Blue Cars

It's another Blue Monday, hosted by Smiling Sally! Today I'd like to take you on a trip down Memory Lane, as my dad likes to say! If you are too young for this trip, call it History Lane!

This blue Ford Pinto has been sitting in front of a local garage for about 6 months, and it has inspired today's post. I drive by it almost every day. It makes me think of Miss Pinto, my second grade teacher, who drove...a PINTO! Do you remember the problems with these cars blowing up because the gas tank was smack in the middle of the car's rear? If there was any kind of tailgate crash, it was all over!

The 1967 Ford Country Squire station wagon was one of my first cars. Not this actual one, though, mine was rusted and had different hub caps. It's very sad that it was my first vehicle, considering that I was born in 1967! We called it Louis the Wondercar. It was my mom's car first, then it sat in the yard for many years and was just used for hauling junk. When my younger sister got her driver's license she was allowed to use "my" car which was considered safer, since she had further to drive for her summer job. My summer job was in town and then I went off to college, so I had to drive the junker. I'll never let her hear the end of that story, I'll tell you! For 1967, this was a pretty luxurious vehicle. It had AM & FM radio, air conditioning, and power windows. All of which died that summer I was driving it!

It's difficult to tell it's blue, but this is my dad's 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible. The picture was taken by my mom from the front yard, the house you see is across the street from ours. That's me in the back and my sister in the front. I'm sure we weren't wearing seat belts, and we had just gotten down from the back where we would sit up and wave like beauty queens! Those were the days before safety! We had this car for a few years in the mid-70s. Bogie, my dad, is a huge convertible guy, and he LOVED this car. It had a white top and interior. Unfortunately, my extremely short mom couldn't see to drive it, and the back seat was not conducive to 2 girls who each wanted their own "space". So he got rid of it for a 4-door Mercury. We will never hear the end of this tragedy in his life!

In 1961, my mom, a single working gal, bought a brand new blue Ford Falcon. Again, not this actual one. It was the second year of the production run. She loved that car, and still talks about it today. The big story with this baby is that the family was forever playing musical cars because there were so many drivers and a narrow driveway. Her father was moving all the cars around trying to get his maroon Mercury Comet out. He parked the Falcon a little over the edge of the driveway and when he was backing out the Comet he hit her car. It was the only brand new car she's ever had. Of course my Papoo felt bad and paid for the repairs, but it's still the story that gets told whenever car stories come up!

Isn't it interesting the stories we have about our cars, as if they are major players in our lives, instead of just transportation? People can understand why Americans are so dependent on oil when you think about our love for our cars!

Be sure to skip on over to Smiling Sally's blog and see what other blue items people have to share!