More About CARS!

My dad was born in 1891. He homesteaded 1/4 mile west of the VanHorn place south of Haigler in Kansas. I think it was called "The Steinhaggen Place" after the former owners. I am not sure how accurate I am.

My dad remembered the first fist fight in Haigler when a car would not yield to a horse and buggy.

Dad had an old REO, I think, in the garage in Haigler. He later sold it to Fritz Zuege.

Men always seemed to be fascinated by anything that had wheels and a motor. The OOOGA!!OOOGA!! horn was the horn to attract anybody's attention in them days, and the headlights sure needed improvement!

One of my cars had a whistle siren that I purchased from the J.C. Whitney catalogue. I hooked it up to the manifold to create a vacuum when a wire was pulled by the dash next to the steering column. (a girl whistle)

I remember Elmer Wilkening from south of town had a cut-out on his muffler. To operate, you had to pull this little lever near the floor boards to bypass the muffler -- indeed, it did sound like a big tractor!

I wish I had the ability to have my old cars back for the reminiscing of the '39 Plymouth coupe I bought from Art Klinzman for $10.00 and the '39 Ford Sedan I bought from Trembly's (all black with lots of chrome)

I had a '42 Pontiac straight 8, bought a used motor for $10.00 and installed it in this car. Then a 1948 Pontiac formerly owned by Biers out south of town. Then I bought this 1951 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 -- nice shiny dark blue. Then a 1958 Chevrolet 348 cu. in tri-power - all white.

The ultimate car that I ever owned was this 1976 Cadillac Coupe De Ville with a 520 cu. in. engine. You could land a Boeing 747 on the hood of that car!!! or it looked that way!!

One of the Workman boys from south of town had this Henry J, and he put a big engine in that car. The back end always wanted to beat the front end around in the direction of travel. TOO powerful, indeed!!

The stock car races were held in Benkelman at the Fair Grounds. What a blast it was for entertainment to watch the crash of the day!

What would we men be like if we didn't have powerful sooped-up cars for horsepower?!! heh!!

Now, look at the cars we drive today. We pay more for them than we paid for our first house!

I'm sure we all remember our very first car! Too many stories to tell about cars.

Anybody remember the purple tail-lights until they were outlawed? Yes!! I remember the Studebakers, Kaisers, Frazers, they were neat looking cars.

To this day, I have never wrecked or collided a car. Came close a few times, but never wrecked one!. Maybe I drove a wreck!! Ha!

-- SUBMITTED BY DALLAS ADAMS