The Dad Gauge to Automotive Survivability

Now, you're bringing back memories, Charlie.
I remember our first car which was a Plymouth with a rumble seat.
My grandma used to love to ride back there.
And dad would do a 100 mph and you couldn't go fast enough for her!
The little Plymouth was a four seater but it was tight in the back and I would wave at grandma through the rear window as dad was burning rubber. Of course, there wasn't much traffic to speak about in those days and we could go to our country house on Long Island in under an hour. Today, it takes at least two hours if you're driving at midnight.
.
But, if nothing else, my dad had a real talent.
If anybody were to invest according to the cars that he bought, they could have made a fortune. The key, of course, was to sell out anything that he bought because you would know almost immediately, that they were either going out of business or sinking so low in the firmament that nobody would ever remember their name. He was kind of automotive bellwether that the automotive industry would have done well to pay attention to.

Yes, there were a few exceptions to the rule but not many.

There was the great Lincoln twelve with push button everything. Twelve meant twelve cylinders that we burned out a bearing on after a trip to then virtually desserted Florida coast where we stayed for a month. But all the rest were pretty predictable. There was the ultra-modern Kaiser that set tongues wagging which had these big picture windows and sprawling insides and very modern styling. Then there was this cavernous Nash with folding beds inside that looked like the inside of a whale. ...But the best was the old Hudson with its huge back seat and step-down interior that really differentiated it from all other cars. That was the car I learned to drive in.

Dad had them all!

The last one I remember was a fifty six Packard convertible which was a huge white beast that caught the attention of everyone. It was a great car and I planned to keep it forever. I used to have my parking attendant park it for me in the old building across the street and I would keep my fingers and toes crossed because the attendant could never walk a straight line.

Well, he parked it perfectly for five years. The beginning of the sixth year, he took the keys and ran it perfectly at high speed into the brick wall of the building. That was curtains for my big Packard and nearly curtains for my friend.

i don't think many people would know about my dad's cars; but most assuredly, none of them are around any more and their slide, if I can read the stats correctly, began when dad bought them... If the automotive industry understood the power that my dad wielded, they might have bought him off and sent him to Bora Bora or some other place where he couldn't jinx the market and we might have retired rich.... Oh well!....

Les