Although I have several cars that I have enjoyed over the years, my favorite all time automobile is the 1969 Pontiace Tempest “Custom S” that I owned when I got married. I had bought the car two years before, in 1971, and owned it until 1977. It was a meadow green coupe with a darker green interior. It was powered by a 350 V8 automatic, and that car would fly! When I first got it I was dating my soon-to-be fiance/wife Gracie. She always named cars, so the Pontiac became the “Green Hornet.” That car saw us through our dating years, took us on our honeymoon, and it was our one and only vehicle except for bicycles through graduate school. It even survived the 1974 tornado that tore through Louisville, KY and destroyed our apartment. When we moved to Tennessee after I finished seminary, it became our secondary vehicle as we bought a Toyota Corolla. Although we became Toyota people (much to the dislike of my all-American former Marine father-in-law), “Green Hornet” remains my favorite car of all times. Today it would be worth at least 10 times what I paid for it, as 1969 was the only year that Pontiac made the “Custom S.” Some called it the “poor man’s GTO.” However, no price could ever be placed on the joy that that car brought to me and my wife. I was sad to let it go and wish I had it back, not for what it is worth now, but for the priceless memories it gave me.
“GREEN HORNET”
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JES Musings 