Yes folks, it is with much regret that I inform you that I've left the last bastion of my childish ways behind. What does this mean, you ask?
No, I'm not quitting my blog. That's one bastion of childishness I'll never leave behind. I mean, come on, a man has to have some form of childish release, right?
Sadly, I've given up my gas-guzzling, overpowered, statement of male over-compensation truck, for a more sensible vehicle.
Some of you might remember way back when I posted about my truck (okay, I just looked, and never posted about it here). It was a beautiful beast, with over five hundred horsepower viper motor, twenty-two inch aluminum alloy rims wrapped in big fat pirelli scorpion rubber, and a wing in the back to hold the back end down at high speeds.
I've now moved on to the more sensible, if not as fast, Chevrolet Impala. I bought the 2005 base model. I must say, the ride is luxurious and I've gone from less that fourteen miles per gallon using premium to over twenty mile per gallon using regular. I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to fill the entire gas tank without the pump shutting off. Yeah, it used to take me two tries to fill my truck because the pump would cut off at seventy-five dollars.
So, I don't feel like I've gone backwards in my choice of transportation. I've just moved on to something different. I've had some very different vehicles in my lifetime.
Here's a list of some of them (in no particular order.)
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| 1964 Volkswagen Beetle, I also own another I made into a Baja Bug. |
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| 1960 Chevy Corvair. A great car despite Ralph Nader's opinion. |
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| 1973 Subaru GL. I couldn't kill this car ... and believe me, I tried. |
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| 1970 Chevy El Camino. Mine did NOT look as good as the picture above, but I loved that car. |
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| 1965 Buick Skylark. The first car I ever owned. Paid $400 for it. Have many special memories of that car. |
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| I've got a thing for Volkwagens and the flat four engine in particular. And, no, I did not paint a peace sign on it. |
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Traded my 1970 El Camino for this Ford E200 Econoline van. One of the stupidest things I ever did.
Of course, I've also owned a 1985 Ford F100 truck with no air conditioning. At least it had an automatic transmission. I've also owned a little GMC Sonoma pickup truck. It was great except that it would get stuck on nearly level ground if you threw in the slightest amount of sand.
Can't think of what else I might have owned at one time or another. Oh yeah. I do remember driving an old chevy sprint (later to become the Geo Metro) that had three cylinders and no air conditioning. That car will make an appearance in my first mystery crime novel (whenever it gets finished.) |
Wow Jim you're rides have been as colorful as your life, but you can tell me the truth -- you disposed of the fancy/tall version of Big Foot because you had trouble climbing into it! It's ok, we all need ladders at one time or another.
ReplyDeleteWrite and ride on, Dude!
That truck does look like a monster :) Vroom vroom LOL.
ReplyDeleteI like the Chevy, its nice; economical. Nothing wrong with practical JL.
I agree trading the El Camino for the van was a bad call :)
......dhole
Sandra-Yes, you could be right, although I'll never admit it. As you know, both my knees are shot because of my military service. It's embarrassing when it takes five minutes to muster the courage to climb into the truck. With the Chevy, I basically fall into the seat.
ReplyDeleteDonna-Trading the El Camino seemed like a good idea at the time. I was preparing to go into business for myself as a chimney sweep and thought the van would be needed. Never did that, but was stuck with the van anyway. I forgot to mention that I did later sell the van and buy a 1968 Chevy C-10 pickup truck. That was uneventful in itself, but I traded that truck for a 1967 Dodge Dart (Very classic year) and that was one of the best cars I ever owned.