Blue door, sulfur and broken glasses (Memories of our family cars)

I had to sell my 91’ Honda Accord last year.  (I had owned it since 1999)    The purchase of that car was my first real “adult” endeavor.  I loved that car. 

Now... that car wasn’t perfect.  The AC never really worked, the window regulators all broke within a 6 month period, the paint was all oxidized and (the weirdest problem of all) water would collect in the taillights then drain into the trunk compartment, causing mold and mildew to form.  BUT, that car faithfully got me to school and work for many many years. I drove it all over California.   To me that car was alive, we had a connection and that is why it was so hard to sell it. Unfortunately there was no other choice.  We were moving overseas and we could only ship one car, so I had to say goodbye.  I still miss that car.  For me automobiles become part of your life and members of your family....

We had a lot of weird automotive members of our family throughout my childhood.   Let me introduce you to a few of them.

The 1980's Buick Skylark - Blue Door

My dad would drive it to work, and when he had construction jobs out of town,  he would be gone all week.  At one point when my parents were short on cash my dad even slept in that car.  One day, while my dad worked, someone sideswiped the Buick.  Of course, there was no note with apologies or insurance information so when my dad got home that weekend he started beating out the dents and went shopping for a new door.  (And by “New Door”  I mean used, very used)  Pick-A-Part was one of my dad’s favorite places in town.  He ended up there about once a month.  He’d roam thru the rows of junked cars, with a bunch of tools and hunt for the right part.  This trip had him searching for a replacement door.  He found what he was looking for however, the door was blue. Hence, the name Blue Door.  

(Part of the reason he loved going to Pick-a-part was because he got to drive by an In N’ Out burger and he would always stop on his way back home.)  

Later, it was the car my oldest brother drove to high school.  It became sort of famous.  My brother always had a car full of fellow classmates and friends while he drove to and from school.  Everyone referred to the car as blue door.  

My favorite memory with that car, was when there was some sort of electrical short that caused the horn to honk any time you turned the steering-wheel.  As you can imagine, driving that car thru intersection cause a major ruckus, especially if you were in a line of cars making left turns.  All thru the intersection the car blazed a long, loud annoying noise.  People were always flipping us off.  

My parent sold that car when I was in 6th grade.  They put an add in the local paper asking $600.  We were all there when the young family came to buy the car.  They were from Mexico and they had a small baby.  They handed my dad the cash, then he handed them the keys... then, and gave them $200 back.  The young mom began to cry, so my mom started to cry.  The young man shook my dad’s hand, gave a very heartfelt thank you and they drove away.  Us kids all ran down the driveway to wave goodbye.   

My dad had a 1972 Chevy Silverado pickup:

In 1986 our family moved.  During the packing and moving a bulky woodburning stove was placed in the back of that pickup truck.  When we arrived at our new house (Which was actually a very very old farm house) there wasn't anyone to help my dad remove the woodburning stove from the bed of the truck so it stayed there for a very long time.  By the time it was removed the suspension was weakened or perhaps broken and the truck rode very lopsided from then on.  

An old Capris Classic:

The felt lining on the roof hung down so low in the back seat that it was always resting on top of our heads.  When the windows where down, the roof lining would wave like a flag in a mighty wind storm.  Although, that was a seriously comfortable car.  It was later turned into a race car by our high school's auto shop.

An older Crown Victoria:

We used to call it the Crown Vicky (My mom didn't like us to call it that)  That car had the craziest suspension.  It felt like you were floating in water.  I hated to ride in that car cause I'd get carsick going down a perfectly straight road.  This car also had strange creak in the suspension (it was very similar to the sound of the Klopeck's car from the movie, The Burbs)

The Suburban:

This car had the infamous broken drivers seat.  My mom blamed my dad for breaking it, and my dad blamed my mom for breaking it.  To those of us who rode in the back seats and were witnesses to the destruction of the seat. We all knew that it was equally destroyed by both our mom and dad.  We took many family trips in that car.  One particular trip, the car battery began leaking battery fluid, this gave off a putrid sulfur smell.  When we'd stop for gas or food, we would watch all the surrounding people scatter to avoid the smell.  As a teenager I was not embarrassed at all! (Sarcasm)

There are many funny memories in this car but my favorite is my from my sister Julie.  Not so much the car itself but, it being driven by my mom.  This car was always a mess.  And for some reason my mom always (to this day) takes a glass of ice water or chocolate milk or a protein shake with her when ever she drives.  Its a necessity.  

"Got my keys... got my purse, I'm headed to the store... OH MY GOODNESS, I almost forgot my glass of milk!!"

(It would have been a Hindenburg type of disaster to drive WITHOUT a glass of milk with ice... yes she put ice in her milk)  

At least once a week, my mom would place the glass on the dash, put the car in drive and head out, the glass would tip over slid across the dash and crash onto the floorboard.  For this reason, my mom's car has always had a faint milk smell.   

Anyway... My sisters where both working at the local water park.  Neither had their license so my mom would drive them.  Julie tell the story this way...

Mom pulled up in front of the water park where crowds of teenagers were waiting in line to enter.  Mom pulls the large suburban around which ends up jumping up onto the curb, the crowd turns to stare.  (Mom is not phased at all)  Julie then opens the car door hoping to escape unnoticed into the office building only to dislodge one of the glasses crusted with old, dried protein shake onto the sidewalk where it shatters.  Anyone who wasn't staring before has now turned toward the noise of the shattering glass.  Julie's attempt to sneak out without detection had failed.  

We never had a nice car growing up.  They were always old clunkers being held together by prayers.  I thought that it was totally normal to have your car overheat 14 times while driving to the campground for your family vacation.  Whats weird, is that I have great memories of all us kids playing around on the side of the road while dad hosed down the radiator.  

So next time you think about how your kids NEED a dvd player or video game console in the car... think about what their memories will be from family road trips. 

"Remember that time when we watched that movie...  awesome"   

Not nearly as cool as the car that smelled like rotten eggs.  So go ahead, embarrass your kids.  You are giving them memories that they will laugh about in a a few years.