Tales of Wheels, Wheels and More Wheels - Time Out #280

With the novel Covid-19 pandemic everywhere and everyone "hunkering down", what's a guy to do??

Constantly dream of cars and trucks, of course!

Yes, I have been a "carhead" since as long as I can remember? Lest you forget, dear readers of Our Town and far beyond, I have lived through multiple eras of motor-powered vehicles; the huge rear fins of the 1950's, the muscle cars of the 1960's, the bullet-shaped cars of 1970's, and so on. With each passing decade, I was hooked deeper and deeper into the automobile morass of glitz and glory. Gosh, I vividly recall during road trips with my father, playing car-identifying games with him, to help pass the time, especially during our longer highway adventures. I could usually call out what particular vehicle it was moving toward us, stationary on a side street, or when we would come up on one from behind. Certain colors, also, played a vital role in my keen identifying techniques. By the way, it certainly was a fun game!

So, in order to re-live parts of the past and take us down the nostalgic highway, I will retrace my rides as best I am able to recall. Fair enough?

A black, 4-door, Chevrolet Corvair was the first vehicle I drove, in spite of the fact activist Ralph Nader claimed this model had an unsafe design. The little automobile had an air cooled, rear engine, and the 1961 model was the one I regularly drove to C.E. Donart High (now SHS). My small car was an automatic, with front bucket seats, and lots of fun for my high school days. My next ride was a sports car I was able to purchase because of an excellent summer job, working hard at Northwestern Steel & Wire, Sterling, IL. I purchased a year-old, 1964, white Chevrolet Corvette, red interior, 4-speed manual transmission, with two tops. One of the tops was a black fabric convertible top, and the other was a hard, white top. I kept this vehicle for my first couple of years as an undergraduate student at Oklahoma State, and loved riding through the campus, and the rest of Our Town, with the convertible top down. The last couple of years at OSU I had a couple of vehicles. The first was a SS 396 Chevrolet Chevelle, white with a black vinyl top. It was also a manual 4-speed stick shift, and not quite as quick/fast as my previous Corvette, but not by much! This was followed by a luxury vehicle, a nice, large Pontiac Bonneville. It had an automatic transmission, was a dark green coupe with a black vinyl top, and a plush cloth interior. It really provided a smooth ride on streets/highways, and was easy to drive. I kept this large, nice vehicle as I moved to Oklahoma City, and attended OU Medical School.

Throughout my married years, I have had a large assortment of passenger cars, vans, and almost anything that rolled. My most essential rides, however, have been several trusty, faithful pickup trucks. The few times I have been without one, I have really felt disadvantaged. I felt this way because pickups are SO necessary and versatile in helping me to get from Point A to Point B, especially while hauling my "stuff" in the truck bed!

I have also greatly varied my purchases/selling my vehicles from local, big city (Oklahoma City or Tulsa), or long distance transactions from far-off states. The internet, too, has helped me buy/sell vehicles, necessitating various long-distance haulers to show up at my home. They would either bring and/or pick up a car from my home. Recently, I had an absolute surprise gift (car) to my bride, Lady Debbie, secretly transported to Our Town from Illinois. Until the unknown surprise was given to her, it was hidden in one of my faithful employee's garage in Our Town for a couple of weeks!

Thus, the pandemic has provided lots of time for me to study various car magazines, and to brush up on the recent models. Of course, this extra, Covid-time has produced an extra vehicle purchase. Such is the life of a carhead. I plead guilty!