Some of you will remember Grandpa’s maroon 1970 Ford Galaxie: He and Grandma put a lot of miles on that car travelling all over the country to see ‘the kids’ (AKA, all of you!).
One of the proudest days of my life was when Grandpa loaned it to me: it didn’t occur to me that he’d allow a 16 year old new license to drive his beloved Galaxie, but I asked him, and he did! Of course, I got some advice about what NOT to do, but that was ok with me. . . .I was so honored that he trusted me with it that there could have been an uncooked egg between my foot and the accelerator! I don’t think I’ve EVER driven a car so gingerly since (just ask my wife). Before I returned it to him, I filled the tank with premium gas, which it didn’t need, and I didn’t tell him that I’d done that.
Anyway, the last few years, I’ve been kind of wanting a maroon 1970 Ford Galaxie. . . .but the last thing I need is another car (I’ve got 6 or 7), especially one that gets 10-15 MPG. So my lovely wife found me a model, which I built to resemble Grandpa’s car as closely as I can remember. It lives in a curio cabinet in our bedroom, and it makes me smile whenever I walk by it. And I don’t have to insure it!
Grandpa had no use for people who squalled their tires (or maybe that was for my benefit as a teenager!), he’d mutter ‘NO BRAINS’ whenever he saw somebody burn rubber. But he DID like to drive fast: he would open her up on the Metamora/Washington blacktop, get up past 90, and say (when the other occupants of the car would comment) that he needed to ‘blow the cobs out of her!’
The dashboard of that car was always full of stuff: Bibles, seed corn pamphlets, maps, etc. This drove my Dad nuts, as he regarded it as a major safety hazard. He’d climb all over Grandpa, tell him he HAD to get rid of all of that junk, and Grandpa would pay no attention. He also paid no attention to backseat drivers who objected to his refusal to slow down for curves on back roads. . . .he really should have been a dirt track racer!
Uncle Dan and I had a great time exchanging stories about Grandpa’s driving a few months ago via email. Since he’s much more eloquent than I (and has a better story), I’ll wait for him to chime in with it at a later date (still haven’t ‘gone public’ with this website yet, but plan to soon, once I get the hang of this, and feel like there is enough content for it to be worth a visit).