It was an ordinary day. We are headed to Ephrata to visit one of my high school friends, Dick W. Hadn't seen him in a few years and found out he lived in Ephrata so off we went. Using Carol's 1965 Austin-Healey Sprite for the trip. Carol got the Sprite as a high school graduation present in 1965 from her parents. They put down the deposit and she had to pay off the car. Pretty neat idea and way to buy your son or daughter a car and make them responsible for the car. The car was a Mark III edition and had a 59 horsepower, 4 cylinder engine. Four speed on the floor with red interior, black top and a beautiful red exterior. Rather small car, but we both fit in comfortably. Not really built for long distances and certainly not built for bad weather. Seems that when it rained the water would splash up on the engine and would drown out the spark plugs, stalling the car. Happened quite a few times, but we were always close to home and we would pull the car to the side of the road, walk home and go back later to get the car. Well we stopped at Dick and his wife's house in the center of Ephrata and after a time saw the approaching clouds. Trouble!! It was starting to get dark and the storm clouds made it even darker. We hopped back in the car and headed back to Lancaster. And then the rains came. And then it happened again. The car stalled on Route 272. I found a neighbor who allowed me to use the phone and I called my parents. They knew the procedure by now. "Where are you?" they asked. After giving directions we waited in the car until they got there. We pushed the car into a parking lot and headed to our place. The following day Carol and I drove our Pontiac back to Ephrata and drove both cars home. The car was a fun car, usually. We eventually sold the car to a student I had in class who rigged up some sort splash shield under the car to prevent the engine from getting wet. Or so he thought! He kept the car for about a year and unloaded it on the next victim. Car still looked great, but it was a fair weather car. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
The "Fair Weather Sprite" Story
It was an ordinary day. We are headed to Ephrata to visit one of my high school friends, Dick W. Hadn't seen him in a few years and found out he lived in Ephrata so off we went. Using Carol's 1965 Austin-Healey Sprite for the trip. Carol got the Sprite as a high school graduation present in 1965 from her parents. They put down the deposit and she had to pay off the car. Pretty neat idea and way to buy your son or daughter a car and make them responsible for the car. The car was a Mark III edition and had a 59 horsepower, 4 cylinder engine. Four speed on the floor with red interior, black top and a beautiful red exterior. Rather small car, but we both fit in comfortably. Not really built for long distances and certainly not built for bad weather. Seems that when it rained the water would splash up on the engine and would drown out the spark plugs, stalling the car. Happened quite a few times, but we were always close to home and we would pull the car to the side of the road, walk home and go back later to get the car. Well we stopped at Dick and his wife's house in the center of Ephrata and after a time saw the approaching clouds. Trouble!! It was starting to get dark and the storm clouds made it even darker. We hopped back in the car and headed back to Lancaster. And then the rains came. And then it happened again. The car stalled on Route 272. I found a neighbor who allowed me to use the phone and I called my parents. They knew the procedure by now. "Where are you?" they asked. After giving directions we waited in the car until they got there. We pushed the car into a parking lot and headed to our place. The following day Carol and I drove our Pontiac back to Ephrata and drove both cars home. The car was a fun car, usually. We eventually sold the car to a student I had in class who rigged up some sort splash shield under the car to prevent the engine from getting wet. Or so he thought! He kept the car for about a year and unloaded it on the next victim. Car still looked great, but it was a fair weather car. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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