Priorities Change

[BrokenolMarine]

I usually just looked at a vehicle as something that was practical for the family. This was starting around 1969 when I got out of the Navy. Of course, before that, in the sixties, I had my MGA roadster thanks to my grandmother and a blue Chevy convertible. I think it was a 283. Now I have a new Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, hopefully my last vehicle. They go for a long time and I only put about 8,000 miles a year on one now. I am 72. Even firearms are not a top priority as they once were. I enjoy what I have and don't plan on any new ones. Hike, shoot, hunt, walk the dog, watch the grandkids play ball, watch sports on tv, collect diecasts and try to get along with the wife. Been with her for 48 years, she's a keeper. Just trying to stay healthy for a few more years.

Believe it or not, I had a 1957 (I think?) MGA convertible that I earned by working for my uncle for a month of weekends. It didn't run, and it came with boxes of parts. My dream was to work for the rest of the year and drive it to graduation. My stepfather helped me pull the engine and look at the rest of the car.. which had sat in his brother's garage for YEARS before he suckered me all those years into helping him and taking it in trade. My stepfather was a great guy, and told me that I could keep the car and tinker with it if I wanted, but in 1975/76 I was earning minimum wage and that didn't amount to much after taxes... working part time. ($30 or so a week?) When we got the engine out, we found that the pistons were rusted into the cylinders and the block was cracked. A new or rebuilt engine would run anywhere from $1800 to $3000 bucks. The brakes were shot, the lines were rusted thru, the shocks were gone.. the car was... a dream out of my reach.



I sold the car to a guy several blocks over that rebuilt and restored cars, from 55 chevys to Mustangs, to Jags. I think he paid me $250 and I called it lucky.

[Deadwood Dutch]

Mine was a 1959 white with a black soft top, of course. The leather interior with the wire wheels with knock-off hubs and of course those side curtains that were held in place with the wing nuts and you opened the doors from the inside with the pull cords. Sliding plexaglass windows, as I remember, it's been a long time, and a really nice free-flow muffler that had that really nice "throaty" sound especially when you down shifted and let off the gas. She could really corner on those back country roads, a blast to drive.

[Squatch]

I'm more about 4x4 trucks than cars. But if I don't get Mama Squatch's car back on the road soon she isn't going to be fun to deal with.