Those Sports Car Days

My writing projects and browsing through a lifetime of photo albums often go hand-in-hand. Sometimes a random thought I want to write about comes first, and I go looking for a photo to go with it, sometimes cruising through memory-laden photos inspires the writing. All those photos from my life! Which seems like it began after I divorced the husband and ran to Texas. While there were rough spots now and then, all in all I have to say I’ve had a great time these 75 years.

Once I began my tenure at G&S Typesetters in Austin in the early 1970s, newly single, I was totally focused on making a living and remaining independent. We had quite good vacation benefits at G&S, with the option of taking the time off, or taking the extra pay. For years I opted for the paycheck--what was I going to do if I took off work??? Well, that's another story for sure.

Taking the extra money gave me the great pleasure of buying a succession of 2-seater foreign sports cars. The first was a Triumph TR6, and subsequent trades brought a MGB-GT, a Triumph Spitfire (above with yours truly in her 40s), and a Fiat. All but the MG were convertibles. Foreign sports cars, to my dismay, were high maintenance, but I adored them all.

The MG was a nifty purple 2-seater hatchback, and was great for trips back and forth to Kansas (family) and New Orleans (friend). My little dachshund loved riding in the back shelf, where she could look out at where we'd been. The Spitfire was the only one I bought brand new, but didn't last long, as it appeared to have a mechanical flaw I didn't want to deal with. The Fiat carried me around while I flirted with trouble for about 8 years, until I decided it was time to grow up and have a car with air conditioning.

In the Fiat years, I turned 50, and to my consternation discovered my car insurance was going up because I was now in a high-risk group: over 50, female, single, and driving a sports car! Is that sexist or what. Yep, I inquired, and if I had still been married, or male, I would not have qualified as high-risk. I'd had only 1 speeding ticket in my life, in the MG on a trip to Kansas. I'm pretty sure the trooper gave me the ticket for 5 over the limit instead of a warning because my dachshund barked at him so severely. Hey, if I was still married to the jerk of a husband, I not only would not have had the money to be driving a foreign sports car, I would be more likely to have an accident due to aggravation and stress. I decided it was too radical to consider getting married again, and paid the extra.

In later years I had a 15-year affair with a Nissan Maxima, 4-door, 5-speed, with all the bells and whistles including moon roof and sound system that would warp road signs when playing "Like a rock" with Bob Seger. I killed it by neglecting maintenance such as timing belt, which let go at 80 mph, completely wiping out the engine, once described by a mechanic as in the realm of jet engine compared to ordinary motors. Hard lesson.

So now I drive a rather sedate 4-door sedan, with AC, but it still has a bit of the sports car feel with 5-speed transmission. It startles mechanics, who assume the old lady would be driving an automatic. I have to wonder, would I fall into that high-risk group again, at this age, if I were to break for a 1995 MG F? Perhaps no one would consider writing me insurance at all, and instead called for the men in white coats.