What was your favorite car related Christmas / holiday memory?

[Brass is Best]

With the holidays upon us lets share some good memories. What is your favorite car related Christmas / Holiday memory? Even if it was a gift to yourself. Mine was a Christmas day trip in a 1932 Ford Station Wagon with my Parents, Grandparents and Sister to my aunts house. It was a relatively warm day for December 35 degrees with no salt on the roads. It had rained the previous day. The six of us made the half hour trip with side curtains in place and lap blankets in use. Everybody got a kick out of it. Especially the people we passed in traffic. Nobody complained about being cold either. Since then I always try to get an old car out on Christmas. Even if it is just a ride slow on the driveway. How about you? Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all, Andy

[dei]

OK, I'll try this one for you.

Two days before Xmas of 1970 my Grandmother was coming here by bus for the holidays and Dad had to pick her up at the bus station around 6 pm. He asked if I wanted go with him and we got into his 1958 Buick Limited he owned at the time.

The bus was on time, exchanged hugs and home bound we went. About 9 blocks from home the universal joint started to really make noise (it was noticeable before this) and suddenly there was a loud BANG! Dad coasted over to the side and knew it had broken. 

Being 15 at that time and Dad having an antique car since I was 12 but not really any mechanical experience myself, asked him what we were going to do? Knowing a tow that time of year was going to take a long time he said he would walk home, get a rope and Mom's car and we would tow it home. With the car still running and the heat on Grandma said she would be fine so go ahead. When he got back and we hooked up the cars he told me to get behind the wheel of the Buick and watch myself. This was the first time actually in the limited control of a car and felt thrilled Dad would trust me with the task. (what choice did he really have?) Fortunately it was all residential roads but what a racket it made in the enclosed torque tube!

When we got to the house he had to decide where to put the car as it was not going to be fixed right away. He decided to pull it up on the lawn in front of the house which mom had a fit over.....

The rest of Holidays were great and as you can see it was a white one. 

 

I turned 16 that next month and had been talking about having a car so Dad later made a deal with me in the spring that if I helped him repair the car I could have it. 

It was the best BELATED Xmas gift a 16 year old could ever receive! 

Edited December 18, 2016 by dei
spelling (see edit history)

[CarNucopia]

When I was 15, I had my heart set on buying a '77 Cutlass as my first car from a neighbor. She kept claiming she was going to get a new one and would give me a great deal. This went on for months until I finally realized she was never going to actually part with the car. Even though I was still about 8 months from getting my license, it was hugely disappointing. Then, out of nowhere, a friend of the family came across another used Cutlass (a '74) that was described as being in pristine condition and offered at a great price. I committed all of my savings to buying the car sight-unseen. My dad picked it up for me and I saw it for the first time on Christmas Eve. The relief of seeing that it was a good car and that feeling that I actually owned it was something I will never forget.

[bradsan]

Dad's commuter car in the early 70's was a '51 Chev business man's coupe.

He was convinced it was the best car for the snow and regaled us was details of the commute to and from work where he passed other poor souls stuck in the snow.

Not very practical for a family of five of course and if you had to ride in the back in the cold , the heater in the front didn't do much for your rear end on the floor so Dad  had a piece of styrofoam back there for us to sit on.

Classic snowy Christmas in 71 or 72 ( which is unusual for us our here on the Wet Coast). Myself and my two sisters and my mom all bundled up in the back under blankets. Mom in the back because we were driving my cousins' grandmother home after Christmas dinner. Something magical about the adventure that still resonates today.

I can still hear the sounds of the 216  chugging along and the particular GM whine of the  3 speed going through the gears all muffled by the surrounding snow.

That and the indescribable musty (but not in a bad way if you ask me) sort of smell of those  cars built before 1960 never leaves you.

 

BTW It snowing here today on the Wet Coast ( has been unusually cold and snowy for two weeks)  but the rain is coming and we'll have our usual soggy green Xmas ,

 

Brad

[John_S_in_Penna]

If you are broadening the question to all holidays,

my favorite memory is of driving the antique cars

in my hometown's Fourth of July parade, with my

father accompanying me.  Father-son memories

with an antique car can't be improved upon!

 

If you mean Christmas, when the antique cars are put

away and there is often a foot of snow on the ground,

then my memories are of things higher and more important than cars!

Edited December 18, 2016 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

Last year we went to get the Christmas tree with my 49 Chevy pickup.   No snow or salt on the roads.  Christmas day wasn't bad either.  Took the 49 Chevy pickup up to my shop and took a ride in the 2009 Porsche Boxster, with the top down, I was buying / selling for a friend of the family,  (I told him I would buy it in the spring if it didn't sell first and gave him some money down,  it ended up selling a couple weeks later, ) I had to do it.  We don't get a 55 degree Christmas that's sunny with no snow or salt very often.

Probably best Christmas day arrival / gift would be having my nice 60 Fuel injected corvette showing up at noon on Christmas day from the West coast a couple of years ago.  That's going to be a hard one to top.  (snow and salt on the roads so I couldn't drive it,  but I had a nice warm stall for it all set in the garage.)

My Cord Showed up on Father's day though so it's a toss up on Holidays.  

[Guest morrisom]

 

 

Ford maverick 1977, 4 doors, I never saw it damaged far from home, in 25 years only the engine was rebuilt 2 times, I never understand because my mother was convinced by her ex-husband to sell it to buy a renault clio, compact European trash

 

[keiser31]

This pedal car moment when I was a kid was one of my first real Christmas car moments. Sure, I had gotten trucks and stuff (like that '57 Plymouth on the step) as a younger child, but I could actually DRIVE this one....and I can still remember driving it and how it felt to control it.

Edited December 19, 2016 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[John Byrd]

Hmmm, my best Christmas remembrance is the 1st year we got to stay home here in Hawaii and didn't have to fly back east. My wife and I had rode our little 50cc scooters (hey, it's almost like a car since they are automatics, ha ! ) to a concert, and as we headed back home that night about 9 PM, it dawned on me that this was the first Christmas day I had ever been warm in my life. I pulled off the side of the road, she followed me and asked what was wrong. I said "nothing, but look at us, it's the 25th of December, after 9 PM, we are on motor-scooters, have on sleeveless t's, and you have on shorts !", so we just set and talked a few minutes about how our new life in our new home actually was and how much we appreciated it.  Still do. 

 

Concerning "regular" gifts, my wife would probably say either the year I got her a Harley rear tire and wheel for her CB 500 Honda chopper I had built her, or the year I got her a new carb for her Avanti she had.  She is a real car gal, but I must admit she also really liked the wood-working tools I gave her for several different years too, ha !!

 

My favorite "regular" gift was one year a LONG time ago that my folks got my 2 brothers and I a Strombecker Road Race set to share.. and they had to scrimp to do that for us, so it meant a lot to us boys.

[ScarredKnightfan]

GREAT DISCUSSION TOPIC IDEA!!!!

 

(Yes, I'm yelling ... but in excitement ... LOL!)

 

Have a lot of holiday related automotive memories, but I think the 1 that I always think of & remember fondly ... & continues to this day ... is driving around to look at all of the Christmas decorations lit up at night.  With a couple exceptions, different family members have gone with me every year.  I can remember a few years where it has started snowing ... & made it even more ... interesting.  I also remember a few years where we waited until after Christmas Eve services at church to go ... in my mind, those are some of the best because the streets are relatively quiet.....

 

 

Cort, www.oldcarsstronghearts.com
pig&cowValves.paceMaker * 1979 CC to 2003 MGM + 81mc

"When you kiss your little baby, you've kissed the face of God" | Kenny Rogers/Wynonna | 'Mary, Did You Know?'

[Ozstatman]

Back in the early 60's my brother and I had bought a '28 Model A Tudor. Another guy at the school we went to later bought a '29 A Tourer and ended up abandoning it just before Christmas. So on Christmas day, after the family festivities, my brother and I proceeded to disassemble as many parts as we could fit, from the abandoned A, into the back of a Holden station wagon and take those parts home.

[auburnseeker]

One other I remember is the Christmas (I think I was about five which would have been 1979) that one of the regular truck drivers that stopped at a diner my Mom worked at (where I spent days after school) brought me a Hess truck.  At the time I had never seen one and being 5 and loving everything that had to do with big rigs, it was my favorite toy.  I still have it,  though it's got a few accessories that got bumped off.  Not a collectors item but a real toy I played with so much better than a shelf ornament. 

[60FlatTop]

In the mid 1990's my daily driver was a '56 Olds 88 Holiday four door hardtop. Typical of many of my cars, everything mechanical had been done. I had even painted the floor pan turquoise while the transmission was being rebuilt. Christmas Day we headed out of Brockport, New York across the rolling hills of Rt20 for the 90 mile ride to Geneva on Seneca Lake for Christmas with my Wife's family. That car had a good feel on the road. The seat was living room couch style, the steering felt tight and confident, the engine purred ready for the slightest nudge of the gas pedal. It was an 88, but someone had managed to order it with a Super 88 engine. What a great smooth, warm car for a family of four to take a 200 mile day trip in.

I remember looking across that turquoise hood with the chrome rocket shining against the white snow and the gray sky. Every few miles we would pass through an area of big fluffy floating snowflakes that would stick to the windshield and need a wipe or two to remove them.

Once in a while I would see the wave of a hand or dipping lights from another driver.

As we approached home that evening the lake effect snow started coming in a little harder and the flakes were coming down steady as we pulled into the driveway and the parking spot closest the the house. Everyone grabbed a package, opened their door, and bailed out. We dashed through the light fluffy snow, up the back steps tracking snow into the kitchen and stamping feet. All the packages were on the kitchen table, hats and gloves off, and we were hanging up our coats.

That's when my Wife gasped "Where's Lisa?".

Bernie

Edited December 19, 2016 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[JACK M]

1 hour ago, 60FlatTop said:

 

That's when my Wife gasped "Where's Lisa?".

 

 

Oh man, I hate those moments of realization.

So another 200 miles the next day?

[30DodgePanel]

Winter of 1972 going from I-35 south to Cameron exit Hwy 36, with parents, and the six of us kids, singing every Christmas song ever recorded in a early 70s model station wagon that looked similar to this Chevy (Yes, facing backwards). Watching the snow fall in 0 degree temps. Ah,,,, good times.

[Zimm63]

Made  a cedar chest for my finance (now wife) as a Christmas present and hauled it to her parents house 100 miles away in the back seat of my 70 Camaro.  I was actually smart enough to measure the seat before I built it to make sure it would fit.

 

 

[zipdang]

Well, it's a motorcycle memory. My brothers and I had a 1967 Honda CL90 and we decided to see if we could get it started on a 6 degree Christmas day. The only way we could think of was taking turns running along while pushing and then jumping on it (battery of course was dead). We were all pretty winded by the time it started! Riding that cold was invigorating to say the least - also iced up the inside of that bubble face on our helmet. Dad thought it hilarious as he stood at the window with a hot cup of coffee!

[AnniesSS]

A year after we moved to NC, we bought our first home.... a year or so later, the rear end on my 1990 454SS finally went out.  Being new homeowners, my pickup sat for a few years.  One Christmas, my husband surprised me with a new Eaton True Trac for the pickup!  I was ecstatic!!  I was finally able to drive my baby again.  Until after we put the rear in, the transmission went out and it sat for another year, but that's another story  

[PFindlay]

For me it's a series of annual memories.  In Vancouver, BC, there is a tradition of getting the cars out on Boxing Day (Dec.26) for a trip around Stanley Park.  It's something that the Auto Clubs used to do over 100 years ago and the Vintage Car Club of Canada continues to this day.  So my memories of "the Boxing Day Run" go back about 55 years, pretty much every year.

 

As a child, I was riding in dad's 1927 Auburn.  As a teenager, I was driving the Auburn myself, and then my first vintage car, a 1935 Ford Coupe.  As an adult, driving a wide variety of cars over the years, but the best are dad's 1912 REO and my 1911 Cadillac.  There's no better way to do the winter drive!

 

A few "highlights":

- the year (1978?) that a storm hit the park and some roads were flooded or closed by downed trees.  The club re-routed the tour, but our family decided to stick with the tradition.  The trip around the park involved a few detours onto the sidewalk and through rather large pools, but we were the only ones to maintain the tradition.

- the years in the 2000s, when the entire family (kids & grandkids included) piled into every car dad had running at the time,   Some years it was 10 + family cars and 20 + people.  It was a treat for the grandkids to get to drive an old Valiant. a 55 Cadillac, a De Soto Airflow, or even the 1927 Auburn. (We still have the Auburn.)  Afterwards everyone returned to mom & dad's for lots of food and story-swapping.

- the years when there was snow on the ground.  Thankfully, not too often but it always presented an extra challenge.

- 2003, the first year I had my 1911 Cadillac.  It had no top at the time but we made the trip anyways.  It was a quick return home once the snow began to fall!

- 2006, after another storm had devastated the park.  More downed trees and views of the park that had not before been visible.  Of course, we drove it anyways!

- the year my son brought along a female friend and drove my DeSoto.  I had a problem and they both ended up pushing my car off the road.  Funny, we didn't see much of her after that ....  (maybe it's a good way to find out if she's a keeper?)

- recent years, with my sons driving some of my cars and my own grandkids riding along.  Maybe one day they'll be the fourth generation of our family to continue the tradition.  It's a great hobby!

 

Here's a 2009 Boxing Day picture of some of the family and some of the cars ...

 

 

Edited December 20, 2016 by PFindlay
additional information (see edit history)

[Bush Mechanic]

In the late 60's a mate and I drove my '59 FE Holden ute the 600 miles to Sydney, to visit a young lady friend. We arrived on Christmas Eve, and influenced by a short story we had read in primary school, we decided to watch a sunrise in the Blue Mountains. We made an early start, making it over the 90 miles of winding roads to the chosen lookout, where we watched the splendid sunrise over the distant city. Meanwhile my dog had stolen the roast chook we had brought along for Christmas lunch, so hunger drove us home early. I still remember swooping down those curving roads going back, with the old FE purring away, singing songs, with the dog yaffling and drooling in wind in the back. A real treat for boys from the desert, to drive those roads.

When I tried to reverse out of the driveway next morning to head home, the steering wheel spun free in my hands, and I found that the ball joint on the Pitman arm had let go, and the steering linkage had dropped off. It had hung on around all of those bends, and probably dropped off when it cooled. Luckily we always carried fencing wire, so we were able to make it back to the bush OK.

[60FlatTop]

In post #13, Lisa was in the back seat all alone in the dark with tears as big as the snow flakes. She had trouble with the door handle and the big door.

 

One of many parent induced traumas that molded her life and made her the woman she is today.

Bernie

[Brass is Best]

Its that time of year again! Who has holiday car stories?

[alsancle]

In 1980 the very first album I ever got was Led Zepplin IV in eight track format.  The only player we had was in my mom's 73 Eldo convertible, so I sat in the cold x-mas morning and listened to the whole tape.  I thought, wow!  I need to go buy more tapes, this stuff is great.  Little did I know that tape was probably the greatest one ever made.

 

A couple of months later I had my license, and my 49 Plymouth special deluxe had a 12 volt converter installed with a eight track player courtesy of my dad which was also a xmas present.

[AC Fuhrman]

I would have to dig for a picture - but here goes...

My family would visit New York City at Christmas  - The General Motors building, (which later had the FAO Schwartz toy store in it,) would have an 'under the tree' display in the lobby using a new GM car or truck as a 'toy' along with a to scale Raggety Ann doll, teddy bear, toy soldier etc. Maybe someone else remembers these displays?

 

 

[DAVES89]

About 12 years ago I decided I wanted a Reatta. I looked for what seemed like forever and found one I wanted in Fort Lauderdale [I live about 30 miles south of Green Bay]. After the owner sent pictures we agreed on a price, I flew down the week of my bithday to get it. My birthday is December 16 and this was to be my birthday/Christmas present.

It was probably my best gift ever.

 It was a fun drive back and believe it or not no snow anywhere until after I got home and the car was in storage.

 

[Steve_Mack_CT]

In 79 or 80 I was given a Craftsman rollaway tool chest, still have the base, gave dad the two drawer basic top when I bought a monster top a few years later.

[trimacar]

Probably not my best Christmas memory, but a fun one I hadn't thought of for a long time, until I saw this thread.

 

In the 1980's I was living in my hometown of Alexandria, Louisiana, so even December wasn't unbearably cold.   A friend across town asked if I'd be Santa for his kids, he even had a full blown Santa suit.  I was always a plus-size guy, so I guess that's why my name came up frequently when who'd play Santa was asked.

 

I put on the outfit, and for fun, got out my '38 Packard convertible coupe.  Top down, Santa drove to his house and entertained the kids.  Santa had so much fun, smiling and HO HO HOing and waving to everyone on the way to his house, that Santa left there and drove around town for a couple hours, smiling and waving and yelling Merry Christmas.  It was a blast......

[Matt Harwood]

I recall one Christmas, probably in the late 1970s, when it was getting late in the season and we still didn't have a Christmas tree. As a kid, that scared me, mostly because I knew my father hated Christmas (he would frequently say his favorite part of the holiday season was when he got to throw the finished tree out the window and drag it to the curb). Anyway, it was probably December 20 or 21st, close enough that I was figuring my holiday-hating father would tell us we weren't getting a tree this year. I recall I was getting ready for bed and he wasn't home yet, which was odd, but not unheard-of. But as we were scrubbing up for bed, we heard opera music in the driveway (my father loved opera). Going out the front door, there's dad in his triple-black 1966 Cadillac convertible, which was sadly his daily driver even in the winter, top down with a giant tree standing up in the back seat and some Wagnerian aria blaring from the speakers.

 

I don't know what made my father's heart grow three sizes that particular year, but it was a good Christmas and that was certainly one hell of an entrance. I have photos of the car in the driveway with the tree and snow all over the place, but not handy enough to post.

[SC38dls]

I was in the Army in 67 stationed at FT Belvoir VA just outside DC. I had just gotten orders to go across the pond in Jan. I had my 62 Thunderbird on base and was going to head home for Christmas leave. It started snowing the day before and a bunch of guys had their flights cancelled and asked if I had room to get to Chicago. Six of us and our duffel bags packed in the tied closed trunk of that four seater Tbird for a 500 mile blizzard conditions drive. I think the only reason we made the 17 hour trip was the weight in the car kept it from sliding off the road. I just couldn’t say no to anyone as we all knew this may be the last Christmas any of us may be at home. We laughed, sang when we couldn’t get a rock radio station, ate to many hamburgers, fries and yes beers and told too many funny stories. Two of the guys didn’t make it home after that and the rest of us still talk to each other and remember that trip. 

Merry Christmas ? 

 

[Brass is Best]

36 minutes ago, SC38DLS said:

I was in the Army in 67 stationed at FT Belvoir VA just outside DC. I had just gotten orders to go across the pond in Jan. I had my 62 Thunderbird on base and was going to head home for Christmas leave. It started snowing the day before and a bunch of guys had their flights cancelled and asked if I had room to get to Chicago. Six of us and our duffel bags packed in the tied closed trunk of that four seater Tbird for a 500 mile blizzard conditions drive. I think the only reason we made the 17 hour trip was the weight in the car kept it from sliding off the road. I just couldn’t say no to anyone as we all knew this may be the last Christmas any of us may be at home. We laughed, sang when we couldn’t get a rock radio station, ate to many hamburgers, fries and yes beers and told too many funny stories. Two of the guys didn’t make it home after that and the rest of us still talk to each other and remember that trip. 

Merry Christmas ? 

 

 

Thank you for your service, Merry Christmas!

[lump]

These are great, uplifting stories. I"m not sure which old-car-Christmas story I like best, but here is one of my favorites. 

 

My dad and I worked every day for 14 months in late 1969 and early 1970 (I was 15) restoring a basket-case Model Ford pickup truck. He had always dreamed of driving one like that to work every day. When it was finished, everyone congratulated us on a beautiful job, but pointed out that it would not be practical to drive in winter. Dad just smiled in cheerful disagreement. No one believed he would really drive it in bitter cold weather, and especially not in the snow. But he did. My first photo shows the truck across the street from our house, with my little brother standing next to his snowman that year. 

 

But many of our AACA friends from the Southern Ohio Chapter had never seen the Model A out in winter weather for themselves. Then sometime in December of 1970 we got a deep snowfall overnight, and Mom got the idea to get photos for Christmas cards. We took the truck over to our friends' home, who had a scenic backyard with the snow not-yet disturbed, and asked them to photo our family with the car in our old costume raccoon coats. The photos turned out great, and we got lots of reactions from family and friends to our Christmas cards that year! 

 

I'm the teenager with no hat in the photos. Notice I am behind the wheel in the 3rd photo. I had just gotten my driver's license, and my very-strict, very-cautious Dad didn't let me drive very often. But I eventually got to drive the Model A truck a few times. It made me proud just to pose for this photo. 

 

[padgett]

From a few years ago: (still have 2 of them).

Edited December 14, 2017 by padgett (see edit history)

[old car fan]

My brother and myself talked my Dad into a model A to restore,He was retired,and not well.He always said,he had all the tools to do it. Most the restoration was at Dads house,but my brother drove it to his house Christmas day ,snowy icey,right in the middle of the yard.That was over 20 years ago,still have the car,still a first place car.Never will forget it.If he could only see what he started by taking us to old car shows,when they were old

[Willie Wurke]

In November 1951 my brother,  who was stationed at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma wrote that he was bringing me something when he came home on Christmas leave.

Since I had been tinkering with radios I thought it would something radio related. WAS I EVER SURPRISED!  It was a 1931 LaSalle 5 pass coupe. He had driven it 1300 miles nonstop

with help from 2 other boys.  It was a 1 owner car (an MD).  He was 83 years old.

I am now the second owner of a car that is 86 years old. It earned its Senior award in 1974.

The result of this gift is me sitting here doing this post.

 

 PS   I am not suggesting that you should give an old car to someone if he will join the AACA!! 

         If you do: give it to one who does not have grey hair! We have too much now!

Edited December 15, 2017 by Willie Wurke
to correct spelling errors (see edit history)

[46 woodie]

Not exactly car related but in a way it is. I woke up one Christmas morning in probably 1954 or '55 and received an aerial ladder, tiller, fire truck. Stamped and cast steel. When I see the antique toy people at Hershey, I see the same truck for what I paid for my first car. One of these day's I am going to over come my willpower and just purchase it. I'm a big kid anyhow!

[Brass is Best]

22 hours ago, 46 woodie said:

Not exactly car related but in a way it is. I woke up one Christmas morning in probably 1954 or '55 and received an aerial ladder, tiller, fire truck. Stamped and cast steel. When I see the antique toy people at Hershey, I see the same truck for what I paid for my first car. One of these day's I am going to over come my willpower and just purchase it. I'm a big kid anyhow!

 

Did the apparatus in question look like this?

[kings32]

All Christmas Days are good when you have the family around !  When I was in Vietman  A town in the mid west made up large containers with our Christmas dinner , shipped it to us [about 1500 GI s } . I often think about that town some where that did that for use and didn't even know us . I still have the menu  that they Printed up for the meal . Merry Christmas to all. to our service MEN AND WOMEN  serving around the world  Thank You     Kings32

[Brass is Best]

It is that time of year again... better think about starting your Christmas shopping only a few days left.

[keiser31]

I remember getting some trucks and cars at Christmas when I was really young....the start of my ailment....I am the one on the right....

[TerryB]

While most kids asked for train sets for Christmas I asked for the new replacement for a train set, the slot car race toy.  I remember playing with that every waking moment until we finally had to take it down after Christmas.  How impressive was it, well 55 years later I still have it.  The track is corroded from poor storage but the cars are still very presentable.