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What family car do remember the most while growing up?

We always talk about the towns, or the houses, or the schools we grew up in.

What about the cars?

My father had an Auto Body Shop.
Now . . .srangely enough . . . you'd think we'd grow up with the nicest car in the neighborhood. . .right?. . .no. 

We went thru a myriad of crashy cars that where always on the brink of being turned into classics, you just had to "wait and see". So we rode in them, hoping nobody from school saw us, until the next work of art prospect appeared on the yard.

Then one day my mom had it,  and made it known loud enough for the.whole neighborhood to hear, that she was done riding in garbagee cars.

I remember when my my Dad drove up in the Gran Torino Station Wagon. It was awesome! The back door was super long and super heavy, and the space inside, gigantic.
My brother, sister, and I would go in there and I swear we could run around, without even bumping into each other.

The seats, the back seats, they folded forward! I thought that's how space crafts must be.

It was red.

Posted - January 25, 2017

Responses


  • Yes!!
    That was a car there.! 
    We could say the quintessential muscle car. 
    And yes too, to the gold color. I think like the.Brown And Burgundy, Gold color for cars sorta disappeared. Interesting how the.color of fashion for cars is silver, or gray. How boring is that?
    Thanks Thebigd.

      January 25, 2017 2:00 PM MST
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  • I'm going to get all non-American on you. You're used to that, of course.
    Right.
    A midnight blue Vauxhall Viva, circa 1970. 
    Vauxhall - British car manufacturer. Gone out of business now )
    It was horrible. Plastic seats and and an usual chemical smell that combined with petrol fumes, would have me heaving on almost every trip.
    My father insisted on smoking cigars too. However eloquent and witty the man was mindful of heaving children he was not.
    The car did have some cool triangular side windows at the back, but I don't recall they being that much compensation. Me twiddling away while my stomach was turning over.
    Thanks for the memories ;)
      January 25, 2017 1:09 PM MST
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  • Picture????)))
      January 25, 2017 1:16 PM MST
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  • Alright.
      January 25, 2017 1:17 PM MST
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  • The glistening sun in this pic should't fool you. It was a horrible monster.


      January 25, 2017 1:21 PM MST
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  • That sounds like every car we had until the Station Wagon. 
    The fumes! The.fumes!!!!The.turns!!! And the pulling over suddenly to let one of the.kids get out and throw up on the side of the.road. 

    Haha. The memories are mutual.  )))

    Thank you, dearest friend.
    Im going to look at what that looks like.




      January 25, 2017 1:21 PM MST
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  • Smile. My pleasure )
      January 25, 2017 1:23 PM MST
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  • Looks like one of those Russian cArs they had to.wait years on a.list for.
    I see the little triangular Windows!!! What a jip those were. You'd open them expecting their directional ability to be.able to send wind in your direction. But they never really worked Did they???
    Thanks L. 
    Always enjoy your answers very much.
      January 25, 2017 1:26 PM MST
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  • Ha, no. It's silly but they made me feel sort of grown up, opening and closing them without parental consent because they were so small. They had control over the big windows, I had control over the little ones. )
      January 26, 2017 3:53 AM MST
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  • "A 1950 Plymouth Convertible" ...
    yellow w/ white top; brown interior and 3-speed manual.
    I wanted my dad to sell it to me, but he sold it to my brother instead.

      January 25, 2017 1:40 PM MST
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  • Gotta love the white walls!!
    My first car was a 1982 Buick Le Sabre. 
    I had white walls on it))!!
    Was he real picky with having you guys in it, or driving it?
      January 25, 2017 1:46 PM MST
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  • No ... he taught us both how to drive and we were the ones that kept it clean, so there wasn't any need for him to tell us to be careful in the car. I was washing and waxing cars by the time I was ten years old. He (Dad) did check to see if it was done correctly!  That was a fun car and in great shape!  
    Ya ... white walls.  You know, they made the tires stronger which makes me wonder, a bit, why they still don't do something like that  Price, I guess.
      January 25, 2017 1:57 PM MST
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  • I think it is just fashion. They still make some models with them and they get mounted with the.walls.facing in, you know?
    I think your dad was.cooler than I would have been. There's no way I'd let my kids free reign with a car like that. ))
    Thank you Alf, Did your brother keep it for a while?
    Im doubting very much it is still.around no??
      January 25, 2017 2:09 PM MST
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  • They started mounting them on the inside because whitewalls were going out of fashion. 
    My Dad was not cool. He usually brought home another (new-to-him) car about every six months, so keeping it "cherry" was something he didn't care about ( substitute for a failing marriage).
    "Did my brother keep it long?  With two payments left to make to Dad, Dad repossessed it.  As I said ... "my Dad was not cool."  I have no idea what Dad did with it after that. (One of those childhood traumas) lol.

      January 25, 2017 2:21 PM MST
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  • Oh, im sorry for dredging all those bad memories back up. 
    But hey, at least it is over. 
    I can I identify with the idea of a not very cool parent. 
    So many memories attached to cars, you know? 
    Good and bad.
    Thanks again, for responding. HALF.
      January 25, 2017 3:52 PM MST
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  • 2500
    What an awesome ride!
      January 25, 2017 3:12 PM MST
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  • It would probably be really hard to find one these days, SRP. Convertibles are fun though. :)
      January 25, 2017 3:15 PM MST
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  • 6988
    My father had Corvairs. Frickin' Corvairs!  Damn thing broke down on the way to the beach. Ruined the day. Frickin' Corvair!
      January 25, 2017 2:23 PM MST
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  • Haha, . .  Yeah. .
    Corvair.
    Hey, the car that made my mom go nuts was a Datsun, a Datsun!

    This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at January 25, 2017 3:56 PM MST
      January 25, 2017 3:55 PM MST
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  • I have two....the first, was an MG Midget my stepfather bought for my mom for her birthday looked just like this one...it was my first car


    The second, was a Dodge Ramcharger that my stepfather gutted, put in custom folding bench style backseat that folded out into a bed for my sister's and I...we traveled and camped out to California and back it was amazing.
      January 25, 2017 2:23 PM MST
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  • Those are such nice stories. 
    A couple of cars, you know, just cars, until you look at the stories behind them and they are so much more then.
    Thank you Angela for the lovely story.
      January 25, 2017 4:00 PM MST
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  • You're welcome!
      January 25, 2017 5:32 PM MST
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  • I hardly remember a car, we had a vardo for awhile, but when we got older and moved cross country I do remember my parents Ford Taurus. 
      January 25, 2017 3:00 PM MST
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  • I wasn't familiar with the term vardo, so I looked it up and came up with what looks like a little house on wheels.
    Is that right?
      January 25, 2017 4:03 PM MST
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  • Yes it is. :) 
      January 25, 2017 4:55 PM MST
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