My dad retired twenty years ago. For the first ten years of his retirement, he stayed busy traveling and playing softball. When he hit 70 though, he could no longer play softball and he couldn't rent a car in Ireland anymore because of his age, so he sort of wound down. My dad was a great shade tree mechanic in his younger years and I called him up one day and suggested that he consider buying an antique or classic car.
"Oh no" he said, "I can't see spending money on something like that."
"Think of it as a different kind of investment" I replied, "What are you going to do, play on the living room floor with your stocks and bonds?"
Well, one thing lead to another and before too long he had a 1956 Thunderbird that he bought from a small Texas company that specializes in restoring "early birds", Thunderbirds from 1955 to 1957. When I went to dad's house to see it for the first time, he had a grin from ear to ear. He said to me, "Do you remember the 1956 Ford Fairlane we had?" Sure. "What I really wanted was a Thunderbird but I couldn't buy one. Do you know why?" No, no idea, why? "Because the Thunderbird was a two seater and mom and I had you." My dad was a great kidder.
He joined a Thunderbird club and had a ball with that car. Then he bought a 1957 T-bird for his Arizona house. He had a great time with those cars, tinkering and tuning just like in the old days when you could actually work on cars. Dad passed away last summer. He left me the 1956 and my sister the '57.
So here is the car...
I thought about selling it since it really doesn't fit in with my boating lifestyle, but Pam wouldn't hear of it. "It was your dad's car, and he wanted you to have it." Yeah, she's right. I can't sell this car.
I had the car in storage in upstate New York all last winter, and this past weekend went up to bring it down to Connecticut. We also visited Pam's mom for mother's day where we were rewarded with an 8 week old kitten ("I'm just going to keep it until I find it a home", Pam said, and then she gave it to Megan, who is living with us).
The three hour ride to Stamford was a ride in a time machine. I had forgotten what it's like to drive a car with recirculating ball steering, rear leaf springs, four wheel non-power drum brakes, wind noise from the convertible top, steering wheel in your chest and elbows out, and so on. At 75 MPH, it was a thrill. Cruising down the Taconic Parkway at 55 though, the car was in it's element, a joy to drive. Not surprisingly, it got many stares, thumbs up, and honks from passing cars. It seemed like young boys and old men liked it best.
I'm a boating guy, also an old car nut. I've been distracted by boating for the past 40 years. It's time to kick back and do a little of both. The boat projects will get done, but just not as fast as I had planned. It's time for my dad and I to spend some quality time together.
Nice story and car. Great Dad.
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