The 66' Chevrolet Delivered in person

Just Imagine,  Your new car delivered to you at your house?


That really did happen in Lockville in 1971. Grandma had been driving a 1960 Mercury that was hand me down from my father and on an icy winter day she slid into the old Silver Bridge in downtown Lockville on her way home from work.  A 1960 Mercury was one tough car and she was not hurt and she even drove it home and to work for a few days to follow.  Still the Mercury had seen its better days and it was time for a new car.  One of grandma's customers at Shades Restaurant was Wes Montang and he was salesperson for Bob McDorman Chevrolet and he heard of grandma's situation and sold her a nice 66 Chevrolet.

Grandma never even see this car until Wes drove it to her house and parked it in the front yard. It was a  4 door Bel air and deep blue green. In the bight sun it appeared green, otherwise it was deep blue.  It had manual steering and brakes but oddly and add on below the dash Air Conditioner that made that car ICE cold on the hottest day of the year. Those add on air conditioners were very popular in the era. It had a 283 motor and a Powerglide Transmisison. It really was  a Grandma's car. It was last car she owned and it served her and the whole family very well until the 1990's. Can you just imagine buying a car sight unseen?  Wes simply drove out to Lockville , showed Grandma the car she liked it and he drove the old Mercury back  to the dealership and grandma just wrote him a check  for the Chevrolet. Those were simple times and now seem so long ago.

Grandma drove it for years and I took it over as Grandma lost her driving ability.  By the time it made it to the late 1980's it had its share of scratches and dings and even replaced doors on the passenger side as Grandma mis aimed getting in the garage.

Grandma was once ran over (literally) by the car and saved by neighbor Ed Baker. She had stopped to open the garage door and just left the car in neutral. as she got back in it rolled backwards pulling her under it! She had a good pair of Lungs Ed recalled as he heard her screams. He ran over and drove the car forward off of her. Thank you Ed!  She was not really hurt just black and blue all over .  His daughter also helped pull Grandma away and helped her up.  That was pretty much the end of Grandma's driving.  It was just was well as I'd get calls saying Rich , we just seen a 66 Chevy going down the wrong side of the road  as Grandma would drive down the road past  the homes of friends of mine. She only drove to Canal Winchester and anytime she needed to go other places we drove her.  Thankfully Grandma gave up driving on her own with out a fight . I only hope when my time comes to quit driving I'm as graceful as she was giving up the wheel .   

Today, the Chevrolet lives on as we sold it to my friend Bryan from Wooster, Ohio and its motor and drive train and yes that add on air conditioner now powers a 57 Chevrolet Nomad Wagon that Bryan restored.