Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Posted ImageWelcome to the all new Geo Metro Forum. We hope you enjoy your visit.

You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are features you can't use and images you can't see. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Join our community!




Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Fathers and sons; On Father's Day
Topic Started: Jun 17 2017, 10:22 PM (288 Views)
suzukitom
Member Avatar
Tom

Every year,on Father's Day I especially miss my Dad.

I think of the many times we did father and son stuff, like shopping for a car. He replaced his car every 9 years or so and I helped each time since I was 11.

Each time the new car would be a little nicer..but as an engineer, he hated frivolous options. So he never had a car with whitewall tires for example, and every new car was always the base model and had to have fold down back seats, (to haul lumber ) even if it meant a long wait for a factory special order.

As he got older,whenever we went out for a drive, he would hand me his keys. You drive, he would say. Sometimes, when we got stuck in slow line of traffic, I'd pull out to pass.. and in his last car, he would smile when the supercharger started to spool and whine.

Every time I drive his old car I think of him, as the gas pedal goes down!

Please share your story!
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
nwgeo


My dad would take me and the rest of my siblings out camping and fishing every summer, baiting hooks, he must have had the patience of Job. My Dad came to all of my sport games growing up too.

Great thing was he was a very positive person, he would not say anything negative about another person, always seemed to find a positive thing to say and I never heard him ever use a word of profanity.

My Mom was very ill the last several years of her life, my Dad took very good care of her at home, a great example to me and my siblings.

My folks did not have a lot of $s, so they first had a 6 volt 63 VW bug, then they upgraded to a 67 to haul us all around. Not a lot of power but back in the day that was the "geo" of its day







Edited by nwgeo, Jun 19 2017, 05:09 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
PTA2PTB
Member Avatar
I'm totally awesome! I swear.

:hmm

Every now and again, I think I can faintly hear the old man saying, "Pull". And I get this knee-jerk reaction to lift my right hand from my right knee, and swing it over towards my left. I would wipe a tear from my eye, but he'd have to pull on my heartstrings to do it, and that's something he pretty rarely ever did.

http://geometroforum.com/single/?p=818713&t=5206223

"Back when I was growing up, from when I was 15 - 17 y/o, my father drove a '69 Plymouth Fury III, which was about 10 yrs old at that time. And after a number of years of good, faithful, service from the car, the windshield wiper motor on it finally gave up the ghost. Needless to say, just by virtue of him driving a 10 y/o car, we weren't what people would cal "well off", but we certainly weren't poor, either. At time, which I know because I looked into it, you could go buy yourself a brand spankin new replacement wiper motor, from NAPA, for just under $16.

But rather than do the sensible thing like a normal human being, and being the penny-pinching miserly old curmudgeon that he was, so as not to "let the bastards win" - as he saw things, he went and got some bailing twine. It was bright red colored, and made of nylon, so it was pretty tough. The old man proceeded to tie the end of the twine to each of the wiper arms, and then ran about a 5' long piece of it through each of those little triangle shaped vent windows that those old cars had.

And wherever we went, rain or shine, even in torrential downpours, he would go along squinching down in his seat, trying peer through the bug-juice stained window (bug juice beads up water; he NEVER, EVER, washed his car or the windshield) until he got to where he could no longer navigate, and then he'd pull on his end of the twine, which would pull the wipers up to the drivers side and swish the water off. If it wasn't raining steadily, he would make do as long as he could by looking through the bug juice stains, and then, just like someone shooting trap, he'd say..."PULL"......and I'd pull my end of the twine, and return the wipers to the rest position. This car was like this for 2 whole years, and he drove it EVERWHERE. I got so used to it that I didn't even think about it. If you got in the car and it was raining, you, automatically, cranked open the little triangle window a bit, then grabbed your end of the twine and gave it a few wraps around the palm of your hand, and sat back and waited for the old man to say............"Pull"."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Bannedfonz
Member Avatar


Great stories guys... My dad divorced my mom when I was 9 and then was pretty much a non participant in my life since then... My grandfather on my moms side though, tried the best he could (having raised 2 daughters) to step in and teach me how to be a good guy. Had me help him rebuild the 350 in his '78 Silverado Big 10 pickup. work on the tractors and do general hard labor... My grandfather's been gone for almost 4 years now...

Happy fathers day to all the dad's that have stuck around to be a part of the life they helped to create.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Stubby79
Member Avatar


My daughter is open-minded enough to be interested in the stuff daddy gets up to and can be found handing me tools and otherwise trying to be helpful. We also enjoy our bike rids and such together. She's like a son, just better. :P
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Bannedfonz
Member Avatar


That's cool Stubby. My boy is 6 and is really getting into helping me with things. He loves the Geo anyway so anytime I'm playing around with it, he wants to help out. It's nice to be able to share a passion with them. Until they get old enough to not want to hang out with us anymore! lol
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
suzukitom
Member Avatar
Tom

Great stories everyone! I should have thought to ask about those who stood in for Dads and sons, like Moms, daughters, grandparents, and anyone else who has helped shape part of your automotive life.

A common link for us Geo fans seems to be thrift and low horsepower cars when growing up.

When our family drove through the mountains in our old six cylinder Dodge, Dad would first size up the length of passing lanes and the type of car immediately ahead of us.

Most times we were only able to pass VW buses, or folks towing trailers. :shake
Online Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Bannedfonz
Member Avatar


My dad was never a car guy... I only know of one time I saw him under the hood of a car. That was to change plugs and I'm not sure if he did it right or not... lol
I was raised by my mom. I remember we had an old Dodge Diplomat 2 door in some color of brown... Wow was that thing ugly... lol
Edited by Bannedfonz, Jun 20 2017, 01:19 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Bjetmech
Member Avatar


My dad loved his cars. He would tell me all about them and reasons for getting a new one because the prior car had some drivability issues that bothered him. Stuff like his 67 mustang was a great car except the rear end floated once you got above 80. So he went and got a GTO. He did settle down some through the 70's mainly because cars just weren't that good then. We had the usual family cars a station wagon an extra cab pickup truck. I had a bit of a lead foot as a teen getting my license suspended twice before I was 18 so he was hesitant to let me drive his latest purchase which was, hold onto you pants, a Shelby Lancer. Yeah the 80's weren't much better for performance cars and Dodge was trying with all the turbo's they put on many of their cars. My dad had a job where he traveled around the country as a sales consultant. I worked at a garage down the street from our house. One day my I see my dad's car our on the line of cars slated for work. My boss threw me the keys and said my dad wanted the fine tire balance done. My boss had just got a new machine that could balance a tire down to a tenth of an ounce. I didn't think anything of it. I got it all done and just as my boss got off the phone with my dad he told me he wasn't supposed to tell me the reason for the job I just completed but he was going to anyways. My dad said the car had a little shimmy around 110mph. The best was when my dad had just bought a Hemi Charger with the big motor when they first came back into production. He took my kids for a ride and they came back all excited. "We got up to 80 on the onramp of the freeway."

Great memories of him. It's because of him I have my appreciation of cars.
Edited by Bjetmech, Jun 20 2017, 09:59 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Bannedfonz
Member Avatar


That's awesome!!! Thanks for sharing your stories.

I hope to create some of those memories with my boy. He already thinks the Geo is really fast, so should be easy from here on out! lol
Edited by Bannedfonz, Jun 20 2017, 08:12 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Free Forums with no limits on posts or members.
Learn More · Register Now
« Previous Topic · The Geo Metro Lounge · Next Topic »
Add Reply