Mrs. Paco discovered another cache of old photos, and, while going through them, I discovered this gem.
The picture quality is poor - it was taken with one of those instant cameras that were popular at the time - but as a piece of personal history it is unique: this is the only photo I have that shows both of my Plymouth Superbirds at the same time. The scene is the driveway of our house in Cary, NC, and I am smoking what is probably an Hoyo de Monterrey cigar (my main brand at the time).
The blue one you've probably seen before; the color of the other one was what Plymouth called Sublime Green (in the photo, unfortunately, it looks yellow).
I was 19, a month away from my 20th birthday. I met Mrs. Paco about a year later, and maybe a year after that, I sold the green 'bird, and bought her an engagement ring. If I had held on to the car for a couple of decades, I could have bought her a diamond necklace set in platinum. Meh. As a burly gangster character (played by Mike Mazurki) once said in a movie, "If only I hadda knew".
If I had held on to the car for a couple of decades, I could have bought her a diamond necklace set in platinum.
ReplyDeleteYou sound confident she would have still been around if you had chosen the car over her engagement ring. ;-)
Are you wearing Converse Allstars?
DeleteYou look so casual... and yet, self-collected.
ReplyDeleteThe definition of affluence: a man who owns two Plymouths.
ReplyDeleteIf I'd had one of those younger than 18, I would not be here today.
ReplyDeleteI had a 72 Dart with a slant six and came close to death a bunch of times from driving like a maniac.
Same reason I don't have a motorcycle.
I had a Rupp 80 when I was 13 or 14, and ended up lying on the ground, under the bike, with the rear wheel spinning fast right next to my foot too many times to trust myself with a real bike.
A man's got to know his limitations.
I wrecked the blue 'bird three months after I got it. I was taking a sharp curve in a heavy rain at night. I saw headlights coming the other way and pulled too close to the right, causing the front passenger wheel to run off on the gravel shoulder which whipped the car around and shot it into the woods. The nose cone got crushed. Took me six months to get the car back (I think most of that time was waiting for parts).
Delete