Ridin' In Style

This is Buffy in her 1913 Ford T-Runabout at the 23rd Annual Boulevard Park Car Show. She's a great touring dog according to her owner. It's a nasty, rainy morning so I'm hoping for the sake of all the people who have cars in the show that the sun will appear today.

I have a difficult time choosing a subject at an event like this. My heart is with the Chevys and Fords of the 1950s because those were the cars I first drove, and I'm always thrilled to see a beautifully restored 1955 or 1957 chevy. I learned to drive on a 1948 Packard, lurching up and down the alley behind our house in 1956, with my terrified mother as the instructor. The car was the size of a mini-bus, black as ink, a stick shift and without turn signals of course, and I was sure I was going to die right there in the alley. Of course, I didn't and after I got the hang of it I moved on to a 1951 Ford and then, be still my heart, a 1955 Chevy convertable, red and white, which I bought in 1957 for the grand sum of $1,500 with payments of $50 month.

There's also a part of me that feels linked to the cars of the very early years because my grandfather worked with Henry Ford in the automobile industry and so stories of his experiences were part of the family history. They're also cars that I associate with the dapper be-hatted ladies and gentlemen of a brave new age. What a thrill it must have been to own one of those amazing vehicles.

I'd be happy just to have my 1955 Chevy back.