Originally Posted by
Lonnie
Thanks for the condolences and heart-felt thoughts and prayers for myself and my family from my fellow Autopians. Means a lot.
I told this story in a PM to Ronkh, and it is approbate here:
My father, as an elementary teacher and principle in Oconto, had few vices, but new cars were one of the few things he really enjoyed. My mother complained that she, being a high school teacher and guidance counselor, worked for nothing but my father`s buying of new cars (which, to some extent, was true). When the new `64-1/2 Ford Mustang came out, he wanted one BAD. My mother told him if he could come up with a large down payment (about half the price of the car) he could have one, which seemed impossible, so the dream car remained just that: a dream. Our family was on a 40-acre farm homestead that my father bought from his mother during his stint in WWII. In late 1965, the federal government came out with the Farm Bank Program which paid farmers NOT to grow crops to stabilize crop prices for farmers. My father placed his land in such a program, took a one-time payment for the Farm Bank, and bought his `66 Mustang base model, much to my mother`s chagrin. This is a man who has 5 children at the time, so a Mustang is hardly a "family car". My mother drove a `64 Galaxy Wagon, the REAL family car. He had that Mustang for 5 years, so I never got to drive it, being 9 years old at the time, but my brother 6 years older than me, did on dates and other things teen agers did at the time. I did, however, figure out that IF you turned on the Emergency Flashers (a new feature in `66) switch in the glove box AND held down the brake peddle that the radio could be turned on WITHOUT the key in the ignition switch turned to ACC. I listened to music and baseball games in that car, while mom or dad took me with them for shopping in the small towns within out area, unbeknownst to them. Good times growing up
Bookmarks