Adventures in Car Ownership: A Fond Look Back at My First Automobile

Everyone has fond memories of her first car. Well, at least memories of her first car, I wouldn't say I was fond of mine at the time. My first car was only two years younger than I was, a '78 Ford Fairmont. It was green. Not a nice subtle green in the way that cars today pull off, but a true Crayola crayon green. It also had this really nifty tan vinyl top that was peeling in most places. She was a thing of beauty. My best friend Jenny dubbed her "The Pickle" and the name was appropriate on many different levels.

The Pickle, looking back, had potential. The only problem was, as a teenage girl in a family without the cash flow to sink into a dying car, that potential was never to be reached. I decided to try and improve her look myself...huge mistake. The first undertaking was the peeling vinyl top. I just figured I would finish what Mother Nature started and peel the rest off. When it was done, instead of a tan top, I was left with a bunch of glue blobs with tan vinyl chunks still desperately clinging to the glory they felt when they were new. Oh well. The next "improvement" was the head liner...that thin piece of cloth that covers the inside of the roof. It had a tendency to flap around when the windows were open. As a rule, a teenager must ride around with the windows down and the latest, coolest music must be blasting from the speakers so that all her peers can see how cool she is, therefore this flapping must be brought under control with duct tape. In retrospect, I realize that absolutely nothing could have upped the "cool" factor of that car. Nothing.