'Beep Beep, That Little Nash Rambler'

The latest craze on Facebook has many of my generation looking back and posting pictures of our first cars, especially the ones we truly loved. I once had the opportunity to own my very own Nash family sedan, but opted instead for a car that better enticed my youthful sentiments. If you are from my generation you will always remember the 1958 hit song from the title of this story.

Anyone who listened to pop radio back then will likely recall its quirkiness. From the beep beep lyric, to the final comical refrain ... "Hey, Buddy, how can I get this car out of second gear!"

In those years, teens had no cell phones or other modern distractions. Our cars were our refuge, and we spent countless hours just cruising and listening to music. Gasoline was cheap and the music on AM radio was free.

While we loved our cars, many of us didn't obtain our own personal vehicle, until late in high school or afterwards. I can verify this for you, with the simple evidence that our NHS parking lots provided. There was one parking lot behind the high school, plus what spots were available on the side streets. The number of students who actually had their own cars was so limited, that the back lot was rarely full.

I didn't receive my first car, until after graduation from high school in 1967. It was a used, very basic, 1965 Chevy Bel Air, purchased from Rex Turk Motors in Sheldon, Mo. I think it might have come from some type of rental or company fleet. It was a plain white 4-door sedan, with bench seats. The only additional features were an AM radio, a heater, and air conditioning. The motor was the smallest 283 cubic inch V8.

I spent many hours and miles in that car going to college, work, and just cruising. Speaking of cruise, that Bel Air did not have one, and I am not even sure if that option was yet available.

Although that car served me well, it did begin to show its age within a couple of years. It had just passed 100,000 miles, and in those days the engines simply did not last as long as they do today.

Steve McQueen had a new movie that came out in late 1968, called "Bullitt." In the movie McQueen pursues some criminals in what is widely referred to as the greatest car chase scene in movie history. McQueen's vehicle in the movie was a 1968 Mustang.

Like many young men of that era, the Mustang and other "muscle" cars headed our wish lists. It was a combination of the looks of muscle cars and their big block engines, that made them so appealing. There was also what psychologists refer to as the 'sex appeal' of those 60s cars. Guys of my time just didn't think any girl would want to be picked up in a 4-door white sedan, let alone a Nash!

That sentiment led me to trade for my one and only muscle car, a 1969 Mach 1 Cobra Jet Mustang. This car was in that era, and still remains today a classic. It had a 428 cubic inch V8 that was unbelievably powerful. It also came with two issues that immediately impacted me.

First on that list was the gas mileage. The engine required premium gasoline, and even with careful driving, it always seemed to attain less than 10 miles per gallon. My old sedan regularly got in excess of 20 mpg.

The real issue for me turned out to be the insurance. Muscle cars were notorious for receiving speeding tickets, and they were also involved in many accidents, as a result of that excessive speeding. My first six months of insurance costs were so high, that I was forced to trade that car ... (a special note about that Mustang... the next owner I have been told, was a person named O'toole. It appears he won many races and trophies at drag strips like MoKan over by Pittsburg ... it really was a magnificent vehicle.)

Before I traded for that car, my family had offered me my grandfather's 1962, Nash Ambassador. Due to health, he was no longer driving, and they would have given me the car for free.

My grandfather had owned more than one Nash. That brand was noted for their box type style and they also were famous for getting great gas mileage. Unfortunately, to a car crazy guy my age, they held no appeal.

I drove that car a few times over the years. It had one unique feature not uncommon back then, a push button automatic transmission. I think that push button transmissions were more of a novelty than practical, but they were definitely different.

There is an emotional feeling that we all have known at one time or another -- "buyers remorse." I certainly had a case of that feeling about my Mach 1 Mustang. While it was a tremendous car, I quickly came to resent its purchase.

Over the decades since I have often thought back to that time and wondered what life would have been like if I had chosen that Nash. Would have ... should have ... considerations are common when we are older, gazing back to our past choices.

No senior citizens worth their salt, have not contemplated the sentence .... "If I only knew back then, what I know now!" Like my favorite Robert Frost poem, "The Road Not Taken," humans like to look back to those forks in the roads of their past decisions and try to surmise different outcomes.

My time in a muscle car was memorable, however I do retain some sense of what could have been if I had chosen the Nash. There are a lot of Mach 1 Mustangs out there, well preserved and loved, but I can still imagine cruising that Nash around the White Grill, and letting everyone hear it go "beep beep!"