My Dad and his cars.

The first car  I remember was a dark green Model A Ford Tudor. Back then a Ford came in any color you wanted as long as it was black so I can only guess, but it must have been painted.  He drove that Ford as long as we lived in Wewoka.  The next car I remember was his one and only Hudson.  After that they were always 2-door green Oldsmobile 88s.  He traded every 2 years for yet another one after that.  The first Air Conditioned Car came in 1953.  I started driving ( legally!) while he still owned a dark green 1951. Both my brother and I took his car when ever possible.  The 1951 was fast, but after my brother hopped it up , it was screaming. On one of his many weekend trips back from Dallas, my brother wrecked it. Before my dad got the car back on Monday it had a completely new front end.  According to legion, my dad never knew. (Ha!).

By the time I could drive, the Fair Grounds in Okla.City had installed a Drag Strip that was sponsored by the  NHRA.  We were there every Friday and Saturday night until my brother went into the Air Force.  Our first car actually belonged to dad. My brother built, re-built and re-built the two dragsters.  Both were in-line Mercury V-8 flat heads that ran on an alcohol  mix.  The second car was a rail job with wide slicks and a parachute to help stop it.  I drove the cars (no fear?) and my brother built them.  He had better sense when it came to driving.  That last summer we won ever race we ran until we reached the regional finals in Kansas City..  During the regionals my ride caught on fire and blew up. Several fire extinguishers later it was the end of a not so promising career for both of us.  It took several weeks for me to heal so we could no longer hide it from our folks. (They always knew, but until then they could play dumb).