Ye Olde Oldsmobile

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A post from Jo Ann about her car stories stirred up memories of an old Oldsmobile I used to have. If a car could be haunted, I think it was... or a sprite enjoyed playing games with it. To begin with, the transmission would only work in reverse when it got warmed up. Otherwise, that part was fine. I found myself behind a stalled car at a stop light and instead of being able to go around like everyone else, I had to wait until they removed the car. I got some strange looks. One day, leaving town, the engine started acting up, cutting out and barely running. I stopped and called my mechanic (I had a mechanic like people today have doctors). He came out, looked at the rotor and discovered water in the points. Where it came from, I had no idea. It never happened again. It didn't like certain people driving it and would kick up a fuss by overheating or the brakes going soft. It never happened with me, but I never had trouble with my brothers wanting to borrow it. One evening I came home, parked the car in front of the house and went to bed. When I started to work the next morning, the front wheels would not turn. I had to make a turn to get back on the road, but it just wasn't happening. We discovered that snow had apparently melted inside the wheels somewhere, then frozen when I parked the car. Daddy sloshed hot water against them while I drove carefully back and forth until they released. There were many other things that happened to and with that car, like leaking oil until I took it to the mechanic, then it magically stopped, the driver's door falling open for no reason whatsoever - one time only. Everyone was in awe of that car. When it finally got to be too much to drive with all that happening, I bought another one and sold it to a friend of my brothers. He stripped it and made a full size... whatever it was. A go cart? A sand buggy? The engine ran well over 300,000 miles the last I knew.