Skip to main content

Reply to "Cupholder problem solved?"

.

Family road trip in my dad's '52 Buick.

The Fireball straight eight returned eight miles per gallon, with the two-speed Dynaflow - if you didn't get held up in traffic too much. So, range on the 20-gallon tank was a theoretical 160 miles.

The limit on highways, once you got out of town, was 50 mph, but you were usually doing less in traffic. You could pass on those three-lane highways, but you had to choose your moment, especially on a summer weekend when all the Sunday drivers were out. The middle lane served as a passing lane for both directions, which, at one point in the history of highway design, seemed like a good, efficient idea.

Coaxing the Buick up to passing speed could take some doing. The speedometer would sometimes edge up to 65 mph - genuinely thrilling in that car, with its mechanical, unasssisted drum brakes. You could floor the pedal and hope for a downshift, but it was a safer bet to move the column shifter into Low.

We would fill up when the gauge showed half (because you never knew), so that was about every two hours. By that time, everyone wanted to stretch his legs, anyhow. You could tell the attendant 'ten gallons of regular', or you could just let him keep the whole four dollars. The more cavalier thing was to say 'fill it, and keep the change'. Keeping the change was always understood if you also asked him to check under the hood. After he finished cleaning and wiping the windshield, he'd bring the dipstick back to the driver's window, supported in one hand with a rag, to show you where the level was. If you were wise, though, you would have topped up at home before you left, when you were checking the radiator and topping up the battery cells with distilled water.

While we were stopped, I'd usually ask my mom for a nickel for the coke machine. They were red, and every station had one, usually right out front, next to the door into the station office. You'd drop in the nickel, and push the grey metal handle down until you heard the bottle drop. If you finished your coke before it was time to get back in the car, there was a wooden crate next to the machine for the empties.

The Buick had no cup holders, but it had four ashtrays and a cigarette lighter, like every other car.

I think cars may have started growing cup holders when the ashtrays went away.

.

×
×
×
×
×