I know I've written about this before, but I've been pretty nostalgic and missing my pops a lot lately.
1965 Dodge Dart GT
Blue w/white vinyl roof
225 slant six, 904 3-speed auto
Not a great car, but the one we owned when I was young and my dad taught me how to work on cars. First one I ever wrenched on, tuned up, replaced and set points, rebuilt a carb, changed a tire.
Dad was old (for the time) when I was born, 35. Marine. We got the car about a year before his first of 2 tours in Vietnam. Not a big talker. We didn't have much in common, but we could always talk about cars -- one of the few things we could share over the next 40 years.
As his 7-year-old gofer, I'd get him whatever socket or combination wrench he needed. He'd ask me, "What size is that bolt (head)?" I'd say, "7/16ths." Him: "No, that's a 1/2." I'd bring him the 7/16ths and give him a gap-toothed grin when he saw I was right. He'd give me a soft look and move on. Took me damn near 20 years to figure out he knew it was 7/16ths, he was just building my confidence.
Learned a lot about life working on that car, most of which I didn't realize or appreciate until decades later.
Man, I miss him.
Not ours, but looks close:
