My father in 2015
(first posted 6/20/2015) Yesterday in Part 1 of this two part series, we covered the cars of my father from 1946 to 1981. Today we shall cover 1983 to the present time.
1983 Plymouth Reliant
While there was nothing memorably wrong with the Volare, Dad got that old familiar itch and went car shopping in the Summer of ’83.
The dark gray 2.2 liter powered Reliant was slightly used with about 3,000 miles on it. Purchased at Town & Country Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge in Cape Girardeau, it was a rapid transaction.
This was the car we took on a road trip through Ontario and New York state in 1984. Later that same year we took it to my great-grandmother’s funeral in Houston, Texas, staying with my great-aunt and uncle in nearby Cut-and-Shoot, Texas. The funeral was softened by a side trip over to New Orleans, Louisiana.
Later on during his ownership, the Reliant developed a ferociously loud racket at speed. My father – the only one in the household immune to the auditory onslaught – blamed it on tire noise despite a new set of tires failing to remedy the situation. When my mother and sister ultimately refused to ride in the car, he finally had a mechanic take a look. The culprit was a bad wheel bearing that had to be removed in pieces. That Reliant was as quiet as a Cadillac after that – or so it seemed.
Incidentally, if performed just right the Reliant would not upshift to third gear until 67 mph.
1984 Ford F-150
In 1985 the old ’70 F-100 succumbed to the tin worm. Dad went shopping and I tagged along.
At the time Ford had their 300 straight-six as standard equipment with the 302 V8 as optional. My father could not understand why Ford bothered with the 302 since the engine sizes were so close. Going to Ford Groves, he lamented greatly upon learning Ford had discontinued their three-speed on the column a year or two prior. To him that was the ultimate transmission as they did not rob floor space and historically there was no surcharge for obtaining it; he was almost as distraught as his younger sister was when Sonny and Cher divorced. Not finding what he liked at the Ford dealer, we saw a newish F-150 sitting on the lot at Cape Toyota.
Powered by a 300 straight-six, this red and silver F-150 had 2,200 miles when the first owner decided he wanted something different. The original owner had been blessed with a ton of prescience as this F-150 drank like a wino in a liquor store while pumping out breathtakingly meager levels of power for its generous displacement.
Soon after getting this pickup, my father obtained another of his many 4,000 pound loads of gravel. His observation was this pickup did not squat as quickly as his ’70 but the ’70 would pull infinitely better despite not being equipped with the granny-low first gear of his ’84. He said the ’84 was so pitifully underpowered it needed this gear to start moving any type of load (or maybe I suggested that to him).
I can attest that at 4,500 pounds of rock, it was a brain-teaser to drive as the front axle took steering input as a meager suggestion instead of a direct order. Finally dumping the factory gas mileage biased P215/70R15 tires for something meatier did allow for the same payloads with less tire bulge.
This pickup always stayed close to home and I likely put half or better of the miles on it. At 10 to 12 mpg even with a light foot, it never endeared itself to me and I strongly suspect it never really endeared itself to my father.
Several years after he traded this pickup, he and I saw it again. It was being used to collect garbage in the small town of Anna, Illinois. He had traded it off in the same town and the red and silver paint job was so unique there was no mistaking it.
1985 Ford Crown Victoria
Larger children necessitated a larger vehicle in 1986 and the ’81 Omni had about 120,000 miles. After looking briefly at a new 1987 Dodge Diplomat at Town & Country Motors, Dad went to Guetterman’s. Sitting on the lot was a loaded 1985 Ford Crown Victoria with 5,100 miles on the clock.
The original owner was insatiable in his automotive appetite, coming to Gutterman’s every four to six months for a new car. The Crown Vic was by far the most expensive vehicle my father had purchased up to this time and it also has the distinction of being his first car costing over $10,000.
Comfortable and quiet, the Crown Vic was great for travel. We took it to such places as Minnesota, Arizona, and Washington D.C. My only visit to Las Vegas was in this car. It was flawless until it hit 50,000 miles and the pollution control devices decided to crap out one at a time. A malfunction would prompt rough running or running so rich it would pour black smoke out the tailpipe. It got so bad my father took the title with him when journeying more than one hundred miles. For our trip to D.C., the title was in his suitcase as he was ready to ditch the car at the first sign of trouble; naturally, it ran flawlessly during these times. At 75,000 miles yet another component went south with a repair cost of over $700.
This Crown Victoria was gone within two weeks.
1988 Ford Tempo
By 1988 the Reliant had about 115,000 miles and it was traded for a new two-door Ford Tempo.
The Tempo was not a bad car, but is completely forgettable in a good sense. There were simply no issues to greatly annoy a person and it was flawless mechanically. In the 154,000 miles my father had the car the coolant fan died somewhere north of the 100,000 mile mark and a cable in the dash broke, causing all air generated by the ventilation system to shoot onto the windshield. With its 2.3 liter HSO engine and five-speed manual transmission, the car averaged over 30 mpg during his ownership.
This car typifies the majority of my father’s automotive experiences – they aren’t exciting, they do their thing, they don’t misbehave, and he gets a lot of miles from them.
1991 Dodge Dynasty
This is what replaced the ’85 Crown Victoria. Purchased in late 1990, the Dynasty was equipped with the 3.3 liter V6 and the infamous Ultradrive transmission.
This Dynasty twice saw speeds of nearly 120 mph (the dashboard started bouncing at about 110 and at 120 I backed off the throttle due to the noise). It was driven from sea to shining sea as I pulled up to the shores of both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in it. It was subjected to extensive use by my sister, whose driving will scare the hell out of mortal people. After my parents moved to a different house in 1994, it was pressed into a 70 mile daily commute for my mother.
In the 135,000 miles my father had it, there was only one minor hiccup. A sensor went bad, a malady that stalled the engine three seconds after start-up. That was it. The transmission was flawless, all the trim stayed in place, and it was only on its second set of tires.
Some say the Dynasty was a pile of rubbish. While I drove some awful ones at work, this one possessed quality and reliability comparable to any manufacturer. It was simply that good.
1995 Mercury Cougar
Reflecting upon the cars of my father’s life, writing about this Cougar keeps prompting a song to race through my head….
The Tempo was traded for the Cougar in late 1995. I was away at college when the Cougar was purchased and the rationale for it being chosen has never been determined. It was a complete surprise when my parents arrived at my college graduation in a red Cougar with a moonroof. All I knew was my father once again helped put groceries on the table at the Guetterman residence and the Cougar had graced a rental car fleet in Florida.
Part of the rationale may have been retirement. My father was preparing to retire a few months later so I presume this was part of his transition. The only complaint they ever had with the Cougar is the noise made by its 3.8 liter V6.
The Cougar was a car that disappeared as quickly as it appeared. I’m uncertain of the mileage when they traded it and they owned this car for a shorter time than any other car they have had in my lifetime. There were no problems during the time of their ownership.
1997 Ford Crown Victoria
With my father having retired in 1996, and my mother retiring soon thereafter, the Dynasty was sold outright in 1998 and the Cougar went away for a one-year old Crown Victoria. It had been purchased new by a retired couple that didn’t keep cars for very long.
The intrigue of the purchase of this Ford, and the subsequent Mercury, was the irony of it. In 1986 my father moped about buying the ’85 Crown Vic as he preferred smaller cars. Now, when his children had moved out and it was an empty nest, what did he buy?
The original window sticker was in the glovebox of the Ford when he bought it. Looking at it I was amazed the only option on this car was the zero cost front license plate bracket. It was well equipped in basic form, quite the stretch from the days of his zero option Falcon.
One of my parents retirement goals was to travel and this car was driven all over the United States. It made numerous trips from their house in Southern Illinois to Blacksburg, Virginia, while my sister was working on her Master’s degree. One of those trips included my wife and I shortly after we married; for that trip its 4.6 liter V8 averaged a shade over 25 mpg. My father told me they squeezed nearly 29 mpg out of it on another trip. That’s not too shabby for an eight-cylinder, 4,000 pound car.
1998 Dodge Ram 1500
In 1998 my father traded off his ’84 F-150 when it had 55,000 miles. Strangely, several dealers did not want to entertain taking a low mileage fourteen year old pickup on trade.
The replacement for the Ford was a new Dodge Ram 1500; with a 5.9 liter V8, an automatic transmission, an 8′ bed, and an abundance of power accessories, it was a vast departure from his previous two pickups. Pulling a car trailer with this pickup, after having done so in the ’84 F-150, was a revelation that a half-ton pickup could pull 5,000 pounds without wheezing and dragging its tongue on the ground. The 360 almost makes any trailer undetectable.
Soon after purchase, my father obtained a slide-in camper. With the camper this Dodge has been to every province in Canada along with many states stretching from Alaska to Maine.
Other than an intake plenum that has reared its ugly head a few times, the Dodge has been flawless. Even the dashboard, a known weak point in this vintage of Dodge pickup, has not cracked. It is stored inside which undoubtedly helps.
My father still owns this Dodge and it now has about 120,000 miles.
2000 Mercury Grand Marquis
In late 2001, the ’97 Crown Victoria had 95,000 miles and it went away for a 2000 Grand Marquis. It was nearly the same tan as the ’97 Crown Victoria, prompting my grandparents to think my parents had not actually purchased another car.
This car was another drama and trouble free car. It was traded with 135,000 miles sometime in 2007 or 2008.
2007 Ford Five Hundred
My father still owns his red Five Hundred but likely won’t for much longer.
Its 3.0 V6 is rated at two hundred horsepower, but the cars weight does burden the engine considerably and hills will cause it to downshift from sixth all the way down to third gear. Sweetening the deal is this Five Hundred is thirstier than both the V8 powered 2000 Mercury and 1997 Crown Victoria that preceded it.
The comfort is decent but it does seem to have excessive noise. The air conditioner ceased working at capacity this past summer and it recently spent several days at the repair shop to replace faulty exhaust manifold gaskets. With about 125,000 miles at this writing, his Five Hundred has not been anything to brag about.
My father is obviously a dyed-in-the-wool Ford and Chrysler man. In a recent discussion on what to buy next he admitted to being intrigued with little from either company. He wants to stick with American made, although he has not kept abreast on how that has evolved over time. He was surprised to learn my Volkswagen was built in Chattanooga, Tennessee, further muddying his concept of American made.
I’m curious to see what transpires.
(Author’s Note: Sadly, I do not have pictures of any of my father’s cars; these pictures were culled from various sites.)
A Ford and Chrysler man might take into account that most of the new Chrysler cars are reworked Fiats, and those that aren’t, will be st the next redesign.
Replying to myself (too late to edit): the Fiat Chryslers do show an attractive flair to them that the blocky, awkward, boring designs foisted upon Mopar followers during Chrysler’s domination by the Master Race just did not have. Daimler, Disaster and a barely-passing grade in school all start with the same letter.
My take? The Dynasty was the winner in this long string of vehicles. Maybe I just wanted to read it that way, but I had two of that vintage as work cars. Those cars were high trim line cars, and superior to the comparable 3.1 Lumina we had as a personal car.
Later I had a 2001, ’03, ’05, ’07, 09, ’12, ’14 Impala, all high trim LTZs. They were solid, reliable cars, and “just good enough”. In March I started driving a ’14 Passat TDi for work, it was at the Chevy dealer when I went to look at a ’15 Impala.
“Decontented” compared to our old ’07 Passat high line wagon, I have really enjoyed having it this year as my travel has increased over the 46k miles I’ve driven it. It is significantly better than ‘just good enough.’
And that Dynasty must have been built on a Wednesday, before lunch.
My folk’s Voyager lasted 18 years before I totaled it was built at 14:50ish on a Friday in late August 1994 and it was pretty reliable.
I was considering the purchase of a Mercury Montego or a Crown Vic/Grand Marquis, but after reading this half of the….saga? I’m leaning back towards the Vic/Marquis.
As a kid, I noticed the first several cars my father owned were a mix of Big 3 products….he told me he had no favorites except for perhaps a fondness for Chevys. Unfortunately, he had owned a 58 Brookwood that my mother thought was a colossal lemon and she told him: “no more Chevys”.
Like your father, my father would never own a “foreign” car but admired and drove many of my small domestic and non-domestic sedans….his favorite being my near new Chevy Vega panel express.
Thanks for sharing this history of your father’s cars Jason. At least in my experience, it’s rare to find someone of this generation who who has a strong devotion to not one, but two of the Big Three.
I’m not much of a pickup truck guy, but I’ll admit that Dodge Ram is possibly my favorite car on this list. When I was a kid, it was the truck that made pickups interesting for me. When I was getting minor paint work on my car a few months ago at the body shop up the street (same place where I drove the ’85 Grand Prix), the owner had a Ram of this generation he was extensively fixing up. He repaired all the rust, installed fender flares, and just repainted the whole thing in a cool metallic blue. It looked really great!
Great post, nice read on father’s day! Your Dad sure stuck to Ford and Chryslers. My Dad also had a strong like for straight six and three on the tree’s in trucks, but never ended up actually owning one. My Dad has been more of a Ford and GM man, but his last Honda has been pretty decent (other than a recent starter failure that left him stranded). He’s going to replace it soon and is leaning towards Honda and Toyota, but says he’d strongly consider going back to American and will try out a variety of cars. His Vette has been very good, but it’s pretty babied and still has very low miles.
We inherited a Lincoln Town Car (Lincoln Continental Town Car, my late grandfather and Dad always said) of similar vintage to the Crown Vic above, and it was likewise a wonderful road-trip vehicle—and while the expensive component-failure-ridden decline is familiar (we got it when the vehicle was seven years old or so, and things went started to go downhill by year nine), my father’s sentimental attachment (he never thought he’d own a Lincoln/Lincoln Continental while growing up) kept it around for a year.
Incidentally, despite being the archetypal grandfather’s car, to my knowledge it was the only big lumbering American beast he’d owned—it had been preceded by a series of small Japanese and European coupes (the one my mother most associates with him was his P1800, picked up in Sweden and kept the longest of them).
Jason, thanks for the read. I was also born in 1972. My parents came to the U.S. in the 1960s and are east coasters, yet the car buying parallels are fascinating. Your dad had the 1973 Torino; mine had the 1972 LeSabre. And you and I as kids were shoehorned into smaller cars, and when we left the nest, our parents bought bigger cars.
Where we diverge is that my dad ditched GM, and American brands in general, in the mid 1980s when he discovered Japanese. He currently drives a 1999 Lexus RX300 that he bought new, and I’m not sure if he will ever buy another car.
A nice father’s day tribute. Some of these resonate strongly, as my mother traded her 80 Horizon on an 85 Crown Vic which was, in turn, replaced by a 93 Vic.
I loved the part about the mysterious Cougar, a car that appeared then disappeared with no warning. Some things about our fathers are a mystery.
I now understand your bipolar Ford/Mopar love a little better. Isn’t it funny how our Dads’ preferences in cars influence our own automotive comfort zones -sometimes for better (as here) and sometimes for worse.
Thoroughly enjoyed this two-part series, Jason. I’m still stuck on the fact you got the Dynasty up to 120 mph! Awesome. Of these cars, our extended family had the Volare, Tempo, Omni-twin Horizon, a Crown Vic, and Grand Marq. I hope your dad is in good health. Great posts, thanks for sharing them.
Thank you! He’s in great health, although he now requires hearing aids and had to have a stint put in his heart a few years ago.
I blame the bouncing in the Dynasty on out of balance tires.
My Dad is about the same age as yours and his ideas of “American” cars are roughly the same.
Dad was a bit upset when I bought my Nissan Xterra. It took a while to convince him that it was almost as American Made as his Harley.
And if people only knew how many foreign made parts are on their Harley….even the engine castings are not made by them, Mercury Marine casts them.
Jason, this is a most comprehensive write up on your dads cars. The two of you did a great job. I had a nephew that had an 84 F150 300 six and 4 speed. I spent a lot of time and work trying to figure out why it was such a gutless wonder yet sucked gas like a jet. At least now I know it was the truck, not my mechanical skills! My dad had as many if not more cars then your dad has owned, wish he was still around to find out which was his very first. I know the last one was a ’93 Le Sabre. He had 90 years on earth even with many health problems. Mom had 81, sadly advanced Dementia took her. Happy Fathers Day, enjoyed part one as well, great write ups. Yesterday an elderly gentleman pulled into the store parking lot with a beautiful ’69 Mustang convertible, I had a talk with him, it was red with black interior, 351 auto with floor shifter and bucket seats. He proudly told me he had it since new, and it just turned over the speedo showed 300 miles. It was almost in perfect condition.
His with the four-speed with granny low. Nice driving truck but the 300 six is a worthless lump of an engine. I even remember seeing an article at the time where some company would swap out your 300 for a 460; many of their customers were happy with the increased fuel mileage of the 460 over the 300.
The nephews truck was also the granny low 4 speed. So basically a floor shifted 3 speed as you well know. A co worker bought a 77 F250 Camper Special (the camper was removed) 460 auto in 2006, and was shocked it only got 7-8 mpg. He didn’t believe me when I told him around town that’s all they get, after carb rebuilds, tune up’s etc. he finally was convinced and quickly sold it.
My dad was looking for a straight six pickup and ended up with a 460 Ford (it’s a long story). He curses that truck to this day for it’s abysmal fuel mileage, no matter how careful he drove it. Although I loved that truck for it’s power, I can’t imagine a 300 six getting single digit MPGs.
A friend had an ’83 Ford F-150 with a 302. He claimed it was so underpowered that a stiff headwind would literally slow it down. Ended up trading it on a ’84 F-150 with a 300 six and a 4-speed. He claimed it was a great truck for pulling and often overloaded it with oversized trailers and loads.
The 300 is a splendid engine, but was badly strangled with poorly-engineered emission controls in the late 70s and early-mid 80s, until it got fuel injection.
The pre-emission control 300 (1966-1972) was a powerful engine; the most powerful six of its kind ever built, except the Pontiac OHC six with the four barrel carb. It was rated at 170 gross hp; 150 net hp. That’s almost the same as a small block V8 of the times. And it had 283 lb.ft. of torque at a mere 1600 rpm. These were as good a truck engine ever made, and could outhaul a comparable size V8 due to its torque curve.
Ford’s engines consistently had the biggest power losses in the smog era prior to adopting port fuel injection. The net power rating of the 300 fell from some 150 all the way to 101hp; or a 33% loss. Truly pathetic. Torque dropped to 223 lb.ft.
When the 300 got fuel injection in 1987, its hp bounced back to 145-150, the same as it had been back in the pre-smog era. And torque was back to a 263 lb.ft. (net), also comparable to its old gross rating.
The 300 is as unkillable as an engine ever built in the US, and if it’s not strangled by smog controls, it’s a powerful, hard working beast that was used extensively in medium-duty trucks, and beloved by many operators of fleet delivery vans, forklifts, etc.. UPS used these for ages, and loved them.
But the strangled ones were as if one had pulled two of the spark plug leads. But don’t blame the 300; blame the Ford engineers for being lazy and too cheap to give it fuel injection until they absolutely had to.
The 300 has about as loyal a following as any, and rightfully so. It’s a beast.
Really were the dark days of emission controls. The engine itself never had mechanical issues, and it was a nice driving truck except for low power.
Great reading material for the Father’s Day weekend. I recently made the transition to grandfather, as it turns out at about the same age as Pop did.
He had an interesting series of cars, I’ll have to see if I can get together a CC-worthy piece on them.
Jason, “scare the hell out of mortal people”??! The reason the Cougar went away quickly is the (un)surprising number of speeding tickets both your parents got while driving it. I am also shocked you failed to mention the Dynasty’s amazing handling while fish-taiiling on loose gravel. Of all of these, the Dynasty was my favorite.
Jason, really enjoyed the read, both of them. My Dad was a Chrysler (Plymouth) or GM (Chevy) man, One Ford Taurus and one VW Rabbit, Both awful cars. His Dad was mainly a Chevy man and my Moms Dad was a Plymouth man. His cars are as follows, (Several 2 dr. Sedans talked about in other articles.
1949 Chevy Deluxe 2dr. Sedan, I think it was 2 years old when he got it. Courted my mom in it.
1954 Chevy Bel Air 2dr. Sedan, Bought around the time I was born in 1955. One of his favorites, wrecked once (I got a scar from that) and made over 100,000 miles, kind of rare in the late 50’s. One of his favorites.
1960 Plymouth Savoy 4 dr sedan bought in 1961 and his first Automatic Transmission. Of course with a 6.
1963 Plymouth Savoy 2 dr. sedan, his first new car, bought right after my sister was born, a real stripper. wanted 2 doors for the safety of having a baby on board. He had the dealer swap out the deluxe wheel cover for Dog Dishes in exchange for adding a heater. It did have an automatic though, but with the 225 slant six.
1967 Plymouth Fury 2 4dr sedan. Bought new and his first car with a V8 and power steering. My brother and I were starting to grow and the 63 was a little to small.
1959 Plymouth Savoy 4 dr. V8 given to mom by her father when he had quit driving.
1965 Plymouth Valiant 200 2 dr. Sedan given to mom from my grandmother to replace the 59 as a second car. Both these cars dad usually drove the most since they at the time were older than the main family car and mom always got to drive the newer car.
1973 Chevy Impala 4 door Hardtop. First car with air. Bought new. I bought it from him in 1979. I sold it with about 143000 miles on it. One of the better cars in the family.
1968 Plymouth Sport Satellite which he bought from me after having a wreck in it to replace the 1965 Valiant as a second car.
1974 Chevy Impala 4 dr sedan which he bought from a friend to replace the Satellite. He unfortunately had a 73 and 74 Impala when Gas Crisis 2 hit in the late 70’s. 2 Guzzlers.
1976 used VW Rabbit which replaced one of the Impala’s in gas crisis 2. No AC straight shift and repairs probably cost as much as the gas he saved by getting rid of one of the Impalas. Car was fun to drive and much peppier than a Datsun or Toyota he crossed shopped at the time.
1980 Chevy Citation 4 dr. V6 with manual. Car would scoot but did have its issues like the rest. Bought slightly used to replace the other Impala.
1984 Plymouth Horizon with a manual. Bought new to replace the Rabbit.
1987 Ford Taurus 4 cyl. auto. Lone Ford and probably the worst car ever in the family. bought used.
1989 Pontiac 6000 4dr. Bought used but a great driving car. The last car which mom used quite a bit before her death in 1993.
1987 Dodge Omni manual which I sold him when I got a Saturn. It replaced the Horizon. The Omni had working ac and good paint which the Horizon lacked by this point. Dad ended up selling the car to the same neighbor up the street to replace the Horizon he had bought from him about 2 years before.
1992 Olds Cutlass Supreme 4 dr. bought used. Replaced the Pontiac in 1994.
2000 Chevy Impala pretty well loaded with the 3.8 V6. Dealer Demo.
2008 Saturn Aura XR V6, bought from a friend in early 2009 to replace the 2000 Impala and loaded with everything you could get on one. Probably his last car since his eyesight is starting to fail.
Funny, but I guess like Dad I am pretty much a GM or Chrysler guy too. Out of 16 or so cars I have owned only 2 Ford products. The rest are GM or Chrysler products.
Some similarities, and some differences for my Dad. His first car was a ’56 Plymouth Plaza stripper, and though he owned a few MOPARS afterwards, he probably ended up with more Fords (actually Mercury(s)) than any of them. The ’56 was followed by 2 Rambler wagons in a row, both with automatics, but when the last was totalled in an accident, he bought an Olds F85 wagon. About that time he bought his first (2nd) car, a ’59 Beetle, and they always had a family car plus a commuter car for him. The Beetle was totalled and replaced with a new ’68 Renault R10, then a Datsun, a Subaru DL (his last foreign car….bought new in 1976)…an ’80 Dodge Omni followed by a ’86 Dodge 600. Meanwhile the family F85 wagon was traded for a series of 2 Ford full sized wagons, then a ’78 Chevy Caprice Classic wagon (last wagon) which was in an accident and replaced by the worst car he owned, an 84 Pontiac Sunbird, then 3 Mercury Sables in a row (’89, ’94 and ’96) finally his last 2 cars were Chevy Impalas, a 2001 and a 2006. The 2nd car was a ’88 Ford Tempo (owned 21 years) , and a 2009 Ford Focus (given to my Nephew).
Whew…..he had better luck with Fords in general than GM cars, the ’65 Olds Wagon was fine, as well as the ’78 Caprice Classic Wagon, but the ’84 Pontiac Sunbird was a real piece, it had 2 engines in about 80k miles, despite being dealer maintained per schedule. The Fords weren’t dramatic, like the ’88 Tempo, but just kept going, with fewer (or no) problems. Of course my Father kept his cars much shorter times in general than I do…except for said Tempo, which they had for 21 years (even at the end, only the air conditioning didn’t work, was given up in a local version of cash for clunkers).
I on the other hand have only had 4 cars in 47 years of driving, and unlike a lot of people, have had good results with VW, have only owned that make for 40 of those years (current ’00 Golf turns 21 this year). However, I will admit I do put up with a bit to enjoy how the VW drives, my ’00 for example has had power steering rack replaced (2 years ago) and also the shift linkage (all except my first car have been manuals) when it died. One time ignition cylinder went, didn’t have tools so I was stranded and needed to get towed. Plus, the power locks have gone bad, but I live with them.
My Dad wouldn’t have put up with that, so other than his ’59 Beetle, he’s never owned another VW.
Jason, these two pieces were very enjoyable reading on this special day – the second installment was the first thing I looked for today when signing on. Your dad and mine were both midwesterners with similar transportation needs and values. I suspect mine was a little more car crazy, almost from the beginning, and it is something he passed on to me for which I’m grateful (most of the time!).
My Dad was a bit older and has been gone for over ten years. I would love to do a piece for myself on all of his cars and have been putting together some of the records. I have more photos (and some sales receipts!) than I knew but they are scattered all over the place in albums and boxes that have not been opened for years.
Dad was mostly a Ford man (and a few years with Nash!) until he switched to Nissan in later years but he had at least one Chrysler product, a magnificent 1940 DeSoto convertible (below) that was sold before I was born. He loved the car and I have quite a lot of pictures of it. Dad was never consistent: he bought stripped cars, luxury cars (a new Mark V Cartier in 78), and lots of trucks (his last vehicle was a 2001 Nissan pick-up that he purchased new and I sold as part of his estate).
Pictures below of his favorite (the DeSoto) and my favorite (Thunderbird) of his many cars.
And my favorite:
Nice, Jason. It’s a loving exercise to reminisce about our parents’ cars as they color our memories so vividly.
CA guy, my experience is not dissimilar to yours, but my Dad, who is still with us has made point of cataloging his cars. Dad will turn 90 in July, and his famous total of cars owned is 96. Or, it was until last month, when he remembered a 1954 Hudson parts car he owned in the 1970s that somehow missed the list.
Last year, he filled some time and made himself relevant in his own eyes by making a leatherette bound photo album with as many photos of his cars that he could. As holder of the family 35 mm slides, I helped where I could, ripping images off them and scanning tiny prints and Polaroids. My brothers made contributions where they could. Only a few cars escaped, mostly early ones, so he pulled appropriate pix off the web.
The album is precious to me; I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to leaf through and see models and years written in his shaky hand, and I recommend Jason’s bonding experience with his Father to anyone who can find the time.
Here’s one of Dad’s early cars, with yours truly at the wheel, a 1948 Dodge business coupe, photographed in 1951. I was already smitten with cars at age 1.
I have a big box of family photos that go back 100 years. Sadly many (but not all) are unmarked, and I need to go through with my brother and sister and try to identify and record the history/relatives (and cars) on the ones we still remember. It was a sad day when Mom pulled them out during a visit at the assisted living home, sat next to me as she pointed out pictures and tried but was unable to pull the memories and words together. She was so frustrated, but by then the Dementia was really taking it’s toll.I Should have gone through them with Dad.
Yes, and we don’t always listen when we are young enough that our forebears can still tell us.
Great write up Jason, and Happy Father’s Day to your dad!
Very interesting history of cars indeed. My father had a ’50 Chevy, ’57 Plymouth Belvidere, ’61 Chrysler Newport, ’66 Ford Ranch Wagon, ’70 Torino, ’75 Dart, ’77 Fury, ’82 Fiat Strada, and finally inherited his mom’s ’77 Regal.
He passed away 22 years ago…your article helped trigger many memories.
hi Jason;
thx for the wonderful memories. my dad(gone19 years last weekend) and his cars would have taken til next fathers day to write!
what did catch my eye was the story about the cougar. I had a maiden aunt who owned
8 cars in 40+ years…
50 ford Anglia
57 chev 210 sedan ( 6 and 3 on tree)
66 valiant sedan
73 corolla sedan
75 dart coupe
79 firebird esprit
….woa..what??? full bore..v-8, stripes, spoiler etc. she had a sudden retirement from work and this was what she arrived to her retirement party in.
it was replaced by a 84 Acadian( Pontiacs answer to the chevette) and her final car a 92 ford festiva.
the firebird shocked everyone and I think it was bought for that reason. maybe your dad wanted to do the same with retirement looming and remind everyone he was retiring, not dying?
anyhow…again..awesome story and a great fathers day gift to him..and all of us!
I really want to like the Five Hundred. I think its styling, inside and out, is nice and clean. They are incredibly spacious, too. But that low-po V6 and CVT, blech. The Taurus/Sable revision for 2008 tried to spice up the styling but I think these looked better with more sedate details. Of course, for 2010 they received an even more extensive revision which may make them more chunky and aggressive looking but really messed up the interior packaging.
The ’97 Crown Vic particularly resonates with me, as my parents owned one of that same year, also curiously low optioned (power passenger seat and HD rear suspension, nothing else, though the standard equipment is indeed generous.) They purchased it used in 2003 with only 33k miles, and kept it until December 2012, when they passed it along to me. It’s my current daily driver, still only has 109k on the clock.
They also replaced it with a Grand Marquis, a 2010 LS, which they still have. Different color though! (Medium blue over tan leather, the ‘Vic is Oxford White over Willow Green cloth.)
Great fun to read this second installment here in 2021, Jason—-and I naturally cheer on all the Ford purchases. Interesting to think of the people/households who traded in cars so frequently, but different people have different priorities for spending their cash, I guess.
You left me hanging with the Five Hundred in 2015, and I’d love to know how that turned out. I’ve never even sat in one, but somehow have a soft spot for them (and the followup Taurus/Montego before the big restyle), and keep looking for a gently-used one for some reason…..
Thanks again for the Dad’s Cars double-header!
This would be a prime time for a follow-up, wouldn’t it? Let’s see…
He still owns the Dodge pickup.
The 500 went away at around 135k for a year old Taurus that had, like, 10k miles on it. In turn, the Taurus went away in late 2019 for a new 2020 Escape. At the time the Taurus had around 95k and I shared my concern about the water pump failures causing engine failures in the 3.5 liter V6. So away it went.
I’ve written up both the Taurus and Escape. I drove the Escape again about five weeks ago; it has all of 8500 miles on it. They simply drive a lot (well, used to) and he traded accordingly. It’s the cost of living in the boonies and driving long distances with great frequency. They have since moved to town, which partly explains so few miles on the Escape after 18 months.
Cape Girardeau. There was a ship named after the town. SS Cape Giradeau AK-2039. She was moored on the next pier over from the USS Hornet in the early oughts after her last action during Desert Storm. Decommissioned and consigned to the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet I went aboard her in 2012 for parts removal. She may still be there as there are five left. When I first went there were over 100.
Wow, I had never heard about this ship! Thank you for telling me about it.
NavSource for all your naval ship information from the big to small.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/13/132039.htm