Remembering the many cars owned during a lifetime

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Last week I forgot to mention that our next vehicle was a "brand spankin' new Chevy" panel bread truck, and we paid $1,500 for it. But it wasn't long before Bob realized that he wasn't a "born" salesman (or, for that matter, any kind of a salesman), so he sold the new panel truck and we headed back to Fort Scott with our "over the hill" '37 Chevy car. It wasn't long before it "gave up the ghost" and died.

Our next car was a 1947 Fleetline Chevy. We bought it used in 195l. It, too, was a black, low-slung, very sleek car. It was one of my favorite cars.

Our next car was a 1953 Ford; it, too, was used. I liked it, but I think Bob was a "Chevy" man. By this time, Bob was working for the Kansas Gas and Electric Co. as a lineman and went on to become a journeyman lineman. About this time he bought a wee truck from Jack Todd. It was around a 1928 vintage and was a half ton pickup for $25. Weeee! He drove that, and I got to drive the car.

Our next car was a 1956 Ford; again, a used one. It was green and white and a nifty lookin' car.

The following year, 1957, he went to work for the Western Insurance Co. He was training to become an auditor and safety engineer and was hoping an opening would come up either in Illinois or Wisconsin. Sure enough, in 1958 Jack Coonrod, who was an auditor for the Western in central Wisconsin, had decided to open his own agency, and Bob was called to take his job with the Western.

We hired the Wright Brothers Moving Co. in Fort Scott to move us. They did an excellent job. Nary a thing was broken or even scratched.

We came up in our l956 Ford the summer of l958. We rented a house out on Eighth Street in Wisconsin Rapids, and Susie was in the fourth grade at the Two Mile School, which was just a block from our house. It wasn't long before Bob decided to buy a new car, our first new vehicle since the new panel bread truck in 1950. Again, he opted for a Ford. Now, I think maybe he favors Fords. It was a brown 1959 Ford and one of Bob's favorite cars. But a "mishap" occurred that I didn't have anything to do with. Honest!

When it had about 6,000 miles on it, he was driving along, minding his own business when he blew the engine. (He read this and said he threw a rod. Is there a difference?) We traded for a 1960 Ford, and the company made it good.

To be continued.