My First Car

My FIL just passed around an email showing some automobiles from the 1950s.  I replied with the following:

My first car, inherited from my grandmother, was a 1966 Chevy II (AKA Nova).  This is her with her new baby.

4-door, straight-six engine with the vaunted 2-speed Power-Glide automatic transmission.  On the highway it was like driving in passing gear.

I got a lot of offers from mechanics-- even a sedan was valued for racing.  I learned to work on cars on it: it was dirt-simple, power nothing, no A/C and you could climb into the engine compartment.  It was considered a compact car, but I could roll my 10-speed bicycle into the back seat.  I can only get my bike into my current minivan if I take out all the seats.

I remember when I took out the AM radio and put in a AM/FM stereo cassette player.  No way could I get it to fill the gaping hole left by the radio, so I just braced it and it hung there in the dash.  To put in the speakers on the deck behind the rear seats was an adventure: nowadays the deck is plastic, or cardboard with a few metal braces.  In this car it was thick sheet steel, with a zig-zag fold from one side to the other to stiffen it.  I had to use a jigsaw from underneath in the trunk, with the shavings falling in my face, through the fold, and then file to fit.  What a chore.  Sounded nice, though.

When I traded it in on a used 1982 Trans-Am, it was at Valenti's in Mystic.  As I was driving it into the dealer for the last time, someone was leaving-- in a 1966 Chevy II wagon!  He gave me a big grin and wave, and I felt like a heel, a traitor.  I got over it, though: mmm, but that Trans-Am was nice!