The only new cars Gene drove were provided by the company he worked for. The “family” car was always one of the “Oldies but Goodies” vintage.
These were not collector cars. These were Used Cars. Their value in life was three-fold: (1) They were affordable, (2) they were easier for Gene to make some of the repairs himself, and (3) he loved the old-jalopies – tinkering with them and driving them.
As far as Yours Truly was concerned, the old rattletraps had some serious drawbacks: (1) they had a habit of breaking down frequently and at the most inopportune times, (2) their interior wasn’t big enough for a horde of children and dogs, and (3) they had to be “shifted”. This is why during the 1960s and 1970s, all the used cars we owned were new enough to at least have a passing acquaintance with “automatic transmission”. Otherwise, God forbid, I would have been unable to demonstrate my unique driving abilities.
One time, Lazarus transported us from Seattle to San Jose, California for a wine conference. There was a big heat wave going on, and along the
What got me remembering about “rolling along” in our old cars, is this video Linda Lewis sent me. The performance of the car in it is the polar opposite of our family cars, but Gene would have loved it. Put on your seat belt, sit back, and prepare for some driving tension.
Linda’s note said. “The stretch of highway that this ad was filmed on is in the Fraser Canyon, British Columbia, Canada. The tunnel they did this in is the China Bar Tunnel on Highway 1 just North of Spuzzum. The car is a new Mercedes. Make sure that your sound is on.”
I wonder why both doors open, when no one was willing to be a passenger on that roll over.
Gene did a tremendous job on Lazarus! I had no idea it’s history. You are so FULL of treasures! Everyone has a story, but Octo-woman is the best story teller ever!