Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 (Not wanting to hijack Joe's "Plymouth" thread...) I once had a '54 white-on-pale blue 4-door Plymouth Belvedere. Gave a fella at work $20 for it. It had been his grandmothers; he inherited it, then drove it for 40,000 miles and never changed the oil. There was a drop on the end of the dipstick that had the consistency of chicle ~ you couldn't even shake it off. Gary had named the car "Super Slug." it stuck. Other than a constant wrist-pin knock in the flat-head six, it ran well. Not fast, but well. With two seats the size of sofas it was comfortable and the perfect car for drive-in movies. Indeed, we'd sometimes cram seven or eight frat bros into the thing and trundle on up to the local "smorgy" - they absolutely hated to see us come! One of the fellas - Louis "Lovus" Quint - a strapping football player, was actually invited to never return... they lost a bundle every time the fed the lad. Well, the beast had a two-speed R-N-D-L automatic transmission. No "P for Park." And it had a tube-type Wonderbar radio that actually worked! However, it did have one odd feature. Occasionally, and usually with no advance notice, it would decide it wanted to go fast and would drop the butterfly valve from the carburetor down into the intake manifold. Off we'd go! One evening a bunch of us were aboard, headed - of course - to pig out at Z's Buffet, on Geary. I was in the back seat, and John "JJ" Jarvis was driving. At some point I realized that we were noticeably accelerating uphill on Stanyan. I glanced at JJ, who was making some odd "Eep Eeeep!" noises. "Hey, John!" I said. "Ya might wanna slow down a mite..." "I'm trying, man! I'm TRYING! She's on AUTOPILOT!" I leaned over the seat back and saw that he not only did not have a foot on the accelerator, but that both of his clompers were firmly planted on the brake pedal and his butt was off the seat, and he was trying his mightiest to slow the Slug. "No problem, John! Just turn off the motor and aim for the roadside. There's a clear stretch coming up - you can just ricochet off the curb a few times and bring 'er to a stop!" He did, and after we stopped I got out, opened the hood, removed the air cleaner and fished the butterfly valve outta the manifold. I re-attached it and secured it with another piece of emergency baling wire, and we were on our way. Total pit-stop was under five minutes. I do wish I still had the ol' Slug. Alas, one afternoon as I was retrieving something from the glove compartment, some hippie wandered by and stopped to admire the vehicle. As he was singing the praises of the 1954 Plymouth (I guess his grandma had owned one too!) I realized that among the papers I had fetched from the car was the pink slip. I casually pulled a pen from my pocket and signed the form. "Here ya go, Man! Have fun with it!" I said as I handed the title to the astonished and now speechless longhair. I walked away, climbed into my new-to-me 1964-1/2 Mustang and drove off. I never saw the ol' Slug again. Boy, what I wouldn't give to have 'er back. (Not mine, but one like it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795 Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 I'm surprised it wasn't fogging for mosquitos after not having the oil changed for a long time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 Great story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 3 hours ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said: Well, the beast had a two-speed R-N-D-L automatic transmission. No "P for Park." And it had a tube-type Wonderbar radio that actually worked! What! No Pernundel? (I still remember that line from Eva Gabor in "Green Acres".) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 5 hours ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said: (Not wanting to hijack Joe's "Plymouth" thread...) I once had a '54 white-on-pale blue 4-door Plymouth Belvedere. Gave a fella at work $20 for it. It had been his grandmothers; he inherited it, then drove it for 40,000 miles and never changed the oil. There was a drop on the end of the dipstick that had the consistency of chicle ~ you couldn't even shake it off. Gary had named the car "Super Slug." it stuck. Other than a constant wrist-pin knock in the flat-head six, it ran well. Not fast, but well. With two seats the size of sofas it was comfortable and the perfect car for drive-in movies. Indeed, we'd sometimes cram seven or eight frat bros into the thing and trundle on up to the local "smorgy" - they absolutely hated to see us come! One of the fellas - Louis "Lovus" Quint - a strapping football player, was actually invited to never return... they lost a bundle every time the fed the lad. Well, the beast had a two-speed R-N-D-L automatic transmission. No "P for Park." And it had a tube-type Wonderbar radio that actually worked! However, it did have one odd feature. Occasionally, and usually with no advance notice, it would decide it wanted to go fast and would drop the butterfly valve from the carburetor down into the intake manifold. Off we'd go! One evening a bunch of us were aboard, headed - of course - to pig out at Z's Buffet, on Geary. I was in the back seat, and John "JJ" Jarvis was driving. At some point I realized that we were noticeably accelerating uphill on Stanyan. I glanced at JJ, who was making some odd "Eep Eeeep!" noises. "Hey, John!" I said. "Ya might wanna slow down a mite..." "I'm trying, man! I'm TRYING! She's on AUTOPILOT!" I leaned over the seat back and saw that he not only did not have a foot on the accelerator, but that both of his clompers were firmly planted on the brake pedal and his butt was off the seat, and he was trying his mightiest to slow the Slug. "No problem, John! Just turn off the motor and aim for the roadside. There's a clear stretch coming up - you can just ricochet off the curb a few times and bring 'er to a stop!" He did, and after we stopped I got out, opened the hood, removed the air cleaner and fished the butterfly valve outta the manifold. I re-attached it and secured it with another piece of emergency baling wire, and we were on our way. Total pit-stop was under five minutes. I do wish I still had the ol' Slug. Alas, one afternoon as I was retrieving something from the glove compartment, some hippie wandered by and stopped to admire the vehicle. As he was singing the praises of the 1954 Plymouth (I guess his grandma had owned one too!) I realized that among the papers I had fetched from the car was the pink slip. I casually pulled a pen from my pocket and signed the form. "Here ya go, Man! Have fun with it!" I said as I handed the title to the astonished and now speechless longhair. I walked away, climbed into my new-to-me 1964-1/2 Mustang and drove off. I never saw the ol' Slug again. Boy, what I wouldn't give to have 'er back. (Not mine, but one like it) I had a '54 Dodge Royal 2 door hard top the same color as your Plymouth, and I'd bet that under the skin they were nearly twins. Mine had a Red Ram V-8 and with some parts from J C Whitney, Moon, and others it was great performer except for the original wind up automatic transmission. A frat brother helped me cure that when we swapped a '56 Dodge three speed stick in it and we put two barrel carb on top. I'd buy another one in a second I I could find it, but since I sold mine to buy a '60 MGA I have never seen another one. (Same thing for a '70 1/2 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 5 minutes ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said: I had a '54 Dodge Royal 2 door hard top the same color as your Plymouth, and I'd bet that under the skin they were nearly twins. Mine had a Red Ram V-8 and with some parts from J C Whitney, Moon, and others it was great performer except for the original wind up automatic transmission. A frat brother helped me cure that when we swapped a '56 Dodge three speed stick in it and we put two barrel carb on top. I'd buy another one in a second I I could find it, but since I sold mine to buy a '60 MGA I have never seen another one. (Same thing for a '70 1/2 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400.) Shux... I'd love to have a '60 MGA~!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 10 minutes ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said: Shux... I'd love to have a '60 MGA~!! I've had three MGAs, a 1500, a 1500 Twin Cam, (faster than scat, but a PITA to keep it running right), and a 1600. That's what got me out of American pig iron and into racing sports cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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