Date Night

In my high school years it was hard to keep a car running.  We had to share one car for the whole family.  Since the cars we owned were well used, they were constantly requiring repair.  This was repair to get the car in running condition.  To get the car in presentable dating condition was another step entirely.

The family car I had to work with at the time of this date was a 1953 Chevrolet.  If we ever had a lemon, this was it. At this time it seemed to be starting and running o.k., but the paint had a white haze over the blue color and the interior was filthy.  If this vehicle was going to be ready for a Saturday night date, I was going to have a long day of detailing.

At some point during the washing and polishing, I noticed a defect in the front left tire.  It was almost time to leave for town.  I really had to hurry now to change the tire and get cleaned up.

With breakneck speed I was able to get the tire changed and get a bath. Next was the moment of truth.  "Will it start?"  She turned over a couple of times and fired up as strong as a six cylinder Chevy could.

It was eight miles to town and I had about twenty minutes to make it, so I was hitting the high spots and cruising along.  There was about three miles of oil road before the asphalt road to town. Finally, the main road was in sight. I was feeling good about the day's work I had done, when suddenly the car swerved and took a nose dive to the left. With some effort I was able to get "old blue" over to the side of the road.

Just before completely stopping, I caught sight of a tire racing into the brush on the left side of the road.  On inspection "old blue" was missing a left front tire and wheel.  After retrieving the tire from the roadside, I noticed the hubcap was still on it.  As I rolled the tire back to the car, I could hear the rattling sound of lug nuts inside the hubcap. It seems that a wheel will stay on better if you actually take time to put the lug nuts on and tighten them.