In 1963 I was living with my parents in Penns Park, Pa. My brother, Lou, lived next door. Lou had an old '50 DeSoto. One day we were working on it and somehow we came up with the creative idea...'Let's fix it up like it was BRAND NEW!'
The next day, Lou came home from work. "I stopped at this junk yard in Buckingham Valley, and it had a Packard...AND IT HAS 12 CYLINDERS!' he exclaimed.
Well.... I trudged over there and bought it ....for $100....took a picture of it.
Seems I had been dating a young lady in Virginia for about 9 months. I wrote her
a letter.. '....I'm coming down this weekend...and I have a surprise for you."
...Well... I Thought that purchasing a Packard was a big deal!
...so WHY would she think I was bring an engagement ring? Just because the month
before I told her "Hon, SOMEDAY I'm going to ask you to marry me!?"
Cheesch!
Anyway.... I jacked up the Packard (a 1937 Twelve Formal Sedan)..a major effort,
as it had sunk into the ground up to its axles...got 4 tires to
hold air, and then enticed Lou to tow me home with the DeSoto..with a chain.
Heck! when you are 25 you don't think too clearly.
First several miles went smoothly...the DeSoto huffed and puffed pulling the 5550
pound behemoth. We started down the long grade to the Buckingham light. The Packard
was accelerating....no brakes!...gaining on the DeSoto...irrational decision...
Don't dent the DeSoto! somehow the chain fell off and I veered to the left...
passing Lou and smiling like a Cheshire cat.
Lou's jaw dropped!...obviously having more sense than me!
500 yards from the red light, I realized the folly of my ways... and sensibility
set in....I jumped the curb with the right tire and gradually eased the left tire
against the curb.
Finally, motion stopped, as I approached the white line across the road in front
of the light. (just another case of having a great Guardian Angel.)
Needless to say, showing a picture of this junkyard car to my soon-to-be-intended,
went over like a lead balloon.
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As it happened, we did get married that August.
For a year I taught Math at Holy Family College in Philadelphia and then decided
that I could not have a family, buy a house, and RESTORE THE PACKARD on a
professor's salary, so I opted to go to corporate America.
I was offered a job with IBM at Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, MD.
I soon discovered who the Packard guru was in Washington, D.C. (Bill Ferris).
He invited me to his house and I showed him the picture of my car.
I noticed he was shaking his head as he looked at the picture.
"WHAT? did I buy the wrong kind of car?"
"Son! You're going to go thru life...
You're gonna forget about WOMEN!
You're gonna forget about SEX!
but you're NEVER gonna forget about PACKARDS!"
..All I'm gonna say, is that he was ONLY right about the LAST ITEM!