Everyone has a favorite car. Mine was the 1963 Chevrolet Bel Air. It was in 1970 when this treasure came into my life. It was four door, two tone pale green and pale yellow and covered with rust. I paid $200.00 for it. We only had a Ford F100 pickup at the time. I needed a car to drive to my new job at the school. Since I was a new bus driver, I could not take my bus home, so I needed transportation to and from the school.

Having found the car I wanted and only needing a small loan, I applied for one at a finance company. It was my first experience at such a place. They were rude as dirt to me. You would think I wanted to borrow a million dollars, but they finally gave me the two hundred dollars. I had enough money for the license plates and the title transfer. There was rust from one end of the green bomber to the other, so I didn’t bother with insurance. After all, I was only driving to the school and back.

I was to make a payment once a month. Instead, I paid weekly. When the day for the first month’s payment came, I had already made two payments. I got a call from the finance company saying they were going to repossess the car because I missed the payment. They didn’t count the previous payments I had made. I had missed a payment on the exact day it was due. I paid it off as quickly as I could. That was my one and only experience with a finance company.

I loved my green and white two tone 1963 Chevrolet Bel Air four door sedan. It ran like a top. The engine purred. The ride was smooth. It had good gas mileage. However, it looked like an accident ready to happen. I remember coming up to a stop light and quietly gunning my engine if there was a man in the car next to me. They would look at my rust bucket with disdain and take off as soon as the light changed green. I left them in my dust every time. What fun!

I didn’t have the car very long. My husband was embarrassed to have it even parked in the driveway. It had so much rust. There were no dents, just rust. It didn’t matter how much I praised my green bomber, he wouldn’t let me keep it. I had to sell it. That was a sad day. I wish I had stood my ground and kept the car. It was a treasure. I miss that old 1963 four door two tone pale green and pale yellow Chevrolet Bel Air. Some treasures only come your way once.