A classic celebration

published June 23, 2011

in the Stockton Sentinel

Stockton, Kansas

What a super summer celebration we just enjoyed in Stockton last weekend! Thanks to all who worked hard in planning and carrying out the plans. Beginning with the Friday evening cruising on Main Street, right through the great sounds of the band, Flatspin, and the fun of looking at all those great classic cars, it was a fun summer event that should be continued, getting bigger and better every year.

 It’s fun to look at well-kept or restored vintage vehicles, and it brings to mind the cars of our past that we’d like to have back. There are some great memories connected to each of the cars we have owned. It seems like the vehicle we were driving at any given time helps mark the era and the events that occurred during that time.

The car I drove as a senior in high school was a ‘59 Chevy, a big white boat of a car with huge fins for rear fenders. For some reason, that car came with a spotlight mounted outside the front passenger window. What a great bush-whackin’ car!

Bob’s first car was a black ’64 Ford Falcon. I can’t share any memories of that car because it might change your impression of us. His second car was a ’65 Ford Mustang, orange with a white “racing stripe” along the sides and for some reason, green shag carpeting. He bought it when he was living in Kansas City and making weekend trips back to Wichita to visit me. It was a hot little car and all those horses under the hood earned Bob his first speeding ticket. The Mustang was “altered” by ornery friends the night of our wedding and never ran good again.

The first car we bought together was a ’70 Chevelle SS, a bright red with a white vinyl top. I remember how nervous we were signing our first loan papers for a car. Man! That seemed like a lot of money – and it was! (I also remember winning my first camera – a cool little 110 – in a contest from Ford Motor Company after we bought the car!) Of all the cars we’ve ever owned, the pretty red Chevelle is the one I wish we still had. But at the time we owned it, it seemed to be cursed because it kept getting hit. It was in one accident after another, but none of the accidents were my fault. Seriously! Either I or the car just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, several times. I remember someone telling me that God doesn’t like the color red, and I was beginning to believe it! By the time we traded it away, there wasn’t much of the body of that pretty red car that hadn’t been puttied and repainted.

Another car we owned and would love to have in the garage again was a ’74 Cutlass Supreme. It was kind of a bright lime green color with a white vinyl partial top. I felt really classy driving that car! We also owned a brownish/gold Gran Torino and a white Buick Riviera.

Any one of the cars we used to own would be great fun to have back again. Then we could cruise to car shows, too, and remember “the good ol’ days.”

Thanks to everyone who made last weekend a fun event. With Stockton located at the intersection of two major highways, we’re at a prime spot for a car show and for celebrating all that our cars have meant to us in the past.