turned 70, my dad insisted she sell the BMW and get an Accord. She was never quite the same after that happened.
I think my paternal Grandmother drove a Morris Oxford, the type sold until recently as the Hindustan Ambassador.
My Nana drove a Ford Anglia Ute, then a Mazda 1300 coupe, an early Chyrsler/Mitsubishi Sigma and finally the Mitsubishi Colt she and her lover died in!
My Grandmother drove an assortment of full size Fords, Mercurys, and Buicks, nothing too unusual there.
The more interesting story is my Great-Grandmother. In 1918 or 1919 her husband bought a Model T and on the first day he ran in off the road into a ditch. Deciding that driving wasn’t for him, he suggested that she drive them home. As far as I know he never got behind the wheel again, and she continued to drive into the 1960s when she was over 90. After the T, they had a couple of Franklin’s in the ’20s-’30s. Her last car was a Chevy II.
FWIW, as far as I know, my grandmothers, only one of which I knew, never drove.
This: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/auction-capsule-1972-chevrolet-k5-blazer-cst-dont-mess-with-grandma/
None of my grandparents -all born between circa 1900 and 1915- ever had a driver’s license.
Man-powered machinery, that’s what they drove. Batavus, Sparta and Gazelle are of few of the brands. Having a ride in a car, bus or truck was some sort of adventure to them.
Elderly people started to drive here in the fifties and sixties. In a DAF of course. By far the easiest car to drive for older people because of its Variomatic and small size. Hence DAF’s image: a car only for the elderly and disabled. The little car deserved better, as we realize now, many years later.
The first question you asked a relative, friend or acquaintance back then when he got out of a car with an automatic transmission: where are your crutches ??
Batavus and Gazelle are two brands I recognize immediately. They had very good taste in bicycles.
All these names are still around. Gazelle is owned by Pon, the Dutch Volkswagen and Caterpillar importer (among other things).
The E-bikes gave bicycle-sales an enormous boost here in the past decade. At first mostly older people bought them, but now also younger folks. (Dad has 2 bikes now, a new shiny E-bike and an old rusty “workhorse” bike.)
In the past the companies I mentioned also made mopeds and light motorcycles. Around 1970 my parents bought two identical Sparta mopeds, we didn’t have a car back then. I did some searching, but I’m pretty sure it were these “Spartamatics”. They were white and green, just like this one.
I have my dad’s old Batavus. It is a racer with very skinny high pressure tires made circa 1968. I guess he paid about $500.00 American for it brand new back then.
Dutch bikes have always been expensive, they still are. But they are built to last, high quality has its price. Remember that bikes are often used daily here, all year long. To go to school or to work.
When I was growing up, my Grandparents on my Dad’s side had several cars over the years (they lived in Arizona). They had a 1970 something Ford Pinto wagon with the fake woodgrain. They had a 1977 Chevrolet Impala, 1980 Malibu station wagon, 1985 Dodge Caravan. My Grandfather passed away in 1986 (74 years old). My grandmother also had a 1989 Chevrolet Caprice Classic with AC, cruise control, remote trunk release and a V8. It also had crank windows and manual locks. It was her last car and she stopped driving in 2002. She died in 2012 (92 years old). My Grandmother on my Mother’s side (She lived in New Jersey) drove a red 1977 Chrysler LeBaron with the 318 V8 and TorqueFlite tranny for many years. It was equipped with a Landau top, power windows, A/C and it had one of the first digital clocks with LED or vacuum fluorescent display. She also had a Chevrolet Celebrity as well.
My paternal grandmother was in her early 70s when I was born. By that time, my grandfather had downsized to box Panther Grand Marquis. He would buy them every two or three years and she would take over the old one, though I’m pretty sure they would both just try to grab the new one when they went out without one another! Anyway, I know she drove but never remember seeing her drive the white ’83 MGM and sky blue ’86 MGM that were nominally hers. She predeceased him by 7 years when I was about 7. He kept his last two MGMs (the ’86 and a white ’88) for several years thereafter. Before I was born I know she owned a Thunderbird at one point, also a ’75 Maverick which they kept as a 3rd car and later lent to my mom when I was about 5, and a number of big Country Squires through the mid 70s.
My maternal grandmother was widowed 15 years before I was born. I remember her driving a Renault LeCar, Mazda GLC, and Honda Civic DX sedan. She was 10 years younger than my dad’s mother and lived until I was in my mid 20s. I am told she drove a Studebaker President and numerous Dodge Coronets before I was born.
Mine drove only Dodges, the last 2 I remember were a 1969 Dodge Charger, white with Green vinyl top with a 318 V8, she sold it in 1996 with 60K on the clock for $3500 which was $100 more than she paid for it, she was so excited about that. Next she bought a 1996 Dodge Intrepid with the 3.7 V6. She passed in 2004 but a friend of mine still has her Intrepid, which only had 27K on it when she died, I think it has about 80K on it now.
My paternal grandparents, both born in the late 1800s, were polar opposites when it came to cars. Dad told me that his father, who died long before I was born, never got used to cars and was afraid of them. I remember Dad saying that twenties cars didn’t have good brakes. Dad said, “My father, afraid the car wouldn’t stop, would push hard on the pedal, pull back on the steering wheel and yell whoa, whoa!” My grandmother, on the other hand, loved cars and loved driving them, even though she never got her license. She had a ’39 LaSalle and I seem to remember a bullet nosed Studebaker later on. She also loved to tell me about her experiences behind the wheel. She said to me,” I tried to get my license and took the test, which you took with a state police officer in those days. When I finished the test, he said, well Mrs. Robinson, you failed, and you’ll just have to go home and practice some more.” Then she said, ” We’d meet on the road the next day and wave to each other.” It was nothing for her to get into her car and drive 300 miles to Boston. She once told me, ” I was on the highway and three lanes were converging to two. I had a trailer truck on one side and a bus on the other.” When I asked her if she put on the brakes, she said, “Hell, no. I stepped on the gas and got the hell out of there!” Dad told me that all of the stories she had told me were true, and I remember him saying, ” Your grandmother had no business being behind the wheel of a car. She had no sense of speed and would take corners as fast as she went down the straights. She’s damned lucky she didn’t kill herself or someone else.” Most of these things took place before I was born, but I can see her now, behind the wheel of her LaSalle, blowing the horn while the highway crew makes for the ditches. I may have gotten my love of cars from my grandmother, but there are two differences between us. I’m a much safer driver, and I have a license.
Paternal grandma never drove but grandpa did. In my lifetime he owned the following-
1) 1963 Chevy Nova coupe with 230 L-6
2) 1976 Ford Granada coupe with 302 V8
3) 1980 Ford Fairmont wagon with sluggish 200 L-6
4) 1985 Olds Cutlass Supreme coupe with 307 4BBL V8- his last car that passed on to me in 1995.
He also had a 1950’s Buick Roadmaster but I would have to go through the archives to figure out the exact year and owned that car right up into the mid 1960’s. His favorite out all of them was the 1985 Cutlass which started so easy, ran flawlessly, had vey good response and performance, was grandmas favorite color-gold and rode like a more expensive car.
My maternal grandma only had one car- a 1971 Ford Pinto with the sluggish 1.6 liter Kent 4 banger and it was the very first one unloaded off the truck in town. According to her and her son(my uncle) it was a wretched car with zero Winter capability and many trips back to the dealer for repairs! It was the only car she ever owned and she gave it to my uncle who kept it a few years and traded it for a red Slant six Duster.
My grandma passed away at 91 last year. She learned to drive kinda late (1977-78).
I remember going with her to practice parallel parking, which was challenging for her. She drove a 77 Chevy Nova until 1981. that year she drove her daughter’s 1979 Olds Cutlass Supreme until 1984, when she went back to the Nova until 1990.
In 93 she bought a brand new Buick Regal 4 door, then replaced it with a 2002 Buick Century. Both were good cars and very comfortable.
My grandma have 75 year old and still works as lawyer and techer, she drives a 2007 Honda Fit 1.35 with CVT transmission. Her previous car was a 1994 Fiat Uno Mille with carburated 1 liter engine and 5 speed transmission, but she became too old for a armstrong steering. I’m trying to find this little Fiat
Memories of my maternal grandmother in a 1953 Hudson Jet. That’s all I got. She went to her eternal reward sometime after that.
My mother, however, had a Henry J, A Borgward Isabella Kombi, and a ’63 Tempest.
During my lifetime, I always remembered my grandfather having Fords until the early 90’s or so, but I remember seeing either a ’57 or ’58 Plymouth (just like Christine!) sitting in the driveway in old pictures. The rust issues with those are probably what turned my grandfather onto Fords. My grandmother’s last car was a ’98 Chevy Cavalier LS that she bought using my uncle’s GM employee discount. Other cars I can remember are a ’73-’74 Ford LTD, ’80-’81 Mercury Grand Marquis, and an ’86 Mercury Topez.
My favorite was the ’81 Grand Marquis that they had when I was a little kid. I fondly remember floating over bumps in the backseat against the crushed velour seats and fake wood trim everywhere. In fact, every time I open the door of a 70’s-early 90’s Ford, I am presented with the same unique smell of those cars’ interior materials and instantly remember that Grand Marquis from my childhood.
Never met my paternal grandmother. She died very young – in her early 60’s.
My maternal grandmother died in 2010 at the age of 98. She drove a dark blue ’66 Tempest coupe that I vaguely remember as I was a toddler when she had it, a gold ’72 Lemans Sedan with the 350 V-8 that I drove often when I first got my license. She would often brag how that car would easily “peel out”. So, one day with a friend of mine we tried to “peel out” in a local vacant lot and man did it ever! I left a patch that seemed like a mile long! LOL. She then inherited from her son a 1979 Sedan deVille that she drove for three years until I found her the 1987 FWD Fleetwood d’Elegance that would be her last car. She LOVED that car and found it so much easier to handle than the ’79.
Well my grandmother (mom sides) in my life time has only driven two.
89 regal gs coupe
2002(?) grand am
My other grandmother (dads side) has never gotten her liscence but my grandfather apparently was a die hard chevy guy. But I never met him as he died when my dad was 17
My grandfather (moms side) seems to only really drive pick ups. From what I hear he mostly has had f100/50’s
In my life he has had a…
Early eighties brown chevy Scottsdale
orange 86 f150 he bought at an auction in the early nighties.
His first non american vehicle a 92 mazda b200 which my grandmother despises.
My grand father is probaly why I’m more of ford guy than a chevy guy like my dad. I loved that 86 f150, the pumpkin truck
(grandma not included in photo)
Well, well, well…I mentioned it above. 🙂
A 1972-1975 DAF 66 (later sold as Volvo 66) with a 1,100 cc Renault engine.
Wow, grandma’s cars. My situation was weird: both of my grandmothers were named Mary, and then my mom named my sister Mary. Yeah.
Anyway, on my mother side, grandma was GM faithful, even after owning the notorious and terrible Chevy Chevette (which I remember as a slow go cart with doors and a roof). She owned two more vehicles: a 1988 Buick Skyhawk coupe in bright red, and finally a white 1994 Buick Skylark. She was a great woman, but her taste in cars sucked. She would often remark that her Buicks were luxurious and comfortable and my parents’ Volvos were sporty and had firm seats and stiff suspensions, lol.
On my father’s side, grandma was Chrysler faithful for about 30 years. She had the unreliable 1985 Chrysler 600 Turbo convertible, then a 1989 Dodge Dynasty, then a 1999 Concorde and a “classic” 2005 300. Out of no where, she buys a 2010 Mercedes-Benz E350 4 Matic. What an awesome ending to the story.
On my father’s side, my grandmother started driving when she was 12 after successfully wrestling her oldest (then 15) brother for the privilege on the kitchen floor. (My great grandfather apparently had a wicked sense of humor!) Cars with performance were important to both she and my grandfather — they always a nice, if somewhat, flashy, primary car, like the white/red top/white leather ’55 Lincoln, or the brown/white ’76 Grand Marquis, which was replaced by a rather sedate light gray ’88 GM. They usually had Oldsmobiles or Mercurys, always with the largest engine available. They both liked to drive in what I’ll politely call a “spirited” manner, which was very exciting to us kids and provided much humor to the rest of the extended family.
On my mother’s side, she and my stepgrandfather had a loaded all red ’65 Thunderbird, which was the most fascinating car ever to a young kid. After that, it was a succession of Lincolns, with two Mercurys at the end (I was trying to get her in smaller cars). They were more interested in a quality car with a nice ride.
It’s no wonder I’m a Lincoln-Mercury fan.
My grandmothers never drove. The maternal grandmother died in 1924, paternal grandmother in 1976 (age, around 90). Both sides of my family were Slovak, on dad’s side neither of my grandparents ever learned to speak English. Probably the same on mom’s side, as both my parents were fluent in Slovak, which they refused to teach to my sister and myself. Instead, they use the language to speak around us.
I also came from a VERY conservative family. I’m amused to see all the post WWII pictures of mothers and grandmothers wearing slacks. That NEVER happened in my family. My mom (and her sister who lived with us) wore dresses all the time, be it going out, housekeeping work, gardening, whatever. Despite annual family vacations to the shore (3 out of every 4 destinations), mom never wore a bathing suit or went near the water.
Slacks and bathing suits were immoral in her eyes. I was raised Byzantine Catholic, and its a pretty conservative sect.
My maternal grandparents had their golden wedding celebration on May 5, 1955. I don’t think Bedstemor ever drove; Bedstefar’s driver was a 1939 Chevrolet half-ton pickup.
My paternal grandfather had a reputation as a crazy driver, and I have no idea if Pop’s mother ever drove the 1940 (or 1941) Chevrolet coupe that I vaguely remember seeing when we visited their farm in New York when I was a little kid.
My paternal grandmother never drove. Grandpa said she was too nervous. He had tried to teach her once but she put the car in a ditch. My maternal grandmother was a widow from the time I was 4. We all lived in a small town . Actually, she lived about 3 miles outside of town and owned a women’s clothing store in town. The first car I remember her having was a black ’40 Stude Champion. She traded that for a gray ’52 Plymouth. After that she had a bronze ’59 Biscayne, a white ’60 Impala and a green with black vinyl top ’68 Caprice coupe. She still had the ’60 when I started driving in 1964 and I got to use it a couple time for Prom and other things. I am afraid that I was not very nice to the car, but I really liked it. It had a 283 four barrel with Turboglide. It would burn rubber taking off, but the ” Turbid Drive” trans really slowed things down. Her last car was the ’68 Caprice. It was a nice car, but a real slug with the 307. She had always been a good, and fast driver, but her driving skills slowly faded away with age and the Caprice sheet metal took the brunt of it. I like to think that somewhere Grandma is out there in a late model Chevy driving her usual 70 MPH on 2 lane county roads.
As far as I know, my paternal grandma never drove, she died when I was young. My paternal grandfather was elderly and died at 109. My maternal grandmother, on the other hand drove a 1965 Chevelle Malibu 2 door, w/ a 327, HUGE Rochester 4 bbl and a powerglide. It was replaced with a 1975 Dodge Colt 2 dr. automatic. She stated that the “Colt didn’t have the get up and go of the Malibu!” She passed away in 1991. I never knew my maternal gradfather, as he pased away before I was born.
I never met my grandmothers. The only grandparent that I remember was my mother’s father. He bought a brand new 1993 Escort, and kept it until 2007. It died at over 300k miles (COAL to come someday), and he used our 1989 New Yorker until it Ultradrive’d in 2008. He then bought a 2000 Impala (As plain as could be). That was the car that we drove in to his funeral.
My paternal grandmother (born 1911) definitely drove–in fact, she drove an ambulance in the army! This was during World War II, at one of the training camps stateside. That’s where she met my grandfather, in fact, who was serving as a Military Policeman. I guess she learned to drive back home in rural Mississippi, but I’ve no clue what kind of cars she might have driven back then. As far as I know, in her married life, they were always a one car family; by the time I knew her she was in poor health and was no longer driving (passed away in 1991). I suppose she drove the family car at times, though, which included a ’56 Plymouth Belvedere, ’62 Impala, ’69 Caprice, and an early run Dodge Aries K. I’m sure there were more but those were the ones I know of.
My maternal grandmother, born 1925, didn’t learn to drive until my mother was a child. Grandpa took the train to work so they had one car, but she drove around for errands. They had a 1950 Studebaker Champion, 1954 Ford Fairlane, 1960 Ford Galaxie, 1968 Chevy Impala, and a 1970? Ford Maverick. When they moved south in ’75 they needed two cars, so she got a 1975 Dodge Coronet. She still had that when she passed away in 1983.
I never really knew her since she died when I was 2 years old, and my grandfather remarried the following year, so my step-grandmother (born 1929) is who I’ve known as my maternal grandma. She had a 1979 Mazda GLC wagon for many years, until it was traded on a 1993 Mazda Protege LX. That was followed by a 1997 Ford Escort (a mistake, she hated it), and a 1999 Mazda 626 which she also kept for quite some time. Around 2007 or 2008 her son decided she needed a newer car and took her down to the Chevy dealership where he bought all his cars, and she came home with a new Chevy HHR. Despite her initial lack of enthusiasm as it wasn’t a Mazda, she grew to rather like it. She’s still very much alive at age 85, and still has the HHR, though she doesn’t often drive anymore and stopped driving after dark years ago.
My dad’s mom drove a 50 Ford , 62 Valiant , 64 Rambler American my dad sold her , 69 Mercury Montego. My mom’s mom never drove.
My paternal grandmothers last three cars where a 86 chevette, a 78 (iirc) Capri and the car I have a vague memory of was a green fiat 124 iirc. The fiat being when I was maybe 3 or so the Capri 4 to 8 and the chevette from 8 to 13. She passed just around my thirteenth birthday. Other grandmother drove only once smashed into a parked car and never got behind the wheel again.
Currently, my grandmother drives a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo with the inline-6 that she bought in 2006. She almost traded it for a Jeep Liberty, but ultimately she decided to keep it for the long haul. It’s been really good to her.
Before that, it was a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee (same engine) for a fairly short time, as she bought it in 2003 or thereabouts to replace her 1990(?) Chrysler New Yorker.
The New Yorker was purchased around 1992, shortly after I was born. She had this car up until I left grade school. Then she was bitten by the Jeep bug. I have fond memories of the New Yorker as I had taken some long road trips with my grandparents as a young child, and for a K-car, it was very nice and comfortable. Before the New Yorker, she had a 1984(?) Lincoln Town Car, which I would imagine would be equally nice.
I don’t know what she’s had before, at least in order. I do know she had a Dodge Dart, a Ford Galaxie and a Pontiac of some sorts, but that was way before I was born.
My grandmother on my dad’s side is a big fan of Volvo, particularly station wagons. She currently drives a candy red Volvo XC70 (2005-ish?). I’m told that she has never owned anything but a Volvo.
My grandmother in Pittsburgh drove a pristine first-generation Chevette, not a mark on it and perhaps the best preserved all-original Chevette in the world when she traded it in. Of course, it had less than 20,000 miles on it when she got a new car two decades later. That one was a stripper Dodge Shadow. And I do mean stripper, she actually paid to have the air conditioning removed (which makes no sense, but she hated air conditioning so away it went). Those were the only two cars she had from the time I was aware until the day she died.
My other grandmother’s choices were just as plain-jane. She had a Fairmont (one of a his-and-hers set with my grandfather). When that wore out she got a 1984 Aries sedan. Later my uncle kept them in vehicles, usually Accords, so she never bought another car.
The most excitement my family has ever seen in vehicles was when my uncle bought a second-gen Acura Legend. One of my other uncles had a Pacer once, but everything else was as mainstream as vanilla pudding. The fact that I drive manuals marks me as the most flamboyant vehicle owner in my family. Pathetic, no?
Brendan, much like in your case, I had a grandmother who never learned to drive, never had a license and never owned a car. I guess she never had an interest in driving. Her birthday would have been Monday, though not sure what age she would be were she still living. Now my other grandmother, the only car I remember her owning and driving was a 1956 Chevy with a manual transmission. She passed many years ago, so not sure of her birthday nor what age she would be. Actually, fairly certain both grandmothers would be over 100.
I’ll go on to mention that my mom is 87 – well, only about 7 weeks from turning 88 – and is a great-grandmother. She has been in somewhat gradually declining health this past year, and my brother has said she shouldn’t be driving anymore, to which I agree. She’s had a green, 2000 Buick Regal for at least 8 or 9 years. And her first car was a green 1950 Plymouth.
My paternal grandmother drove a Plymouth Volare. She bought it new in 1976 in Sunbury, PA. She lived in Danville, PA. I have faint memories of a blue car prior to the Volare, but I’m not sure what it was. The Volare was an ugly tan color with the vinyl roof and vinyl seats. She drove it until she stopped driving — somtime in the early 80’s. At that point, my aunt, her daughter, and my uncle, her other son, used the car. They were not good at maintenance. They also lived in Philadelphia and commuted to NJ for their jobs, round trip about 100 miles. They worked together. They seemed to shuffle the Volare between them for a few years. The Volare became mine in 1987, after I turned 16. I drove it for about a year, and then my brother drove it. Finally, it was junked.
My maternal grandmother did not drive. She walked or took the bus. My maternal grandfather did drive, and I remember 3 cars: a mid-70’s Buick, which I think was a Colonade; a 1980 Pontiac Grand Prix; and the only new car he ever owned, a 1988 Dodge Caravan. My Grandpop’s Buick was a greenish color with a white vinyl roof. The Pontiac was a bit more classy — white with a partial blue vinyl roof.
I miss all of my grandparents very much.
My Granny on one side drove a 66 Biscayne untill the middle 80’s and it was sold for a 80’s Malibu (can’t remember the year)–My other Granny died late 70’s but I do remember he having a Chrysler with the slanted headlights
My maternal grandmother drove a 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 with the lumpy 352 engine, Cruise-O-Matic, 4-wheel drum brakes. She had it repainted at Earl Scheib 3-4 times. Originally it was gorgeous in factory black, but then it was bilious metallic green, then a baby blue, and finally a dull beige. It was hit in the ass by a Volvo 264 in the late 70s while parked in front of our house and the many layers of cheap paint showed clearly. The Volvo driver suffered some pretty serious facial lacerations, and his insurer wanted to total the Ford, but we insisted they fix it, and they did.
Driving with her was an exercise in terror. She did not learn to drive until she was in her 50s. After she passed my sisters and I took turns driving that barge. Stopping it was always terrifying and took both feet on that 18″-wide pedal. Eventually it was sold and I saw it a few years later, all beat up, and I wanted to punch the driver.
RIP, Grandma.
I’m so old that neither of my Grandmothers drove. They both lived in smaller towns and could have benefited from driving but didn’t. Their husbands drove and were car enthusiasts. One grandfather even sold cars for a while. I even had an aunt that didn’t have a license. She also worked her whole life and depended on my Uncle for rides or the bus. Seems strange now but then it was not uncommon.
What a fun question! I loved my grandmothers both very much, and loved their cars too!
My maternal grandmother passed away in 2005. In my lifetime she had, in reverse order:
-1997 Toyota Rav4, minty green
-1993 Honda Civic EX coupe, bright red
-1981 Chevrolet Camaro, bright red (she had this one the longest and I thought it was so cool and not grandmother-like)
-1974 Buick Apollo Hatchback (red, black vinyl top, Buick road wheels and 350 V8)
-1973 Volkswagen Squareback, yellow
My paternal grandmother died young in 1983. Her last car was a 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme coupe, Carmine red with a white landau top and white bucket seats, fully loaded. I loved this car! When she died it was passed to my Dad who kept it until the late 1980s. I remember the day he came home and told me he had to take it off the road because the frame had rotted and it could fall apart. It looked so good outside though! I think he couldn’t bear to part with it, and it sat by the side of our garage until the early 1990’s. I used to play with it and drive it around the driveway pre-license age. They had it towed away to the junkyard one day when I was in school because I think they knew I couldn’t stand to watch it go. I still have the center caps from the Rally wheels on it!!
a ’53 Chevy Bel Air 4-door post sedan. It was the only car she ever had, and se owned it from 1954 until she died in 1987.