Tribute To Our Mothers: We Drove ’em Crazy … They Drove Everywhere Else!
As the resident “Andy Rooney” of DT, I thought it would be appropriate to take this opportunity to show the softer side of us gear-heads by inviting our readers to comment about the coolest/oddest cars their mom’s drove or provide us with some Mom-based anecdotes of the things that we’ve all done to drive our mothers crazy, or amazing things our moms have done while driving. I’ll begin…
Our family’s favorite prank from the early ’60s, while waiting for mom to get to the car, was to turn on every possible electric device in the car so that when Mom turned the key she’d be greeted with full speed wipers, a blaring AM Radio, full windshield defroster, the Speedminder Alarm set to 10mph. It was fair. We were in shorts, sitting on plastic seat covers in 80+ degree heat and our thighs would stick to it (*for those of you under 58 yrs old a speedminder alarm is an adjustable setting that causes a buzzer to go off when you exceed that speed. Most were buried at 120 the first time they were encountered).
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| Car pictured above is not the actual car, but is the correct model. |
Pranks aside, let me add that I’m blessed to still have my Mom who is a very spry 91 year old. She gave up her 34,000 mi ’99 Lumina LS in 2010 when she moved across country to live closer to us.
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| Not her actual car pictured, but it could be, as hers was that color and she loved that flag! |
Mom could still drive but, at her age, coping with new streets and the dreaded “Michigan-Left” and sudden 9-inch snows were more than she could have endured. Now that we’re back in CA and those obstacles are out of the way, we keep her keys by pointing out that she’s no longer in possession of a license and would have to take a driver’s test. Which leads me to recount the following:
We knew it was getting closer for Mom to give up her keys when:
1) She commented that drivers in Ft. Lauderdale were far less friendly when they were twenty years ago. They drive so much faster than they used to and they’re constantly blowing their horns.
2) She’d gladly drive us all over town, but we noticed we were always in the alleys behind the stores
rather than on the streets. She could maneuver all over town without stopping for a stop sign.
3) Would go around the cue of cars in the left turn lane waiting at the Red Left Turn Arrow and turn left from the middle lane on the green. When questioned about this tactic, she commented that “That green arrow is for all the old people who need help making a safe turn. I had plenty of room so I turned”.
4) When I’d volunteer to wash her car and noticed that there wasn’t a single panel that hadn’t been resprayed at least once.
The Most Amazing Thing My Mom Ever Did Behind The Wheel Of A Car:
While all of the above is the fun stuff, my best memory of my Mom and are car is a simple one. I had a morning paper route from fourth grade to sixth grade, which caused me to leave the house before everyone else was awake. We’re talking the 1960’s here, so it was normally just me and my bike. Occasionally, I would awaken to the sound of a heavy rain or look out the window and see 5-6 inches of fresh snow, but it wasn’t a problem. All I had to do was tiptoe into my parents bedroom and whisper “Mom its raining pretty hard out, can you drive me on my route” and she’d quietly get up sporting curlers, throw her warm robe over her PJs and off we’d go.
Yesterday, Mom called me and asked me if I could take her to 99-cent store as the bus at her retirement center wasn’t heading that way for a few days. I grumbled inside my head, but went and got her. On our drive back from the shopping, she expressed her concern that I was running late. Making light of it, I told her not to worry by telling her I knew how to speed things up. “I’m just going to slow down a little and kick you out as we drive by your place. But don’t worry, if you stay in a good tight tuck-and- roll, you should end up right at the front door!” A few minutes later, we arrived at her place. I reached over and opened her door, undid her seat belt and playfully told her ‘Get Out!” She smiled and said, “I don’t have time to tuck and roll today, so I’ll just have to walk in like the rest of ’em. Thanks for the ride honey”. She’s 91 years old and still has a great sense of humor. Happy Mother’s Day Mom, you are the best!
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[Photo Credit – Lumina LS: cargurus.com]
[Photo Credit – 1965 Pontiac Catalina 4 dr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/coconv/5282039072/
We were visiting my relatives in TX when I was 14, borrowed my uncle's '68 Olds Delta 88 to drive down to the Big Bend country. About halfway down from Ft. Worth, there is nothing at all for miles and miles, so my Dad let me drive, with my poor Mom sitting in the backseat, cringing. The only time we encountered a large vehicle coming the other way was a Winnebago (and NOT a Minnie Winnie) at one of the few bridges (over a dry wash) on the road. I got excited, my Dad talked me through it, we didn't hit either side, but Mother was done with me driving after that. Thanks for hangin' in there, Mom!
My friend's grandmother would always bring one of her famous cakes to the family Sunday dinners at my friend's home.
Her son and I were standing at the front of their house when we saw Grandma turn into the driveway and drive up the slight grade to the front of the house where she would park. She turned off the car. Reached for her purse, got out of the car, closed the door and removed the cake from the roof of the car.
We were laughing hysterically! She asked us what we were laughing about, we explained that she'd just driven about 10 miles in city traffic which involved at least a half a dozen turns in either direction and must have involved at least a couple of red lights, yet she'd never managed to lose the cake. She told us we were nuts, that she put the cake on the roof of the car when she got out of it just then. We explained that we saw her drive in the driveway with the cake on the roof of the car, but she insisted that we were just pulling her leg.
She was a wonderful woman who accomplished this task in her 8 yr old Chevy Malibu that had about 9,000 miles on it at the time.
Yup, we had a '65 Pontiac Safari wagon in which I clearly remember Mom doing unintentional 360's at around 70 MPH after a blowout. I believe she was digging around in her handbag for cigarettes when that tire went. never forget it. How times have changed.
Happy Mothers Day all you mothers./
My three favorites: maroon Peugeot 505 turbo wagon which only lasted until the first snowstorm when mom proved that a long wheelbase rwd turbo was great for unintentional donuts. I loved that car. Pontiac 6000 SE wagon. White, mag wheels, factory red pinstripes, sport self leveling suspension and sport exhaust. Grey leather wrapped wheel cloth bucket seats and console mounted shifter. Nicknamed the Sport Wagon, which it was and much cooler than it sounds. Honda Accord exl wagon. I still do not understand why Honda stopped making wagons for the U.S. that was the last wagon mom had, and was by far the best.
Hmmmm…Dad was a very early member of the SCCA (Steel Cities Region) and a car salesman, so there were always interesting cars about (TCs, a TD, 109SL, Okrasa 'Ghia, etc.) but the car I most vividly remember was the'63 Plymouth Sport Fury with a 383 – and Mom drove like she stole it!
'69 BMW 2800CS did a lot of the kid hauling in the '70s. One day the neighbor mom comes over to yell at my mom saying "how could you do 120 with kids in the car???" The neighbor kid had seen the speedo. Thing is, my dad brought the car over from Germany and it was in KPH.
We moved on to Citroens in the 80s.
The first car my mother ever bought that wasnt bought by my Dad for her was a used '69 Pontiac Bonneville.a HUGE USELESS BOAT.It was downright embaassing. But she couldnt seem to connect the concepts of size, utilty and rational decison making. She drove that beast lke she was the only car on the road with all the other cars fleeing for life and limb from the behemoth wandering down the road ignoing the lanes.
Mom is a good driver. She drove her '63 Galaxie XL (390 cu. in., 2 door, black over red leather) quite well and at speed for many years. Still drives at age 87 just fine. Sometimes, I chauffer her in her new car or my cars, and she is in the front passenger seat. As passenger, she can't stop hitting a fantasy/vapor brake pedal with her foot while saying, "Oooo, too fast! Slow down you almost side-swiped that car!". Happy Mother's Day Mom! You're the best. Thanks for all the good rides.
My Mom was very neat. The house. Herself. Always together. Lipstick. A little jewelry. A little makeup. She loved books and writing and art and birds and gardening. She kept ahead of the dust and dirt five kids amply provided. She was no prude, but maybe a little prim. In my teens, while I was out riding around our Western Massachusetts town abusing our 1972 Country Squire, my Mom was sometimes left, if my Dad was not home, to cart her little 5'5" self on errand runs in the only car left in the garage, Dad's 1968 Corvette, 427, 390 HP, manual, with mag wheels and an eye-popping custom paint job riding on top of that lovely stock blue. I might be standing around someplace with friends in our little town and Mom would come rumbling by in that Corvette. It was one the cutest, funniest things you could ever see. Beauty and the beast.