The cars in my life (My First) - stories for my grandchildren

 

In my Sophomore year in college, I became quite enamored with a sporty little French-made Renault Dauphine. Like the very popular VW bug, it was a rear-engine car but had 4 doors, a 4 cylinder engine labeled the 4CV, or quatre chevaux, which quite literally translates as "four horses." All-in-all, that's a pretty good description of the power of this little vehicle. which on a straight-away (like the Winters Freeway) could achieve 67 miles-per-hour. Max.

The dealer let me drive the car for a weekend while I made up my mind, and I gathered 3 friends and took the car out to Abilene State Park for some fun in the windy roads and trails out there. That was also a weekend that the National Guard was engaged in some maneuvers at the Park. We had stopped mid-road to switch drivers when we heard the ominous clank of a half-track around a curve and we just got the car back in gear and moving before a big Army truck roared around the bend. I have often wondered just how I would have explained to the nice man at the dealership that his tiny little car was now a blip on a tank tread.

The Dauphine could seat four, but on occasion, a fifth person would curl up in the luggage compartment, which of course, was in the front of the car. My brother-in-law-to-be Thayne often drew this position. Since the "hood" tilted forward starting at the windshield, he could sit in the compartment with his head out, just in front of the windshield, and watch where were were going, waving at passers-by.

With mileage of better than 40 mpg, it was cheaper for me to drive home to Breckenridge, let my mother do my laundry, eat some home cooking, and drive back to the dorm than it was to go to the laundromat. Not that I ever went to the laundromat, mind you. Plus, with the gear shift floor-mounted, it was a great car for dating. Was it my fault that the girls knee was right where I needed to move the gear shift? I have to mention that when I demonstrated that particular move to Barb early in our dating, it almost changed the course of history, in that there almost was no history!

I'm happy to say that she married me anyway, but I almost didn't make it to the wedding. When I started out for Port Lavaca, the little Dauphine began to seriously overheat. We turned around (Thayne and my roommate Skeet were with me) and limped to Breckenridge and borrowed my parent's car. leaving the Renault in Breckenridge for repair. After we were established in Dallas, my folks drove the car to Dallas to swap. The thought of my Mom and Dad in that little car amuses me still.

Alas, the overheating was just the beginning of a slow but sure decline. Let me just say that while the French may have many skills, building automobiles is not one of them. The Dauphine disappeared from the marketplace by 1960.

Next, the Detroit years...