The Lucky One

Car enthusiasts all over the world share a universal love of cars, and we all have those we aspire to own, and those we admire from afar with no chance of ever driving. Many of us are lucky enough to have a car we love, at least once in our lifetime. Some of us get to own several of our favorites over the years. A few of us are blessed to enjoy many cool cars for much of our life. We are the lucky ones.
I have always admired high performance cars, and had the privilege of owning and enjoying many for the last 50 years. At least 17 of which have been Ford Mustangs, including two Mustang Cobras and a Shelby GT 500.
A recent comment by one of my car friends on Twitter made me stop and think. The comment; "you are a lucky man" about one of my posts, with a photo of two of my former Mustangs, made me think about how lucky I have been through out my life. Not just my cars, but with my wife and family as well. I am "The lucky One", and I am very thankful for that.
For more of my story, check out my book at: "Grab Some Gears"     You can also follow me on Twitter at: "Cobra3dD"

Me with my 2007 Shelby GT 500 Mustang, back in the day.

First Driving Experience

In the fall of 1954, I went with my grand father in his jeep pickup to check on the cattle a couple miles away from the house on our farm/ranch in southwestern South Dakota. As we were leaving the pasture, we got stuck in some mud as we were crossing a field about a mile from the farm house. We walked back to the farm to get a tractor and chain. Nobody else was home at the time, so he took me back in the tractor to pull the jeep out of the mud. He hooked up the chain to the jeep, and stood me on the seat to steer it straight as he pulled it out. Granddad got back on the tractor and slowly pulled the pickup out of the mud.
He was impressed enough with my performance that he asked me if I thought I could do that all the way back home. I said I thought I could, so he agreed we could give it a try. I stood back up on the seat of the jeep, he got back on the tractor, and we were off. It must have taken us at least a half hour to get back to the house at the slow speed we were traveling, but I did just fine. Granddad was happy, and relayed the story to Mom and Dad when they got home later that afternoon.
Mom got out the camera and took a picture of me in the jeep to remember the event, (the photo you see below). That story was retold many times for years. That was my first driving experience, and I was 4 years old at the time.

That's me in Granddad's jeep pickup in 1954.