Johnny's '59 Lincoln

1959 Lincoln Mark IV Continental Convertible

Johnny was 15 years old in the early 1960's.  He lived with his dad in a huge mansion in Birmingham.  He couldn't wait to get his first car.  Somehow, he talked his father (who was well off) into buying him a custom '59 Lincoln Mark IV Continental convertible.  It was painted pearl white and in beautiful condition.  The seats were black and white leather with black carpeting and a matching black and white steering wheel.

Johnny's Lincoln was parked in the driveway, covered by a car cover.  He wouldn't be allowed to drive it until he turned 16 and got his driver's license.  

His best friends tried to convince him to sneak it out of the driveway after his dad was sleeping but Johnny's father was very strict about the rules of the house and Johnny wasn't interested:

• No video games on school nights
• No leaving the house after 10 pm
• No visitors unless his dad was home
• No stealing his beer
• No driving until you turn 16 AND get your driver's license

A couple months after the '59 Lincoln was purchased, Johnny's dad left for an overnight business trip.  His Grandma Jean was supposed to come stay with him, but she ended up coming down with a stomach flu and had to cancel at the last minute.  Johnny's father decided to let him stay alone over night.

Johnny's friend Reg caught wind of this news and descended on Johnny.  

Reg was Johnny's closest friend.  He had gone through a growth spurt during the past summer and towered over Johnny.  His hair and clothes looked as if he had just rolled out of bed.  Reg lived with his mom on the next block down from Johnny.  They had met on the bus their first day of Kindergarten and they've been best friends since.  Reg was like a little devil that sat on Johnny's shoulder and got him in trouble all the time and this time would be no different.

"Johnny, he'll never find out, we'll mark chalk dots on the driveway cement so we can put the car back exactly where it was," Reg said.  

"No way!" Johnny shouted.

"Ok, how about if we just sit in it and put the convertible top down?"

"I guess that would be ok." Johnny mumbled.

Reg wasted no time grabbing the keys from the hook inside the kitchen cupboard and raced out the front door where the car sat.

They uncovered the car together.  Reg unlocked the driver's door, jumped in and stuck the key in the ignition to turn the car on.  The glass packs made a loud deep rumbling sound.  Johnny prayed his neighbors wouldn't hear anything.  They were good friends with his dad and would rat him out in a second.   Reg found the power top switch just as Johnny's butt hit the passenger's  seat, the top quickly retracted. 

Reg cranked up the radio and without a word spoken they both leaned back in their seats  and looked up at the sky.  It was a beautiful, clear summer's night and the stars were sparkling.  

Johnny smiled.  "This is pretty great" he thought to himself.

"Let's take her for a quick drive down Woodward and back, just for 5 minutes," Reg said excitedly.

"NO WAY! You don't have you driver's license either, Reg!" Johnny yelled.

The two of them argued back and forth until, like always, Johnny gave in to Reg's nagging.

Reg decided he would be the one to drive, since his mom had let him drive around the parking lot at the high school a few times.  

They slowly crept the convertible out of the driveway and down to the stop sign.  Two turns and they'd be flying down Woodward (just south of 15 Mile Road).  

Reg waited until all four lanes on Woodward were clear.  His heart was racing.  He slammed on the gas, both their heads jerked backwards from the sudden acceleration.  He stayed in the right lane, he only hit the curb a couple times before getting a feel for the beast.

They decided they'd go down to 13 Mile, turn around and head back home.  As Reg grew closer to the Ram's Horn Restaurant (just north of 13 Mile on Woodward), he and Johnny began to hear a rattling noise.  Within seconds the hood flew open and completely blocked Reg's view of the road.  They both began to scream.  Reg closed his eyes and with both fee, slammed on the brakes.  Tires screeched and horns honked all around them.  

When Reg opened his eyes, flashes of blue and red reflected off the car's hood, which was pointing straight up to the sky.  Both boys slowly turned around.  Two Royal Oak police officers approached the Lincoln, one on each side.

"Sir, can I see your license and registration?"   

Reg burst into tears and told them everything.  Johnny sat quietly shaking his head from side to side.

The police called Johnny's father and had his Lincoln towed back to Johnny's house.

Johnny lost his video game privileges and his freedom for six months.  He mowed lawns to reimburse his dad for the hood and towing expenses.

Oh and Reg...he decided to steer clear of Johnny's house until school started back up in the fall.

 

 

Paul's Love of Cars

Paul's Story

Paul grew up two blocks from the local car dealership.  He lived in the times of black and white televisions.  Where women wore dresses and heels every day and men always wore hats.

Every morning Paul would ride his red Schwinn bicycle to school and pass by the chain link fence outside the dealership, stopping to admire all the cars that were lined up row after row, Studebaker's, Packard's, all post-war cars.

Paul would frequently get detention after school for being caught drawing sketches of cars on his notebooks or in the margins of his papers.

Paul's dad was amazing and he understood his son's obsession with cars.  To appease Paul, his father would point to passing cars and say "Paul, what kind of car is that?"  This was Paul's favorite game!  More than playing marbles or jacks, "what car is that' was HIS game.

His dad would take him to auto shows that would come to town.  When Christmas rolled around, Paul had just turned 10.  His gift from his dad was a Sears Craftsman Tool Set.

When Paul turned 13, he got his first ride in a 1958 Lincoln Continental.  It belonged to a friend of his dads who actually understood the fact that Paul was obsessed with cars.  He even let him drive it up and down a few of the back roads of Detroit.

Paul said there were rumors that this car belonged to a member of the Detroit Mafia, but he didn't care who it belonged to.  He got to DRIVE a car at 13 years old!

When Paul went off to college, he and his room mates got the opportunity of a lifetime to buy a 1956 Packard Caribbean for $600.  They jumped at the chance and slowly restored it through their four years of college.

 Senior year, they drove to the Upper Peninsula to visit a friend from high school.  It was the dead of winter and the friend was out on a lake ice fishing.  I guess you can blame the case of Schlitz malt liquor (liquid courage) for the reason Paul's friend drove the 3500 lb. car out onto the ice

As you have probably already deduced, the ice buckled under the weight of the Packard and their beautiful 56 Packard sunk to the bottom of the lake, brown and tan beer cans began to pop up to the surface among the broken ice.  Luckily for Paul and his inebriated friends, no one was injured.

Paul's next car was supposed to be a Vette, but he ended up with a 1963 Triumph Spitfire...but we'll save that story for another blog!