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Auto-Biography Archive
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Auto-Biography: A Tiny House for Will – My Most Recent Building Project
Posted on September 19, 2018 | 52 CommentsIt’s a tradition here for me to share with you my various building projects over the years. Last summer my younger son Will was moving back to Eugene, and needed […] -
CC Meet-Up Outtake: Back from Portland With Happy Memories and a Lot More Gas in the Tank of the Van Than Expected
Posted on July 30, 2018 | 27 CommentsI had a great weekend in Portland. The Shape of Speed exhibit at the Portland Museum of Art was simply sublime. I will write it up along with some decent […] -
COAL: 1957 Buick Roadmaster Riviera – Master Of The Road, And Of My Memories
Posted on July 13, 2018 | 41 Comments(first posted 11/20/2012) The place is Chihuahua, Mexico. The year is 1967, and there are only a few thousand cars on the local roads. It’s no wonder this one in […] -
Auto-Biography: 1981-83 Holden VH Commodore – Mum, Let’s Go For A Drive
Posted on June 14, 2018 | 38 CommentsFrom 1982 until 1997, the Stopford family had a VH Commodore. It didn’t look quite like this one, mind you. Our Commodore was canary yellow with a brown vinyl interior […] -
Van Of A Lifetime: 1971 Ford Econoline E100 – What Might Have Been
Posted on February 5, 2018 | 59 Comments(first posted 2/13/2013. Updated with a new ending 2/3/2018) At eight-thirty on the morning of February 12, 1971, two weeks after turning eighteen, I sat on a wooded hillside looking […] -
Auto-Biography: 1969 Plymouth Fury – Somewhere East of Laramie
Posted on January 30, 2018 | 55 Comments(first posted at the other site in 2007 and in 2011 here) Somewhere east of Laramie, rocketing across the plains at 96 in a ’69 Fury, a twangy country singer […] -
Road Trip Journal: Busted – For 130 MPH (60 Over the Limit)
Posted on January 2, 2018 | 113 CommentsWhile I was sitting behind the wheel here, on the shoulder of Hwy. 95 about ten miles south of Goldfield, Nevada at 9:20 this morning, two highway patrol officers in […] -
Auto-Biography: D Stands For (First Illicit) Drive
Posted on October 28, 2017 | 76 Comments(first posted in 2007. Yesterday we shared our first-car fantasies. Today it’s reality time.) I was fifteen and had never driven a car on the street before. The parents were […] -
Autobiography: 1972 Toyota Corona Coupe – Fortieth High School Reunion
Posted on September 18, 2017 | 73 Comments(first posted 8/22/2013) High school: some say it was the best years of their life. Maybe for the prom queen. Intense and confusing, but the memories certainly are indelible. Finding […] -
Auto-Biography: Moving On, To Moving Houses
Posted on September 12, 2017 | 80 CommentsThis is a companion piece to the Truck Of A Lifetime tribute to my 1966 Ford F-100. This chapter is mostly autobiographical, and picks up from the previous one that […] -
Platt de Jour: Olds 442 Trans Am Party Time
Posted on September 2, 2017 | 72 Comments(first posted In 9/30/2013) June, 1971 I was living like a bum in the area of New York City that used to be known as Spanish Harlem. As a 26-year-old […] -
Jobsite Classic: Why There’s No New Curbside Classic This Morning and Why I Haven’t Started Converting My Van Yet
Posted on July 28, 2017 | 57 CommentsIt’s 9 PM, Thursday evening. I just got in from my walk and some blackberry picking. And I see there’s absolutely nothing scheduled for Friday. Scramble, and stay up late? […] -
Curbside Classic/Auto-Biography: 1984 Ford Bronco II–The Bucking-Bronco Horsey Car
Posted on May 5, 2017 | 72 Comments(first posted 1/16/2013. revised/expanded 5/5/2017) “Horsey car!” Sometimes the past reappears for just a moment in all its perfect clarity, as if it just happened yesterday. You shake your head […] -
My New Future Campsite Classic: 2017 Ram Promaster 2500 – I’m Going To Build My Own Camper
Posted on May 2, 2017 | 95 Comments2019 Update: My complete in-depth build documentation is here. Replacing an old friend is never easy. I’ve been pondering replacing our ’77 Dodge Chinook camper for years. It’s old and […] -
Auto-Biography: 1977 Dodge Chinook 18 Plus (Concourse) – The Beginning and End of a 15 Year Love Affair
Posted on May 2, 2017 | 32 Comments(This is a two-part article on our Chinook. Part 1 was originally written and posted at the other site in 2007, and documents its early years. Part 2 is new, […]