Old friends

  It was just another one of those things that I have never given thought too. I'm watching something on the television when a commercial comes on. There are three men who appear to be in their fifties or early sixties sitting on the tailgate of a truck. They are eating ice cream cones and engaged in some nostalgic memories. The narrator says something about old friends, old memories and old trucks. At that point I noticed the truck they are sitting on. It is a Chevrolet, I can tell by the taillights, and it is sometime in the 1960's. My reaction was, old truck? That's not an old truck. It was then I thought, if I had a 2000 truck it would be twenty-four years old! I had to let that fact sink in. I used to drive a 1964 Ford Falcon station wagon to school and that car was only six years old at the time. I thought then, it's just an old car.

 So that's what I'm thinking about this morning. To me an old truck would be in the late forties or early fifties. Those vehicles where ten to fifteen years old when I was a teenager. I remember seeing them and people poking fun at someone for still driving that old thing. They must be poor people. My parents only purchased one brand new car that I can remember. My mother got a Chevrolet Corvair in 1966. All the others were used, about two years old. Seems like Dad traded his in every two years or so. Today they are all classics, and some would be considered antique! And that's the funny thing about automobiles isn't it? It's funny how quickly they become old. I'm driving a 2004 Ford Focus myself but I don't think of it as an old car. It's twenty years old. Still in my mind it's a 2000 something, fairly new. It's just a used car. It has all the modern stuff like air bags, anti-lock brakes and I installed a back-up camera. You have to have a key fob to start the thing! 

 I've owned a good number of vehicles over the years. The oldest being that 64 Falcon wagon and I did have a 64 Thunderbird as well, although that was sometime in the 1980's and I thought of it as an old car then. Still the thing is I've always felt comfortable with them, I mean, the mechanics of those vehicles. I'm quite comfortable and familiar with traditional ignition systems, drum brakes and all the mechanical things associated with those vehicles. Electronic ignitions are still a "new" technology in my thinking. I'm quite comfortable with a carburetor. This electronic fuel injection stuff I'm not so comfortable with. I've always wanted to own an "old" car but never could find one I could afford. The ones I did find required a lot more repair than I was able to afford. 

 I would be happy to own a 64 falcon wagon once again. That was a fine automobile. In 1964 the sticker price was just a bit under $2400.00 for the four-door model I owned. Adjusted for inflation that would be just under $24,000 today! It was a gift to me from an Uncle. It needed some repair work, and he simply bought my aunt a new car instead. Now there are some fine memories associated with that car. If I were to be sitting on the tailgate with my friends, we would all be at least seventy. Old friends, old trucks and old cars. I think they were selling ice cream in that commercial but I'm not certain.