This
is a story of inflation and not necessarily of someone’s first car. Remember those guys in high school who knew
the details of every car that was ever made.
They could quote them all and what happened to them? Perhaps they went on to be mechanics; at least,
they would have made more money than me.
That’s the point. After college I
had $425 to my name going into the labor market with no job. I asked my mom if I could have a car and she
said, “Fine, go out and buy one” and that was that.
After
getting a job at Menorah Medical Center in Kansas City in 1971, I remember
walking up to 39th and Main and catching the bus to 39th and Troost for the commute to Menorah.
It gets tiring after a while, but it had to be done to save for the
car. Eventually, I followed up on car
leads that I found the Kansas City Star. The first took me to a junk yard where the
old man said “It runs good.” despite the fact that the engine was gushing oil
like an Oklahoma oil rig. My next lead
was from Johnson County, Kansas where the rich folks live. A father was upgrading his son’s car and
selling his old 1960 white Ford Falcon for $325. It wasn’t much to look at and the girls would
laugh, but it would do the job.
In
four years I had learned a lot about ownership especially how costs go up. Now cars cost as much as houses used to. That’s why I’ve learned to be cautious, fix
what needs to be fixed, buy them new from now on, and drive them into the
ground at around 186,000 miles. I’ve
included a record of my Falcon expenses because it shows how much things have
changed. For example, I used to get gas
at 23 cents a gallon during the “gas wars” at the Hudson station at 38th & Main. Monthly insurance was
$25.20.
My
Falcon met its demise came when I was in USMC boot camp in San Diego. Mom wrote me that the local thieves
were ripping it off in the drive way for parts.
I gave her Power of Attorney and that was that. I still have fond memories of that old 1960
Ford Falcon.It was simple, mechanically sound, and easily maintained. Of the four vehicles I’ve owned, three out of
four have been Fords.
