Something lost

I just wrote an article for Mustang Times about the experiences of three young men on April 17, 1964, the day the car went public. Talking with them, among others, has introduced me to a great "new car" tradition that died out long ago.

I'll let one of the people I interviewed tell you about it. His name is Donnie McInnis, and he's from Enterprise, Alabama. He's got a voice like warm peanut butter and is a much better story-teller than I am.

"As a young boy, and as early as I can remember," he told me, "my father and I made it our tradition to visit all the Enterprise car dealers' showrooms in September of every year to preview, look at, criticize and dream about the new cars that were being presented."

Enterprise is not what you'd call a big city. "All" the showrooms means three.

"All the car dealers did that back then, every September, and it was a very big thing," McInnis said. "It brought families together, and the salesmen and dealers were more interested in entertaining you rather than just getting your money.

"There was free hot dogs, Cokes and music, and the new models were covered with a bed sheet or a canvas," he said, "and it was exciting to be there to see that cover pulled off, usually about 4 p.m. on a Friday."

In McInnis's case, this wasn't just about the cars. It was about his dad, Daniel, a diesel and truck mechanic, and time shared.

"We always made it a point to do some things together," McInnis said. "He and I, even though we've got a pond out here that my dad built, we didn't fish much together. I don't know, I guess we were just too impatient to fish. And we hunted some when I was young, but not much. But there's one thing we did have a lot in common, and that was with cars and machinery. We could get together on that."

Predictably enough, on the 17th of April, when the Mustang was unveiled, McInnis and his father made their way to Disnukes Ford for a hot dog, a Coke and a look-see.

"Before we even walked in the door," McInnis said, "I could see people standing around something, and that's what they were standing around, that Mustang."

"That Mustang" was one of two in the showroom: a sky-blue convertible with a V8 289 that stole his heart on the spot.

"At that time," McInnis said, "we were used to a lot of chrome and a lot of shine, and a lot of just, um, girth. Just a lot of sparkle. . . . My first impression of the Mustang was, this car's different."

It was low and lean, he said, without a lot of chrome -- just enough. As McInnis remembers it, he couldn't stop touching the car. In its own way, his father's reaction was equally direct.

"It ain't got no trunk," he said. "But I'd still love to drive that thing."

McInnis has owned several Mustangs over the years, but the memory of that first convertible never faded. A few years back, he found and bought one just like it.

A picture of it accompanies this post. It's a beauty. Just makes you want to touch it, doesn't it?