Your Father's Cars

Yes, it really was "my father's Oldsmobile -- "

Now in his 80's, he still raves about the 1955 Olds 98 2-dr. hardtop that he had as a cool dude, until replacing it with a '63 98. (<< the one I learned to drive on).

Still looking for pix ... and still looking for that '55 98.

 

My Dad, and his cars:
An iwo jima survivor ... well, physically, but the trauma left its horrible marks, evidenced by what he became during the next 40yrs, between age 17 and 57. Still alive and kicking in his mid 80's now. A fatherless child of an alcoholic that he was named after ... his dad was abusive to his mom, my granny ... she divorced his drunken abusive dad, back when he was too young to understand, so he blamed her, and became bitter, among other poor choices of character developement. The apple didn't fall far from the tree, between the two of them, so (with the help of the horrors of war) he too turned to the bottle.

I hear my friends say, "I sure love my dad (mom)" ... or "miss my dad", I have to say that my knee jerk reaction is that "I'm really jealous". Finally I realize that my friend's, "I love my Dad" words are based on a different concept / memory of Dad. Finally I was able to reconcile tons of issues with my parents. Dad sobered up by 1990. He still does gardening, but he has to hire a neighbor kid to dig the hole before he plants his next plumb tree. And he has to take a ton of naps.

I joke with him, "Dad, you're planting a tree? if I were your age, I wouldn't buy green bananas". He laughs and says, "yea I thought about that, but I've already gotten plums from last year's newly planted tree, so who know?". He's finally treating my mom nice too, after so many bad years.

I will probably always miss the childhood that I never had ... what a mess that was ... shame, poverty & violence. Now after turning 50, I stll have to work on ME, because of all that ... it's taken years of learning, to simply be nice ... positive, loving ... industrious ... happy ... what I call, a "tryer". Ergo, the mixed feelings with Dad.

When I say, "I love my dad" (now that I finally can) I don't feel all the warm fuzzies that some feel ... and that I wish I did ... and that I miss fealing. I'm thinking that maybe MY being able to say, "I love my dad" is what love really is ... being able to, in spite of someone's past vile behavior ... not in a co-dependent / enabling sense, but in a balanced sense. When someone says, "I love my Dad" I think to myself, yea, but anyone could do that, with a Dad like yours .

It's been quite a ride, the whole parent / child relationship thing. I doubt if I'll cry at his funeral, and that in itself stll means there's work for me to do. I tell him, "I wish you'd of turned it around when I was born". He says, me too.

My Dad's Cars: (he's given me all the old pictures, many are black & white)

1950's Austin Healey
1956's Ford sedan
1950's Panel Truck
1960's Falcon
1967 Caddie
1970's Dodge Van
1980's dodge Van ... still has it after numerous rebuilds ... what a rust bucket
2007 Hyundai (first new car he ever bought, for my mom ... better late than never )

And also, john1701a , I'm very sorry for your loss, and know how hard that must be. My deepest regards.

 

The first one I actually remember was an old Rambler sedan that as i recall broke down somewhere in upstate New York which prompted the purchase of a 1964 Chevrolet Impala. There was a 1968 Pontiac Catalina, a 1972 Pontiac Catalina, and various pickup trucks and station wagons provided by his employer as well. His last car was a 1980 Oldsmobile Diesel (88 0r 98) which as a pretty high tech at the time. I remember him grumbling about having to plug in the block heater in the winter so it would start and one fine day providing him a jump with my 1976 Plymouth Fury Sport Coupe. That frosted him a bit...

 

well my father's most treasured car was probably his 1965 Chrysler Imperial. it was the first car he ever bought brand new off the lot. it was big enough to ride 10 people in it and it had power everything....

and that was its downfall. my brother and i were very young, sister still a few months away from being born. my mother was totally convinced we would strangle ourselves playing with the power windows. after about a year of constant nagging, my dad reluctantly sold it and bought a station wagon that had the regular window cranks.

i wish i had a picture of that thing.

 

A Pontiac GTO. He drove GM most of his life. (now owns a 2010 Prius)

 

As a father of 4 in the 1950s, my Dad drove the predictable Detroit station wagons, although he always had a big smile when he got to drive his buddy's 56' T-Bird. As us kid's got older, we ended up with two cars, the second always a practical, small, "what ever was available cheap" (Dodge Dart, Ford Fairlane...etc). As the four of us left the nest, he dropped the station wagon but stuck with Detroit four doors.

He never said anything when I owed several VWs in college, but when I bought an Isuzu Pickup in the 1970s he commented on buying a "Jap" truck. But after several discussions he admitted that as a SeaBee in the Pacific during WWII, they preferred the captured "Jap Jeeps" because they were easier to fix and more reliable.

After my Dad passed away 10+ years ago, my Mom traded an Olds with lots of issues for a new Honda Accord (my dad turned over in his grave). At 90, my Mom is about to give up her freedom (car), so if anyone wants a low mileage Honda Accord that is owned by a "little old lady that only drove it to church", let me know.