But when the store was closed on Easter (just one week after being evacuated), and no nearby family and no religion and no Easter tradition, I found myself with no Easter plans.
What to do on a Sunday off? Take a ride with the docents at the Automobile Driving Museum.
I wish I could go every Sunday.
This Sunday, my docent was Mark.
He drove me around El Segundo in a 1946 Packard Clipper...
...a rumbly ride for sure...
...under threatening skies...
...just the two of us, with an empty back seat.
Some people like to ride in the back because there's more room, but I always demand shotgun.
We then took a 1937 Oldsmobile out for a spin...
...I in my best Easter party dress...
...marveling at the Art Deco interior...
...between the dashboard typography...
...the big red-knobbed gear shift...
...and the chevron-accented door and window handles.
My favorite Easter Sunday ride, however...
...was the 1961 Ford Thunderbird...
...a two-door hardtop with fisheye dash controls...
...and amazing turquoise leather seats.
The ride is so smooth...
...it feels like you're riding...
...from your own living room couch.
My one takeaway from the Automobile Driving Museum's Ridealong Sundays is that the rides just aren't long enough. I want to see what these puppies can do. There's something rebellious about riding in them without seatbelts (not required if the original model never had them), some without turn signals, some even without proper headlights.
In fact, on the oldest cars (the "horseless wagons" and their descendants), the headlights didn't even allow the driver to see anything (later addressed with the addition of spotlights by the side mirrors) - only to be seen by other drivers.
Imagine driving in a dark world in which you can only see that which casts its own light, and you can only be seen by the illumination of your own light - if the flame doesn't extinguish, if the fuel doesn't run out...
Related Posts:
Photo Essay: Automobile Driving Museum's Ridealong Sunday
Baby, You Can Drive My Car
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Great post...beautiful cars, beautiful pics! But where's the photo of you in your Easter party dress?
ReplyDeleteOn Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151436410644823&set=a.443948689822.243900.73195354822&type=1&theater
DeleteAnd also in the reflections of a lot of the photos. :P (Check out the Oldsmobile headlight shot.)
Now those are car pics after my own heart! Haha, after looking at the chrome reflections, I was also going to ask about pics of you in the dress, but somebody beat me to it ;)
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