I don't blog very often, but today I gotta. This is sorta "Today I became a man," except it's "Today I became a driver" (not quite as good as sex, but almost)
Background: Two years ago, I became a member of SDC, even though I'd never driven a Studebaker. I had a 64 Daytona convertible, or at least most of it, and a 64 Commander 6-cyl 4-door. I'd been puttering away at the 4-dr, not making much headway, when over the Labor Day weekend, it got damaged beyond repair (long story, ask me later). The outcome was that I ended up with a 62 2-dr 6-cyl automatic "little old lady's car" in roadworthy condition.
The car had a gold 63 nose clip on the gawdawful green rest of the car. My insurance company refused it until I made it look better, so a quick trip to VIP Auto Parts came up with materials to make it all silver. Relatively speaking, it was gorgeous!
All along, my mentor has been Joe Soohey in Searsmont, Maine, about 45 miles down Route 3 from the homestead here in Farmingdale (just south of Augusta). Since Joe is on dial-up internet, I hadn't sent him any pictures since "Silvertop" came home from the paint shop.
Today was the day that Joe met Silvertop. Kinda frosty this morning (37 degrees), but bright and sunny. Started out by going to the gas station for a fill-up. As I was leaving, another car pulled up to the next island over, and the very attractive female passenger pointed in my direction, smiled, and mouthed the word "nice." I was going to do the same thing, but her husband was standing there pumping gas, so I just smiled back, waved, and said, "Thanks!"
And then it was on the road to Searsmont, via Hallowell, Augusta, Vassalboro, China, Palermo, Liberty, and Montville. Now mind you, Silvertop had been motoring around the Capital area for a week, but this was the first time on the road. The speedo doesn't work, so I had my GPS on the dash to keep me legal.
And what a ride it was! People waved, and I waved back. We had a good visit with Joe, and then it was home again, this time turning off for Windsor, Whitefield, Chelsea, Randolph, and Gardiner before getting back to Farmingdale.
So there you have it. I am now officially a Studebaker Driver! And I'll try not to blog like this again.
Bill