Dad wrecks Giant Car- A Flashback to a Simpler Time: 1960

in #life7 years ago

Behold the 1958 Pontiac Laurentian 4-door sedan- a land yacht.

July, 1960- the family car. Seats 12 passengers, and features a downstairs den with pool table and full bar. Built with fine American steel, the 1958 Laurentian was designed to last well into the 1960's while providing a glimpse into the past with it's sleek aerodynamic styling. The Laurentian was considered to be indestructible, and the vast trunk space served as a fallout shelter.

One day while driving quickly up the curvy hill which connected the developing West side of town to the older downtown area, this massive Pontiac was involved in a serious crash.

Dad was ok, and hopped out to take the photo above. It was August of 1960, and the Pontiac Laurentian was finished.

A few days later, Dad's injuries became apparent. He was not injured in the crash though. When the police had arrived at the scene of the accident, they had insisted that Dad sit in the grass on the roadside instead of scurrying around taking pictures, getting in the way. He complied, and ended up being covered in chiggers, the near-invisible mites which burrow into the skin causing a screaming itch, compelling the victim to scratch their own skin away in anguish.

Scratching and miserable, and now with no car, Dad took these pictures at the salvage yard the following day. No more pool table, no more full bar. No more tennis matches in the lofty trunk, no more hide-and-seek games for the kids in the plush interior. The 1960's had officially begun.

This little photo presentation brought to you by @therealpaul, featuring photos from the family album. Aside from a few chigger bites, everyone was fine.

The lesson? Don't follow orders. If Dad had refused to sit in that chigger-infested grass, he would have been better off following this accident. I wasn't even born yet, but I heard about how awful this wreck had been in later years, and every time the story was retold, the chiggers got bigger and the car became more ingrained into the family history.

RIP 1958 Pontiac Laurentian-- I hardly knew ye.


thanks for looking, follow @therealpaul for more

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Trust the "authorities" to ruin your day with their orders one way or another, lol.
Those old cars were tanks!

I learned to drive in a pretty big car, one of the whoppers from the early 70's, but they weren't tanks like these old 50's land yachts.

I just realized my reply on the first post I had missed was to shadowspub and you probably didn't see it. Also I resteemed that :)

Thank you! You are the best. I might have seen the reply, I'll look.

Classic car, even more classic post. Shame your dad wrecked it, you might have become a famous pool player...formative years spent riding about in the thing. Then again, you might have spent too much time in the bar. Thanks for the great, humorous read.

At 8 miles to the gallon, I'd need to be a pretty slick pool hustler to get out of the next town, and learning to play on that ever-tilting table-- a legend, I'd a been.

Just think, we'd be seeing you on the tele, making trick shots on the velvet, rather than showing us your wide-ranging craft on Steemit. A good trade off for us.
I'm glad we don't still drive those cars around. Forgetting that wonderful fuel efficiency....a friend has an old '65 Carryall, and when you stand behind it when running, the un-burnt fuel smell is overwhelming.
Not sure there'd be any air to breathe anymore if they hadn't changed a few things in the world of internal combustion.

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