OK, I’m a bit of a car nut. I started reading Car & Driver when I was 12. Growing up on Long Island in the 70’s, my Dad and I would do some basic repairs to our cars, you know, changing the oil, spark plugs, points and condenser (remember that?), the usual stuff. When I was about 18 or 19, he gave me his 1969 Oldsmobile Delta 88. By then it had over 100,000 miles and it was totally rusted out. I did some repairs, the body work(rather poorly) and had it painted at Earl Scheib’s. Midnight Blue. I drove it all through my college years back and forth to Albany. It had a 350 cubic inch engine. I got about 9 mpg around town and if I was lucky 15 on the highway. Its demise came after an unfortunate series of electrical problems. It died on Queens Blvd. I called a junkyard. They gave me $50 and took it away.
