Cars, Phones and Car Phones

My car has its own telephone number now. That makes 4 numbers total for just 2 people; land-line, 2 cells and the Highlander. I guess I'm fortunate though. I understand some folks cars email and text their owners.

Dear Driver: I noticed a little mud on the right rear quarter panel. You might want to take care of that, if you get my drift.  -- the Car

This car phone came with the On Star mirror I installed recently. Yes, you can get a standalone On Star mirror and install it in almost any non-GM vehicle, like a Toyota Highlander. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of an OEM On Star, but it covers the basics, like calling for help with a flat tire, or needing gas. Or, heaven forbid, "Help, I've fallen into a ditch and I can't get out."

All that is well and good, but truthfully, I got the On Star so my kids can find us before we go up on the TXDOT Missing Elderly Signboards. "Yes, we have located the vehicle; it seems to be circling the ramps in a downtown parking garage. Would you like me to put you through to that number?"

Actually, this is not the first time we have had a phone installed in a car. Way back in 1971, when I bought the Buick Electra from co-worker Wyman Wilkerson, it had a mobile phone in it.  Wyman didn't like to drive and talk on the phone at the same time, so if we ever got a call from him in his car we knew he was parked in the lot outside the office. We kept the phone (and used it) until the end of the billing period, when Wyman had it removed.

Actually mobile phones in automobiles have been around since 1946! Our next-door neighbor had one in the early '50s - some 60 years ago! He worked in the oil fields and was on call a lot, so it was not unusual for him to get a call on his phone in the middle of the night. At that time, if the car phone rang, the car horn would honk. And continue honking until he came out and answered the phone. Why, yes, we were glad to see him move elsewhere, now that you ask.

The phone installed in the neighbor's truck had about 80 pounds of equipment, a full-size handset and a honkin' antenna. The phone in the Buick Electra had a small box in the trunk, a smaller handset and a normal looking antenna. The phone in the Toyota is hidden inside a rear-view mirror, is hands-free and has no external antenna. And no, it doesn't honk the horn. Instead, the blond GPS lady says, "You have a call from..."

And then she says, "Recalculating."