The Girl’s Cars | Beauty And Style

I have often waxed nostalgic in the space about the cars from the time and place in which we grew up.  With the exception of Jackie’s Bug, the cars I have pontificated about and fawned over up to this point have all been Boy’s Cars.  So today, Car Talk is going to cover a subject without which any automotive discussion would be incomplete.  I’m talking about The Girl’s Cars.  

A lot of young ladies back in The Wonder Years drove a lot of cool cars.  Some were hot rods, some were elegant, some were funky.  Here are a few…

I have to start with Jan Stowe.  Jan lived in the neighborhood, and drove a little blue Sunbeam Alpine.  She would blast past us with her long black hair flying in the wind, toot her horn and wave at us.  And we would sit there on our bicycles, prepubescent boys with our mouths hanging open, staring blankly and attempting weakly to wave back.

Debbie Moore had a beautiful white 1966 T-Bird.  It had all the controls you could want; air conditioning, power windows, power locks, power seats, and was from a time when such luxuries were not standard equipment.  Debbie came from a T-Bird family.  At one point her parents had His and Hers ’59 models, one white and one baby blue.  

Speaking of blue, the beauty shown above belonged to Cissy Blalock.  A Cobalt Blue 1969 Pontiac Firebird with a white vinyl top, the car exuded Beauty And Style.  But, you also could tell that if needed, she had the horses to get up and go.  Penny and Pam Carter had a blue 1969 Chevelle, and Angie Shook drove a metal flake blue ’68 GTO.

Melody Baer drove a 1955 Dodge Royal Lancer, a beautiful car that combined styling, luxury and power.  Gail Bryant had a 60’s model Chrysler New Yorker that was as big as a football field.  That was the first car I had ever seen with a push button transmission.

Jackie’s sister Wanda drove a VW as well, a ’67 with a non-functioning wiper motor.  Being a Stokes girl, she tied a shoestring to a wiper blade arm, ran it back through the passenger vent window and tied it to the Holy Shit bar.  When it rained, she would pull back and forth on the shoestring, thus making the wipers functional.  Sharon Dodd had a white ’66 VW she bought from Jackie’s dad.  Stacey Ennis drove a gold Bug similar to Jackie’s before graduating to a red MG Midget.  Debbie Boatenreiter had a Karmann Ghia, as did Pat McGee and Jeanne Beyer.

Debbie Holmes drove a 1969 Camaro that was a ground pounder.  Yellow with a white top, four speed transmission, Cragar mags and Goodyear tires, this car was built for Smoke City.  Deb drove it, too… She got three separate letters from the Georgia DMV warning her that she had accumulated a certain number of points from speeding tickets and her license was in danger of being revoked.  She was very proud of those letters.  They were framed and hung on the wall in her room.  Her mother was appalled, and I’m sure Deb is thrilled I’m sharing this with all of you now.  Peggy Frazier drove a yellow Comet GT, and used to burn rubber with the boys in the parking lot.  Tina Ward had a beautiful silver 1969 Dodge Charger with black panel stripes on the back.  Ellen Carlan had a ’69 Charger as well, blue with a white top and white panels.

And what Red Blooded American Walker boy could ever forget Joan Garrison in that red 1970 Datsun 240Z of hers?  One day I was at South DeKalb Mall visiting my cousin Peggy, who worked there.  Joan had stopped by to see Peggy as well.  I needed a ride home, and Joan offered to give me a lift.  It was a ride I will never forget.  She hit the entrance ramp to I-20 and floored it.  It was summertime and the windows were down.  She was talking away to me with that blonde hair flying.  I happened to look over at the speedometer and we were running 100 mph.  At 5pm on I-20 in between Candler and Flat Shoals.  I’m sitting there trying to look cool, but these were the days before seat belts.  In reality, my butt had grown fingers that were clamped to the bottom of the seat.  We made it home, and now I realize that it was like a thrill ride at Six Flags.  Scared the crap out of me, but I loved it!  Tearing down the expressway in a red sports car with a beautiful girl at the wheel?  That’s the stuff dreams and songs are made of… Still Cruisin’!  –J.

1955 Dodge Royal Lancer