(Note: All of the COAL Series authors are invited to create a post with links to all of the articles in their series. These various posts will be accessible from the COAL/Autobiography Portal on the right side of the page along with the other CC archives. This one, by RLPLAUT, is the first one ready to go live. They need to be published in order to make the corresponding link work in the Portal. You will see others posted from time to time. If you’re a former COAL series author, please draft up a post like this and let me know when it’s ready).
COAL Series by RLPLAUT
COAL Introduction: From Dynaflow to Presto-Matic
COAL 1: 1953 Chrysler Windsor Convertible – Love At First Sight
COAL 2: 1957 Oldsmobile 88 – Chrome, Reflections, Rockets, and Dog Leg Windshields
COAL 3: 1961 Comet – Not Nearly As Bad As I Expected
COAL 4: 1964 VW Beetle – Baby, Beetle, and the F-14
COAL 5: 1967 Tempest OHC-6 – Nice Work, Pontiac!
COAL 6: 1971 Plymouth Duster Slant 6 – Bad News From Consumer Reports; Worse News From Home
COAL 7: 1967 Tempest, Take Two – It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again
COAL 8: 1972 Impala Sedan – Brown-Over-Brown Behemoth
COAL 9: 1978 Datsun 280Z – Baby Blue Rocket, Old School Driving
COAL 10: 1982 Honda Accord Hatchback – A Simple Car For A Simpler Life
COAL 11: 1990 Mercury Sable Wagon – We Thought We Were Getting A Toyota Camry Wagon
COAL 13: 1999 Miata – A Permanent Solution To A Temporary Marriage
COAL 14: 2001 Passat GLX 5 Speed – From the Chrysler Frying Pan Into The VW – er – Frying Pan
COAL 15: 2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser – We Get A Good One From Chrysler
COAL 16: 2013 Toyota Tacoma Double Cab Long Bed – Limousine With A Six Foot Bed
RL,
You KNOW you’re the COAL standard now…
Although MagnumSRT8Brian’s giving you a run for your money…here’s hoping he has no equivalent to any of the drama you, family and cars had to endure with your first wife! (I’ll always think of that when I see a ’67 Tempest!)
Judging from the picture, looks like it’s all smiles now, and I’m happy for you and Debbie. Thanks again for sharing your COAL with us!
These are fantastic. Thanks again for taking the time to tell us your story.
I only became a CC reader in 2015, and a commenter in mid-2016. And I’m so glad it was in time to read your posts, RL! If there was ever a CC book based on someone’s COALs, damn, it would surely be you!
This really was the best COAL series EVER! The “auto”-biography you wrote here was like a good book you just couldn’t put down.
Just wonderful RL!
The recent COAL series by MAGNUMSRT8 BRIAN has been a pretty good read too.
Sheesh, for a minute I thought something horrible had happened to RL. Glad that is not the case!
I’ll get cracking on mine, they all seem to be in the Portal in order already…
Plaut, please write more. Planes, trains, other automobiles, architecture, society, hi-fi, computers, Riker’s, bikers, pikers… Doesn’t matter, I’m sure you could find some interesting topics to weave together in your fine and engaging writing style!
+1
“Plaut, please write more… computers…”
It does actually matter. I’m sure he has brilliant computer related stories
I was just thinking about this COAL series. It really should be a book. The cars were the catalyst for the story but ended up being a cast of supporting characters. Truly a great read!
I usually take the summer off from posting on the internet and this year was no exception. Therefore I missed all of your COALs Plaut except the one on the blue 280Z which I read, loved and commented on. I didn’t know until now that you did 15 others (!) with your stories of a lifetime mixed in. Like discovering a new show on Netflix worthy of binge watching, I look forward to getting caught up on these COALs.
Not sure if it was you or someone else but there was a post maybe two years ago from a guy who had a summer job in the 70s delivering new cars to customers in faraway states. The engaging writing style reminded me of yours and I’d like to read that again but can’t find it now.
RL,
I read your COALs when they were first published on CC, and now I am re-reading them. I must tell you that I am in awe of your writing abilities. You have a way of taking a dramatic situation, understating it, thus giving it that much more expression. Your descriptive abilities to recall situations from 30-40 + years ago and put them back into words are amazing. I complement you on your writing, and on sharing some deep, dark parts of your life. The result is some very powerful writing for us all to read, enjoy, and/or commiserate. Very well done. You may have missed your calling, lending your skills to COBOL instead of the dramatic.