My First Car

I purchased this car in 1956 from a dear friend for $50. I know that doesn't sound like much now but it was my life savings at that time. Its transmission was shot (the car could not move at all under its own power) as were the seat covers. This was about 6 months before I was old enough to drive. So it just sat out in front of my house waiting for me. I went out and cleaned and polished it every day and ran the top up and down just to watch it operate. Sometimes, I even started the motor but that was not popular with my parents or neighbors -- it had very loud dual mufflers at the time.

Meanwhile, I was trying to repair or replace the bad transmission with very little success. Thanks to a sympathetic father and a friendly mechanic, it finally got done for me. Also, I think for my birthday or maybe Christmas, my grandparents sprang for a terrific new set of seat covers. Lastly, since I would have to use this car for my driving test, I had to install more socially acceptable mufflers. Actually, even if this had not been the case, my father refused to let me keep the old ones anyway.

Well, I drove it pretty much like that for a year or two and felt like I had about the "coolest wheels" around. I drove it to Memphis where I was to work for my uncle for a few months. While there, I made a weekend side trip to St. Louis. I even met my wife on a sort of "blind date" in the car. Later it took me to Lamar, MO where I was to work in the hay harvest. While there, the head cracked and I couldn't keep water in the cooling system or out of the oil. Since I had not been able to find any harvest work, I had absolutely no money and had to sell the car to get bus fare home. Sometime later, I went back to try to buy the car back, but it was long since gone.

Actually, This is a picture of an almost identical sister car shot by me at the NSRA Nationals in Oklahoma City a few years ago. I tried but never found the owner. But, as you can see, it was a really nice car. Sadly, I can't seem to find any photos of my old Chevy anywhere.