Fordyce Redbug

DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN EVERYONE IN FORDYCE KNEW WHO YOU WERE COMING DOWN THE STREET...BY YOUR CAR..NOT YOUR FACE? NOW, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU...TELL ME WHAT YOUR CAR WAS WE WOULD RECOGNIZE BETWEEN THE CORNER AND DIXIE DOG ON ANY GIVEN NIGHT!

I can't remember what kind of car I have now much less back then, teehee. I do remember that in the early '60's we had a mint green and white '55 chevy hard top. It was a good car, not like the ones we have today... .......Mildred

In my first reply I said we had a '55 green and white hard top Chevy in the early 60's, the "we" was after I got married. I was one of four siblings and when I was still in school, like Margaret, we too were "PO". My mom did have a car, a little bitty, tiny, dark green, Nash Rambler, straight shift, but we girls didn't know how to drive, didn't have a license and Mom wouldn't teach us. So if she was at work and couldn't drive us, we had the "privilege" of walking where we needed to go. Once in a while someone's boyfriend would take pity on us and give us a lift, which would be out of the question now days, ha. Those were the days .......Mildred

I drove our family car, the "Green Bean", a '51 Chevy. Ruthie put a dent in it's back fender learning to drive. Robert converted the Bean's steering post shift to "four in the floor" in '67. Fast-foward to 1970. I spot the Green Bean at Pennington's Drive-In in Tulsa, OK as my daughter, Beth -- age 7, and I are running Saturday morning errands. We whip in, pull up beside her, and sure enough...same dent, same seat covers, same everything. The new owner bought it at a used car lot in Little Rock. It was the BEAN!! At the time, Beth thought it was just an old car, and I was making a silly fuss. At 47, she understands! That car represented great memories. She still has her old '54 Buick even though "Big Bertha" is in storage. The older our kids get, the smarter we become!! .....Mary Magee

1955 Pontiac Chieftain, two tone green! .........Jim Drake

We were too Po for me to have a ride of my own..5 kids to feed and clothe on a truck drivers salary....I bummed a ride with Lulu and Nancy nearly every where they went or I walked..didn't even have a bicycle. Thank you Lou for putting up with me... Margaret Shankles Prewitt

In case no one remembers..."Big Daddy Ray" was so tight he only bought a car every 10 years....and getting one for his daughter was totally Out of The Question! Therefore, I tooled around in the "family" car.....a 2-tone green, 4 door, 1954 FORD!!!! Jim Shivers wrecked it on the way to the Jr.-Sr. Banquet and he was shaking in his boots because he knew he had to face "Big Daddy". Those were the days!!! ..........Roseann Phillips

Our "car of choice" was a big, clumsy Nash Rambler. It looked exactly like a big gray bathtub turned upside down and put on wheels. The thing my brother Jim liked mosty about it was that the seats would lie down flat. I'm afraid he might have made really good use of that aspect of the car. .....Leann

Rondell Those stories about our cars are great!!! I remember that 57 Buick. Do you remember when I used to sneak my parent's car out and go riding after they had gone to bed. I think I was in the 7th grade because I had to sit on a pillow. I used go pick up other people but can't remember who. Jimmy Drake and Tommy Sparks come to mind but not sure. Could you have been one of the passengers? What grade were you in when you moved to Fordyce? I would go out and start the car with the tv on so I wouldn't wake my parents and then run in and turn it off. One time I had it in neutral and forgot to put the emergency brake on and the car rolled across the street into Atwood Florist while I was turning off tv. Nearly scared me to death when I saw it rolling across the street! Does any of this ring a bell?

YES, I REMEMBER THAT INCIDENT..ATWOOD FLORIST. I WAS NOT THERE BUT YOU TOLD ME ABOUT IT. I REMEMBER THE BUICK BEFORE THE '57 THAT HENRY LEFT AT HOME. WE USED TO SIT IN IT AND USE THE RADIO. IT HAD ONE OF THE FIRST PUSH BUTTON AUTOMATIC SEARCH FEATURES ON THE RADIO. WE GOT A KICK OUT OF PUSHING THAT BAR ON THE RADIO..AND THE AUTOMATIC SCAN WOULD SEARCH FOR THE NEXT STATION. YOU WOULD DRIVE IT TO CHARLOTTE STREET AND TURN AROUND COME BACK HOME. WE NEVER DID VENTURE ACROSS THE STREET IN FRONT OF YOUR HOME AS IT WAS A BUSY STREET...ACTUALLY HWY 167...FROM LITTLE ROCK TO EL DORADO. I DON'T BELIEVE HENRY OR MYRTLE EVER KNEW THIS WAS HAPPENING. THIS WAS ABOUT THE SEVENTH GRADE. I MOVED TO FORDYCE, STARTED THE SIXTH GRADE. YOU WERE THE FIRST FRIEND TO BEFRIEND ME, INTRODUCED ME TO A LITTLE ROUND FACED GIRL ONE STREET DOWN..WHITE FRAME HOUSE IN THE TALL PINES...WE NOW KNOW AS "D"...AKA...DARLENE. SHE WAS AND REMAINS A SWEET GAL. ....LAMAR

In 1955 I hitchhiked everywhere I went. In 1957 Daddy bought a 1957 Ford Fairlane 6 cylinder. It would not beat anything. Kent didn’t even want to ride in it. ...Larry Smurl

LARRY CROWDER AND I WORKED WITH YOU HONING THE BRAKE CYLINDERS IN YOUR BACK YARD. I REMEMBER WELL THE '49 PLYMOUTH...AND THE FACT YOU GOT A CAR. I LOVED THAT PONTIAC..AND WE WOULD BEG YOUR GRANDMOTHER TO LET US TAKE IT FOR A DRIVE...THEN TO SECOND STREET...HONKING THAT HORN RING...VIBRATING IT TO MAKE THE INTERMITTENT SOUNDS...LETTING THE GARNERS KNOW WHO WAS DRIVING IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE. EVERY WEDNESDAY NIGHT ON MY WAY HOME FROM CAMDEN AT NAVAL RESERVE MEETINGS...I WOULD DO THE SAME IN FRONT OF JANE'S HOUSE..LETTING HER KNOW I WAS HOME SAFE FROM THE NAVAL RESERVE MEETING IN CAMDEN. WOW..MEMORIES... AND YOU WOULD THINK I COULD FORGET THESE STORIES..JANE AND I RODE IN THE BACK SEAT OF GILL'S '56 CHEV...DRAGGING THAT BRIDGE...EVEN WITHOUT ANY COMPETITION. I CAN STILL HEAR THE WHINE OF THAT CHEVY...AS IT TOOK A FULLY LOADED CAR FROM ONE END OF THE BRIDGE TO THE OTHER IN SPLIT SECONDS TIMES. EVERYONE KNEW IT WOULD OUTRUN ANYTHING IN FORDYCE..SO, THEY FINALLY GAVE UP. OUR GRADUATION NIGHT..LAMAR AND META..HE IN HIS '57 BUICK...I IN MY BROTHER-IN-LAW'S 56 MERCURY...DRAGGED THE BRIDGE TWICE..I SMOKED HIM TWICE...AS HE WANTED A TWO OUT OF THREE CHANCE. HE DIDN'T LIKE IT A BIT..THAT I BEAT HIM IN THAT TURQUOISE/CREAM MERCURY. THAT THING WOULD SCAT. I OFTEN WONDERED IF THE OPPORTUNITY HAD ARISEN..IF GILL COULD HAVE BEATEN THAT CAR. IT WAS A REAL GOOD/FAST CAR. OF COURSE, I NEVER TOLD CHARLES ABOUT THAT..EVEN TO THIS DAY. ...RONDELL & JANE...NWA

In 1955 we bought a 1955 Pontiac Chieftian. That was the first year that Pontiac had a V-8 engine. Although it was a four door it was the fastest thing in Fordyce until Jr Gill got a '56 Bel Air Chevrolet. If you will remember, we would go the the second Moro Creek bridge on Hwy 79 and drag race. It was approx 1/4 mile long. The Pontiac would go the length of that bridge in 8.7 seconds. To this day I can't remember how we got the 0.7 seconds, but we knew it was right. Never the less, it was a mute point in '56 when Gill got the Chevrolet. TTHHEENN, Larry Crowder got the '57 Ford with the 500 c.i. Lincoln engine with the Hurst speed shift. In '57 I got a '49 Plymouth four door that had soft seats and my racing days were over. I got more interested in girls than cars. It was just as well, because my Plymouth had a 6 cylinder. This car was my first introduction to auto mechanics. One of the pistons slapped against the cylinder wall and that had to be fixed. Also each of the wheel cylinders would go out, and they would have to be honed out and new cylinder kits installed. I don't remember that car ever having brakes, except for the emergency brake. It worked fine. It was a walking cane handle with a finger trigger on the left kick plate, and I could operate it as well a the foot brake, if it ever worked. After I got rid of the Plymouth I drove the Pontiac, unless I rode with someone else. I made many trips between The Corner and the Dixie Dog in those two cars. I also bought gas $0.15 at a time. ...Jim Drake