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.
posted by Sonny Drysdale at 10:30 AM
9 Comments:
My first car was a 1968 Chev Impala, sliver grey in colour, that I promptly wrapped around a hydro pole while turning off Wharncliffe Road South onto Byron Avenue, one slippery winter night.
Had a bevy of babes in the car at the time and they all saw stars at the time of impact. Of course we were all juiced up on corn liquor.
Cost me $500 to bondo up the old girl's rear quarter panel.
You just know it's Springtime when a fellow's thoughts turn to the beauties that are left behind. I didn't buy my first car until 1985, but it was 1974 Firebird Esprit I bought from a friend's brother. I had her fixed up with a metallic midnight blue paint job and nice wide tires. She could leap from 0 to 60 in a heartbeat. One of my cherished rememberances was the Olde Tyme manual air-vents and the time they caught so much air that they literally blew the skirt up around my cute passenger's ears (true!). We were just co-workers at the time but, needless to say, I had to marry her after that (which turned out to be a pretty good deal for me).
The old Firebird sucked a lot of gas into her V8 and she was none too warm and toasty in the Wintertime, but every Spring I still think of winding her out on the back roads to the Bend, with a cooler in the backseat and my honey by my side. What happened? When did it all change, eh?
Good choices for both of you to be true.
My second car was a vintage '58 Mustang rag-top with a V-8.
I had a Lada. The heater didn't work, and it was bad in the snow. I don't miss it at all. I do miss the stereo that I put in though. That was fun.
David - Steve Garrison of CJBK's 'Steve in the Morning' show can often be seen driving his Lada about town.
He may have your tape-deck in there.
Lots of the Staple Sisters and Jesus Murphy Chain on your mix-tape, right?
Sorry Sonny, all Black Flag, with a smattering of Suicidal Tendencies. Different tunes for a different time.
Your memories of the Sonnymobile nicely capture the time before cars became a pox on the planet. I still drive my '60s travelling buddy - we've seen a lot together - and at 41 it is now in better shape than I am; it has less rust.
I was a girl and her car, in 1974 I met and fell in the love with what remains the car of my dreams I have owned two 1974 Pontiac Firebird Esprit. One Midnight Blue with Honey Comb Mags and Pinstripes, Dolby Quad Sound and an Eight Track Player, I drove it for four years when it was murdered at the hands of a thief, and was later replaced with the Gold Esprit like Rockford's, I drove it for eight years when the Turbo 400 Transmission blue up for the final time. Some loves you never get over Blue and Gold I still miss you and you remain in my heart.
What a loving owner. Your Pontiac Sunfire was lucky to have you. I noticed that it has a resemblance to the Pontiac Sunbird, probably because the Sunfire was actually created to replace the latter. Hm, I've read that the name wasn't the only thing they changed, but the dramatic styling as well.
Ava Harness
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