1966 Saab 850 Monte Carlo (photo courtesy William “Chip” Lamb)
The lovely Natalie’s father had a 1966 Saab 850 Monte Carlo, navy blue, and a total revelation to me. Natalie was my main squeeze during my sophomore and junior years in college. The Saab was a particular revelation on the snow-packed dirt roads of northwest Illinois. It could be driven with great precision on such roads, thanks to its 13:1 steering, 17” Nardi steering wheel and Koni shocks.
17” (432 mm) Nardi steering wheel (photo courtesy William “Chip” Lamb)
That big Nardi wheel was needed due to steering that was heavy, albeit precise. The popcorn popper was fun, except in Chicago traffic. It was necessary to constantly blip the throttle at stoplights just to keep the plugs clean.
The lovely Natalie
Unfortunately, the Saab had a propensity to cough up engines on an annual basis. Also, it didn’t like the cold Illinois winters–it would start but wouldn’t move. On the other hand, Natalie was warm, and did.
Peggy’s 1967 Austin Healey 3000 Mk III
Then came Peggy and her 1967 Austin Healey 3000. A very sexy package, and easy on the eyes. But what a truck! I mean, my 1960 Plymouth was a piece of crap to drive, but no more so than the Healey.
’67 Healey
Still, I’ve always been a sucker for a great body, something that both the Healey and Peggy had in spades. At 5’10” tall (1,778 mm) and 160 lbs., (Peggy, not the Healey), she was expensive just to feed. These shots were taken in Brown County, Indiana, just after I had finished compounding, cleaning, and waxing the Healey: Shiny, just like Peg. But Peggy was a flower child who regarded Linda Goodman’s “Sun Signs” as her Bible. One time she called me up to tell me that she would not be making her planned trip because the car had a flat tire and one of the windshield wipers had disappeared. When I asked why it was necessary to cancel, she replied that this was an omen. I told her that the omen was that she needed to fix the tire, replace the wiper and just make the damn trip. She thought me unenlightened.
The lovely Karin
And then there was Karin, the daughter of a well-to-do banker in northern Indiana. Daddy made sure that she had new and trouble-free cars to drive; in this case, a 1969 Falcon two-door sedan, with a 200 cu in six and three-speed automatic, in Sea Foam Green. It was not nearly as exciting as she was, but still quite competent, in a Midwest sort of way: Quite relaxed on Interstate 80 at 75 mph, and quiet and solid. Nice car.
1969 Ford Falcon
Daddy’s Car: 1969 Buick Electra 225
Once, during a trip to take in the architectural wonders of Columbus, Indiana (really), Karin, her sister and I borrowed her father’s 1969 Buick Electra 225 four-door hardtop–it was a proper banker’s car, all-black and no vinyl top. While driving on the Indianapolis beltway, I decided to conduct a test. Both girls were quite anti-car and considered speeding to be reprehensible. I asked them to tell me how fast they thought we were going; neither had any idea. They were amazed when I told them we were traveling 105 mph (169 kph): No drama here–only quiet and serenity.
Sue’s 1974 Datsun B-210
When I met Sue, in 1974, she’d just bought a new ’74 Datsun B-210 painted the same mustard-yellow as my 1972 Fiat 128. But the similarities ended there: The 128 was a driver’s car, and the B-210? Just an abject piece of shit. I can’t tell you how much I hated that car. You could just see it rusting away right before your eyes. It rode like a tumbrel and was just crude. After five years I gladly got rid of it for $500.
The wedding altar
Sue and I married in 1976, and she remains my first and only wife to this day–in spite of the Datsun.
We eloped and were married on the Jubal Early, a cable ferry that links White’s Ferry, MD, to Virginia. We stopped in the middle of the Potomac and had our ceremony. We disembarked on the Virginia shore and our wedding party (the parson and our two best-friend couples) returned to the Maryland shore. To this day, Sue and I would not have had it any other way.
Wow! Excellent story Kevin. Even though I’m from a completely different era and never had a connection to any of the cars mentioned, my interest was always piqued. Natalie reminds me of a young Meryl Streep.
The historian and sci-fi nut in me has to mention the name of the ship you eloped on (great choice by the way, its the only way to get married in my opinion, and I don’t even have a girlfriend right now). Anyway, Jubal Early was a fairly renowned Confederate general who served under Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. Early was ALSO the name of the last villain in the short lived sci-fi series Firefly, who has the honor of speaking the very last line of the show. Crazy how all this stuff intersects, right?
A good read, Mr. Martin.
Re SAAB:
Why was the engine prone to plug fouling? Wasn’t there forced lubrication, or were you using petroil mixture? I ride a two stroke bike but have (sadly) no experience with 2st cars.
The dash on that car seems so much `American Style’ even back then, rather than the quirky Morris/FIAT/VW stuff.
Re: Austin-Healey Trucks:
Ettore Bugatti would agree with your assessment of the refinement of British racing machines, although he was referring to Bentley. Of course, what the earlier cars lacked in refinement they made up for in torque, but sadly by the time of the 3000, even that was not the case. However, contemporary American cars were so far ahead of any and all mass-produced stuff anywhere else that comparison with even a 1960 Plymouth is not completely fair.:)
Re Buick @105: The only way to travel. I’m still waiting for cars that truly capture the opulent luxury and tomb-like silence of the older Buicks, but with modern safety and space+fuel efficiency.
Re Datsun: The `Flying Scot’ (…sman?)with a steam locomotive is cool. The picture also seems to show ‘LNER’ on the tender, which is appropriate. Google search on `Flying Scot’ yields a dinghy(!).
Re FIAT 128: Great car, even greater photo, and congratulations for your lasting marriage. What does `IIT’ in the photo stand for?
Waiting for the next episode of COAL!
I think the Saab fouled its plugs due to high compression ratio and the oil/gas mixture. The engine did not have forced lubrication. As Paul N has stated in previous articles, the Saab engine was a copy of the 3 cyl DKW engine.
“IIT” stands for Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. I graduated from its Institute of Design.
And in case I was unclear, I really hated that effing Datsun.
Kevin, excellent story! Very heartwarming.
By the way, I hope you and your immediate family own much better cars to drive these days than the ones you described
As Colin Chapman once opined, as you get older, priorities change. Today, my hair long ago changed to white (not silver), my priority is all-weather drivability and reliability. My wife and I both drive Subarus. Excitement is not having exciting moments. My boy-racer days are behind me. That’s not to say I don’t like a car that’s fun to drive. My Impreza has some of the best driving dynamics that I have had in any car. My wife’s Forester isn’t quite the corner carver that the Impreza is, but it’s a good long distance tourer. (But why did my ’88 Olds Touring Sedan get better mileage than my wife’s Forester?) at equivalent speeds?
But tell us, how did you REALLY feel about that Datsun?
Great story. Nice job.
Oil in the mixture made plugs prone to foul, especially during periods of idling, low speed operation, and over-run. One of the downsides of old-school two-strokes. Modern two-strokes get by with a lower oil-to-fuel ratio, and have electronic ignition.
Sadly, `modern’ two strokes seem to be only used in snowmobiles or such. I would love to see a 3==6 again, but its not coming from that Borg.
The first B210 photo shows a B210 hatchback, not a B210 coupe or sedan like Sue’s (and eventually your) B210.
FYI:the hatchback has a noticably different roofline and rear end than that of the coupe and sedan.
You confuse me. There is only one image of a Datsun B-210, and it’s identical to the car that my wife bought. The second mustard-colored car is my Fiat 128 which was a 2 dr sedan. Fiat called the color Positano Yellow.
Sorry, my bad. I thought both cars were B210s.
Nice contribution, Kevin!
The name ‘Jubal Early’ is most appropriate considering Early was one of Stonewall’s most dependable lieutenants–and considering Jackson’s exploits in the western part of Va. While ol’ Jube didn’t get along too well w/ Jackson, He eventually inherited command of the stonewall brigade when all the notable, famous names in that brigade died in the subsequent fighting in the years subsequent to the 1962 Shenandoah campaign.
You frequently mention the fetching Natalie….. she has gotten under your skin, indeed!
Ah, the notoriously bloody 1962 Shenandoah campaign. Studebaker’s last true model year.
Yeah, the 1962 campaign was a bitch.
wow…. I wish I had proofread this a bit before sending it out. Feel like a complete dolt!
That picture of the fall picnic in Brown County brings back some happy memories camping in the woods there.
Interesting girlfriends and interesting cars. You certainly had that Healy looking good. It appears that much of your dating was done within 50 miles of my house. My hat is off to you for getting away with 105 mph on the I465 beltway. That is usually patrolled pretty heavily. One of my law school roommates got pulled over there for speeding (maybe 70 in a 55) and got no end of grief from the judge after it came out that he was a law student. And I believed you when you mentioned the notable architecture in Columbus.
There was very little traffic on I 465 that day. The notable architecture in Columbus is due to the fact that the Cummins corp, they make the best diesel engines in the world (yes, the effin world), has been willing for some time now to pay the architectural fees for municipal buildings within Columbus. Cummins is a class act.
The modernist house commissioned by Cummins president J. Irwin Miller in the 1950s has been acquired by the Indianapolis Museum of Art and is, along with the grounds, on occasional public display.
I married my wife in 1980 in spite of of her mustard yellow b 210. Still together. Guess there must be something about women and their silly choices at the epoch. God bless us
Oh, a couple of years ago she drove my Audi pass a speed trap at more than 160 km/h, but that is another story.
Nice story. Cars of my girlfriends? Hmmm…a certain girl in Yuba City who drove a 1965 Ford Galaxie 500 – might have well have been the elusive blonde in the white T-Bird from “American Graffiti”!
Another young lady I met while in the service didn’t own a car…strictly a classic summer fling.
The next young lady I met and actually dated of any consequence drove a 1970 Mustang convertible. I married her and we celebrated our 35th anniversary Sept. 3rd!
She was a keeper! The car? we sold it in a fairly rusted condition in 1979. Fun while it lasted, though!
OK Zak, fu. My wife and I were married Nov 1, 1976. You beat me by 2 mos.
No, Kev, you beat ME by a year and two months, Sept. 3, 1977.
In the second Austin Healy photo, is Peggy one of the girls sitting at the picinic table?
Reading the part about the wedding ceremony on the ferry in the middle of the Potomac, I couldn’t help but wonder, “So which state were you married in?”. (Sorry, like jpcavanaugh and a few other people here, I’m a law school grad.) If I understand the Wikipedia article on the Potomac River correctly, in most places the entire river is part of Maryland’s territory.
When I first met my wife in 1992, she was driving an ’87 Chevy Cavalier hatchback (the last year that body style was built), which she had bought used the previous year. It was her fourth car. The three that I missed out on were a Ford Pinto, a Datsun B-210, and a 1986 Pontiac Firebird with a 305 V8. I’m not sure if I wish she still had the Firebird when I met her, or if I’m glad she didn’t (her previous boyfriend drove a red late-model Camaro). At the time, I had an ’85 Plymouth Turismo.
The Maryland state line is the Virginia shore. Screw Virginia!
Kevin, well done! Really enjoyed this one. Waiting now for “cars of my wife”!
Hey, at least the B210 wasn’t one of the yellow and black “Honeybee” versions. How the manufacturer of the 240Z and IRS and SOHC 510 could sink so low was tragic.
It could have been worse. An ad agency buddy of mine worked on the Datsun campaign introducing the Honey Bee. The original logo was provided by the Japanese, and it looked like a horror- film bee, big fangs, bulging eyes and all. The agency persuaded Datsun to use a friendlier- looking bee, which my friend drew up. His bee was what wound up on the cars, but he has left it out of his portfolio. Go figure.
At least the Healey was a ’67 and thus had roll-up windows. The earlier cars were roadsters, and most of the side screens were reluctant to stay closed. If the rally crews found a set that would actually stay closed of its own accord, they’d pull the screens and transfer them to their next car.
these early saab also has a lever for free wheel, once engaged is like a bike free wheel one can step on gas but no engine braking, if your brakes are out then u’re done.
Have seen a few of these in Hong Kong, and the lever is on left side, i guess is not so safe if u driving solo, u need a passenger sitting on left side to engage & dis-engage the lever. HK has Right hand drive.
these 2 strokes I read were not really good for engine braking either, as engine rev up but oil is not supplied as ample as when u throttle.