67Dart273
Well-Known Member
When I first became somewhat conscious of life, my mother's Folks had what I remember as about a 46 Dodge, I only remember that it had suicide rear doors. I was born in 48 so we are talking about-ish 1952
After that Grampa and Gramma engaged in the fruitless ownership of 50's fluid drive Dodges, of which my Gramma WRECKED ALL FOUR in some way or another
This is because Gramma had a hard time either remembering to set or release the driveshaft parking brake, and which is THE ONLY PIECE OF EQUIPMENT that keeps the car from rolling off when parked. Fluid drives do not "hold compression" like a stick, nor do they have a parking pawl. The parking brake is IT, unless maybe you want to carry a Great Big piece of wood for a chock.
Bear in mind that after Gramma (?? times ??) burned up the brake while forgetting to RELEASE it, this is some ways made the car SAFER, because now a person was FORCED to block the wheels see-in' as how there was NO braking action to park
But most the story concerns forgetting to SET the parking brake
The folks lived up a fairly impressive hill over a cemetery, so you'd think Gramma would have no trouble learning this small but important detail. But one of the neighbors had a deep crevice at the "crick" and their driveway had a narrow bridge over the crick. Partially because of Gramma, the neighbors filled that in with dirt and installed a big culvert, so it's a bit wider ever since. Anyhow, Gramma was "skeered" of the slick hill in the winter, as the driveway came off the road, went downhill some to the creek bridge, then back up to the neighbor's house. So she parked on the hill in the driveway, coming off the county road, AND HAD TO OUTRUN THE CAR as it CHASED HER DOWN THE HILL where it fell into the creek and partially wrecking the thing
Now these very neighbors, the wife's mother lived on up the road, up a hill and one up a STEEP hill that really was impressive if you were a kid on a sled. DANGEROUS in fact. Well, Gramma found THAT out when she once again failed to set the parking brake---or maybe just not "enough" and it rolled down this big hill, crashed into trees and rolled over, total
I have no recollection of the third car, except it was TAN, and the car that went into the creek was GREEN. The tan car had salvageable front clip, so at some point that tan clip went onto the green car and it got driven some more. This was a 53/54? car and is what they were driving when I went into the Navy in 68. Next time I came home in 70 Gramps had about a 66 Comet/ Falcon, and I never found out what happened to the last fluid drive
After that Grampa and Gramma engaged in the fruitless ownership of 50's fluid drive Dodges, of which my Gramma WRECKED ALL FOUR in some way or another
This is because Gramma had a hard time either remembering to set or release the driveshaft parking brake, and which is THE ONLY PIECE OF EQUIPMENT that keeps the car from rolling off when parked. Fluid drives do not "hold compression" like a stick, nor do they have a parking pawl. The parking brake is IT, unless maybe you want to carry a Great Big piece of wood for a chock.
Bear in mind that after Gramma (?? times ??) burned up the brake while forgetting to RELEASE it, this is some ways made the car SAFER, because now a person was FORCED to block the wheels see-in' as how there was NO braking action to park
But most the story concerns forgetting to SET the parking brake
The folks lived up a fairly impressive hill over a cemetery, so you'd think Gramma would have no trouble learning this small but important detail. But one of the neighbors had a deep crevice at the "crick" and their driveway had a narrow bridge over the crick. Partially because of Gramma, the neighbors filled that in with dirt and installed a big culvert, so it's a bit wider ever since. Anyhow, Gramma was "skeered" of the slick hill in the winter, as the driveway came off the road, went downhill some to the creek bridge, then back up to the neighbor's house. So she parked on the hill in the driveway, coming off the county road, AND HAD TO OUTRUN THE CAR as it CHASED HER DOWN THE HILL where it fell into the creek and partially wrecking the thing
Now these very neighbors, the wife's mother lived on up the road, up a hill and one up a STEEP hill that really was impressive if you were a kid on a sled. DANGEROUS in fact. Well, Gramma found THAT out when she once again failed to set the parking brake---or maybe just not "enough" and it rolled down this big hill, crashed into trees and rolled over, total
I have no recollection of the third car, except it was TAN, and the car that went into the creek was GREEN. The tan car had salvageable front clip, so at some point that tan clip went onto the green car and it got driven some more. This was a 53/54? car and is what they were driving when I went into the Navy in 68. Next time I came home in 70 Gramps had about a 66 Comet/ Falcon, and I never found out what happened to the last fluid drive