Flashbacks

I see a car and it triggers a memory! Does this happen to you? When I was 16 and just beginning to dream about cars, I spotted a classified for a `69 Road Runner. I went to check it out for myself. It was a poorer version of this beauty you see here. Same green color, same 383, same four speed. One look and I was hooked. Convincing my dad would be another matter.

Dad carried the authority of the Supreme Court. In matters of judgment, his word was final. We pulled up to the house and walked around the car which sat under the owner's carport. As he popped the hood, my eyes popped over what was under it. Lots of cubic inches of Mopar giddyup and headers!

Dad asked the owner to start it up. The minute that engine roared to life -- and I mean roared -- it was over. My dad must have felt the Road Runner guaranteed that his son would become road kill. The judge rendered his verdict. The gavel fell. There would be no "beep beep" to brighten my days. "Bad outcome" but great memory!

I get flashbacks when I see a `69 Chevelle (my first auto body project), a '72 Cutlass convertible (my sister's car that I borrowed for prom),  '65-`66 Mustangs (my first car was a `65 Stang), a `64 Fairlane 500 (my aunt's car that my brother and would take for a spin around the block), or a 68 Charger (that belonged to my 68-year old hot rod Aunt Vernie). Oh the memories! What's your flashback?