My parents had a 1966 Pontiac GTO, and oh how I loved that car! I could not wait to get my learners permit so I could start driving that car! It had a 389 engine, 4 speed manual transmission, and gold color with white bucket seats! I used to sit in the driver’s seat, hold the gear shift and stare at the wooden dash. I loved every inch of that car, and I was counting the days till I could drive it! I remember being with my sister Val one evening. She scared me when she got it up to 110 MPH on the Golden Center Freeway! My Uncle Al and Aunt Betty lived down the street from us, and my Uncle Al always knew who was driving that car when it came by his house. He said he didn’t even have to look out the window; he knew who was driving by the sound of the car. When the engine RPM’s where high, and the car flew past his house, he knew it was Stan driving. When the RPM’s were a little slower but it still made the house rumble, it was Val driving. When the sound of the car didn’t shake their house, he knew it was my mom driving. When the car came by and it sounded like the engine was going to die, it was my dad driving.
As time went on the car started to overheat, and began to spend more time at Arch’s Automotive than our driveway. They seemed to get the problem fixed, but it cost my parents a lot of money, and then it would happen all over again. I remember riding with my mom to the grocery store in the GTO. I used to tell her how much I loved that car, and how I couldn’t wait to start driving it when I got my learners permit. About a week before I was to get my learners permit, I came home from school and there was a green and white Chevy Malibu sitting in the GTO’s place. I went into the house and asked who’s car that was, and my mom and dad said that was our new car! They had sold the GTO! Then they went to Colfax and bought the Malibu. Let’s just say Mark was very upset! The Malibu was a beautiful car, but it was no GTO!