Let’s talk about cars. Everyone needs a car unless you live in a big Metropolitan area with access to public transportation like New York City or Chicago. I’ve had a car since I was 16 years old. My first car was a boat. No not really a boat that floats on water, but that ‘79 Ford Thunderbird sure floated on the streets. Damn I loved that car!!! Mostly because it was my first car, and it was a really nice riding car as well. I hit potholes now and bang my head against the roof of my car. That T-bird would have just laughed at potholes. It was a hand me down from my mom but it could not have been more appreciated. Having a single mom, I didn’t ever think that I would get a car while I was still in high school. I think she just got tired of having to cart me around everywhere but hey, fine by me. I vividly remember she woke me up one Saturday morning, gave me the keys and she asked me to go the store for her to pick up a few things. Once I got back from the store, I carried the bags upstairs and threw the keys in her purse. A few minutes later she told me that I needed to move the car to a space behind the building. I thought that was odd but any excuse to get behind the wheel was a-okay with me. I parked the car behind the building and when I walked back to our apartment I saw a strange car in her usual parking space. I went upstairs and told my mom someone parked in her space the minute I pulled out. She laughed and said that was her assigned space. (it really wasn’t but she thought it was) and she wanted to go downstairs and see what jerk parked in her space, so we did. I got a kick out of riling her up sometimes. She walked towards the car and said she had half a mind to move it. I looked at her and said, “yah right”. Then she opened the door to this car. My mom was bold but even that was a little further than I figured she would go. I told her she couldn’t move the car, she didn’t have the keys. She reached in her pocket and said, “Fooled you, this is my new car and that “POS” you drove to the back is your “new car”. I just stood there in shock for a few minutes. My mom was the queen of practical jokes so it didn’t sink in right away. I asked if she was telling the truth. She took the keys and started her new car and told me to get the keys from my POS car out of her purse. I started screaming and crying. I could not believe she gave me her car. It really wasn’t a POS it was only 4 years old by that time. She gave me a litany of rules to follow of which I didn’t hear any of them because the overwhelming excitement of getting my own car blocked out everything she said. I asked her if I could take my new car out for a spin. I drove to my best friend’s house and gave her the news. Now we didn’t have to ride in her POS car. Which really was a POS, but it was a car and it got us where we needed to go so it was cool. That is the first day I felt like I was growing up and becoming independent. I was given a weekly gas allowance of $10.00 which at that time almost filled the tank of that beast with money left over for an ice-cold bottled Coke (back when it had real sugar not corn syrup). Here’s something funny, I’m vertically challenged so I used to put a pillow behind me so I could reach the pedals. I hadn’t thought about that in years.
Since that day when I was 16, I have only been without a car for mere days. I thought those days without a car were going to kill me. A car can mean a variety of things but to me it means independence. Going where you want, when you want and for how long you want. Those T-birds aren’t on the roads anymore but every once in a while I will see one in a movie or television and it takes me back to that feeling on that spring day. I tell myself if I ever win the lottery, I want to find one of those cars and have it restored exactly how mine was. Hard top, Metallic Silver paint with burgundy velvet interior, man that car was beautiful!!! I wonder if the next person that drove that car appreciated it and loved it like I did??? I hope so.
I said all of that to say this: take care of your car. If you take care of it, it will take care of you. Now I know accessories don’t do anything to maintain the mechanics of the car but some make life easier, safer and even make your friends green with envy. (like mine were in High School) and that’s always good!!
I have always been fascinated by cars, trucks, automobiles. The way they work, how to fix then, maintain them and how to make them pretty. Automobiles are not maintenance free but they are made up of a few maintenance free items. It is the belief that automobiles will not fail you if they maintained properly: oil changed, tires inflated, brake rotors and pads changed when needed, just to name a few. The make up of vehicles from days past were a lot easier to figure out and tinker on than those manufactured today. Who remembers what an air filter or breather pad looks like or how to replace one? When was the last time you changed the oil and filter in your car yourself? I suppose one could say that your new car/truck is in fact maintenance free if you were charged with maintaining the critical components and your mechanic or dealership is your current shade tree mechanic with the specialized tools to care for your mode of transportation.
One of my favorite things to do past and present is to modify the appearance of my vehicle. One project when I was in High school removing the body side moldings to make my truck look sleek. As I have aged and grown wiser, I added that same kind of body side molding to my new truck to protect it from door dings and shopping carts. There was also a time when I decided to put larger mirrors on my truck to replace the tiny mirrors that came on it when new. Fast forward to modern day when I have added side assist steps to ease passenger loading and unloading and a bed liner to protect the bed of the truck. I also added a rigid bed cover to enclose the pickup bed to cut down on air drag. After that I picked out larger tires to replace the wimpy factory tires. Let’s not forget about the addition of aftermarket floor liners, window tint or the toolbox. These are the pretty things I mentioned earlier that are fun to do and expresses everybody’s individuality and in some cases increase/maintain the vehicles value.