1974 Volvo aka the Calvin and Hobbes car.

i have been contemplating for some time now to write a book based on the vehicles (read beaters) i, and my friends had when we were younger. most of the stories i remember and pass on to my kids revolve around vehicles.

i think it was mostly because - in the day - vehicles didn't have to be safetied. yes, that meant they were inherently dangerous but what wasn't when we were younger?

so here's my first missive. i encourage anyone who reads this to send me a picture and story surrounding their vehicle of choice. it should be fun.

the above car was a 1974 volvo. i use the term 'was' because it is no longer. it ended up - as most of my vehicles did in the 80's - as a pizza car. a term we coined because, when the vehicle was beyond repair we'd call up the wrecker and the driver would give us a crisp $20 bill for the scrap metal and we'd order a pizza.

i bought this car from a friend of mine - nelson 'nails' olfert. i hadn't intended to buy it but when i was asked to do some stand up comedy in yorkton, saskatchewan just before christmas circa 1988, i didn't have a vehicle with which to get me there. so i asked nails if i could borrow his. i told him i'd pay him $100 if he'd let me use if for the weekend. he said, 'for $100, you can have it.'

so i bought it.

i could bore you with the details of how, to this day, those 4 days in yorkton were the worst days of my life. from the rube-infested 'bbq pit' at which i did my comedy; to the food poisoning i got a bonanza (serves me right, when you can see your reflection in the block of cheese at the salad bar something's wrong.); to the fact that the generator on the car failed an hour outside of yorkton; to my motel room with the misspelled pizza advertising pamphlet; to me doing jokes about escalators and realizing that there was none in yorkton.

but that's not what this is about. it's about cars. and my volvo was a beauty. as you can see by the picture i cut in a moon roof and cut off the back completely - i always wanted a rumble seat.
when it rained i quickly headed into a back alley and looked for an open garage to wait it out in. (i freaked out a house wife once who was taking out the garbage)

one cold day, during the MCA (the annual biggest curling bonspiel in the world) i ran into sev for a slurpee and left the car running. when i came out it was gone. (don't worry, i made it to my game.) i called the cops and reported it stolen. after i described the car to him - brush painted white; calvin and hobbes drawings all over it; roof cut off; the cop asked me whether there were any distinguishing markings on it.

my bro-in-law called me two days later to ask me why my car was parked outside his apt. i took the big orange pumpkin to his place and drove it home. the keys, as well as my hockey equipment, were still in the car.

i have more stories about this car but i want to get the ball rolling. please, submit some stories/pictures to me @ rickloewen@rainyday.ca and i'll add them to this post. it should be fun.

cheers, rick