When my old wheels started turning

Few things will get an old guy's mind to shift into high gear faster than memories of his first car. Or cars.

Those vintage thoughts from the previous century made my heart race. Indeed, it's so easy to become a big wheel, if only on the gravel road of one's mind.

My dad with his first car, likely a used vehicle, and late in the 1930s. Dad graduated from high school in 1936, so I suspect this would be after that. 

I was, uh, tired when I woke one recent morning in the wee hours, so to speak, and once nature took its course, I took a spin through a Facebook group about my high school.

A group moderator asked, "What year, make and model was your first car?"

I couldn't help but smile as the memories roared back.

Right away, I thought of my cavernous 1969 Ford Galaxie!

My 1969 Ford Galaxie looked similar to this car.

Despite the unusual spelling of its name, I figured galaxy was a great name to be adored by someone, such as me, who loves the night sky. And hey, there's nothing like a Milky Way.

Since I was in my early 20s at the time, I enjoyed the fact that my car had so much room on the front bench-style seat that there was no reason to go into the back. Don’t start with me. You would have thought that, too.

My first car was a used vehicle; it had belonged to my parents, and they passed it off to me around the time I graduated in 1975 from Point Park College in Pittsburgh. I believe there was some small exchange of cash for my mom and dad's car.

I don't recall how long I kept it, but I remember being so excited when I traded it for my second car. I hesitate to say it again, but that second car made my heart race, and it did.

It was the Ford Galaxie I was driving one day, inexplicably, in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood (why was I there?), when I spotted what would turn into the ultimate dream ride for me.

There, in a used car lot just off the Boulevard of the Allies, I saw a beautiful gray lady sporting narrow red stripes. She wasn’t too old – this tale is from the late 1970s, and the car was a stunning 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham.

A beauty similar to my favorite ride!

With a crushed velvet interior!

My friends called it a babe magnet.

Well, I didn’t call it that, but lo and behold, one evening the lovely Rosemary asked me to give her a ride home (if she ever reads this, I’d like her to know I was thrilled to have her as my passenger and be sure she reached her Crafton doorstep safely).

What a comfortable interior to the Cutlass!

For reasons lodged too deeply in the garage of my mind, I called my car the Genesis 1. Hmm … probably because I felt it heralded a new beginning in my life.

My dear friend from college, Helen, once rode in the Cutlass with me on a post-graduation trip to visit friends in eastern Pennsylvania – cruising along that heralded turnpike in the commonwealth.

Somewhere on the trip, the water pump went kaput, and we had to deal with that on the road home. It required frequent stops for water to keep it from overheating. I had the repairs made after we reached home.

I’m sure I put many miles on that Cutlass. I dated a lady in West Mifflin —definitely not right around the corner from my apartment in Green Tree. Later, when I dated Kate, she borrowed the car often while I worked, and once came to pick me up while she was wearing a mink coat. Really. Pretty snazzy.

I honestly don’t remember how long I kept the “G1.” Maybe until the days in the 1980s when I was, um, settling down even more so in life. My next car? I don’t recall. No memorable impression.

But those first two vehicles were awesome in so many ways, more than I detailed. They helped me get my life, well, on track.

So did you have a favorite first car? Or first two? Tell me! Here’s your chance to be a … spokesman! 
 
Addendum: While the exhaust was clearing with my writing of this blog, Amy and I bought a 2027 Prius XLE. She named it Pearl. But I call it NCC 1701-D. You know … after Star Trek’s USS Enterprise, captained by Jean-Luc Picard. Oh, the amazing technology in this Prius!

Our new starship, uh, Prius XLE, on the launch pad in front of our house.