A Boy and His Car

Photo above - The Author and his first car.

Come springtime, a young man's mind turns to love. That's why every June, around the time of Steve Plunkett's Classic Car Show held at stately Plunkett Manor, I get a bit misty-eyed thinking about my first car.

She was an older girl who showed an inexperienced young lad of 16 what life was all about. Ahh, I remember it like it was just yesterday. The sun beat down on that hot August day back in 1973 when I was introduced to her at Used Cars R' Us out on Oxford Street.

A vintage 1958 Pontiac Sunfire GT. A silver coupe. For those of you out there in blog-land who do not know what that means - it was a silver two-door. Very 'James Bond.' Kinda like 007's car in 'Goldfinger,' except for not being an Aston-Martin.

Officially, the marketing boys at General Motors may have called her a Sunfire - and it's true that she bore a huge resemblance to the Pontiac Sunbird - but the day we drove off the lot together, I christened her 'Sunshine.'

A.k.a. 'The Sonnymobile.'

Every Sunday back then, it was just me and Sunshine, cruising the back roads until we eventually ended up at Mackies in Port Stanley before I would gently turn her around, shift into Thrust and head back. I had just broken up with my girl that summer but on those lazy Sunday afternoons I was amazed at just how easy it was to fall in love again. As a lover, Sunshine could and *would* do whatever I asked of her. She was a vehicle of easy virtue. And I was smitten.

Some weekends we would get together with friends and take road trips to cottage country or just go on gravel-runs through the concession roads of Huron County. On those occassions, I would insist that all passengers only refer to me as "Wheels." But those trips weren't about me. It was all about The Journey. Because everyone loved Sunshine.

Those halycon days inevitably ended. I settled down with a younger woman, had kids and turned into a four-door man. Sunshine was put up on blocks in the garage and although I would occassionally visit and rub her down, we both knew that until the sedan years were over, our love affair would be merely idling in the driveway of our memories.

You may be thinking - Well, that's just fascinating, Sonny - but wouldn't all this be better suited for your column in 'The Auto Trader?' Perhaps you've seen my weekly car-advice column, 'From Under the Hood' - "Well yes, it *could* be the carburetor, but remember, always first check the differential."

The thing is though - everything here at Sonny Drysdale Presents (TM) is all about Beauty. And everything about my Sunshine was inspired by beauty and ART - from its aerodynamic design to the fuzzy dice hanging from the rear-view mirror, right down to the decal of 'Rat Fink' on her the left side of her cute rear end, drawn by Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth.

And being the car-buff that I am, I can tell you there are few experiences more beautiful and meaningful to me than the first time I lifted her top and stared down into that huge V-8 engine. I get pumped just thinking about it.