Friday, January 8, 2010

Snow driving

I'm going to let some people know how old I am. No, I'm not older than fire like XO, but I'm getting up there.

I learned to drive in snow way back in 1984 using a car just like this:


That is a 1969 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. It had a 472 cubic inch engine, rear wheel drive, and a solid rear axle. It weighed in at ~4600lbs with no posi-traction system. This car was a beast. We also never put an extra weight in the back of this car.

Using only this car and my father's instructions, I managed to navigate our un-plowed, un-salted, un-sanded dirt roads when they snow-packed and iced up in the winter. I learned exactly how to take a hill that had turned into an ice sheet and just putt-putt my way up it with no slipping or spinning using only the all-weather tires that we had put on the car.

So when I see the local drivers packed with fear using their front-wheel-drive ABS-equipped cars to drive down a relatively clear freeway I must scoff.

Dear SUV driver going 5mph on a clear street and dear wanna-be redneck with the large wheels who's now in the ditch.

It's not my fault you suck!


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That is a beautiful car.
I honed my skills in a 1975 mercury marquis station wagon & then moved up(?) to a 1963 mercury comet. one had great power, the other couldn't pass a bicycle on a small hill.
however, since Knob High NEVER F%@*ing closed, we had to learn to drive in the damn snow.

Brian