Young and Foolish

Did you ever do something you lived to regret? Something that makes you physically ill just thinking about what an idiot you were?

W4D went off to college in the fall of 1965 to the University of Tampa. Freshmen weren't allowed to have cars on campus unless you lived locally and were a Florida resident. DH was from Philly so a car was not allowed his freshman year.

The summer after his first year of college, he returned home and worked as a lifeguard, just like our daughter does. Hey, the peeps in my family recognise a cherry job when they find it. Anyway, DH worked on his tan, saved up his money and returned to school for his sophomore year driving this little baby below. Here he is parked in front of McKay Hall at U. of Tampa, right before he moved into the Sig Ep House. Good Grief! Were any of us ever that young? Well, I was and still am since DH robbed the cradle but I digress.



What you are looking at is W4D in his (used) 1959 Corvette. It was red and white. DH bought it for $600 and drove it down to Florida and looked very hot in it for a couple of years. Until...one fine Florida winter afternoon, sun shining, top down, W4D-aka-DH and his best bud, fraternity brother, Bill Pitt (Bill, do you still live at 56 Redcoat Lane?) were driving down Bayshore Blvd in front of the Colonnade Restaurant, smelled something acrid and then saw black, sooty smoke barreling from under the hood. The starter burned up and caught stuff (forgive my technical terminology) under the hood on fire and the guys had to bail. No injuries but all of the wires under the hood had turned to toast.

DH promptly sold the car for exactly what he paid for it, $600, and he felt mighty smug about it, too. Pretty cool, eh? Buy a car, drive it for over 2 years, fry all the electrical and sell it for exactly what you paid for it? After all, Bill had just bought a brand new, mint green Pontiac GTO, 428, triple deuce carbs. Does that sound right? - anyway, that is what I remember - there was something special about those deuce carbs. DH wasn't sad about the old Vette since the GTO was hot and lookin' fine and he and Bill could use that on their exploits. It was after all, brand new and much better than a 10 year old Corvette.

Who in the world thinks a new GTO is anywhere as good or as hot as a '59 Vette?

Sometimes, people are just too young to know any better.