America's only sports car turned 60 yesterday and she's still America's (automotive) sweetheart. I remember her, and oh-so-fondly, too.
The Vette didn't have a name... she was known simply as "The Vette," which seems personal enough. That car was a keeper and I'd prolly still own her if I hadn't have run away from home.
Added, somewhat later: I have a couple o' few stories about that car. First of all... The Vette really was TSMP's car and it was her daily driver in the Spring, summer, and Fall. We had a series of knock-down, drag-out... ummm... disagreements when we ordered the car. I wanted a six-speed manual transmission, she INSISTED on an automatic. I countered with the "heresy" argument; it's a freakin' SPORTS car, not a damned appliance. No matter, said she, countering that she refused to be stuck in rush hour traffic having to put the clutch in and release it every 300 feet or so. Her commute was rather lengthy, too, like this:
View Larger Map
That's 20 miles on I-696, which had a habit of turning into a parking lot during rush hour like any major arterial in any American city. So: she won. It then came to pass we had a four-door family sedan with a five-speed manual (a SAAB 9000) and a freakin' VETTE with a gotdamned automatic. Sumthin' was seriously wrong with THAT picture. At least I got to choose the Vette's color as my consolation prize.
Second story... TSMP was working as a Japanese-to-English translator at Nissan's Dee-troit tech center when we bought the Vette. We toyed with the ideer of getting a vanity plate for the car which would have read...
Geddit? But we didn't.
Lastly: I inherited the Vette when our marriage died. A famous quote from the divorce debacle: "What are you so upset about? You're getting the Vette!"
And so I did. I/we had that car for seven years and we had some great good times in it. A classic, to be sure.
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| The Second Mrs. Pennington and HER car, the first weekend after we bought it. |
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| Same location as above, on Lake Huron north of Dee-troit |
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| In Letchworth State Park, near Rochester NY |
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| SN3 LOVED to play in the Vette. I did, too. |
The Vette didn't have a name... she was known simply as "The Vette," which seems personal enough. That car was a keeper and I'd prolly still own her if I hadn't have run away from home.
Added, somewhat later: I have a couple o' few stories about that car. First of all... The Vette really was TSMP's car and it was her daily driver in the Spring, summer, and Fall. We had a series of knock-down, drag-out... ummm... disagreements when we ordered the car. I wanted a six-speed manual transmission, she INSISTED on an automatic. I countered with the "heresy" argument; it's a freakin' SPORTS car, not a damned appliance. No matter, said she, countering that she refused to be stuck in rush hour traffic having to put the clutch in and release it every 300 feet or so. Her commute was rather lengthy, too, like this:
View Larger Map
That's 20 miles on I-696, which had a habit of turning into a parking lot during rush hour like any major arterial in any American city. So: she won. It then came to pass we had a four-door family sedan with a five-speed manual (a SAAB 9000) and a freakin' VETTE with a gotdamned automatic. Sumthin' was seriously wrong with THAT picture. At least I got to choose the Vette's color as my consolation prize.
Second story... TSMP was working as a Japanese-to-English translator at Nissan's Dee-troit tech center when we bought the Vette. We toyed with the ideer of getting a vanity plate for the car which would have read...
PD4W/YEN
Geddit? But we didn't.
Lastly: I inherited the Vette when our marriage died. A famous quote from the divorce debacle: "What are you so upset about? You're getting the Vette!"
And so I did. I/we had that car for seven years and we had some great good times in it. A classic, to be sure.
I'm relatively familiar with that area.
ReplyDeleteGS's mom lived in Oak Park after moving from Berkley and her youngest brother's mother-in-law lives in Ferndale.
The sister-in-law works in Birmingham.
GS has friends who live in Farmington.
We figured it's almost easier to take 9 mile than to take the freeway.
OTOH when we went to the South Lyon Hotel, it was a different story.
A classic, that car right there. . .
ReplyDeleteAnd, uh, ALL of Lake Huron is north of Dee-troit. It's a really big lake. Jenn and I both grew up on Lake Huron, but at least 200 miles from each other. Could you, uh, be more specific?
I-696 is one of my options for getting home from my current job. But because of the 'parking-lot effect' you mention, I rarely make use of it, even tho it's a few miles less than my most-favored route. . .
Could you, uh, be more specific?
DeleteThat's a turn-out-cum-picnic-spot about 25 miles south o' Harbor Beach, where TSMP grew up.
That's a turn-out-cum-picnic-spot on M-25 about 25 miles south of Harbor Beach, the town where TSMP grew up.
DeleteThat's not so very far at all from Croswell, where Jenn grew up; we are well-familiar with M-25. . .
Deletewe are well-familiar with M-25. . .
DeleteMe, too. But no longer, alas.
Blogger is REALLY pissing me off today. Here's yet another comment from Skip, which just mysteriously vanished... not bein' in the spam trap or anywhere else, other than my e-mail in-box.
ReplyDeleteI'm relatively familiar with that area.
GS's mom lived in Oak Park after moving from Berkley and her youngest brother's mother-in-law lives in Ferndale.
The sister-in-law works in Birmingham.
GS has friends who live in Farmington.
We figured it's almost easier to take 9 mile than to take the freeway.
OTOH when we went to the South Lyon Hotel, it was a different story.
By way of reply... I lived in Birmingham for the first two years I was in Dee-troit. TSMP and i then bought our home in Ferndale, where we lived for the next nine-plus years. So, yeah... I'm pretty familiar with the area, too. ;-)
Great car...you were lucky, my wife would have taken 1/2 the Vette.
ReplyDeleteyou were lucky
DeleteI know!
In our family growing up we had the Vette(s) too. Bought right there in the Motor City.
ReplyDeleteChevette's that is. Drove them into the ground.
I traded away a perfectly good 325i convertible for a family type car only to see it go east with the X a few months later carrying the only thing I cared about.
I had a Chevette too, referred to as The Other Vette. TSMP put the Vette up for the winter and took over the SAAB... I bought a used six year old Other Vette to drive back and forth to work. I was ALWAYS glad to see Spring come along. Always. I hated that car, but it was reliable as a brick. Rode like one, too.
DeleteForgot to add that I lost a lot... like that lil boy in the last pic... when she walked.
DeleteI love those pics. The car is nice too.
ReplyDeleteThank ya, Ma'am.
Delete