After the transmission in the 1967 LeMans decided it had enough, my next set of wheels came from my cousin who was graduating from Villanova. He had landed an engineering job with a public utility and was ready to buy a new car and take on payments. I on the other hand still needed a set of wheels to finish my high school years and bought his 1964 Chevy Bel Air with a straight six under the hood.
She was a faded green paint with a white painted top. Unlike the picture, she had hubcaps and not rally wheels, but the paint scheme looks just like my gal. There was so much room inside that vehicle, I considered putting in van captain chairs. But that was dreaming on my part, it was everything I could do as a busboy to get the money to maintain, insure and put gas in the behemoth.
I remember the winter of my senior year, I drove the car to the high school because I was in the musical, The Music Man, as a townie. Had to do some singing and dancing. Yeah, we danced and sang the Shipoopie song. ;-)
Original Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHZTeC-DDEg
Family Guy version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GvuwQ1CRiM
Well, after the singing and dancing, I was ready to head home, the starter was dead. Click, but no spinning. I had to get a ride home that night. Next day my old man and I go to NAPA and I pick up a rebuilt starter and we then head to school. Did I mention we had a light snow over night? I had to crawl under the car in the snow and unbolt the old starter. I roll it out from under the car, Dad leans on the car fender to pass down the new starter between the exhaust manifold and wheel well. Now the car compresses onto my chest and I squeak out, "Get off the car..." He thought it was hilarious. Got it in and I was soon on my way.
The straight six turned out to be a gas guzzler, only getting 12 miles to the gallon after a tune up. But it could take me and a bunch of friends where we needed to go. I saw the Doobie Brothers in concert as well as Super Tramp, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and the Little River Band. We had some great times in that car. As the summer after my final year approached, I new I was going to have to drive as a commuting student to Villanova every day. I needed a car with better gas mileage than the Chevy.
Then the gas crisis hit, long lines waiting to buy gas and the price rising rapidly. That sealed the Chevy's fate. I sold the car, borrowed from my Grandfather and bought a 1971 Plymouth Duster with a slant six. Definitely twice the gas mileage of the '64 Bel Air and almost the same trunk size.