I have been a Chevy man from about age eleven, I remain a Chevy man in my heart and of the 50 or so cars I have owned in my life, 10 or 12 were Chevrolet. I then discovered VW's when in Junior college and have since owned 10 or so. A human heart stays with a first love till it dies.
I was collecting for my paper route one humid summer night in the 50's. (so long ago that mercury dimes were still plentiful in pocket change and worth what a dollar is today) It was hot even after dark had fallen and I had come full circle of my route and was just about to head home. A White 56 Ford 2-door coupe came squealing around the corner of 6th Ave. North and North 12th Street. A white 57 Chevy hot on his heels pulled around him burning rubber and did a broadslide in front of him blocking the way. The kid in the Ford skittered to stop just short of the Chevy and he jumped out running down 12th street. He was a "hood", I could tell from his hair and leather jacket. He was no Fonz, he was a short little guy he took to his heels so fast the three guys in the Chevy, also hoods did not bother to chase him. Instead they just Yelled after him, "I'll teach you to throw rocks at a Chevy." They then began to break all the Fords headlights, taillights and windows. I got on my bike to the sound of breaking glass and peddled down 12th street. I caught up to the little hood in front of the high school and I asked he if he wanted me to call the Police. He was out of breath, but managed to say "Yes" but very quickly said "No No No!"
I have been a Chevy man ever since and do not ever throw rocks at cars.
The last Chevy I owned looked a lot like the above truck with out all the advertising. It had huge engine and could tow about anything , didn't seem to have a top end that I cared to find out about. At the apex of gas prices it cost nearly a hundred dollars to fill up. I could drive it to work about a week and would have to fill it again. By contrast, my car could get me back and forth to work twenty five times, or a month and only cost only forty dollars to fill. Needless to say I did not use this truck very often and finally traded it off after having it three years. The check engine light was on the entire time I owned this truck. The local Chevy garage told me that the code came back to the ABS and they would fix it for five hundred dollars. The ABS was obviously working so I declined the offer. I did do one rear brake job, replaced the instrument cluster as the gas gage worked only on rare occasions and the gear indicator did not work at all. Sometimes the entire cluster just went blank for long periods. I had it replaced with a cluster from a junkyard and it still cost hundreds. I replaced the alternator for three hundred or so. This truck was an electronic cripple. General Motors just had not been able to figure out the electrics. In short it was an extremely tough and comfortable gas hog, but turned out to be an electronic "tard".
I have driven 3 Toyota trucks over two hundred grand and never even knew they had a check engine light. I sold or traded the three Toyota trucks with little more than brake and muffler jobs.
I do hate to end up throwing rocks at Chevy, but there is good reason why General Motors Stock is trading for 60 cents as I write.
I sure do long for my first love again, my personal favorite is the 56 two door coupe white over blue.
*This is also the first crime I ever witnessed.
