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By Tom Boggs

You just can’t recognize what car is riding down the road these days like you used to.  The first car I remember our family had was a 1938 Coupe named The Captain.  Daddy used to heat up bricks, and wrap’em up in croaker sacks to keep Ma’s feet warm.  Never will forget daddy jumping around when those sacks caught on fire one time.  

The first car I bought was a 1951 Chevy from Dick Allen down at Jeffrey Motor Company.  18 years or so ago after I had bought a farm truck, I remember filling up that ol truck, and I went in and told my buddy Ben Garner that I figure it cost nearly bout’ as much to fill up that truck as I paid for my first car back in the day.  Some years later Cephus Holliman came to my house trailer and woke me up just after I had gotten to sleep off of the midnight shift at Marathon Papermill.  I ordered a Maroon Ford Falcon, but it came in red.  I just accused Cephus of not knowing how to spell Maroon.  I use to think about swapping out my lawnmower engine for that little Ford Falcon engine.  If you figured on passing another car, you sure better have a downhill start. 

Without doubt, my favorite car of all time has to be a 1957 Chevrolet with overdrive.  I remember little things like you could take the tail fin between your four finger and thumb and wag the whole car, and if you were easy, you could shift the gears without pushing in on the clutch.  

Daddy might near  always bought a Pontiac.  Folks would recognize me riding into Demopolis back in the 50s with that ol’ Indianhead on the hood all lite up orange.  I always liked that cannonball looking 1950 Ford, and the Studerbacker was a funny looking contraption.  

Hey, it sure did take a long time for those car radios to warm up with all those tubes and stuff.  We could pick up the Louisiana Hayride, which was called Hillbilly back then, but country today.  Hey ya’ll, you remember those Nash Ramblers?  Seems like they had expressions on their faces.  I remember seeing Tommy Small’s Nash just folding up and laying down while parked.  That was a sad faced car that gave up the ghost that day. 

Of course, cars didn’t cost much since you could get a new Master 85 Chevy Coup in 1940 for $659.00 and in l950, a new Buick Special would only set you back $1,972.00.  

I hated it when they started taking running boards off the vehicles.  I installed running boards when I bought my 2008 truck so Alice could get in and out.  

We Americans have always loved our cars and trucks, and I reckon it’s good to cogitate on them when we stop to ponder on Days Gone Bye and remembering those county car dealers like Skinner Motors in Thomaston, Linden Motor Company and Jeffrey Motor Company in Linden, Loyd Jones, Marengo Motors and Sheffield Truck and Tractor all in Demopolis.  

Ya’ll crank’em up, and move’em out.