I Should Have Kept My Ford

It was late in the year of 1962.  My wife was pregnant with our first child.  I decided my older model 1953 Ford sedan was ten years old and maybe not up to the big occasion of getting to the hospital when it would be absolutely necessary for the big event.  I traded it off for a 1961 Chevrolet Biscayne with a stick shift.  I was not ready to think an automatic transmission was anything I wanted.  They were prone to trouble and expensive to repair when it came.

In the meantime I did odd jobs around the trailer park for Les Cox the owner.  Les had two vehicles.  There was an early 1950s model Chevrolet we used around the park for all sorts of odd jobs, and his family also owned a fairly new Cadillac sedan for normal transportation.  As Les was afflicted with Multiple Sclerosis I often drove him into town for various errands.  On these occasions we obviously drove the Cadillac so I kept a set of keys to it at my home.

During the night of December 16/17 my wife told me it was time to go to the hospital so we entered our Chevy and I backed it out of our driveway into the trailer court street.  Somewhat in haste I pushed the clutch and shifted it into first gear forward.  It stalled in the middle of the street.  I pushed the clutch, restarted the engine, released the clutch and it stalled again.  Once more I went through the same routine.  I got out, lifted the hood, and could see almost nothing in the night.  I rushed into the trailer for a flashlight, but I could see little with that either.  What to do?  We had to get to the hospital several miles away.

I rushed into the trailer once more, grabbed Les’ Cadillac keys, and proceeded to his garage.  My wife and I went to the hospital in style, in a stolen car.  Our son was born in the early morning hours.  I then returned to the trailer court with Les’ Cadillac and put it back in his garage.  I went to his door and apologized for using his car, but he would have none of that.   He told me he knew when he found his car gone, and mine sitting in the middle of the street, that he guessed approximately what had happened, and if his car could be of use under the circumstances it was marvelous.

During the day I found my stick shift Chevy stuck in reverse and first gear at the same time.  I adjusted the shift linkage correctly, and it never bothered again before I sold it in November of 1966.