My Grandpa on my Mom's side died a week before I went in the Army in 1971,he always told me about him and two other guys making the trip from Ohio to Wyoming in a Model T in the early 20's. My paternal Grandpa retired from the coal mines in southern Ohio and lived to be 94. His first car was a Moon that he traded a hog for. My Dad grew up in the 20's and 30's, his first car was a 29 Olds that he owned with his brother. In 1940 he bought a new 1940 Chevy convertible and a new Chevy dump truck, the only vehicles he ever had to get a loan for. He was a senior in high school in 1940, Dad said he would drive the dump truck to school and he would haul coal all night. He always told us kids that going to school was the only way he ever got any sleep,lol. Dad joined the Army Air Force early in 1942 and ended up a tail gunner in a B24. After the war he was on the list for a new Chevy but ended up buying a slightly used 46 Buick Roadmaster, the car that they brought me home from the hospital in when I was born in 1951. From that first Buick until he died in 1988 he owned and drove nothing but Buicks, I guess that is what made me a Buick guy. Dad always took care of our cars but he was never into hot rods or customs. He did love stock car races and we went a few times when I was a kid. I found a picture of him with the Chevy convertible taken while he was home on leave in 1942 but can't get it to load. I think of him and Mom every day and remember the good times and the values they taught me to get along in this mixed up world.
The Jalopy Journal
