It's 6:30pm, June 27, 1962. My Seventh Birthday! I am sitting on our backyard picnic table, gazing over the fence to my neighbors yard. Mr. Ray Perks was standing chatting with several guys, surrounded by big shiney Buicks. Late 50's models as I recall, loaded with chrome, two tones, white walls, fancy hubcaps. The hood was up on a 58 Century 4 door. They were laughing and smoking cigarettes. Ray Perks was the chief mechanic at Kelly Buick in Worcester, Ma, on Shrewsbury Street. I used to love to watch all the great stylish cars roll in and out of his yard. My Grandfather told me he specialized in transmissions. Looked to me that he could do anything. To the guys in his yard, he seemed like a GOD, from the way the laughed and patted him on the back. Grandpa said he was one of the best. Every Sunday my Grandparents, Dad and siblings and me piled into Grandpa's new Buick for the ride to church and back. 62 Skylark, 65 Skylark, 67 Sport Wagon. My Dad's 53 Special wasn't good enough for church! The 49 Riviera out back belonged to my Uncle Walter. We'd meet Uncle Bob in the church lot with his 59 Invicta 2 door hardtop. Over the years, the ride didn't change, just the cars. 65 Wildcat, 67 LeSabre, 69 Electra. The 73 Electra was a real pretty green with Vinyl top and brocade interior. MY Mom's Dad used to drive from Florida to visit us. He was a Buick man too...Wildcats, LeSabres, Regals, Riviera's, some great color combinations too. My first-was a used 72 Centurion my uncle got for me at Kelly Buick. It was a sweet car, and my initiation into the "buick mystique". The list goes on, through the 80's and 90's, the last one being a 2003 Century that Grandpa leased on his 91st birthday. He's gone now, with Mr. Perks, and the uncles and Dad, too. So's the car. But, every time I fire up my 1960 Electra 225 Convertible, put down the top, and roll out into the sunshine, I look up and see all those faces, all that chrome, the trips to Kelly Buick every other September to look at the new models. I see their smiles and faces reflecting in the chrome, and know this is gonna be another great day for a ride in my Buick. I'm glad it's a big car, cause theres always a lot of passengers in there with me!