Category: Every car is a story.
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KEEPING AN EYE ON THINGS
By God’s grace and Ford Motor Company ingenuity Slim Gillespie stood five-foot-nine in his socks, though you’d never know it from the way he squared his shoulders and leaned forward like he was always about to offer an opinion nobody asked for. His hair, once the color of weak coffee, had surrendered to a dignified…
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E-CLASS DREAMS
It was April 1984, and Earl Tisdale stood in the lot at Tumbleweed Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge, staring at what could only be described as Lee Iacocca’s latest act of desperation disguised as progress: a brand-new 1984 Chrysler E Class. Beige Crystal Coat. Not gold, not tan—beige. The kind of color that looked like it came pre-faded to…
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RED ROCKET IN REVERSE
It started the way most bad ideas in Fort Stockton do—at the Dairy Twin over a cold root beer float and a hotter-than-it-ought-to-be argument about nothing in particular. “You wouldn’t last ten seconds on it,” Lucinda said, folding her arms across her chest, the silver on her bolo catching the fluorescent light like judgment. Rusty…
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THREE INJURED INDIANS
A Triptych of Pontiac Misfortunes and the People Who Shouldn’t Have Owned Them I. The Accordion Chief 1962 Pontiac Catalina Back in 1962, a Pontiac Catalina was the kind of car that whispered class while still offering enough under-hood menace to blow the hair off your scalp. Marlin Dacus bought his brand new—triple black with…
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BLAST OFF
A Mission by Bobby and Hank Lawson, Aged 7 and 9 At exactly 09:02 Earth Standard Time, the launch sequence was initiated. The Retronaut-X Delta Firebird, a two-seat atmospheric-gravitational breacher, sat poised on Launchpad 3B (adjacent to the old cattle guard), steam pluming from its flarion vents. With auxiliary umbilicals detached and the secondary EGR…
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STRAIGHT SHOOTIN’ SATURDAY
Scott Williams combed his hair twice that morning—once for practice, the second time for luck. He didn’t know what the inside of a car dealership looked like, but he was sure it held the same weight as a courtroom or church sanctuary. It was where big decisions were made by men in ties and women…
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MA AND LIZZIE
It was 1920 when the Ford Model T rattled its way into Fort Stockton, the kind of car that looked more assembled than built. The black touring car wheezed over the gravel in front of the courthouse square like it was arriving for judgment—and in a way, it was. Riding up front, hands on the…
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THEY GROW UP SO FAST
By Way of Moral Collapse and Coin-Op Thrills It started the way most things do in Fort Stockton—quietly, under slightly questionable paperwork filed in Delaware, and followed by a weeklong delay in the arrival of a box of European fuses. The ride appeared one Wednesday morning in front of the Ben Franklin like it had…
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THE LAST CALL TO ROADRUNNER BASE
By Anonymous, though Lucinda swears she could name the author if you bought a slice of pie and had her keep the coffee coming. By the time the 1951 Packard Henney ambulance rolled into Fort Stockton, Texas, it had already lived more lives than a stray tomcat with charm. Originally commissioned by the U.S. Navy,…
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MAYOR GOODMAN’S GRAND ILLUSION
Fort Stockton, Texas | Late Spring, the kind where dirt clings to your socks and truth evaporates faster than rain on a tin roof. If you stood just right inside the old feed barn on County Road 214 and squinted past the LED string lights and “Welcome Investors!” banner, you might’ve believed the future had…