Ron

Ron's Rides

OK, it is true, I love cars. Always have and still do. Unfortunately they are expensive so I have had to limit myself. My history with them starts back in 1957....the story follows.

1950 Chevy 2 Door Coupe

My Brother Jim had a friend Jim McKeon and in a card game, so they tell me, he won a car from Jim. Actually, it barely ran and the brakes were frozen. But he won it anyway and brought it home. So I bought it from him for $20. I spent considerable time on the car fixing it up. My Dad had the chrome that had gone bad fixed and chromed at Kodak for me, i.e. headlight rims, bumper parts, and so on. I added a couple of parts such as a suicide knob (remember them?), Cat's Eye Tail lights, and a set of dual exhausts. I also worked on the body and 'nosed' it bringing together the split hood, 'decked' the trunk and added a remove release solenoid. I later painted it in my driveway (much to my Dads chagrin). But it turned out pretty nice, just in time for my 16th birthday. I later sold the car to Jimmy Klipfel who rolled it on his way back from Conesus Lake the next summer. The money from selling it ($200) was put toward a later car.

1953 Pontiac coupe

In the interim of moving on to another car, I got a 1953 Pontiac. It was a car that my Brother had but gave up when he went away to college. My Dad later sold it when I put in my savings and his money to buy a 1957 Ford. The story follows.

1957 Ford 2 Door Coupe

With the funds I had and the help from my Dad, I bought a 1957 Ford. It was a retired police interceptor. It was a very 'Cool' car with powder blue tear drop knobs on the dash and an engine to die for. I had not graduated to rebuilding engines just yet. But I did love to fiddle with the rest of things. I installed a new radio, polished the baby blue color, and added moon discs (remember them?), spun aluminum discs that looked just like the 'moon,' very cool. It made a significant change in my social status in High School, which was good .... and bad. I used that car throughout my High School years. Yes, it was fast.

Ready for the Prom Ready for everything else

1959 Plymouth Fury 2 Door Coupe

Oh Yeah!!!, this was the car to beat all cars in my time. After leaving High School I did a lot of things, and one of them was working as a body and fender man at a Chrysler dealership. My then girlfriend Shirley's Mom was the girlfriend of the dealerships used car manager, so I had the chance to learn a lot about cars. I also had the chance to get a great new car - 1959 Plymouth Fury. This car was quite unique and if I had it today, it would likely be worth a fortune. It had swivel front seats that let you open the door and swing the seat out to accommodate easy entry; you just say down and swung yourself back in place. It was black with red Leather and polished up really well. I added some engine parts, 3/4 cam, four barrel carburetion, a Hurst Floor shift, and Lake Plugs that ran the length of the quarter panels (chrome pipes that by passed the mufflers to increase power if you wanted it. It was way faster than my earlier Ford. It was in today's terms, a muscle car!

1963 Chevrolet Super Sport 2 Door Coupe

I had that car for a almost three years, and then started to grow up a little. Had a job at Kodak and was getting ready to settle down. I sold the 59 Fury and bought a 1963 Chevy Super Sport 2 Door Coupe (below). It was a great car and had an automatic floor shift transmission with a split seat and console (also rare in those days), very nice yet sporty. Well, my settling down didn't happen so I bought a boat and took flying lessons. Later, I went into the service and after a couple of years later, I once again moved into something else.

1965 Corvette Hard Top/Convertible

The next car on my list was the best one I ever had. It was a 1965 Corvette with a balanced 350 cubic inch - 350 horse power engine, four speed transmission (new in those days), and two tops. It was a convertible, but once you folded that top into the car, you could lock a hard top into place. You had the best of both worlds. Now this car was faster than anything I have ever been in to this day, and I have been in some fast cars. I could take the tires off the ground from a standing start, and it would leap in second. Of course I was lucky I did not kill myself considering my ways in those days. It did turn a lot of heads save one, my ex-wife. She did not like the wind that blew her hair. Hmmmmm? Should have known better. Anyway, she was the one for me then and I married her. So ends my adventures and this car story. Things changed after that until later in my life, when I bought my current car.