Beyond Fiction

Well, it’s time to try to get an article together for the Carnival of Genealogy’s 45th edition. The topic this time is “Cars as stars! Next to purchasing a house, a “new set of wheels” was the next most significant purchase for many families. What car played a starring roll in your family history and what roll did it play? Did your family build cars or tinker with them? Did they take “Sunday drives”? What was your first car? Was there a hangout that you frequented in your car? How far back can you document your family’s automotive genealogy? Tell us your car stories… front seat or back! Vroom, Vroom!”

Well, I’ve waited until the last minute because I really couldn’t think of much to write about. You see, cars for the road were not that important for my family. You’ve heard the old adage about a good mechanic who drives a worn-out piece of junk car? Well, that’s kind of the way it was for us. Dad put all his money into his race cars and drove automobiles that we would much rather forget. “Old Blue” was an old, beat up blue truck that sounded like it had bells ringing when you drove it. “Old Smoky” or “Smoky the Bear” was an old LTD that left a huge cloud of smoke behind it wherever you went. There were a number of old, beat up station wagons. There was even an old Rambler station wagon with the wood paneling on the outside! We never drove around in any of those cars and tried to show off. We spent more time trying to hide them!

Since my dad’s passion was his race cars, and since my brothers and cousins also had a love for racing, I think I would be better off linking to a series I recently wrote about my dad’s love for dirt track racing. Here are the links:

Dad Loved Dirt Track Racing, Part I

Dad Loved Dirt Track Racing, Part II

Dad Loved Dirt Track Racing, Part III

Dad Loved Dirt Track Racing, Part IV

I hope you enjoy the reading!