DODGE DART

While watching my normal 16 hours of football this past weekend (clarification: that doesn't include Friday or Sunday), I took notice of advertising for the 2015 Dodge Dart. In short, it's a really cool, stylish car; one that a Hollywood type might be seen driving. Here's a picture:

I'll bet that the interior is plush and the stereo is beyond compare. A guy couldn't help but score with the babes driving a hot number like the 2015 Dodge Dart.

My first car was a Dodge Dart.

A 1964 Dodge Dart. Here's a picture:

Cool car? Nope. Cool stereo? It was before the days of stereos in all but the most exclusive automobiles. It did, however, have a very dependable AM radio.

One of the unique things about the 1964 Dodge Dart was the automatic transmission. It was one of a kind. Here's a picture:

See those buttons? It was an innovation that Dodge felt was revolutionary - a push-button transmission. For better or for worse, it never caught on. Please take note of the lever to the left of the buttons. That, believe it or not, was the parking gear.

The lever parking gear was a neat feature for an 18-year old's first car. When you had a carload of your buddies stuffed in the car, for laughs you could slow the car to about 5 miles per hour, flip the parking gear lever and bring the car to a dead stop. In so doing, you'd send the guys from the back seat into the front seat.

This was what we did for kicks in the 60's.

Although the '64 Dodge Dart was in no way as cool as the 2015 model, back then, coolness was not about what you drove, it was about who you were.

As for myself, I can honestly say that my nerdy car accurately reflected who I was. The cool guys, however, always envied my ability to send my back-seat buddies careening into the front seat with my parking gear lever.

And that was cool.


Readers, enjoy your day.