What car does everybody remember most as a kid that parents had , and family road trip ?

[arcticbuicks]

For me I remember as kid my dad had a black 59 Cadillac with wrap around back window …….flat top (I would lay on the back dash travelling at night watching the stars) ……we lived in the Arctic , every Christmas we would take the caddy and a holiday rambler  twin axle trailer to San Fransisco to relatives ……..we would drive in -40 for many hours (14 hours) on gravel to reach the paved hwy’s my sister and I would have to sit in the front seat with my parents for heat ……..the side and back windows had oval aftermarket plastic frost shield windows stuck on the windows and still plenty of manual scraping frost off the windows so we could see ……my dad always had everything we needed and bottle of methyl hydrate to add to the gas so it wouldn’t freeze , the back seat was full of stuff for us to stay alive , trunk full of things for the car ……the car had cardboard over the radiator and dad cut a small hole in the cardboard as needed when the temperature rose and huge grip studded snow tires  and chains on the tires when needed ……..dad had a cut up inner tube wired up ahead of the gas tank for stone protection and had the fender skirts off so the chains wouldn’t catch them ….I remember the sound of the chains , the caddy looked more like a army vehicle with the big old style snow tires and chains  ……the caddy had a big chrome under dash plug in heater and a electric battery blanket and engine block heater ……plug in cords hanging out the hood and we would have to pay to plug in for the night on the way south …….then down south a 1000 miles to the US border …….and of course a stop at the first A and W drive inn on the way  ……I would keep the little red devil plastic fork that came with the fries …….and vinegar packages for fries in the US……salt and vinegar on fries wasn’t an American thing lol……..then drove over to billing’s ……..I think Montana and a few states back then didn’t have a speed limit and everybody was flying ……and down through west Yellowstone to Salt Lake City then west through Lake Tahoe …..and they made us put chains on the tires at chain up area near L Tahoe  …….my dad argued that the metal studded tires were good enough but the state troopers said chains  …..and they never saw studded tires before !………we would show up at my aunts in San Fransisco covered in salt after 40-50 hour trip ………..I wonder how much gas we burned as I remember the 4 bbl noise constant and I remember gas station stops all the time ……every trip a fan belt or something would fail but local gas stations always seemed to have parts ……..then my dad got a used 60 caddy fleetwood that was quite a car with factory fog lights and I’m sure it had rear air ride …… it had factory sanding units , that must have been a rare option ,ahead of each back wheel like a metal funnel that dropped sand from trunk hoppers……….then dad got the best car ever a new 67 eldorado and that was rare up north and people were amazed to see the front wheels spinning I remember as it plowed through snow up to the hood ……..sometimes we would drive through Vegas and was quite a sight from where we came from ………to pass the time we would guess the cars we approached or came up behind by the taillights …….every car every year was different ……..I would say “ aha ….I told you it was a 59 impala and not a biscayne !”

Edited February 1, 2022 by arcticbuicks (see edit history)

[Gunsmoke]

My Dad loved to drive fast, and with 3 little kids in the car, my Mom was always reminding him of the speed he was going. My primary memory was being about 6 years old (with brothers 4 and 8 aboard) in our 1949 Mercury 2 door coupe driving out (about 20 miles) to see the grandparents. Along the way was the notorious "round turn", a 90 degree swoop famed for it's record of cars in the ditch or bushes. This 2 lane rural road had a speed limit of 50MPH, but my Dad always drove 60-65 or more, and didn't believe in slowing down for turns. He seemed to get great joy in making the "round turn" a challenge on every trip, literally on 2 wheels (or so it seemed) as my Mom clung to the armrest. Through all his near 75 years of driving he never had an accident, told me much later the secrets of taking turns at speed! I inherited some of that same joy! But with my kids in the car I drove much more cautiously. 

Edited February 1, 2022 by Gunsmoke (see edit history)

[arcticbuicks]

Sitting in a car with parents behind solid metal dash with pointed radio knobs ……doing 70mph ……on gravel road ….on bias ply tires …….and no seat belts ……those were the days of no worries 

[Harold]

My parents didn't change cars very often so we had a '52 Plymouth Cambridge until 1965.  In the summer of 1964 my father and I took the Plymouth on a road trip to Niagara Falls from Brooklyn.  It was just he and I because my mother couldn't leave due to her job obligations.  The Plymouth developed a bearing knock in Western NY so we stopped at a gas station to see if they could help.  The attendant recommended a junkyard several miles up the road to see if they had a running car we could buy and continue on our trip.  The owner, Stanley Stauba, had a good reputation in the area.  According to the gas attendant he would treat us fairly.  Stanley didn't have a suitable car to sell us, but did have a '51 Belvedere with a good engine.  We ended-up arranging with a local mechanic (who happened to be at the yard at the time) to R&R the engine.  Next day, the tech dropped us at a local restaurant. We waited several hours but the tech didn't return to get us so my father and I started walking back towards the shop (about 5 miles).   A car stopped near us on the road as we were walking....it was the gas attendant from the day before!  He gave us a lift and we got to the shop just as the mechanic was finishing up the job.  We paid for the repair and went on our way.  The price?  $46.00 including parts and labor!

[Walt G]

Growing up in the post war era we had a 1949 Pontiac deluxe 8 cylinder station wagon ( with the fake wood) bought used when it was a year old . The original owner turned it in to the dealership for the new model. In 1960 my parents bought at the end of the year new a 1960 Plymouth Fury III station wagon that was unsold on the car dealers lot. white with red and white vynil interior. Most trips were to local beaches in the summer or relatives to visit on Sunday. I got interested in old cars after watching the Untouchables on tv and seeing the movie Some Like it Hot at the local movie theater.

The Plymouth took us to Hershey starting in 1966. About 15 years ago when I had my family in the car heading north from Hershey to Rt 22 in the opposite direction came a 1960 Plymouth station wagon that was the twin to the one we had and it sent a shiver down my arms like I had just entered a time warp. I expected to see my folks in the front seat and me in the back seat. Had me sweating that one out !

[SC38dls]

When we lived in Denver my folks had a mountain top fishing log and horse ranch. Near Ward Co.  I caught my first fish in the stream behind  the cabins. A big trout that a doctor staying in one of the cabins cleaned and cooked for dinner for all of us along with a few he caught. 
It was late fall so late Sunday we headed for home. We got about a mile or so from the cabin in the 49 Plymouth, three young kids in back mom & dad up front, when we ran into a snow storm. Dad forgot the chains and there was no way to go down that road in deep snow without them. He was turning around and mom kept saying stop you are to close to the edge. Dad got mad and said he would take a look. He came back to the car and said nobody move the rear wheels are at the very edge of about a 7500 foot drop. He carefully got back in and moved forward.  No guard rails on those mountain roads, we got back to the lodge and had a week off school before they got the road plowed. 
davee s 

[Mark Huston]

We moved to Sacramento, California in about 1963 from the Midwest.    My parents had three sons, and a 1962 Oldsmobile Starefire coupe.   When we moved to California it was in the late winter and we took the southern route to California on Route 66.  My mom wanted to see the Grand Canyon.  When we pulled into the parking lot next to the edge of the Grand Canyon the wind was blowing at nearly gale force.   We were told to stay in the car, however, there was something my mother wanted out of the car trunk and she insisted my dad get out of the car and get whatever it was she wanted.  As my brothers and I sat in  the back seat trying to see the Grand Canyon through the blowing sand I saw my dad's fedora hat blow by the side of the Oldsmobile and off over the edge of the canyon into the vast void of the Grand Canyon.   My dad was very mad when he got back into the car.   My mother was from Canton, Ohio and still had all of her extend family there.  Every year, usually in December, we would drive from Sacramento, California to Canton, Ohio to visit my moms family for the holidays.   My dad only stopped for gas on the nearly 2,500 mile drive.  He would drive the 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire hard and as fast as he could.  I remember the remote gas stations in the middle of nowhere when my dad needed gas in the middle of the night.  Dad would pull into a dark gas station and knock on the door of the house next to the gas pumps to wake the station owner up to get gas.   My brothers and I would be sleeping in the back seat of the Oldsmobile.   Of course, as soon as we arrived at grandma's house my dad went to bed for the next two days so that he was recovered enough to do the return trip non stop.   The 1962 Oldsmobile Starefire was the family car for about 10 years and made that non stop cross country drive nearly every year without a single breakdown.   The Oldsmobile was replaced by a 1972 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham that never had to make the trip because my mother's parents moved to California from Ohio.    

 

[George Smolinski]

Nothing. We didn’t have two nickels to rub together. My dad got our first car, a coral/gray 2-3 year old ‘58 Biscayne 4 door with a 283 powerglide, as part of my mom’s share of her father’s estate. There were 9 kids in our family and it was a bitch Kitty fitting everyone in it.

[Delco32V]

Driving from PA to ND on a family vacation in 1972, in our 1970 Plymouth GTX 440 4sp  4:10 super trak pak, no AC and an AM radio. I remember us stopping to help a guy whose corvair had caught on fire. Dad took the toolbox out of the trunk and helped the guy fix the fuel line. 

 

I remember sleeping on the vinyl back seat and seeing the airplanes going to Ohare as we went thru Chicago.  Probably got about 7mpg on Sunoco 260 gas......1200 miles one way. It rode like a brick with polyglas tires and hemi suspension....

 

Can't even drive home 7 miles from work without AC in the summer now......pathetic.

Edited February 1, 2022 by Delco32V (see edit history)

[PFindlay]

Our 1953 Oldsmobile 98.  It may have been dad's favourite car out of many, even though it was 10+ years old.  When the body/chassis died, he pulled the Rocket V8 and Hydra-matic and installed it in a 55 Mercury minibus and made it into a motorhome for the 7 of us.  We used it for many more years, even after we kids had grown up.

 

[MarkV]

Astro Vans! We had five of them and I had to travel with my family for their work. I hated them! Every 2-4 years we had another one. I have pictures of all of them except #4 which only lasted about a year then was traded in. They were an 87,94,97,00 and 03. 
 

when I married my wife my mother in law had one and I finally dumped it this year and it was replaced by a Lincoln MKX. 
 

we also had 5 Chevy Corsicas mostly for in town use between my family and us.  3 88s ( one belonged to us and my maternal and paternal grandmothers each had one) then 2 93s (we upgraded and then my maternal grandmother upgraded).

[zepher]

My parents purchased a brand new '64 Chevy Malibu SS hardtop in Jan of '64.

My dad was working the parts counter at Felix Chevrolet at the time.

We went all over the western US in that car and even towed a trailer a few times.

When my younger sisters came along, dad thought we needed more room so he picked up a used '72 Datsun truck and stuffed a camper on the back.

It was a very basic camper with no bathroom and an ice box.

That truck was so underpowered, even without the camper, that we used to race big rigs up the various mountain passes on our trips.

But that little truck took us all over and never even hinted at breaking down.

 

My parent's Malibu is mothballed waiting for a restoration but the little truck is long gone.  Sure wish I had that little truck today.

[keiser31]

We had a 1960 Valiant station wagon for a while when I was a kid. Our family of 5 kids was plenty to fill the car up. One of my older sisters was visiting friends in Omaha, Nebraska and we went to fetch her, camping along the way from Detroit to Omaha. We went to Custer State Park where we were watching the bison grazing. All of a sudden a big old bull bison got it in his head that we were a threat. He lowered his massive head and started snorting and digging up the ground in front of him. As he started toward us, my Dad backed the car up as fast as it would go with that little slant six in it. We got out of there, but there was a LOT of screaming and arm waving. It was one of the most memorable times in that little car. Looked just like this one....same color....

[JamesR]

'61 Dodge Pioneer Wagon. This is not a picture of our car, but it's a somewhat similar color scheme. We drove from the Midwest to Disneyland (and back) in that car...as a family of SEVEN. It was a blast for us kids, but a nightmare for our parents, I'm sure. That was in 1964. A couple of years later we went to the Black Hills. That was a little less grueling.

 

 

 

 

[1937hd45]

I do remember leaving the Buick dealership in a new 1953 Two Door Hardtop before I was 2 1/2 years old, but the 1961 Ford Four Door Hardtop has all the memories. Sales brochures spread out on the dining room table, picking colors for the interior, black was just a given for the outside. The first trip for the '61 Ford was a run to Washington, D. C. The Civil W,ar display at the Smithsonian was something never to be seen again, I would turn 11 at the end of 1961. The following year there was a trip to Long Island, meet Henry Austin Clark and toured the collection, think there was a tram pulled by a Crosley, clearly remember seeing a Bugatti GP car in a back shed. I leared to drive on the '61, took my drivers test on it. Corvair ran a stop sign and hit me head on. I helped replace the nose at Scott's Auto Body, that was my first introduction to auto body work. Dad and I drove it to Hershey in 1969. Gress it was replaced in the early 1970's with a Green Ford Two Door. Last I saw of the '61 in was on Charlie The Junk Man's truck with another car stuffed on top. 

Edited February 1, 2022 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[TAKerry]

Dad bought Pontiacs, I thought the little indian head high beam indicator was the coolest thing ever!

[arcticbuicks]

Wow…..pretty interesting stories for sure ! 
I can remember the seat material and the smell of my parents car etc ……..and not some of the cars since 

[NailheadBob]

My parents had a 1959 Chevy, we loaded the car up with me and my 2 sisters in back seat,  and mom and dad and little brother (4 years old) in the front seat with my little brother standing up in the front seat, between mom and dad, we were going into the city about 25 miles away, and going about 65 mph my little brother lifted up the shift lever into reverse, it felt like the front bumper touched the pavement, and rear fins were way up in the air.

[ply33]

We visited our relatives in California fairly often and back in the pre-freeway era that was over Arizona 84 to Gila Bend then west on US 80. Long stretches of two lane asphalt with no traffic to speak of. Definitely remember the roar of the motor over the wind coming through the open windows, the salt tablets that mom made us take, and endless rounds of singing songs that probably drove the parents mad.

 

But most of all I remember that on the early trips I wondered if the road actually went anywhere and was so happy to see another car coming from the opposite direction as that meant to me that there must be some place ahead. It never dawned on me until later that if the road just ended then those few cars could have just been ones that turned around at the end of the road.

[41 Su8]

In the early Sixty's, my brother had a Durham Cadillac limousine that had been donated to the Carmelite Sisters in Germantown, NY by a wealthy benefactor in New York City.  It was a beautiful riding car so my brother and father sat in the front, mother and sister rode in the back, and my twin brother and I rode in the jump seats and road all the way to Boston and the Cape in the Cadillac.  Due to the back seat having no side windows, my sister got claustrophobic and up-ended her breakfast while we were driving along the Mass Pike.  Other than that, it was a great trip.       John

[DrData]

We had numerous cars, my Dad received a new Pontiac Catalina, usually, every year as a company car. The family car I remember most was a 1959 Chevy Bel Aire,  two door with a six cylinder (my Dad refused to buy an 8 Cylinder car) and two speed automatic. Sort of a root beer colored body with crème colored wings, trunk lid and roof. Boy, did those wings rot from winters in the northeast. That car made numerous runs from Buffalo to Pittsburgh, no A/C and an AM radio. When my Dad decided to trade it in, I lobbied hard for a GTO…nope, a six cylinder Tempest.  He was always concerned with resale value.

[Pfeil]

7 hours ago, zepher said:

My parents purchased a brand new '64 Chevy Malibu SS hardtop in Jan of '64.

My dad was working the parts counter at Felix Chevrolet at the time.

We went all over the western US in that car and even towed a trailer a few times.

When my younger sisters came along, dad thought we needed more room so he picked up a used '72 Datsun truck and stuffed a camper on the back.

It was a very basic camper with no bathroom and an ice box.

That truck was so underpowered, even without the camper, that we used to race big rigs up the various mountain passes on our trips.

But that little truck took us all over and never even hinted at breaking down.

 

My parent's Malibu is mothballed waiting for a restoration but the little truck is long gone.  Sure wish I had that little truck today.

Was it a early production year 521 or later production 620? 

[pkhammer]

I was 10 years old in 1973 when my family took a 5 week vacation from our home in Virginia to Phoenix, Az to visit relatives, see the grand canyon, meteor crater, Disneyland, Sequoia, Yosemite, the Pacific, Lake Tahoe, Reno, Bonneville, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and back home. Dad bought a new '73 Chevelle Malibu Estate Wagon before the trip. Pulled a popup camper and camped most nights. One of my very favorite childhood memories in one of the ugliest cars ever. Think Griswold family Truckster.

 

[Studemax]

Mom's first car (she didn't learn to drive until age 30) was a Pagoda Green '64 Galaxie 2 door post. We drove all over the country in it, but the longest trip was over 2 weeks - from Wichita, KS to Washington DC and back. We hit all the museums and memorials in DC that summer before heading home. Hit plenty of places between here and there, as we took different routes going versus coming. Good times.

[Joe Cocuzza]

My mom had a 51-53 Buick 4-door. This is WHY I remember it....One day my mom, aunt, cousin and I went to the bank. Mom and my aunt were in the front seat and my cousin and I (we were about 6 years old) were in the back (standing up with our arms on the top of the front seat - no seatbelts). Mom turned left out of the bank parking lot and as we were turning, apparently we didn't latch the pass side rear door when we closed it, so it flew open and I went tumbling out onto the road. Luckily I did not get hurt and the guy behind us stopped before he ran me over. If that's not funny enough, when my mom and aunt noticed I wasn't in the car, they asked my cousin where I was, and he yelled out, "Coozie (nickname) fell out of the car". He didn't say anything to them when it happened. They had to ask him. Needless to say I did not get along very well with that cousin after that incident......

 

Dad had a 60 Bonneville sedan that we drove to Miami. My brother and I used the cushions from the sofa in our house to make a "bed" on the rear floor by placing a cushion (one on each side of the hump in the floor). 

 

Dad had an early 60's VW Beetle. I remember riding (standing) behind the rear seat when we'd go somewhere.

 

Dad had a 1970's Pinto wagon with a 4cylinder/automatic. I was 17 at the time and I would drive that car around. If I tried to get onto a highway I would floor the gas pedal but that damn car wouldn't get out of it's own way.

 

Mom had a 66 Malibu 2-door (Sigh). I was driving it home one day, about a mile from my house, and it backfired through the carb. I opened the hood and the carb was on fire....

[Graham Man]

1972 Ford Wagon (Big Red) many miles with no seatbelts, our feet hanging out the back window going down the interstate...and we lived.   We drove about 800 miles to see my Grandparents 3 or 4 times a year.  (that's me looking in the side window, a new car was a big deal)  I rode in the Beetle (in the background) for about 4 hours in a snow storm once, only clear spot on any window was where my friends dad was using an ice scraper to keep the windshield clear in front of him, good times, we made it.

 

[8E45E]

I have no idea why the traditional bench seat 2-door truck is still called a "regular cab" when today, nearly all one sees are crew cabs or extended cab trucks.  That was not the case in the early 1960's when I saw my first crew cab truck.  Generally, most parents hate being proven wrong by their own kids, and I told my mom I saw a 'four door truck' that was parked on the median on a busy downtown street (a white city or utility-owned International Travelette).  She said 'no such thing as a four door truck!', and I was 'seeing things!'.  About a month later on an afternoon road trip, we were on our way to a lake about 40 miles north of where I lived at the time.  My dad was coming up fast on this truck with a slide-in camper, and finally able to pull out to pass it.   Much to my surprise, it was a new Dodge crew cab with a family inside.  I was able to put to bed the thought that I was 'seeing things', when I yelled out, "Look mom!  A FOUR DOOR truck!"  No, she did not think we should own one, but a crew cab Ford has been my daily driver for the past 15 years now.

 

Craig

[zepher]

13 hours ago, Pfeil said:

Was it a early production year 521 or later production 620? 

It was a PL521.

 

I loved that little truck. If ever get the space I will find another one and restore it or just drive it if it's decent.

 

My parents also had a brown Vista Cruiser, exact same color and year as the one used in That 70's Show.  Another car that would be great to have today. 

They had others, like three '64 Ford Galaxies, but the '64 Malibu, the '72 Datsun truck and the Vista Cruiser are the ones that stand out for me.

Edited February 2, 2022 by zepher (see edit history)

[Pfeil]

2 hours ago, zepher said:

It was a PL521.

 

I loved that little truck. If ever get the space I will find another one and restore it or just drive it if it's decent.

 

My parents also had a brown Vista Cruiser, exact same color and year as the one used in That 70's Show.  Another car that would be great to have today. 

They had others, like three '64 Ford Galaxies, but the '64 Malibu, the '72 Datsun truck and the Vista Cruiser are the ones that stand out for me.

 I had two 620's and for all the little trucks out there at the time they looked the best and ran forever. My first one, a 73 I bought new (I worked for the company) with company discount cost $1,700. out the door. I proceeded to load it up with accessories and a cab level shell. I sold it three years later for $3,500. bucks.

First one was baby blue 

2nd one which was strictly a work truck was what we called baby s##t yellow /brown. Most folks don't realize they were rated 1 ton.

[zepher]

1 hour ago, Pfeil said:

I had two 620's and for all the little trucks out there at the time they looked the best and ran forever. My first one, a 73 I bought new (I worked for the company) with company discount cost $1,700. out the door. I proceeded to load it up with accessories and a cab level shell. I sold it three years later for $3,500. bucks.

You made money on that deal.

 

One of my uncles had a small courier service that operated in the Bay Area of Calif, the company had three 620 series pickups and all three went to about 500k miles before they were retired.

Each one had accessories like alternators and water pumps replaced but none had the engine pulled for a rebuild in all those miles.

And that is with courier drivers operating them, delivery drivers are not known to be gentle with vehicles.

All of those early Datsun trucks were solidly built and built to last forever.

[keiser31]

For a while, my Dad had a 1962 Dodge Dart station wagon with the backward facing third seat. I remember the color as "Nutmeg Brown". Our family of seven went east from Detroit to go to a bunch of sites like Washington DC, Philadelphia, Gettysburg, Williamsburg and a few other historical spots. We camped along the way with a borrowed Apache pop-up trailer. There was ample room for 6 to camp out in the trailer, so my older brother, Charlie had to sleep on the "porch" on an air mattress. The porch was a screened-in camp tent with a canvas floor. One night we camped at the base of this slate mountain. We set up the usual way with Charlie out on the porch. Turned out it rained VERY heavily in the night and when we woke up we looked out and Charlie was floating in about 4" to 6" of water. I'll never forget the sight of Charlie floating like a Rice Crispy in milk. The setup looked like these....

Edited February 3, 2022 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[Pfeil]

21 hours ago, zepher said:

You made money on that deal.

 

One of my uncles had a small courier service that operated in the Bay Area of Calif, the company had three 620 series pickups and all three went to about 500k miles before they were retired.

Each one had accessories like alternators and water pumps replaced but none had the engine pulled for a rebuild in all those miles.

And that is with courier drivers operating them, delivery drivers are not known to be gentle with vehicles.

All of those early Datsun trucks were solidly built and built to last forever.

Yes, The truck and $900. bucks and I got a new car. Still have the car. 116K, original paint and interior.

 

[Angelfish]

When I was in 4th or 5th grade we drove from Montana to Alaska in our 1979 Audi 5000 pulling a pop-up camper trailer.    Along the way we broke a latch on the door of the camper and my dad carved a new one out of wood.  North of Edmonton the transmission failed (I think it was just the linkage) and we had to make a U-turn on a rural two lane with no reverse or first gear and pulling a trailer with marshy swamps on either side of the road.  

 

After that we very nearly hit a moose, a mama and a calf.  There were no injuries either side but there was moose hair in the grille guard and moose, ah, droppings, rolling up the hood of the car.   

 

The best camp ground was in the Yukon, can't tell you where, but I still have the model Jaguar XKE that I bought at the store.  99 cents Canadian well spent.  

[60FlatTop]

Here is the car my Dad had when I took my drivers test at 16 years old. It was a 289, 3 speed with a long trow up into second gear.

 

The car is a '63 even though the date shows '64. He ordered it that way.

 

Not only was it an exciting car for a 15 year old's Dad to own but we also took one of our two "Just us guys" trips in it. That first one was to the 1963 Watkins Glen Grand Prix, saw the race from turn #8. Then went to the village park where a Concours was held. I new Avanti was already recognized and displayed quite close to a Peirce Silver Arrow (a 30 year old car at the time). Quite an exciting trip, including the transport.

 

 

A number of years jater I was back off hours on the Esses.

 

And on another off hours trip I took a '57 Chevy around #8 at, maybe, 35 MPH. You really get a feel for what race cars are doing that.

 

My Dad and I took the second trip together to the Atlantic City Swap Meet and Auction in 1974  Jim Croce wrote a song about us.

[Dave39MD]

In 1964 my mom got a brand new dark blue Buick Riviera and we took off from Detroit to go to the grandparents house on Long Island. It seemed that a lot of the truckers were blowing their air horns as they passed. She said it was because they were friendly but as I look back on it she was a great looking blond in a great looking car. They never blew the horns when my dad was with us.

 

We had a great trip.

 

Dave

[chistech]

67’ Jeep Wagoneer, from MA down to Miami Fl, mom, dad, grandma, three siblings and me. I was about 6-8 years old. Summertime and no AC all of us crammed in that truck. I was just a little kid and still remember many parts of that trip. Dad picking up a coconut off the ground outside the motel and getting it open with a leather handled camp axe he kept in the Jeep for all of us to try some coconut milk, to my large and overweight grandmother breaking the toilet seat in the bathroom!😂😂 Funny what we can remember isn’t it!

 

forgot to mention it was a round trip adventure!

Edited February 4, 2022 by chistech
Forgot to add (see edit history)

[Marty Roth]

During the summer of 1951 in our pre-blackout 1942 Chevy   4-door Sport Sedan.

Linden, NJ to Niagara Falls, to Montreal, Canada, then visiting Plattsburg, NY - stopping at ALL of the tourist attractions along the way such as Fort Ticonderoga, Ausable Chasm, and so many others.

 

Following his WWII service as a US Navy SeaBee, Dad had come home from the South Pacific back in 1946, bought a house on the GI Bill, and by late 1950 had gone through a succession of a '35 Chevy 2-door, '36 Packard, and '37 Chevy cars barely good enough to get him to the Firehouse and back home again. Then we found a clapped-out '42. It was rented to the Post Office over their Christmas season, yielding enough cash to pay for the car, and to buy the parts, materials, and paint for the project he had planned. 

 

At age 8-1/2 I "helped" Dad pull the totally worn out 216 cu engine and replace it with a Short Block from Sears. We did a complete valve job ourselves. Once the "new 1951 Chevy" engine was installed we sanded off the horrible powder puff maroon paint job down to bare metal, block sanded many, many coats of primer, and applied/block sanded nineteen coats hand rubbed black lacquer. The previously horrible looking old Chevy was now a "GEM", sparkling in the light of day, and ran even better than she looked. 

 

The Chevy's clutch was smooth as silk, and her vacuum shift worked perfectly, seeming to almost shift herself with Dad's pinky finger just barely guiding the stick with his right hand sliding up the fancy steering wheel. Now it was time to "break-in" the new engine. My little brother was less than 4 years of age and got to visit our grandparents in the East New York section of Brooklyn as Mom, Dad, and I took off for the biggest Road Trip I could imagine. We headed off for the Catskills and visited family at the summer resorts where we traditionally escaped the heat of the city. I either stood in the back while hanging over the center of the front seat, or stared out the back window while waving at the slower traffic we had passed. Driving the mostly 2-lane NY State Highways, we managed to amass the most outrageous collection of bugs, and soon added a big yellow "V"-shaped plastic thing which attached to the hood ornament which did very little to help divert the gooey collection of insects. Gas was cheap and comments on the car made the trip more pleasurable for Dad. He was careful to break-in the new engine, varying his speeds, and using short bursts to ensure the power of the 216 ci "Stovebolt" engine! Dad said he considered going with the bigger (Powerglide-specific version) 235 ci engine, but couldn't see paying the difference for the Sears short block at that time.

 

At every gas stop, my job was to clean the windshield, help check the oil and water, and look at the tires - learning maintenance while being a part of the process, and being rewarded with cold Coca-Cola, snacks, and roadside souvenirs of the road-trip. Niagara Falls was amazing, riding "Maid of the Mist" to the edge of the falls, and then donning a yellow slicker and walking the stairs to go behind the torrents of the Niagara River. We stayed a couple of days at a rooming house on the Canadian side and exchanged cash for Canadian funds, enjoying the local flavor. Traveling on to Montreal, I learned just a bit of French and enjoyed conversing with folks who initially had trouble with my words, but seemed to appreciate my attempts to share their language. Riding the streetcar and climbing the (102?) steps to the cathedral where those cured of disability had abandoned canes and crutches are some of my early memories of the trip. Next, we crossed back into the US at Plattsburg, NY where Dad spent his teen and early college years. I recall meeting a pair of elderly spinsters who had been Dad's schoolteachers, and an older couple who were his mother's friends. We also visited a few of his schoolmates who shared memories, and talked of their shared memories. Almost all had served in WWII, but there was practically no discussion of it, possibly other than which branch of service, and who had not survived to return. That discussion weighed heavily on me as I now recall.

 

Visiting the natural beauty of Ausable Chasm, the historic Fort Ticonderoga, and the old Storm King Highway on our way to visit the US Military Academy at West Point were things I later talked about in 4th grade class during the following school year back in Linden.

 

Other lesser road trips followed in later years, but none seemed quite so memorable or exciting. Then in late 1959, no longer a kid, newly armed with my own license, and having bought my ten year old 1949 red Pontiac convertible, family road trips were no longer a consideration for me.  

 

Continuing the "Road Trip" idea, we've taken our kids, and more recently our grandson on many cross-country Road Trips, generally in our vintage cars. The grandson grew up judging and touring, and at age 25 will soon earn his masters degree. Will he continue the "journey"? we hope so, but only time will tell. Of course, doing it in vintage cars makes it even more memorable.

 

 

 

Edited February 5, 2022 by Marty Roth (see edit history)