My cars over the years…

This is my 1960’s-vintage Morgan Plus 4, which I owned while I lived in Capitol Hill in Washington in 1971. The Morgan is the oldest sports car still in production. Starting in 1910, they made 3-wheel cars (the single wheel was in the rear), until 1936, when they made their first 4-wheeler. The Plus 4 was produced from 1950-1968. Beneath its styling reminiscent of the 1930’s, it had sliding pillar front suspension and a Triumph TR3 engine. The body is primarily ash and other woods, with a veneer of metal. Its signature feature is a leather strap across the hood, to keep it closed. Mine was pretty much rotted away

when I bought it, and I remember going to a shoemaker to have one custom made.

It didn’t have much in the way of suspension, so many owners wear a ‘kidney belt’ while driving. It wasn’t always comfortable, but it sure was fun!

 Alfa Romeo, Bethesda: I had a couple of Alfa’s, first in Washington and St. Louis in the ‘70s (left) and later in the early ‘80s (below). They were a lot of fun, but had a way of breaking down at inopportune times (usually the electrical system). Once in a snowstorm in St. Louis I slid into the back of another car, and gave poor Alfa a nose job.

MGB-GT, Bethesda, 1982: The MGB-GT was a hard top sedan version of the MGB sports car. I put a lot of miles on this fellow, going back and forth from Bethesda to visit a friend in Pittsburgh, and later driving it to my condo in the Shenandoah Valley. It tended to overheat, so I’d turn the engine off or put it in neutral when going down the mountainsides, to let it cool off.

Jeep, Cleveland, 1994: It’s pictured here in the boatyard where the Hatteras was stored for the winter.

This is my 1964 VW Beetle, Chicago 2000. You can see from the picture why I was happy to move to Galveston…

I spend a lot of time keeping these cars going, and sometimes this is how I feel…

This 1964 Olds wasn’t mine, but has a special place in my memories. It was my grandfather’s. He drove it all over the Midwest, and as far as Colorado, making the rounds of his customers for his dry goods store in Missouri. He took me on any number of adventures in it. He eventually sold it; it is photographed here in 1979.

Here is another car that brings back memories: my father’s, in 1948.

 I’ve also had a few motorcycles…

In the hills near Austin, 1965

In Bethesda, 1981

In Galveston, 2006

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