Rodent

Being in California, I see all kinds of weird stuff on the road almost every day, but I saw a '67 (?) MGB-GT yesterday. Had a black plate from the 67-68 era and looked like it may have been freshly on the road after spending some time in a barn.

Would have been a 429 in 1970. I know now that Margaret's car was not a SCJ because it had AC. The SCJs had an engine oil cooler that took up some of the space that an AC condenser needed. It was a "regular" Ram Air Cobra Jet. It wasn't much of a sleeper either, with the yellow paint and black shaker. In the first week or two of ownership, it received a larger exhaust system, a shift kit in the C6, and aftermarket wheels with white letter Polyglas tires. I remember a ride to dinner down in Aptos. Charlie was driving, Margaret was shotgun, I was hump seat in the back with my parents flanking me. We got a little sideways on the 1-2 shift and a nice bark from the tires on the 2-3. My 10 year old face was grinning ear to ear. Oh, yeah. The AC was on the whole time. Margaret hated that car the whole time she owned it.

Since I started this, I should probably add to it. My mom had an old lady friend when I was growing up. Ida had a son that was a car person. He bought a new 57 T-Bird that wasn't fast enough for him, so he brought it up here to Sacramento for the Barris brothers to do a Cadillac engine swap to it. We became more acquainted with Charlie in 1969 as Ida was getting closer to passing. I was almost 9 and he had a 69 Cougar XR-7 with a 428/ C6. I don't remember if it was Diamond Blue or the similar light grey pastel, but it had black interior and vinyl top. He never kept cars very long, and he replaced it with an identical 70 very soon. His wife raised schnauzers and bought a new basic Ford station wagon every 2 years. In the spring of 1970, they went to the Ford dealer to order a new wagon for Margaret and the dogs. She ordered a basic yellow Torino wagon with black interior. Meanwhile, Charlie was talking to another person at the dealership. When the wagon arrived, it was a basic yellow Torino wagon, but it had a 429 Ram Air. Oops. Margaret was pissed. I loved that car. It may have been a 1 of 1. It was probably traded in around 1972 in Santa Cruz. I hope that it got a loving owner and not a junkyard.

In no particular order. 64 Galaxie 390. Parents' first new car. Took my driving test in it. Would lay 100+ feet of rubber. Buried the speedometer needle with 5 friends aboard. 1974 ish Porsche 911. Junior High car wash. Guy gave me the keys and told me where to park it when we were done. Good thing I had some concept of driving a manual transmission. 60 Chevrolet C10 PU, 283 with granny 4 speed. Trial by fire learning to drive a manual transmission. There are plenty more for me. Discuss?

Walking around the parking lot at work a week or so ago, I saw a rusty-around-the-edges '68 Coupe DeVille (owner unknown), co-worker Ted's '46 Desoto, and I.T. guy Jeff's pro-street F100.

We usually go for a walk after meeting friends for brunch on Sunday. This gem is always parked in front of an apartment building along the way.