Doug and I were in a group that felt a little special then and still does today, that “hung out” at the Up-Town Drive-In. (I even worked there for a few weeks one summer.)

We did not actually know each other, until a party at “Buds Pad”. I was going out with one of

Doug’s friends, he introduced us and it wasn’t long before he told me, Doug was not available. He was just having some troubles with his longtime sweetheart. Mainly, it seens her parents had higher expectations for their daughter than just some “car guy”.

As I subtly tried to distract him I quickly learned that he and his car, a ’51 Chevy with a ’56 Olds engine, were sort of local celebrities (think Milner) as obscure strangers would come into the Up-Town from all over the Willamette Valley looking for a run at “Sludge”, the local illegal drag strip.

This “car stuff” was rather disruptive to the normal dating ritual, but I thought it was just some youthful phase!! As little as this interested me I could not help but acquire the knowledge that Doug had owned his fair share of every “Hot Car” in town.  Part of the reasoning for all this selling and trading was so the local cops would not be sure of what Doug was driving.

Starting in 1956, through High School:

1st     ’39 Ford Deluxe, paid $100 with money from his paper route

2nd    ’50 Mercury Coupe (because it had a back seat)

3rd     ’50 Ford 2 door sedan

4th     ’51 Mercury 2 door coupe

5th     ’50 Ford 2 door sedan, installed a ’51 Olds engine, sold it to pay the repair bill for his        parents car he had wrecked

6th      ’47 Chevy 2 door coupe, traded a stereo for this car

7th       Bought the ’47 Chevy back

8th      ’51 Chevy 2 door Fleetline, Installed a ’56 Olds engine and drive train. This car got more tickets than all the others. In 1968 Doug sold it to a wrecking yard for $50. No market for the car in ‘60’s, Ouch!!

So meanwhile, after making what seemed to be a bit of progress as a “couple”, the old Flame is not ready to give it up just yet so some high drama unfolds! Doug’s glove box is stuffed full of unpaid and overdue tickets (his parents are furious) his drivers license has been suspended, he has women problems, he feels a wise move would be to get out of town!

The U.S. Army assures him he will be stationed in Hawaii and, with no hesitation or apologies, promptly sends him to Fairbanks, Alaska, on a “Special Forces Unit” called the  “Polar Bears” as a tank mechanic.

Doug was still buying cars in Alaska:

9th      ’51 Chevy 2 door coupe (purchased with some of his loan sharking funds)

10th    ’53 Ford 2 door coupe

11th     ’56 Pontiac 4 door (drove this one from Fairbanks down the Alcan Highway)

Finally the reward and Grand Finale to three years of freezing to death was Fort Baker and the Presidio, where he called me from one day and asked if I would like to live in California!

12th    Traded the Pontiac for ’56 Chevy 2 door Hardtop Bel Air (and I was making payments on it!)

13th       ’56 Mercury 2 door Hardtop Montclair purchased while at Presidio

14th    ’58 Pontiac 2 door Tri Power Hardtop Boneville (It was turquoise with enough chrome to almost blind you). Sold for $800 in 1965. Ouch!

So here we are in an apartment in San Rafael (probably at some sort of poverty level) and Doug is about to embark on a career move that will forever change our lives. Then Alas!! Studebaker is going out of business. The lure of an Avanti in the showroom window on Francisco Blvd. (selling at cost) has to be passed over for a thrifty, sensible car due a young insurance agent. He said he would get one some day. So for all the lost years he bought five to make up for it.

This, no surprise, led to the Avanti Club, but our good fortune was one incredibly hot day at a St Mary’s car show. We met some CHVA MEMBERS. The rest is history, many of you know, since we have been making memories together.

Before Doug and I got married (I guess I left that part out) I was Charlene Wymore. I mention this because one of the ladies in our club may or may not be a distant cousin. (It would be fine with me, I like her a lot!) A past profile holds the clue.

At present we have 2 daughters, 4 Avantis (garage space for 2). I moved these and 2 daily drivers around in 1991 on the day of the Oakland fire (another story). Doug is now a much established insurance broker and financial planner.

I gave up my awe-inspiring short career as “Ta-Da” a hairdresser when we got married and moved to California. I decided by this time I was going to have to look for a job where I could sit in a chair! I found my chair at a title company in Oakland with some great and special people.

We used to move every year or two. After our return from Dallas, Texas. in 1978, one evening at dinner, when our girls were in grade school, they asked “when are we going to move again?”

We are still here, but growing restless.

                                                                                                Charlene Greene

A Bit of American Graffiti Salem, Oregon Late 50’s

Published in AAN September-October, 2005