My first car was a '31 Model A Ford 5-window coupe, which bought in college for $40, followed by a '52 Mercury convertible like James Dean drove in Rebel Without A Cause (tho his was a hardtop). Rebel came out when I was a senior in high school in the fabulous '50s, the same year that Rock Around The Clock stood pop music on its ear and where it remains. Later beasts included a '54 Morris Minor (bomb), '52 Plymouth 2-door (alltime great car), '60 Plymouth Valiant slant-6 (great Detroit iron, some still around), a '54 Triumph TR3 Roadster -- long-gone dream car -- an '80 Honda CM400 Custom (bike) and, ta-ta! -- a '68 VW bus, which hauled 4 kids about 300,000 miles through the California '70s and ran through about a half-dozen (blown) engines due to a lead-footed, silly owner. After an interval involving Japanese cars (retaining a great small Toyota), drifted back to VW with an '82 Vanagon which may be the best car I ever owned, having been babied by a PO and treated to a rebuild about 15,000 miles ago by the seller so that it's about like new. I hafta thank the list, especially Joel Walker, for steering me toward this model, the last of the great air-cooled vans. And, I say, air-cooled IS cool. I just turned 60 (didn't hurt at all), spent 34 years as a wire service (UPI) and newspaper (Sacramento Bee) reporter and feature writer, am semi-retired now and, as you can see, a minimalist when it comes to paragraphing. Cheers and thanks to all who enrich this list. Art McGinn |
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