J.W. Burleson photo / Boquillas del Carmen, Coah.

PHB

My photo
Brooklin, Maine, United States
We own a 1975 GMC Sierra Grande 15 in Maine and a 1986 Chevrolet Custom Deluxe 10 in West Texas. Also a pair of 1997 Volvo 850 wagons. Average age in the fleet is 28 years--we're recycling. I've published 3 novels: THE LAW OF DREAMS (2006), THE O'BRIENS (2012), and CARRY ME (2016). Also 2 short story collections: NIGHT DRIVING(1987) and TRAVELLING LIGHT (2013). More of my literary life is at www.peterbehrens.org I was a Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study for 2012-13. I'm an adjunct professor at Colorado College and in the MFA program at Queens University of Charlotte. In 2015-16 I was a Fellow at Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. The Autoliterate office is in Car Talk Plaza in Harvard Square, 2 floors above Dewey Cheatem & Howe. SUBSCRIBE TO THE AUTOLITERATE DAILY EMAIL by hitting the button to the right.

Monday, August 19, 2013

1956 Buick Special -- Troy Trepannier



I wrote an essay called Love Cars to examine why the hell I am so interested in cars and trucks, and in the process of writing, discovered that it's all about my father. A lot of men seem to need to own some version of a car their fathers drove.
I  remember in considerable detail every car my father owned, from the 1956 Buick Special he had from Midtown Motors in Montreal, when I was 2; to the 1985 Mercury Topaz he owned when he died.
The list:
1956 Buick Special. Gunmetal grey, red seats with black inlays
1959 Pontiac Catalina  2 door coupe, white, grey interior
1962 Pontiac Laurentian, 2 door couple, beige, beige exterior
1965 Mercury Montclair, 4 door sedan, blue and blue, breezeway window.
1968 Chrysler Newport Custom 4 door hadtop, beige exterior, greemn interior
1971 Chrysler Newport Custom 4 door hardtop green exterior, black vinyl roof, greek interior
1974 Chrysler Newport custom, 4 door hardtopgrey exterior, black interior
1976 Chrysler Newport custom 4 door hardtop, blue and blue
1978 Mercury Zephyr, green ext tan interior
1982 Mercury Zephyr, Grey exterior,
1985 Mercury Topaz  Grey and grey


The best cars were the first 4. Things went downhill after our family's Chrysler era began. Detroit build quality by the late Sixties was atrocious. My personal favorite was the Catalina.The Buick was a cool car though my dad didn't have it tuned like this one (above) by Troy Trepannier.

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