Week two of the Genealogy Do-Over - My car history from 1966 to 1968

As part of the Genealogy Do-Over, we were to write our personal history to use as a starting point for research. I started mine but got sidetracked. I have boxes and boxes of slides that I wanted to scan but had misplaced (read meaning "husband lost") the slide holder for my scanner. I ordered replacement parts and when they arrived,  I spent two days scanning about 300 slides. It was a treat to surprise cousins and friends with 40-year-old photos.

Among the slides were a few photos of my cars. I thought I would use them to augment two years of my personal history.

In 1966, on my 16th birthday, my parents handed me the keys to the 1958 Opel Kadet Station Wagon. There were rules that came with it. They would pay the insurance and the gas to go to and from school and church. And...oh, I must also take my brother where he needed to go. If I wanted to go anywhere else, I had to pay for it. That was fine with me. Gas was $.25 a gallon and I had a part-time job at the library.

I can't even tell you how many trips this car made to Huntington Beach. Oh, the surfers, sun, and the food at Zack's.

In 1967, when I graduated from high school, my parents thought I needed a more reliable car to go to the local junior college. So, they bought a brand new Toyota. It was also good on gas and not likely to break down.

Unfortunately, in September of 1968, I had to give this car up. My boyfriend and I decided to get married and my parents told us we needed to be responsible for our own transportation. The payment of the Toyota was more than we could afford at the time so my mom traded the Toyota for the 1957 Chevy she had been driving.

Not new like the Toyota and not good on gas like the Opel, we started our married life with the Chevy and a 1957 Volkswagon Bug.

 I look at these pictures today and wish I still had all four cars. My brother destroyed the Opel. I eventually took over the payments on the Toyota and drove it until it quit at 300,000 miles. I gave the Chevy to my brother who destroyed it too. He was hard on cars. The Volkswagon went to my ex-husband in the divorce. I look at these pictures and am filled with fond memories of the cars and the places they took me.