Automobiles My Parents Owned

We were not well off and rarely had a new car. I remember some of the cars my parents owned but I don’t have photos of all of them. I located photos online for illustration.

When my parents were married in 1952, my dad was driving a 1948 Chevy. Here’s a shot of them leaving on their honeymoon.

And another shot of the car with Dad holding me in 1954.

Sometime before 1963 or 64, they had another Chevy but I don’t have a photo of our car. I kind of remember it looked like this one, which is a ’57 station wagon. We loved sitting or lying in the back portion and looking out the back window.

After we moved to Walnut Creek, they bought a Rambler Ambassador station wagon. Here’s a shot of three of my siblings in front of the car.

I’m not sure what happened to that car. My dad was promoted at work and was given a company car to drive. It was a Ford Country Squire station wagon and he was allowed to use it on the weekends. So perhaps that is when he sold the Rambler. The wagon can be seen in the carport below next to my mom's Grand Prix.

We also got his mother’s 1957 Volkswagen Beetle in the early 70s when her children took the keys from her after she drove up an offramp to the freeway. We loved riding with Nana in the car and would yell dibs to sit in the way back cubby. It looked like the car below.

My mother finally got her very own car, a used 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix. I drove the car to get my driver’s license. You know that part of the test when you must do a three-point turn? Well, the Grand Prix’s steering was so good that I just made a U-turn on the street. The examiner made me pull over and do it again the right way.

Sometime in the 80s, my dad got a Chevrolet Corvette. My dad tended to drive in the fast lane and ended up being pulled over a few times, as the bright orange car attracted the CHP’s attention more. Below are my parents and the car at the wedding of my brother.

He finally got over the sports car and sold it. He acquired his sister’s Mercedes Benz 250SL when she couldn’t drive anymore and bought a used Cadillac Seville. I was tasked with selling both cars when he died. We got nearly $28K for the Mercedes.

 Here is what the Mercedes would have looked like. It was brown.

That's the saga of the automobiles that my parents owned.

#52Ancestors-Week 29: Automobiles

This is my seventh year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe.

I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

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