Last week we got rid of our latest Subaru and made the plunge back into Saab territory and it feels like home. While telling my sister about purchasing our 2001 Saab 9-3 SE, she wondered if I could list all of the vehicles I have owned. I know I can’t do motorcycles. There have been too many and too many half breeds and half owned bikes. I will say the motorcycle highlights have been my first Yamaha dirt bike which was my escape and release from adolescence, my last three Triumphs and the pleasure of being able to care for two mint, antique Hondas for a couple years.
On the automotive side I am going to limit this to personal vehicles. I could do a highlight of cars I have been associated with during 20 years in the car business but I am supposed to be writing the great American novel and I think this might detract from those efforts. I might slip one or two in but I am focusing on cars I have owned.
According to my father I could drive before I could walk and he wasn’t lying. I was a late bloomer on the walking and talking fronts but Dad bought me some strange battery powered go kart thing which was basically a thick piece of sheet metal with four wheels, a seat, steering wheel, accelerator, brake pedal and forward and reverse. After crawling in I could drive it for about a week and then Dad would have to drive the whole contraption about 12 miles to where he bought it so they could recharge the battery. This was the early 1960’s and by what I’m seeing coming to market we may be revisiting those good old days soon although we won’t have to crawl in. That was a personal issue.
Shortly after learning to drive the go kart I decided to tackle the real deal. I was a little over 2 years of age. Dad and I had just returned from errands he was running and the family was taking a day trip. Dad pulled into the driveway, placed the car in park and went into the house to get the rest of the family while leaving Junior (that would be me) sitting in a car seat in the middle of the front seat. My car seat had a steering wheel and a shifter and a horn but Dad’s Pontiac did too so I went for it and my very first childhood memory is looking at the line of cars waiting for someone to move the Pontiac out of the middle of the street after I hit reverse. I also remember Mom being rather loud but this is about cars, not family feuds I caused.
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