Grandparents' cars.

[imwjl]

The Ice Capades threads reminded me of my grandparents' cars. In the 1960s grandparents were day care and their cars were the sound track for a lot of things like we have screens and movies and streaming now.

All of my grandparents were illustrations of the American Dream and the nicer cars they had in their later years were a big deal for them. My mom's mom was all about the Buicks and her little clothing and tailoring store had a little Comet wagon with a V8 and the last delivery wagon was a Pacer wagon.

What's unforgettable is the sound of my grandmother's Wildcats and her "looking for Ethel" (ethyl, premium gasoline). Even though V8s were common her red and green Wildcats like the ones from the Wikipedia page here had rumble and roar the other cars didn't have. They were always associated with something great. That grandmother was a very sporty woman for her era so it would be trips to parks, swimming at lakes or pick us up and a 50 mi trip to her home.

I believe the whole family liked Buicks. It was a really big deal when my parents did their first special order car that was a Buick Estate Wagon.

Declare me senile if I ever forget the sounds of my grandmother's Buick Wildcats.

P.S. I think the early 60s through early 70s big flagship wagons are their own cool and cultural thing.

 

[boris bubbanov]

Yeah, in those days, the Buicks had their own engine source - they did not yet share with Chevy, Pontiac and Olds.

And so, some kids could tell by exhaust sound, which brand and sometimes which model with what options, a particular car had. 15 years later, a lot of different GM brands used the same motors and exhausts. I remember the Louisiana Attorney General (Billy Guste) filing a lawsuit against GM over it.

 

[David Barnett]

Both my grandfathers were long dead by the time I was born. Neither of my grandmothers drove in my lifetime. My maternal grandmother had driven through the 1930s and 1940s but refused to get a license for herself or her vehicle, and was eventually forced to stop. I once saw a picture of her and her car when I was a child, she apparently owned just the one car and it was some kind of 1920s open phaeton type vehicle. Dunno what it was but it looked bigger than, say, a Model A.

Her sister drove, though, and had a lovely turquoise/white two-tone 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. We ended up with that car when she died.

 

[Mjark]

My grandfather had this, same color. My brothers and I, 3 of us then would stand in the back holding on to a rope that spanned the back of front bench seat and beg him to drive fast on the big dips so we'd get that stomach flutter like on a roller coaster. He accommodated us as much as he could.

 

[skydog6653]

Check out the gangster walls on the ‘64!

 

[DekeDog]

My grandfather bought a new '65 289 Mustang on his 75th birthday. He could be seen cruising the city streets with his pipe and in his hounds tooth touring cap, like some old codger having a mid/old-life crisis. My mother got that car when he bought a new caddie, and I put it out of its misery when I inherited it during my freshman year in college in '71.

 

[rarebreed]

I don't remember my grandparents on either side of my family having a car. But the first car I remember my dad having was a 1939 Hudson Terraplane. Somewhere I've got an old photograph of my dad and that car.

 

[billy logan]

The owner of one like this was kind of the bad guy amongst my ancestors. I don't remember any of my other 3 grandparents driving, the other grandfather may have stopped driving due to vision; I remember him walking to the store for groceries including a 19 cent loaf of bread; he had had cars including a Ford Model A, before my time.

Studebaker (Champion maybe)

 

[middy]

My mom’s mom always drove Lincoln Continentals and Towncars. Probably the most comfortable back seats I’ve ever experienced.

 

[brookdalebill]

Very cool.
My grandfather’s last vehicle was a purple (magenta?) 1969 Buick station wagon.
He was a terror in it the last few years he drove.
He was a guy who liked to make, build and fix stuff, so he liked a bigger set of wheels.
He drove well into his late 80s, in the late 1980’s ,he was born in 1902.
He kept it tidy, but he was always hauling tools, lumber, and other stuff.
I’m named after him, BTW.
My Dad and I were always conscripted into projects when we’d visit him, in Lompoc, Ca.
Super cool guys, my Dad and grandfather!

 

[dkmw]

When I was thirteen, my grandmother would let me solo in her 57 Dodge station wagon, as long as I stayed off the paved roads. So I learned to drive on sand roads, learned car control, and how to drive looking out the side windows.

 

[old soul]

My grandfolks always had some form of Chevy sedan, until my grandmother got a huge maroon Lincoln towncar. That thing was big, but to a kid it seemed like an indoor playground in the back seat.

 

[Engine Swap]

Only grand parent that drove was my paternal grandfather. Only car I remember was a late 60's Malibu 4-door. I'm sure it had a straight 6 and I remember it creeping up the driveway.

 

[Chester P Squier]

Both grandpas had died before I was born. Neither grandma drove. But each grandma had her youngest son living with her.
One uncle had a dark blue 1949 Ford he had a long time. The other drove Pontiacs, complete with the Chief Pontiac hood ornament

 

[Tommy Biggs]

We used to drive to the Jersey shore in our other guitar player’s grandfather’s mid 70s Fleetwood.
Parked in someone’s driveway it could sleep 3 comfortably, although the trunk while comfortable could get buggy.

 

[JL_LI]

My grandfather drove Pontiacs. My dad bought a Bonneville with a 421 because he planned a drive cross country to Seattle and needed a car with enough power to cross the Rockies. Volkswagens did it in 3rd gear but not like an air conditioned Bonneville. He mellowed in his old age. His last car before he died was a 4 cylinder Camry.

I’m a grandpa now and my wife’s a grandma. No Buicks for us. No Japanese cars either. I worked for a Japanese company and looking at cars I passed a Lexus dealer and stopped in. My wife told the salesman, “No way. That just a Japanese Buick”. I have a leased BMW 330xi and just bought my wife a Z4. So she’s the little old lady from Long Island cruising down Northern Boulevard. My wife’s a card. I got rear ended in my last BMW and we had to get an insurance rental. She carried on until Enterprise gave her a Cadillac. And then she wouldn’t let it in the driveway. Someone might think it’s ours. You can’t make this stuff up.

 

[boris bubbanov]

Very cool.
My grandfather’s last vehicle was a purple (magenta?) 1969 Buick station wagon.
He was a terror in it the last few years he drove.
He was a guy who liked to make, build and fix stuff, so he liked a bigger set of wheels.
He drove well into his late 80s, in the late 1980’s ,he was born in 1902.
He kept it tidy, but he was always hauling tools, lumber, and other stuff.
I’m named after him, BTW.
My Dad and I were always conscripted into projects when we’d visit him, in Lompoc, Ca.
Super cool guys, my Dad and grandfather!

Lompoc?

There was a Saab dealer there, for a good long while and my parents bought their most recent car ('96 900S three door) there.

My parents are 95 and 94 and the State of California has bullied them into no longer driving. Which may be for the best, at least for my Dad. I asked him which cars were in the garage and he thought he had a Ford out there - and he hasn't owned or had access really to a Ford since 1963.

I believe my Mom could drive well, but Hwy 46 is right there, under a mile away and she's (rightfully) terrified of what it has become. They've seen some horrendous wrecks and numerous fatalities and the Media dutifully reports most every one of these (often gristly) deaths.

 

[schmee]

My Great Aunt and Uncle (who were kinda my grandparents on that side of the family) Had an old Desoto. One of those big Black humpback things. Maybe about a '46. He died at 96, but I remember my Mom telling of my Aunt (her sister) getting a coat shut in the door when Unk dropped her off. He was old at the time and didn't hear well, he took off and she was banging on the window to get him to stop! It was garaged and likely had very low miles.

 

[mexicanyella]

The Ice Capades threads reminded me of my grandparents' cars. In the 1960s grandparents were day care and their cars were the sound track for a lot of things like we have screens and movies and streaming now.

All of my grandparents were illustrations of the American Dream and the nicer cars they had in their later years were a big deal for them. My mom's mom was all about the Buicks and her little clothing and tailoring store had a little Comet wagon with a V8 and the last delivery wagon was a Pacer wagon.

What's unforgettable is the sound of my grandmother's Wildcats and her "looking for Ethel" (ethyl, premium gasoline). Even though V8s were common her red and green Wildcats like the ones from the Wikipedia page here had rumble and roar the other cars didn't have. They were always associated with something great. That grandmother was a very sporty woman for her era so it would be trips to parks, swimming at lakes or pick us up and a 50 mi trip to her home.

I believe the whole family liked Buicks. It was a really big deal when my parents did their first special order car that was a Buick Estate Wagon.

Declare me senile if I ever forget the sounds of my grandmother's Buick Wildcats.

P.S. I think the early 60s through early 70s big flagship wagons are their own cool and cultural thing.

Those Wildcats (and other Buicks) were unique and pretty cars, to my eye. In high school my ride was a 2-door ‘75 Regal, with a 4-barrel Buick 350. Geared very high for economy and smooth highway cruising. Not good for laying rubber or getting the holeshot, but it had a nice dual-exhaust rumble on the interstate and fuel economy wasn’t too bad.

As far as the automotive soundtrack of my early childhood goes...heavily featured was the 225 cubic inch “slant 6” in a succession of mid-60s Chrysler products.

 

[boris bubbanov]

My maternal grandfather started driving fairly young and had a series of Chevy sedans before I was born and had a '52 base model 4 door Chevy sedan when I came along. He switched to AMC in 1957 and had a green '57 Rambler. His last car was a '63 American in teal, mid trim range, with a vinyl interior and white top. Sixes, always sixes. 4 door sedans, always.

My paternal grandfather had always taken the elevated train to work when with the Feds, and then decided at age 60 to learn to drive. He started with my uncle's green '53 Pontiac Star Chief in 1959 and then found a wreck/repaired 1960 LeSabre 4 door hardtop in metallic gold/bronze. It wasn't repaired right (couldn't be) and so he bought a 1966 Newport (same color) in 4 door sedan form. And his final car was a '73 Newport 4 door hardtop, dark metallic blue with a white vinyl top. The purpose of these cars was cross country vacations for the two of them. My paternal grandparents were fearless and went out west and down to Louisiana too many times to count - and never backed off even after almost totaling the '66 in a frontal collision with an elk in Colorado. And my grandmother never drove - she gave up trying when she put a car off the pavement while practicing in a Cemetery and they got locked in and had to trace down the custodian of the place to be towed out of there. And I dearly idolized my paternal grandfather but he was one of the worst drivers I have ever rode with in my life. He could out-debate you, finish a crossword puzzle in half the time I could, but he waited too long to acquire those driving skills and was the kind of "gentleman" who would hire people to replace light bulbs in the family residence (no mechanical know how).