When my family moved to Colorado, many of the East Coast family were delighted — suddenly, they had a place to stay out West, making vacation to that area more feasible.
Soooo, for a while, we had a steady stream of company, and we were thrilled to have a good excuse to go sightseeing in the area, getting to know our new surroundings all the better. Some wanted to skiing, others wanted to go white-water rafting, and others were more interested in exploring the ghost towns and getting pictures of the scenery. Then, there was the aunt and uncle who were on the look out for antiques.
That family took home a souvenir much larger than any of the others. They towed home a brand new trailer with a really old car—a 1929 Buick. The car had belonged to a doctor, so it had all the bells and whistles, and it had been kept under cover in a climate that was more likely to have problems with dry rot than with mildew or mold, so it was in excellent condition.
As the car headed home to my aunt and uncle’s free-standing garage, all of us girls dreamed of the day we would ride in the ’29 Buick to our weddings. As it turned out, only two of the three of us saw that dream come to fruition. I, the third, rode to my wedding in a 2003 Envoy. After the first of my two girl cousins had been married, escorted by her dad, in the teal and black classic, her two brothers headed to college at the same time, and their mom and dad suddenly needed a greater store of funds than they had. So, they decided to sell the antique car.
My folks hated to see the car leave the family, especially since we had left Colorado, in the interim, and treasured all the memories attached to our stay there. So, when my second girl cousin got married, her dad borrowed the car to take her to her wedding.
Not long after that, my parents ran into some tight financial times and ended up having to liquidate all possible assets. Although we had hoped to keep it long enough for my last ride as their single daughter, that date was nowhere in sight, so the car had to go.
In a sense, it was just as well, for the sake of the car, that we did have to pass it along. Our family didn’t have a climate-controlled storage area for the car, and on the East Coast, that can be fatal to any vehicle, especially to one built and fitted out before the invention of rot- and mildew-resistant material. I suppose we could have gone the route of building an addition, to create a safe place for the car, but finances were never quite abundant enough to seriously consider that option.
Just having a classic car and, every now and then, taking it for a cruise, was great fun. We just hope that whoever has it now gets more use and enjoyment from it than we did. Seems a shame to have such a treasure go to waste, sitting under cover and out of sight.
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