With gas surpassing the $3-per-gallon mark I'm sure many will remember putting 48 cents' worth of gas in the tank just to make it to West Seattle and back.
We used to turn our cars off and coast down long hill runs - it was easy with the mechanical brakes we had back then.
And it was accepted when several friends shared a ride, they would all chip in for gas.
We were barely of legal driving age and not able to buy a ride of our own, but a good friend had bought a 1928 four-door Buick for about $200 so we were temporarily taken care of. And there was plenty of room in it to cruise the neighborhood in style.
It was a thrill to be part of this touring crew, and it definitely required a crew just to keep the huge metal heap moving down the road.
When it rained, it was all hands to their battle stations. One manned the big steering wheel, and the other wiped steam from the windshield. Someone else operated the manual windshield wiper.
Pools of water in the road always found avenues into the car via the floorboards, so another member of the tour team had the duty of keeping the many pieces of cardboard in place to minimize the wet look.
There was no solution for the rain pooling in all the low areas on the roof. When we stopped, all the water showered from above.
To combat all this wetness, the manifold heater blasted hot air, creating a big steam bath.
When it came to fueling the auto, if you left the car running while filling the tank, it was doubtful you'd ever leave the pumps. This eight-cylinder beast had a voracious appetite.
Another big problem with the 1928 Buick were the blowouts. In those days, tires had tubes so while lifting the car, we looked for anything to wedge under the frame so as to remove the gigantic wheel. It took at least three of us to hold up the car to repair a flat.
Once the leak was found and the area cleaned, we applied the bandage with the warmth of several cigarette lighters. The bright-orange patch held firm, making a total of six on that tube alone.
The thing about driving a car of that vintage, one needn't have worried about carjacking. But there were some good attributes. Someone involved in the model's design was really thinking because the dashboard light that made it possible to read the instruments also made a great bottle opener.
Liquid refreshments sustained the good moods as we sang the latest tunes and longed for the day we could buy cars with radios.
Buying a car in the 1950s, theconcern about gas mileage was answered with, "Sir, the cheapest thing purchased for this car is gas!"
Gas stations closed early in those days, so it was common if you were running on fumes to drain what was left in the pumps of a closed gas station or siphon gas from a friend's car.
For years, I hadn't seen it happen, until, one time, as I was leaving for work, I was almost blinded by all the gas caps lying on the parking strip. That was 1973, when the president of the United States said, "Don't be fuel-ish - carpool! Drive only when necessary!"
Richard Carl Lehman can be reached at mptimes@nwlink.com.
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