When I obtained my New Jersey driver's license at the age of 16, the family Ford became an integral part of my life and I soon had the opportunity to prove it.
My mother agreed. She wanted to visit her sister in Pittsburgh (Pa) and I would drive her there. So, straight west on U.S. Route 30, I drove for almost 300 miles. West of Harrisburg (Pa), we met the "beautiful hills of Pennsylvania," and it was then that I began to smell something burning. Not knowing what that was all about (I didn't have a mechanic's training), we found a garage and learned about burning brakes! Having driven in the flatlands of New Jersey, I wasn't used to hilly country and having to apply my brakes too often. With some advice from the mechanic, off we went without further trouble. The return trip was uneventful, the Ford proving its reliability all the way home.
Speaking of reliability, my dad said that there was no better-built car than the Ford. He was a life-long Ford man, beginning with a used Model A Ford in the early 30s. I was one proud teenager when he taught me to handcrank the engine. My enthusiasm dimmed when he warned me about the possibility of crank backspin. It could easily break my arm.
A recent survey of cars, by brand name in our village parking garage, showed Ford in third place after GMC and Toyota. Dad would have said that something was wrong with those numbers.
Enjoy your "crankless car," dear reader.
More, later.
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