My First Car

 My Story #47

Ronnie W. Wolfe   9-1-2021

My First Car

I left home at 17 years old after graduating from high school. I attended Fugazzi Business College at first. I had no car, so I had to walk to and from school and to church and other places in Lexington, Kentucky.

After graduating business school, I had to get a job and work until I could get enough money together to purchase a car. That took a while, as I continued to walk everywhere. My first job was at First Security National Bank in downtown Lexington. The bank extended me a loan to purchase my first car.

I remember going to a car lot to pick out a used car. I saw this beautiful 1956 Chevy Bel Aire for $399.00. I had fallen in love with one of these by seeing one that my cousin had, and I decided then that, if possible, I would one day own one. Hers was a brand new one, but mine was a few years old (about 7 years old). I bought mine in 1963. My payments were approximately $33.00 per month, and I made somewhere around $40.00-$45.00 per week working; so it took most of one-week's pay check to make the payment. Then I had to pay the insurance.

Then there was the work of getting a driver's permit, driving with a licensed driver for a couple of weeks, then going downtown to take my driver's test.

But, before I could do that, I had to have a hand control for my car. So, I drew one out on a piece of paper and took the drawing to a machine shop, and the shop built what I designed (with a little help from them in the design), and they installed the control on the car. Then they drove the car to my house and parked it there.

After obtaining my driver's permit, I needed a licensed driver to be with me in the car as I learned to drive. A 16-year-old boy lived across the street, and he had just received his driver's license that week. I asked him if he would like to go for a drive, and he agreed. He got in the car with me, and I went directly downtown in the middle of town to begin my driver training.

I actually did not kill anyone or have a wreck, because my landlady said, "All you have to do is to stay between the lines." This was very helpful.

When I took my driver's license, the policeman who was in the car with me asked me if I had power brakes and steering, and I said, "No." He said, "Well, I don't know about this." As we went through about a half-hour test right downtown, he said, "This beats all I have ever seen. If you don't have a wreck between here and the courthouse, you have your license." I have been driving ever since. Whew! Thank the Lord.