STORIES
If our lives are a book, the cars we drive define the chapters.
These are stories featuring cars, trucks, and even RVs that played a role in the lives of the people who owned or drove them. Many are set in Fort Stockton, Texas and involve a cast of characters in and around the dusty southwest Texas town. A lot of the stories are shared around the table at The Grounds for Divorce, where the ‘regulars’ meet.
Pull up a chair and let Lucinda pour you a hot cuppa joe and enjoy.
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FROM THE BACK OF THE BERMUDA, 3/2/2025
It was sunny and 72 degrees. The big blue Texas sky stretched out as far as the eye could see in every direction. One of those mornings that makes a man fill his mug up with steaming hot Folgers and wander out to the garage and listen carefully to the sound of a 1960 Ford Fairlane 500…
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THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION
DATELINE: DEARBORN, 1960: “Boys, the imports are killing us. We thought they’d go away, but they just keep coming. We gotta have something to compete against ‘em. Small, but American. Cheap to buy, cheaper to build. Come up with something quick to stem the tide.” The Boss looked worried. “We got it Boss. It’s plain. …
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UNICORN WITH SKEGS
Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit. This has got to be a unicorn, if ever there was one. I clicked on the listing just to observe the unadulterated greatness of the over-the-top Kennedy-era styling GM saw fit to lavish on The New Frontier. It’s as if Bill Mitchell slammed the door behind…
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THE INVASION
Best anyone can recall, although memories are fuzzy at this point admittedly, it was Mrs. Leander who was the first one to note the strange goings on with trucks coming into Fort Stockton. She was driving her 1953 Cadillac Series Sixty Special Sedan, coming back from visiting her older sister in Marfa. She got so annoyed…
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ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS
There’s an ongoing argument around the big round table at the Grounds for Divorce. It’s not the one involving putting a Chevrolet short block in a Ford, or even changing the original factory color when doing a full restoration. It’s the argument of hard work versus dumb luck, and which is more prevalent. Of course, those of…
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CELEBRATION OF LIFE
All in all, 1964 was a tough year for Fort Stockton. Folks were still getting over the shock of Kennedy getting killed, right here on Texas soil, followed by Oswald being taken out on live TV right in front of their very eyes. “That was a hit. No two ways about it,” some said over at…
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THE WORKING MAN
I received an email from Old Cars Weekly that featured a 1960 Plymouth Savoy sedan, a low mileage survivor. Of course, owning a 1960 ‘Big Three’ sedan of my own, I went straight to that article and consumed the specifics with interest, particularly the detailed pictures. The video was great, and I’ve posted a link for it…
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MOVIE REVIEW: North by Northwest
I’m Jimmy Don Ventura, official film critic for the CMC blog. Welcome to the very first review. As the Captain pointed out in yesterday’s post, I’ll be bringing to you movie reviews based on the prominence of well placed classic automobiles and the effect they have on the overall movie. I’ll be delving into the backstory, where…
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THE CAPTAIN GOES HOLLYWOOD
In a major development, the Captain My Captain blog has partnered with the biggest movie critic here in Fort Stockton to offer a new feature for regular readers (not that many of you would define yourself as ‘regular’). We will begin offering movie reviews of current and past films (mostly past) based solely on the…