When those of us in my family and my generation think of Grandma and Grandpa, odds are we remember their car as being a light metallic blue Buick LeSabre Custom with a vinyl white top. That's because they had the car for most of our lives (since I was 6 years old) and it was always garage kept and pampered. In fact, for most of my younger years, the only times I can ever remember it being driven were when we would go to the lake with the boat or we would all ride up for a birthday party together. It was your classic, American, family car that could seat six comfortably. It rode like you were floating on a cloud and ran as smoothly and quietly as one could imagine. I remember that Grandpa would usually have a very soft, area shag rug that he would keep stretched over the hood to protect it while it sat in the garage. Few may have known it, but he had originally bought a similar car the year prior but traded it back in on this one because the V-6 in the first one just didn't have enough power. Grandpa also ordered the car without a vinyl top and then had the custom, padded top added after they bought the car. The reason for this is because if you ordered the vinyl top on the car, the roof of the car was not painted underneath, which is why you see so many of the old vinyl topped cars with the tops rotting out of them underneath and around the edges. (This car is now over 30 old and has NO rust under nor around the top...guess it was a good idea, huh?) Grandma would always brag that this car was hers, since the title was, in fact, in her name. I have a couple of pics that someone snapped while all of us kids were mounting a, "Happiness Is Being A Grandparent" license plate frame onto the back of the car. I remember, quite vividly, one trip to the lake when Grandpa showed me what a cruise control was and how it worked....I remember him pointing to the gas pedal, which was moving by itself as we would go up the hills...it was like magic to a young, future, car nut. I also remember the time that Grandpa was in the hospital and Grandma came by in it and I got to drive her to the gas station to fill the Buick up. It was the first time I had ever seen or heard of anyone else driving the car and it was, at the time, the biggest, most powerful car I had ever driven. The fuel filler was underneath the license plate, and Grandpa had a small metal hook that he had installed on one of the license plate bolts so that it was easy to hold the plate open while unscrewing the fuel cap. I remember one time at church, I asked Grandpa if he would ever buy another car and he told me that he always figured that if this one lasted 20 years, he would probably look into another one at that time. Years down the road, it was the car that Grandpa would drive daily to go visit Grandma at the retirement home and even later, it was the car that my brother would drive while his car wasn't driveable. One weird coincidence is that I had taken the car to work myself, on the morning that Grandpa passed away. I remember thinking how weird it was that I had driven the old Buick instead of my truck that day. Still later in years, I would use it to commute to and from work, about 140 miles per day. After the A/C stopped working and 20 years slowly began to take their toll, we parked the car. A few years ago, my nephew, Samuel, was out at our parents' house with us and was asking about the blue car sitting there and wondering what it would take to get it to run. I remarked that all I thought it would take was a jump start. He laughed and said, No way, as most people probably would. No doubt, it is almost needless to say, but I must say that a boat battery and 20 minutes later, the old 350 V-8 was purring like a kitten. I remember pulling it out and turning it around, backing it into the same spot and just letting it run for a few minutes, enjoying the pride and the feeling that Grandma and Grandpa were beaming down on us with pride as well. Samuel was surprised, to say the least, as he couldn't have figured that a car that had been sitting for 3 -4 years would've just cranked right up. But, then again, Grandpa took care of his stuff like no other and if any old car was gonna start after sitting for a few years, it's one of his.
Last September, the time came for us to make a decision that we had put off for several years. We had to get rid of the car. The facts that it would cost too much to repair as a daily driver and operate on a daily basis did not make the decision any easier for me. As hard as it is for most to understand, the car was a piece of my family history and just held a special place in my heart. It was, after all, the last car that both Grandma and Grandpa ever drove and it was a car that always took us to fun and exciting places (at least until I started driving it to work, haha). It was, quite possibly, the last of it's kind that any of us will own...a big, heavy, comfortable, 8 cylinder, American car. Nevertheless, it was perhaps just as bad to let it sit and do nothing as it would be to let it go and so the decision to do so was made. The car now resides with a friend of my parents, who works at our family church and had admired the car since the days he saw Grandma and Grandpa driving it to church on Sundays. He had expressed interest in it long ago but it was just too hard for us to let it go and I guess I had always hoped that I would get off of my rump and get it going again. I suppose that over time, reality set in, and I have had to come to the realization that the memories, the stories, and the people are what really matter and although it is nice to actually have a physical portion of it all, sometimes it just isn't feasible. I hope with all of my being that I am one day soon able to report on this post that the car is up and running at its new home. If not, that's ok because, in my memories, it will be running forever, probably on the way to the lake with Grandma hollering all the way down the hill while Grandpa guns it forward to make my brother and I laugh! You see, the memories created along the ride are what it's all about.
The picture at the top of this post is the last one that I took of the car, just before it's new owner picked it up. He was very happy to get it and extemely eager to get it back on the road again. As hard as it was for me to let it go, I am happy that it went to a good home and not only that, but to someone who knew our grandparents and had a true interest in the car.
One more thing, the wheel caps and Buick LeSabre emblems that appear to be missing in the photo aren't. My brother and I each have one...just had to do it and keep a piece! We figured the new owner could find some at a salvage yard or something but we wanted the ones that were with our loved ones for all those years.
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