re: #202 Barefoot Grin

I inherited a 1971 Plymouth Valiant that my grandfather bought for my brother in the early ’80s. My brother gave it to me in 1986 because someone had set it on fire outside his Phlly apt. and it had no heat, no radio, the speedometer didn’t work, you had to pump the brakes three times to get it to stop, and it stalled on left turns. I was thrilled. But I was no mechanic. So I drove it as it was. Oh, and the passenger side door didn’t open. I sold it to a college student for $100 right before I went to Japan to teach English in 1988. I’d like to see someone work on that car.

I have a 1979 Lincoln Continental in my garage downstairs. It belongs to Mrs. Fish. Her father drove it, having purchased it from a man in the Air Force at Eglin AFB in Florida. She was enamored with the big brown beast, and when he was done driving it, she asked him, “Daddy, could I have the big brown car one day when I get older?” He told her, “Sure, honey.” And true to his word, he kept it, wrapped in a tarp on his fence row, where I came along six years ago and repaired it to running condition. It still needs a little more work, but I am hopeful this spring that it will be fully operational again.