“Them” or as we called it “Giant Ant’s” scared the pants off of us. I was terrified for months after. While Hwy Patrol was a great TV show and the “squad cars”, whip antennas and motorcycle cops yacking in radio lingo “neat” ( I got my first Ham Radio license and station in 1960 and despised CB and the 10 code after that), the two TV shows with real “cool” cars that had the most influence on us mid-western boys was Route 66 and 77 Sunset Strip ( Kooky Kooky lend me your comb) smooth southern Cal lingo and babes!
My grandpa drove a 39′ Olds sedan that he bought new in 1940 just before WW2, until 1971 when grandma made him trade it for a 56′ two door Merc (two tone black and white). The 39′ Olds still had running boards and tear drop head lights and a fine chrome grill and hood ornament. My dad was a Desoto man…those beasts were built like tanks and had the most incredible chrome grills and bumpers. You could carry a family of eight in a four door! He bought his last Desoto in 57′ which had big fins and killer tail lights then he switched to Buick Electra’s (four holes). We had a game as kids that if you could’nt name the Buick model by looking at the number of holes in the cowling your buddy could punch you in the arm. I got my drivers license in 64′ and bought a 28′ Model A Ford with a 326 old engine for $150. That one required alot of work and I sold it and bought a 55′ Chev Bel Aire for $150…great for the outdoor movies and back seat fun with my girl friend… drove it for a year and sold it for the same price before I went off to the university. Being a poor college student when wages were like $1.50/hr for part time work, it was hard to save up for “wheels”, but I managed to do it and bought a 1950 Olds Rocket 88 (with a window visor) for $75 which had actually been owned by an old lady and had the original seat covers and tires and had less than 25,000 original miles.
The list goes on:
1961 International Harvester TravelAll
1953 Chevy pick-up
1951 Chevy Pick-up (traded for a 1951 DKW 150 cc motorcross bike that I bought in Belgium for $20)
1949 Chevy Sedan Delivery
1953 Chevy Sedan Delivery
1957 GMC pick-up
1959 GMC Carryall
1950 Jeep Wagon
and my last “old car” was a 1950 Willys Jeepster rag top that was all original (Nassau Cream) with a 4 cylinder Hurricane engine.
Today my daily driver is a 1982 Jeep Scrambler (only 29 years old) which I intend to drive …. well until I can find a deal on the one that always got away, a 37′ Ford covertable.
