Photos courtesy the author.
On the same day that I’m writing this, August 31, 2016, my grandmother, Jean, is celebrating her 96th birthday – a milestone to be sure. And of course it got me thinking about many things, but then my thoughts turned to cars…typical.
People often reminisce about how cars their parents owned influenced their tastes when they reached driving age. I include myself in that group, as my parents owned plenty that I wish we still had to this day. The list includes a Burgundy 1965 GTO, Nassau Blue 1969 4-4-2 convertible, Mayfair Maize 1965 Le Mans, Barrier Blue 1966 Le Mans, a Scarlet Red 1968 Cutlass S convertible and a yellow 1970 Cutlass Supreme with a black vinyl top. Sure there were tamer rides, like a few Comets and Corvairs that I still recall warm-heartedly as well, but the quicker, flashier models come more readily to mind.
My parents’ generation isn’t where the interesting car choices began and ended, however. Since they were young when I was born, I was lucky enough to have both sets of grandparents until I neared my 30s. They also owned some great cars over the years, and I still remember them well.
My maternal grandparents, Karl and Jean, owned a Cameo Ivory 1966 Bonneville with a black Cordova top and interior that I spent lots of time in when I was young. With my grandmother at the wheel and me securely buckled in riding in the back seat (later in the front), we regularly went to the bank – where the lollipops were free – department stores, grocery store and to and from school to pick up my uncle. The most fun was going out to lunch. All of it was great stuff for a little kid.
Here’s my grandmother behind the wheel of the 1966 Bonneville.
I recall the Bonneville being huge, and I could barely see over the dash when in the front seat. It also had the accessory wastepaper basket on the transmission hump. I remember thinking that this car is so big it has its own garbage can. Hey, I was a little kid.
We also drove from New Jersey to South Dakota and back with that Pontiac around 1974, along with mom and dad’s ’68 Cutlass S convertible. That trip made a huge impression on me regarding both of those cars and was responsible for me liking road trips so much today.
The big Bonne was replaced in 1975 with a new Sandstone Olds Delta 88 Royale. It had three great things going for it. It was a two-door! It had the coldest A/C on the planet and it was later handed down to my parents and became the car that I learned to drive in and even took my driver’s test in. And yes, I successfully parallel parked the 226.9-inch long behemoth during the test. Don’t ask me to attempt it today.
On my father’s side of the family, the first car I remember my grandparents, Anthony and Theresa, owning was a white 1962 T-bird with red interior. It was the first car that I ever sat in the driver’s seat and pretended to drive…while parked in the driveway of course. I think I was four at the time.
Then came a Matador Red 1969 Pontiac Custom S two-door with a black vinyl top. My grandfather applied a large American flag decal on the lower corner of the deck lid at a time when it wasn’t a popular thing to do—with some people— given the unease over Vietnam. He was a WWII veteran and he’d put an American flag decal on anything he damn well pleased…nobody questioned it.
That Pontiac was followed by a Burma Brown 1973 Grand Prix around 1977, which was one of my all-time favorites. I actually got to drive it, but it already has its own entry here, so I won’t rehash it here.
Today, Jean is the last of my grandparents who’s still with us. Though she no longer drives, given her age, my childhood memories of running errands with her in the big Pontiac and Oldsmobile remain.
Unfortunately, virtually no photos exist of the Bonne or the Delta 88, despite how long they were in the family, but I was lucky enough to locate two slides from a 1971 trip to South Dakota (prior to our 1974 vacation), so they’re included here.
Did cars that your grandparents drove make a lasting positive impression on you? Here’s the place to discuss it.
See original article at" https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2016/09/09/if-youre-into-vintage-cars-perhaps-your-grandparents-deserve-some-credit/
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