First Muscle Car

There’s cars then there’s muscle cars. This particular car was all muscle. Not particularly meant for a dainty feminine type like my oldest granddaughter, Chloe. Often referred to by me as Miss America.

Why her father would let her have a high end sports car for her very first car I will never know. My daughter first car was a Geo Metro. That car was far from being a high end sports car. In fact it barely met the definition of a car. I purchased it new and we didn’t even make it to the first oil change.

She accidentally drove it into a concrete piling in Houston Texas. At the accident scene they didn’t even call for a wrecker. Instead they called for a dumpster. Two guys picked it up and threw it in. The first truly disposable car.

Why on earth would Chloe’s parents allow her to have a sports coupe? A red sports coupe at that. That car was designed for the raceway not everyday driving. Admittedly Chloe kept it within the speed limit.

She’d take it on high end shopping trips in St Louis and just running around town. The car in her mind was a fashion statement just like her purses and jewelry. An extension of her personality. When she would park that car and step out like a runway model.

The guys would just say, “Wow!”
They were torn between looking at her and the car. I never thought that car was safe to drive with those racing slicks for tires. I blame congress for allowing something like that running up and down the roads.

There’s no telling how many dates she didn’t get. Guys just figured with a car like that and her exceptional beauty there’s no way they have a chance. Especially if they drove an old beat up rusted hand-me-down farm pickup truck.They were probably right.

Chloe was high class. As far as she was concerned that review mirror wasn’t there for checking traffic behind her. It was there for the finishing touches for her makeup and eyelashes. Amazingly when she was ready to park that car in her father’s garage. It didn’t have one scratch or dent. It looked like the day it came out of the dealership.

There it sat in the garage in pristine condition until it was time to pass it down to her little brother Josh. Josh had been eyeing that car for sometime. There’s just something about boys and powerful sports cars. When Josh sat in the drivers seat and cranked it up the first time it just roared to life.

That engine was so powerful the door mirrors would vibrate so badly you couldn’t even see anything with them. I think all that power kind scared him a bit. He respected that kind of muscle power. The neighbors would get annoyed if he cranked it up after dark. Their windows would vibrate and the dogs would go to barking.

I was always telling him Josh wear your seatbelt and no texting when driving. He just roll his eyes. He say, “I’m gonna be safe with it Poppy.”You know neither him or Chloe ever offered to let me take it for a drive.
I guess they figured with my bad knees if they got me in how in the world would they get me out?

People in Vandalia knew when Josh was driving. You could hear that engine all over town. Up and down Main Street he go. Running it all over town. Josh would drive with the windows down and one hand on the steering wheel with the other In the window.

The worse he would do is turn the corners a little too fast and sometimes spinning out in circles. That’s easy to do with that kind of muscle under foot.

The day finally came when the ole red sports coupe was sold. For me it was kinda sad to see it go. Both my grandkids drove that old beast. Thankfully neither one had been injured in it. The neighborhood was going to finally have peace and quiet they so richly deserved.

In all my rambling on here I forgot to mention the make and model of that car. It was a Little Tykes Cozy Coupe. With a red body and a yellow hardtop. You can still buy them today.

(Today Chloe is married and helping save lives as an Emergency Room Nurse in Illinois. Joshua is slated to graduate from High School 2025 and pursue a computer science degree.)