Cars - Daryl Bentley
Cars - Charlotte Clement
This was the first car I purchased when I started teaching in 1963. It was a shiny red Corvair that got excellent gas mileage, and gas was only .37 a gallon!!
My 1986 Corvette was a fun car to drive. It was only driven in 'good weather'!!
Cars - Jim Georges
Similar to my 1957 Plymouth Gold Fury. They only made 7,200 of them. It had 2 four barrel Carter Carburetor's and the speedometer went to 150 mph. In 1956 the gold fury was the fastest production car built in the US. It was clocked at 156+ mph at Daytona.
Cars - Myers Family
Above: the 1934 five-window Chevy Coupe
Story from Brother Philip:
John and I pooled our money (US Savings Bonds included) to raise the $100 purchase price set by a very old retired resident of Washington Court House. John was not old enough to have a driver's license, so I was the designated driver. It turns out this was the only Myers vehicle that would reliably start anywhere, anytime, always. So, sometimes it served as the "go to work" vehicle for the Superintendent of Wayne Local Schools. This created murmured conversation among many at the school.
Story from Brother Philip:
John and I pooled our money (US Savings Bonds included) to raise the $100 purchase price set by a very old retired resident of Washington Court House. John was not old enough to have a driver's license, so I was the designated driver. It turns out this was the only Myers vehicle that would reliably start anywhere, anytime, always. So, sometimes it served as the "go to work" vehicle for the Superintendent of Wayne Local Schools. This created murmured conversation among many at the school.
- Then there was mother's need to go shopping in Sabina. So again, the trusty old '34 was rolled out for duty. Now understand, this was the first time mother had driven it, floor shift and all. The Chevy was on a short wheelbase as mother was to discover on her way back to the farm. While making the required left-hand turn from 3 & 22 onto 72, she cut the corner too short and drug that little coupe along a marker post on the left lane. No big damage but it was the brunt of jokes for some time.
- John and I had little money, so in the winter we would always drain the cooling system after each use of the car since we couldn't afford antifreeze. Which leads us to the "David" episode.
- David was employed at a truck stop in Sabina. He needed reliable transportation to the job one very cold night and he borrowed our 34 Chevy. We explained that the car had no antifreeze and that he needed to drain the cooling system at work and then refill it when he drove home. Maybe he ate too many pickled "trucker" eggs that were always on sale there; anyway, he forgot to drain the cooling system. You guessed it: a cracked engine head.
- It was following this event we decided to install a powerful Chrysler Hemi V-8 engine. We changed out the front-end hydraulic knee-action suspension for a dropped Plymouth tubular axle, installed a Chrysler automatic transmission and a Mercury rear-end. The required welding modifications were performed by a welding expert in Sabina named (wait for it)..............Roy Rogers.
- Now, the rest of the story. John and I used this trusty steed to go to school frequently without mishap. Well almost. Leaving the school parking lot one day to enter Larrick Road required moderate use of the throttle on the powerful Hemi V-8. Moderate throttle wasn't used that afternoon. The open exhaust was testimony to excess throttle being used as the modified Chevy did a 360 when turning onto Larrick Road. No damage resulted; well, except for a need to change underwear.
- Now you know some of our adventures with that $100 worth of great fun. Kinda wish we had kept it for old time's sake.
- We reversed the trunk lid so that the hinge was on the bottom edge and the lid would then open at the top edge. Then we put in an old car bench seat and now we had a rumble seat like the fancy Roadster cars of the era.
- The car had a new special type of front suspension. If you Google "1934 Chevrolet knee-action suspension", you will find articles and photos.
- There was no floorboard for some time (feet were kept on the transmission in middle and on the frame rails on side. Definitely increased the 'thrill' of the ride, especially on gravel roads! In fact, seeing the road pass underneath the car was a new sensation of motion/speed/sound.
Cars - Rosalee Smith
Cars - Terrell Family
Cars - Murphy Family
Cars - Driver Training
Driver Training Cars were loaned to the school by local car dealers and then sold as used cars.
For example, Patton Motors in Wilmington provided a low-end 1955 Dodge all-pale blue (like the lower part of the car shown above, but not with two-tone paint and added chrome trim as shown above).
Ironically, it had a manual transmission and clutch.
The boys had no problem operating the clutch since they drove tractors and trucks all the time.
But some of the girls had great difficulty.
One girl never did master the clutch, but James K Short passed her anyway.
The 1955 Dodge was later purchased and used by the Myers family for many years.
It had a strong V-8 engine that was fun to drive.
It had a good first gear that had a good power/rpm range.
Then second gear continued strongly to speeds much faster than the highway speed limit.
For example, Patton Motors in Wilmington provided a low-end 1955 Dodge all-pale blue (like the lower part of the car shown above, but not with two-tone paint and added chrome trim as shown above).
Ironically, it had a manual transmission and clutch.
The boys had no problem operating the clutch since they drove tractors and trucks all the time.
But some of the girls had great difficulty.
One girl never did master the clutch, but James K Short passed her anyway.
The 1955 Dodge was later purchased and used by the Myers family for many years.
It had a strong V-8 engine that was fun to drive.
It had a good first gear that had a good power/rpm range.
Then second gear continued strongly to speeds much faster than the highway speed limit.