It is labeled on the back, "Al's Jalopy". A shame it doesn't show the entire car. I haven't a clue as to what maker, either. I am sure that my dad spent many hours keeping it running!I got to thinking about the first car that I owned. I got my driver's license in 1971, when I was 16. My parents owned an enormous boat of an automobile, a Pontiac Bonneville, olive green with a fake leather top in black. I learned to drive in that car. As soon as I got home from passing my driver's test, my mom asked me to take her shopping at the Northshore Shopping Center (now a mall), Jordan Marsh, Filene's, and more. My mom didn't drive back then and wouldn't get her license until her new chauffeur (me) went off to college. I also became official driver for all my friends as I was the oldest and for a time the only driver. My parents thought nothing of loaning me the car to drive to concerts an hour away in Boston. Great concerts like The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, and others.
Owning my own car came a few years later. I spent my first year at college, in Boston, living in a private dormitory. Massachusetts College of Art had no dorms of their own. My second year I decided to live at home and commute. My dad was concerned that I have a very reliable, sturdy, survive most anything, rugged auto for that commute each day to Boston. As a result, this became my first car.
A brand new Pontiac Firebird (V8). I can't remember whether it was a 1974 or 1975. I know that the next year's model had a wraparound rear window. My dad installed an 8 track tape player for me. I could commute to Boston listening to Pink Floyd, or Bach's Goldberg Variations...(Yes, Bach on 8 track. I used the school's audio lab to convert my 33 rpm records to 8 track)Then came the oil crisis. Prices jumped to over 75 cents/gallon. The bright red Firebird got traded in for a first year Volkswagon Rabbit. What a change, what a mistake!
2 comments:
I wish I could convert my dozens of old 33's to 'any track', never mind eight. I'd love to have half of them on CD. I expect it costs Mega-bucks?
In a couple of the catalogs that we seem to receive there is a gimmicky turntable that boasts having the ability to convert 33's to CD. As I recall the unit was somewhere around $500.00.
Post a Comment