Remember When?

Here's a different ep:

It's just a buch of un#$%ces^ary cen&*(ship.

I miss bumper jacks! They may not have been as safe, but they were a million times easier to use. I also miss full size spares.

Some cars don't have a spare at all any more. Like the new Scion iQ.

When I was a kid, we had a Chevy Impala. Ours was green, though.

I agree. The puritanical attitude is quite silly.

More dating tips from 1938:

I had this one, '78. Had a nice 302. It was a yellower green.

We also had an Oldmobile Delta 88 with a rocket 454 engine. It was even the same color as this one:

A friend of mine had a Delta 88 when we were in high school. It was older than yours. It had been his dad's, and the fender was dented by a snow plow. These cars had really heavy gauge metal, and the dent was not major. They decided to pocket the insurance money and continue driving it. They were a family of six children, and he was number 4. I think he inheritted it from an older brother.

I was going to get a ride home with him after school one day, and it was -15 or so. We went out to his car, and it wouldn't start. They sell aerosols that contain ether that are used to start cars in cold weather. You spray them into the carbuerator. We didn't have any of those aerosols, but a I thought I knew where I could get some liquid ether.

We went to the chemistry lab and described our predicament to the chemistry teacher. She gave us about 50 ml ether in a beaker, and we hurried out to the car so it wouldn't evaporate in the warm building. We carefully poured some of it into the carbuerator, my buddy jumped in the car and hit the ignition. There was a small explosion, the engine rumbled unevenly and then roared to life. Those things were tanks!

Could you imagine what would happen to a chemistry teacher that gave a beaker of ether to a couple of knuckleheads to start their car today?

I can't imagine that happening today. The car would probably croak.

We used to have a farm truck (a 1972 Chevy) that wouldn't start well if it was cold. My dad would pour a capful of gas into it to start it. It only caught on fire once.  

How many here have worn those in the snow or with that traditional yellow raincoat? 

Before the fuel injector, starting a car was almost an art form, especially in the winter time.  Screwdriver in the carb to hold open the choke valve, step on gas pedal three times then hold on floor or if the choke knob didn't work, pump the gas pedal while riding the brake for the first few miles.  Or maybe it was just the old cars   I  had.

 And to hop up a car, who puts in a high rise cam anymore?  I heard somebody say they just reprogram the car computer. 

In winter, we wore the ever fashionable coveralls when we were out doing chores.

Remember when australia sold uranium to the pommies , and they returned it by way of nuclear testing at Maralinga - south australia . ( RETURN TO SENDER ) oh yes '  memories of radiation contamination .   YUMMY !

Who are the pommies?