AN OLD FORD TRUCK

Here is my truck- a Ford F100. 1962...

I've been wondering lately, just why I enjoy driving it so much. Just what is so great about driving an old truck around? Some people "get it", and think it is so cool... others think it makes about as much sense as heating your house with charcoal.

An old vehicle is kind of like a theme park ride.

That's the answer. Every time I get into that old truck, it's like I'm at Walt Disney World, on the Amazing 1962 Truck Ride.

Really. I climb up (you have to hoist yourself into these old trucks!), slam the (all steel) door shut, pull the choke (you have to know exactly how much, according to current weather conditions), and then...turn the key.

It's never a given that it will start... it'll turn over, but:

Did I choke it right?
Did I push the choke in, just after it caught??
Is it my lucky day, punk?

You get the picture: it's not just a drive to work- it's an adventure!

And the ride to work, in this case on a sunny, chilly November morning in Wisconsin, was wonderful. Each of the four gear shifts, as I accelerated, was a joy. The view out the windshield, which wraps around like a 3D movie from the 60's, was spectacular of the bluffs and coulees hereabouts, and the radio (which only took about 2 minutes to "warm up" and play) made me, from anticipation, appreciate all the more the "Buy and Trade" show that eventually came on.

In the back of my mind, all day, I "kind of " thought of the ride home. I mean, if I was going to ride home in a 2007 Toyota, to think of my ride would have been like thinking about my refrigerator...they are both just appliances.

My truck is my "Steed"; not merely a conveyance, but much more- almost a time machine...

When I drove home, I played songs through a small portable speaker I keep in the truck. Sam Cooke... pre-1965 music. "You Send Me", "Chain Gang"...and Elvis.

In the darkness, the other vehicle's headlights could have been from Thunderbirds and Cheyenne pickups... at least, that's how I imagined it. And those old country roads haven't changed a bit.

See what I mean? A theme park ride.

I know what you're thinking...

"How about GAS MILEAGE???"

And you're right...

But, that's why I also have the 1971 Theme Park Ride,featuring my CJ5 JEEP!