I was able to get a pair of Firestone “Indy” tires which had been designed to run on the front of the 1965 Indianapolis 500 cars. They wore like iron. These were some of the first “wide” tires to run on the street in Reno. They were a tight fit in the back and required careful driving not to rub. Wide Oval Firestones completed the front. The car was sans grill when I got it and I always wanted to install one of the custom single bar grills seen in the back of the car magazines in the fifties. The transmission had malfunctioned, the torque converter locked in “high” position. I got around that by always starting in low gear. It made for a slow takeoff, but would go almost 40 mph in 1st gear!

The drawback to a bright orange car was that it attracted police attention. A significant ticket caused me to sell it to a neighbor for $250 and a '40 Ford coupe. Unfortunately he had the passenger door caved in within a week and allowed his high school friends to work on it so it started a downhill slide. It was sad for me to watch it deteriorate. The last I saw it was on top of the hill at Keller's Wrecking yard.

1967