Vroom!

On my drive home from work last night, I pulled up and passed a souped up, retro, SWEET Dodge Charger.

Maybe here is where I should explain that as a young co-ed, I wanted to become an automotive engineer. Yes, as a teeny bopper, my magazine subscription was not to Seventeen, but to Car & Driver. I loved ALL things cars. I helped my dad change out the engine on my 1983 Honda Civic (I still have the busted piston, which Dad and I etched our names into, on a shelf at home). I could name the make, model, and usually come close to the year on most cars on the road. I read Click and Clack in the paper every week...I was obsessed...I wanted to design cars, and test drive cars, and own a whole fleet of cars myself...until, that is, I found out I would need to live in Detroit (sorry Terri), and I changed my mind...BUT, I still LOVE cars.

Ok, back to the Charger. This ride was painted deep sparkly purple, and it was loud as all get out. Behind the wheel was a guy in his 50's, and his good buddy was rockin' out right next to him. I smiled as I passed them, and before I knew it, they were speeding up to pass ME. I was up for a little fun, so I gawked again as they rumbled by. At the next stoplight, I rolled down my window to chat a bit:

Me: What year is it?
Driver: Sixty-six (as he's holding up his hands and flashing 6 fingers - since the engine is so loud I can hardly hear him)
Me: It looks great. I spent most of my high school years in a '69

The light turned green right then...I was heading straight, and they were turning, so this was the last thing I heard...

Driver: In the back seat or the front??

I was laughing so hard that I almost hit the pot hole that I work very hard to avoid every day.

Now, to clarify, I DID spend a lot of hours in a 1969 Dodge Charger (which, by the way, is the same car the Dukes of Hazzard drove), and I was usually in the front seat with my 2 best friends. See, Lenny's dad had a 1969 Charger, and us 3 girls would pitch in about $2 each for gas, and we'd drive all over our town for HOURS. The Charger had NO power steering whatsoever, so all 85 pounds of Lenny had to wrestle with the steering wheel at every turn. All 3 of us would ride in the front, side by side, and we usually had the windows down (no A/C either)...and it wasn't very often that would open the doors to climb in...oh no, we had to climb through the windows just like Bo and Luke. And I think someone once tried to slide across the hood, but it didn't work so well.

This is exactly what our sweet ride looked like:


Lenny now lives in NC, so I had to call her as soon as I could stop laughing...those were the days...