My vehicles

Today I'd like to talk about the vehicles that I drove during my teenage high school years and later as a young married man. Earlier today I was browsing YouTube for videos of hot cars & I began to reminisce about some of the cars that I was involved with as a youth growing up in Riley County , Kansas.



The first automobile that I drove on a regular basis was a 1949? Nash Rambler that my dad bought for me after I first learned to drive and needed a vehicle to get me back & forth to Riley County High School. I do not know from where or whom Dad purchased this car but I remember one of the first things he did was to have it painted. My uncle Harold Winkler (who was a helluva shade tree mechanic) painted the Nash a sort of light pea green color. I probably would have chosen something different but apparently it was not my choice to make. The Nash was sort of a heavy looking vehicle, sort of a transition from the 40's style auto to what was to become a somewhat sleeker style that came along in the 1950's. I didn't drive the car for very long, maybe about a year, and it must have worn out, because for a while it sat back behind some of our farm outbuildings and then Dad eventually sold or gave it away and it became a piece of playground equipment at a Riley mobile home park.



The next car that I had was a 1953 Studebaker Champion. This was probably the most unique of the cars that I drove during my high school years. Partially because of the vehicle itself and partially because of the fact that I was able to drive that car during my formative high school years; in other words, when the time came that I spent maybe as much time in the car as I did studying. The car was considered to be ahead of its time stylewise. When Dad first bought the car it had fake whitewall tires--the whitewalls were only attached to the tire walls and were not an actual part of the tire itself. This was fine while they were still relatively new but after some time they began to look less impressive. Later I removed the wheel covers that came on the car & painted the wheels black---this was a relatively inexpensive way to get a "customized" look at that time. The car was a two door coupe with fold forward front seat backs to allow entry to the back seat. It had a console/storage compartment located in the middle of the back seat. It was basically a 4 person cabin. The car had a sleek low slung look with a long front hood which gave an appearance similiar to a more expensive sportscar---not unlike the Ford Thunderbird which made its appearance also in the early to mid 1950s. The car was a fairly dark green color. The engine was a six cylinder with a 3 speed stick shift on the steering column. One of the custom things I added to the car was a set of colored interior lights to kind of give a "sexy" look. The car served me well during my sophomore and junior years when I as a young boy growing into a young man and was learning to seek out & enjoy some of the extracurricular aspects of attending high school with all its related sporting and social events. I won't expound on this subject any more than to say that it was mighty handy to have my own transportation at a time when I was exploring some of the uncharted territory of some of life's blessed social mysteries. It is said that at times when Dad would be up and about early in the morning, as he always was, he would place his hand on the hood of the car to see if there was still heat coming from the engine, thereby gaining some clue as to how late I had been out the night (or early morning) before. I'm sure that Dad was keenly aware of the situation because he of course was also a young man at one time.



The third vehicle that I drove after the Studebaker bit the dust, thanks no doubt in large part to my somewhat reckless abuse from time to time' was a 1959 Ford 4 door blue sedan. What a difference from driving the sleek Studebaker. Maybe dad realized that he had better supply me with less of a "sports" car. The Ford was a nice vehicle---good condition---ran very well. Six cylinder with a 3 speed transmission. Nothing very exciting. I confess that I did run the heck out of the car at times, well you know just because I could and also because at about the same time some of my best friends had hardtops and V8s and 4 speed transmissons (more about this later) and the like so I had to try and mimic some of their hotrod activity. I don't remember much more about the Ford--probably drove it about a year.



Speaking of my friends' cars, (forgive me old friends but I have to talk about your cars--I was so impressed and jealous of your vehicles) here are a few examples:



Mike Olsen--drove his parents 1960 Chevrolet for a while, then all hell broke loose when he was able to buy his own 1957 Chevy Belair 4 door sedan, 283 V8, automatic on the column--a nice family car---Right!!! It was a beaut! Nice bronze & cream color, excellent condition. Well, Mike was soon comfortable with his new ride and soon found that the little V8 was a runnin' rascal. The rest is history. Lots of double dates in that car.



Gordon Visser obtained what I believe was a 1963 Plymouth (MOPAR). don't remember too much about it. The one thing that I remember was that it was a push button automatic transmission. This was quite unique at the time. Nice car. Of course Gordon could have a heavy foot at times if you know what I mean. Also double dated in that car.



Jim Oberhelman also had a 1957 Chevy which I believe was a hardtop. 348 cu in engine. Jim customized the car some I think but it was also the very nice bronze & cream color combo. Very nice car.

Darrel Weller had a 1958 Chevy, 348 V8 engine, green I believe.

Ron Davis--1958 Chevy

Richard Williams---1960 Chevy, red & white I think--nice car.

That's all for now. In a future Blog, I'll comment on cars that I owned during my college, which of course is a whole other story---more tales to tell. Thank you.