MELT-PROOF AND SCRATCH-RESISTANT

Driving with the windows down cos its spring

Posted about 1 year ago
When my brother and I were in high school we bought a 1967 Chevy Impala with a 283 V8 and 4 barrel carb, complete leaky fuel line and a hole in the roof above the rear view mirror, paying $25 for it. We promptly went to the Fisher Big Wheel (a sorta low-rent K-Mart) and bought a tape deck and two small speakers for $35. At this point we were broke, and proceeded to make some sweet cassette tapes of various albums. Not having anything to cut through the rear seat deck panel to place the speakers, we ran some speaker wire and jammed them underneath the elevated headrests. That car rocked. We sold it for $200 a few years later, and my dad was as proud as only a used car salesman papa could be. The latest mix theme for the growing CD traders at work thus was "Spring Driving with the windows down", prompted by my memory of said car, and to celebrate my dad's sale of a similar vintage Impala convertible he sold recently via the internet. He thought that was pretty cool that a woman in Seattle bought his car in western Pennsylvania... And when I hear Van Halen cranking out You Really Got Me, I am back in my Impala...."I'll load the whole mixtape up to my M site":http://dharmachris.multiply.com

Comments (12)

  1. ivylander says I was just thinking tonight that if I owned a metal saw, I could have a convertible....
    Permalink posted 05/07/2008
  2. dharmachris says Yeah! Hey did you ever watch the show Top Gear, on BBC America? Its on Monday nights at 8 pm, and they did just that,, converting a variety of cars to convertibles, as well as other bits of mayhem and sports car bad-ass-ness. Its become must see TV here after Cooper goes to bed. The converted convertibles, most fell apart. As did the RVs they raced on a stock car track.
    Permalink posted 05/07/2008
  3. ivylander says I saw the RVs - that was quite hilarious. Did you see the one in which they bought $1000 used cars in the Florida Keys and drove them to New Orleans, with a different "challenge" each day? One challenge called for them to paint offensive slogans on each others' cars ("Man Love Rules," "Hillary For President") and drive across Alabama? They nearly got themselves killed....
    Permalink posted 05/07/2008
  4. dharmachris says oh god that was an hysterical episode! the one guy had boy love or something painted on it. How about when they went to Africa and the one guy named his car Oliver? and they benz was stripped down. that show is insane.
    Permalink posted 05/07/2008
  5. dharmachris says Cool, I will do so. I'm curious as to how they got the show... from what I can tell he also publishes a magazine of that name, so it would seem they are a bunch of car writers put on TV to wreak havoc. How do I get that gig? The only material thing I would really get into if I were fabulously wealthy would be cars. Must be in the blood.
    Permalink posted 05/07/2008
  6. ivylander says You might want to check out the regular columns that Jeremy Clarkson writes for the Times of London (www.timesonline.co.uk). His politics are not mine - or, I suspect, yours - but he is a great writer and seriously funny bastard.....
    Permalink posted 05/07/2008
  7. waydutch says I owned a '65 four door hard topped Chevy Impala for awhile in High School. One big boat. Seriously, could lay flat across the front or back seat with room to spare. Had some wild double dates in that beast. Thanks for the memories.
    Permalink posted 05/07/2008
  8. annieander says After my 1971 VW Fastback, I drove a big ole honking Chevy Station Wagon....I don't even think it had shoulder belts. Something from the 50's...we called it Old Blue. It did save my brother life after a very bad accident, though it didn't survive. It had AM....I was lucky to have that.
    Permalink posted 05/07/2008
  9. mollifire says such a great story! Impalas are dreamy. especially with a boosted system!
    Permalink posted 05/07/2008
  10. contrabandwidth says Reminds me of my 1977 Super Beetle I had around 2001. Bought a copy of Van Halen's "1984" on cassette, and every time I played it in that car I felt like Kevin Bacon in "Footloose". Great music/car experience.
    Permalink posted 05/08/2008
  11. Bartleby says :::Big fan of Top Gear here also::: I've never owned a car. That's the beauty of living in a metropolis and being single. Now, if I may come back to our topic, "Spring Driving with the windows down" I'll probably go with something of this ilk:
    Permalink posted 05/08/2008
  12. Lizziegreeneyes says Tis the time of the season for the windows down & the music WAY UP !!! Thanks for the images... I see a little Chris strutting his stuff in the Impala with his brother at his side.
    Permalink posted 05/08/2008

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