Cars - Part 1

My Love/Hate Relationship with Cars

Part 1

I know teen aged boys who are in love with their cars and I know grown men who never got over their boyhood ardor for their automobiles. Me? I think of cars as a means to get from point A to point B with little or no effort. I desire reliability above all else. I came to this conclusion as a result of my sometimes disastrous relationships with my cars over the years.

In 1956, Richard and I bought our first car, a sleek 1951 Packard, for $600 and paid it off in monthly installments over the course of two years. We fell in love with its long sleek lines and graceful hood ornament that oozed class. Once we spotted the Packard, with its rich gun metal grey exterior, its white wall tires and automatic transmission, every other car on the New York City used car lot faded to nothingness.  Unknown to us at the time, underneath the classy outer facade of the elegant Packard lurked a gas guzzling, oil burning, smoke belching beast.

We drove it everywhere, even if taking the train proved easier, faster and cheaper. We drove downtown to a show. We drove to a neighborhood pizza parlor. We drove to Long Island to visit relatives. We never missed an opportunity to show off our luxury auto and paid dearly for the privilege, having to fill the gas tank every 100 miles or so and continually pour oil into it .We joked to the gas station attendant “Fill up the oil and check the gas.”

Over the two years we owned the Packard, I gave birth to two babies and our excursions in the car became less frequent. Around this time, to facilitate street cleaning, the City of New York instituted alternate side of the street parking. We parked on one side Monday, Wednesday and Friday and on the opposite side Tuesday and Thursday. It seemed we only drove the car to move it to the other side of the street every day. Living in the city and with no real need of a car, we sold it and didn’t miss it until we moved to the suburbs....to be continued.