It’s the time of year when things really start hopping in Scottsdale,
Arizona, which at one time had the motto
of, “The West’s Most Western
Town.” I believe that the new motto is more along
the lines of “The West’s Most Silconed, Botoxed
Town.” That however, is another story for another
time.
But I digress. Currently the Barrett-Jackson auto auction is
going on. Barrett-Jackson started in the early “70’s, as an auction for
collectible cars. That got me to thinking about the vehicles I’ve had in my
life
A quick rundown shows that of the 9 vehicles I’ve owned
since I’ve been driving, 7 of them have been, yep, Pickup Trucks! Pickups are an American original, the first
pickup was the Ford Model T, offered for $281, April 25, 1925, in black, been a
bit of a change since then.
I learned to drive in a pickup on Uncle Andy’s farm, in Michigan,
this goes back to the days of “three on a tree” and if you know what that is,
we’re from the same generation. If you don’t, ask some guy with white hair
(silver in my case).
Prior to learning to drive in the fields, we looked forward
to going to the farm and being able to ride around in the back of the truck,
sitting on a bale of hay. One time, with the tailgate down, we hit a bump so
hard my little brother went bouncing out the back. Gives me pause to wonder on
that one.
Pictured here is one of my favorites, a ’59 Dodge; I wish I
still had that one. It had a flat-head 6, AM radio with an FM converter, Easy
Rider Rifle Rack, four on the floor, and I could get it going close to 60 heading
down hill. It wasn’t built for speed or beauty, but it got me around, it was a
great truck for cruising around and exploring the desert.
There’s a certain magic to having a truck, kind of a built
in freedom. In the back of your mind is always the thought that, if necessary,
you could throw everything you needed in the back and still be fine. Put a
shell on the back and you’ve got yourself a mobile house.
You can pull things, push things, move things, put a couple
of bean bag chairs in the back and they’re great at the drive-in picture show.
Plus, pickups are just plain cool. Everyone needs to own one
awesome truck in their life. Us lucky ones get a whole succession of them.
