Random Childhood Car Memories

I have always been interested in anything associated with the automobile, which would be of no surprise if you seen or read anything that has been posted here over the last few years. One of my earliest memories of automobiles was playing in and around my father's Volkswagen Beetle either by myself or with siblings and cousins. During it's life it went through several family members and parked in various locations. One of those places was at my grandparents' house in the garage.

Herbie!

When we all played in the yard/driveway, gaining access to the Beetle or vehicles in general was pretty easy. Sometimes the garage door was simply unlocked; but when it was locked, we could just pull and push the doors wide enough to slip into the gap and enter a treasure trove of dangerous and toxic materials we could use as toys and props for our imaginary adventures...but I digress. The Beetle looked like a jack-o-lantern, with its orange exterior and black interior; paired with my hysteria for Herbie The Love Bug, I was fascinated by it's shape, rear mounted engine, manual transmission, "dog dish" hub caps and after seeing Herbie, it's race car pedigree. If I was older and knew any better I could have been snarky and discussed it's relationship with a Porsche 356. I don't remember what happened to that car, but that is a simple question that can be asked.

Nevertheless, there were other vehicles that gained my attention that ended up in the garage or just parked in my grandparents' yard: Chevelle SS, C4 Corvette, Triumph TR7, Mustang II, Peugeot 505, Mitsubishi Starion, Datsun 200sx, VW Jetta. It was a regular United Nations convention with representation from the United States, Great Britain, France, Japan and Germany. I have a distinct memory for each of these most of which involved me sneaking into them, and pretending to drive...well pretending most of the time. 

Dodge Aspen

At 10 or 11 years old, I played soccer in the All Dorchester Sports League. My team was The Volcanoes (hot like fire, baby!) and we played all around Dorchester, but most of the time it was on the fields of UMASS Boston. After one of our games and for whatever reason, I wanted to get to the car first. Maybe I was in a race that no one else knew they were in. So, my father gave me the keys to our Dodge Aspen which was parked some distance from the field. When I got there, it dawned on me that maybe it would be a good idea to save the family a long walk to the car; or maybe it was just an excuse to show everyone I could drive. So, I started the car, used the column shift to put it in gear and reversed it. I put it in Drive and began slowly making my way through the parking lot towards the field. My father saw the car and believed someone was stealing it and ran over. Let's just say he was not happy to find it was me being "helpful". However, I can say that all things considered he was cool about it, but not sure if we can "get away with it" today.