I CAN’T DRIVE 55 –
A Love Affair with My Monte Carlo©
My first car: a 1971 Chevy Monte Carlo. A 350 4-barrel dual exhaust blue beauty that could do zero to sixty in 4.4 seconds. Always washed and waxed, the wheels shined and its black hard-top glistened. The neighborhood cop dubbed me “the Blue Streak.” He told me once that he could always hear me coming (who couldn’t?) but just as he’d look up, he’d catch only a glimpse of sky-blue as I sped past and never quite managed to come to a complete stop for the stop sign at the end of his street.
120-watt Jensen speakers blasted shades of Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult. Iconic tunes blended with the haze of purple microdot, orange sunshine or the rainbow-color blotter of the day, accented of course by the sweet aroma of Colombian Gold.
A pack of EZ Widers rolling papers was always strategically wedged under the 8-track cartridge. It was the burnouts’ solution to control the ‘waah-waah’ drag of overplayed warped tape. And how we listened to those tracks over and over and over at ear-splitting decibels.
Nestled in the crook of the ashtray would be my favorite head-shop find: the Jimmy Carter roach clip. Our political declarations – or lack of them – spoke volumes as we passed around “Mr. Jimmy,” as he fondly became known… that presidential roach clip with a handily crafted resin peanut on the end, liberally carved into it those famous Jimmy Carter lips and his toothy grin.
“Mr. Jimmy” – my Jimmy Carter roach clip
With carefree spirits we’d cruise to various neighborhoods, making the rounds to support our friends and their garage bands.
We’d bar-hop nightly, jumping across county lines to catch the latest last-call, and hopefully most of the final set of some band we favored. We’d always make a final stop for breakfast at Sambo’s or Denny’s or some off the wall 24-hour diner before eventually rolling home at dawn.
The summer days were spent moving from party to party at Oppenheim Park: sitting atop weathered picnic tables, passing joints and 
sharing bottles of Mad Dog 20/20 
(how ever did we drink that stuff??) while cases of Labatt’s Blue and six-packs of Miller ponies sat icing in the back of someone’s van.
We’d pass the cold months sitting parked in some dark lot, bundled up and huddled, with the Chevy’s heat blasting to assuage the bitter sub-zero temperatures of Buffalo winters. We’d trip and we’d smoke and we’d drink while we laughed and played and flirted and philosophized, listening to tracks of The Guess Who, Van Halen, AC/DC and Aerosmith.
And on those rare days when I wanted to be alone, my Monte Carlo satisfied my introspection. She and I would take to the wide open highway, barreling along aimlessly. Or we’d wind through back country roads, a joint in hand 
and a chilled bottle of wine tucked in between me and the seat, usually not knowing quite where we’d end up…just content to be rolling along.
Those seasons…well, they turned into years, and the years turned into decades and now my Monte Carlo is long gone. But that car lives on forever in my heart. She was an extension of me, part of my identity really, somehow inextricably linked to my very soul.
No doubt when friends look back on days gone by and happen to think of me, my Monte Carlo will surely spring to mind as well because, after all, she was so much a part of me. Lord, how I miss that car!
Tell me about your first car: Did you love it? Hate it? What memories does it hold for you? Tell me your car story in the comment section below.
Copyright © 2014 Michele Truhlik. All Rights Reserved.