Wha?

BBBH will be tooling around in her new wheels.

Lincolns and More

Last week we took a little spin down to Louisburg, Kansas where we saw a large RV park out in the middle of nowhere.  Near the entry to the park was a little "strip mall' constructed in more or less Old West style, wooden buildings and so on.  A few stores occupying same but on the south end of the complex we espied a garage, front door open and a gleaming '57 Thunderbird facing the world.  We had to stop.

We got out of our car and walked over to the building.  We entered and were greeted by the owner who clearly enjoyed having visitors ogle his workmanship, for he is a quality restorer of classic cars.  The conversation enlightened us considerably.  The T-Bird he had just finished for a customer, having redone a previous restoration and correcting the problems therewith.  He declared it now "better than new" and I don't doubt it.  Here is a rather poor picture of the 'Bird, as it is severely back-lighted.

Next to the 'Bird was a '64 Lincoln Continental 4-door convertible.  I expressed considerable interest in the car as I drove a Continental for six years in the sixties and early seventies.  Mine was not a convertible.  The gentleman advised me to take a look outside at the south end of the building, as there was a completed Continental out there which he had just finished and taken out.

Next to this Lincoln was a '65 Mustang, a marque which I also owned.  I bought mine new in1965.

This is what we saw out under the trees, my old heart-throb!  Isn't she beautiful?

The Old Man and the Old Cars

Two of the boys, Kent and Ricky, picked me up Saturday morning and took me to a car show in celebration of Fathers' Day.  The show was the 30th Annual John Dillinger Legendary Bank Robbery Run in Daleville, Indiana, a bucolic thirty-minute drive from the house.

Whatever the show had to do with John Dillinger I failed to see, but it was a great car show!  Tons, literally, of entries ranging from '27 T-buckets to Cadillac road arks of the Fifties and Sixties and MoPar muscle cars of the Seventies.

To my surprise one of Kent's favorites (he's big on MoPar muscle cars) was a '63 Rambler 440.  He also was amazed at the Willys vehicles which he said he had never seen.  Ricky was enthralled with the Cadillacs.

After I was worn out and had seen about all the old iron I could process in one session, Kent treated us to a steak dinner, then home.

Great day!

Gobron-Brillie Speed

•  In the early days of the automobile a Frenchman, Louis Rigolly, was the first person to surpass 100 mph on land. Measured speed was 103.56 mph.  This took place in Ostend, Belgium, July 21, 1904. The car was said to have a  15 liter (915 cubic inch) Gobron-Brillie opposed engine.  GB was a French auto manufacturer which built and sold cars from1898 to 1930 when the company filed for bankruptcy.

For the Chevy Fans

. The Grey Flash #T

 
 The statute of limitations has long-since expired and Mom and Dad are no longer with us, sadly, so I might now share some of my teen-years' exploits.

I drove, a literal fact because I did not own a car when I was a teenager, a 1950 Ford which belonged to the parents.  Drag racing from the stoplight was a popular sport in our bailiwick.  One pulls up to a red light on a four-lane boulevard or avenue, a car pulls up on the left.  That driver gives the evil eye, Elvis sneer and all and revs his engine.  The light turns green and the race is on!  These events lasted only a block or less, long enough to verify that one or the other was top dog and the drivers let off.  They might repeat the performance at another light, or the whipped driver might accede to the other and drive sedately on, tail between his legs.

The Ford had a 239 flathead V-8, stock in all respects, and a three-on-the-tree overdrive transmission.  At least as much depended on driver skill as on engine power.  I won a lot of contests.  Oddly, though, the ones that stand out in my memory were the ones in which I was the whipped dog.

Today's event

Fred and I were both seniors in high school.  I first got acquainted with Fred in sixth grade.  Fred seriously lacked academic skills, to put it in the kindest possible light.  But now Fred owned his own auto which I didn't.  He had a 1949 Chevy five-window coupe, gray in color and quite ordinary looking.  No fancy bodywork or other sign that the car was "hot."

On this particular fine evening about an hour before sunset I pulled up to the stoplight along Colorado Avenue at 21st Street.  Fred pulled up, not beside me, but behind me  Heard his engine revving, Vroom, vroom!  and glancing in the mirror I recognized Fred.

Of course the engine noise got my adrenaline flowing and when the light changed I floored it.  As I slammed it into second gear, the grey beast sailed past me as though I were standing still.  In fact, I thought I was and that something was terribly wrong with my car.  I glanced at the speedo and saw it at 45 and climbing.  Fred well ahead, I let up.

It was some time later that I learned that Fred had dropped a Jimmie 302 in-line six into the thing, a move quite popular with hot-rodders in the day.  And it had not remained in stock condition, either!

Great memories!

Word of the day:  three-on-the-tree

First in a series.