Jay D. Mills, in October, asked “What was your first car? Most guys are car lovers and usually like to talk about their first car. I expected a flood of responses and was disappointed when none appeared. So, I’ll step up and tell about my first car, a Whippet Six.
The event happened in Cedar Vale in the 1930’s. I was still in the early years of grade school. My Uncle Clarence (Marsh) was the Ford dealer. He took in the old 4-door sedan on trade. The Great Depression had ruined the market for cars, especially older ones with such features as oak spoke wheels.
So, the Whippet was gifted to me as a non-moving plaything. We lived in a house on a corner – later owned by Don and Mary Bess Hankins – and had space between garage and barn to “hide” the old car.
As a youngster with an active imagination the car was, for me, at times not only a car, but an airplane, a speedboat, a truck, a submarine, and even a Buck Rodgers type rocket into the far reaches of outer space.
The Whippet created lots of good memories – and one not-so-good when I attempted to make the old car into something besides a permanent fixture. I somehow saddled one of my dad’s horses, tied a rope between saddle horn and Whippet’s bumper, and yelled “Giddy Up!”
Fortunately, the horse didn’t move – but my dad sure moved when he heard me. He came running and gave me a chewing out I still remember.
Morris Coburn Jones, 07 Jan 2012
