They Just Don't Make 'Em Like That...

When I was in my early twenties and living in Santa Cruz, California, I bought a 1964 Dodge Dart, much like the one pictured here. The car belonged to an old man who had passed away, and his family had no use for it. Since the man was its original owner and he had used it solely to drive back and forth each morning to his favorite coffee shop, there were very few miles on the car. I remember it had a "Slant Six" engine and a push-button transmission, and when I'd take it in for tune-ups, the mechanic would lift up the hood and a huge smile would spread across his face. The car was in perfect condition, the interior immaculate. The radio worked and all the original paperwork, including the bill of sale, was in the glove box. I was even given the original key. To make sure I was getting a good deal, my friend Brian Tabler came along to see the car, and he gave me a confident "thumbs up" to purchase it at the asking price of $500.

Before I returned to New York in 1989, I sold that car for $400 to a friend of Aaron's, and for years after that I heard how it kept on running. I sometimes wonder if it still is.