Scrap, when we come to maturity we have memories. When i was young i had what i have called a "pornographic memory"--that is, i remembered *everything*. i don't recommend that. Yet there are some things that are a pleasure to remember, and you and i might recall some of the same things.

i entered Abilene Christian High School as a freshman in 1955; finished in 1959, without quite graduating; went to the Hardlyacollege in Searcy, Arkansas, for one semester; returned to Abilene in January 1960, and was in and out of Abilene on and off until May 1963.

i owned a 1938 Lincoln Zephyr two-door that i had bought with my own money in Albuquerque in 1954, but it got away from me--a loooonnnggg story and painful memory. Through high school i was too poor to own a car, and in any case my father was not interested in helping a knuckleheaded adolescent to drive. Several friends had cars, and some of them were interesting, but only a few of them could be called "fast."

James McCown had a beautiful, completely original, low mileage 1936 Chevrolet coupe that would be a valuable piece today. Fast, it was not, but it was lovely.

Paul Tyner, whose father owned service stations in San Angelo, brought to school a 1953 Plymouth Belvedere two-door, black, with a 265 cid "long block" Chrysler six ("crate engine"), Edmunds head and intake, Mallory ignition, split exhaust, and overdrive. That wonderful piece would bury the speedometer needle anytime, anywhere, as Paul was all too willing to demonstrate. Six of us once made the trip from Abilene to San Angelo in that Plymouth, 89 miles on two-lane asphalt, in 62 minutes. It did fly. Paul had several cars after that Plymouth, including a Jaguar Mark VII, but he never had a better one while i knew him.

Albert Endsley bought a '29 Model A roadster, sans fenders, from Paul Phillips, and with my father's help channeled it seven inches. The four-banger had a milled head, a Burns intake with a single Holley 94, and (most of the time) an unmuffled exhaust. On the rear, Al ran the 7.00 x 16s off my Lincoln.

James Sanders, who was older than the rest of us and already a skilled craftsman, had a '56 210 Del Ray with two four-barrels and a 4.56 in the differential. To about 90, that one would run with anyone.

These are cars you may have seen. You may also have known Bill Waugh's custom '51 Mercury convertible, which my classmate Jimmy Filbeck later owned. Fast it was not, but it was a sight to see.

It was not until the Spring of 1960 that Larry Smith--C L Smith's son and Loui's younger brother--completed his 1925 T bucket (in the Modified style, but i don't think we knew what a Modified was). The frame was Z'ed at both ends, with a wheelbase of less than 90 inches; the interior was two aircraft seats, unupholstered, the flathead was mostly stock--and that T accelerated and handled as well as anything i knew in that time.

By 1961, working on a newspaper in Arlington, i had a black and beautiful 1948 Ford coupe with a 280 cid flathead and a single Lincoln Zephyr carburetor. My father hated multiple carburetors, although (perhaps because) he would work on those that belonged to other people. With slipper-skirt pistons out of one of Don Wilson's old race cars, that flathead took a quart of 50-weight about every 100 miles, but that '48 was a fine driver, with torque to pull away from a stop in high gear.

If any of those memorable cars are still out there running, my '52 Chevrolet/320 cid GMC is built to run with 'em. i daresay you'd like that chance again, too.

God's Peace to you.

d
Inliner #1450