Old Yellow

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3385/3646264956_79833865ab.jpg

My sister's first car looked very much like the one in the photo. My Dad bought it from a dentist friend of his ,who was just getting into the car business in 1979. From what I remember, they paid $900.00 for it and it was a mustard yellow 1973 Oldsmobile 88 with a V-8 350 "rocket engine". Tammie was very excited to get it and couldn't wait to wash it and polish it up. She took it home and turned the car radio on to listen as she worked. Before long, she drained the battery and "Old Yellow" wouldn't start.

Tam was always running out of gas with the thing, too. The needle on the gauge didn't work very well and she would run out in DeWitt, on 690 or somewhere outside of Rochester. Who knew where it was going to happen? Knock on wood, I have never run out of gas.  I had never known anyone who owned a yellow car before and it kind of made me proud. Of course, it wasn't completely yellow.

Over the years that she owned it, the car started to acquire other colors. First, there was a little blue that somehow got on the front bumper, then there was the red paint that showed up on the front passenger door. Along the way, she lost the button thingy in the door handle on that side and found some black streaky marks that ran along that door. Oh and that door seemed to be smashed in a little bit. Tammie always maintained that car was like that when she got it, but I don't really remember it that way.

Another memorable moment, was when Tammie was leaving my parents driveway and she inadvertently clipped one of my parent's cars. My Mom and Dad went out to check and my Dad seemed  to develop some difficulty in speaking. My Mom was a bit in a panic, as she kept telling Tam to go and not look back. My Father eventually calmed down, but I can still see him trying to form words after seeing his white Cutlass with a massive dent in it. As some might know, my Dad is a bit particular about  his cars.