Home on leave from Army training in Virginia, I missed my family and of course my roadster that had been locked up in my little garage with the moose antlers nailed to the wall above the side window. Familiar surroundings meaning so much that I hadn’t realized before. There was some work to be done on the roadster before I could drive it, so changing into some old work clothes Dennis and I worked on into the evening. “When its done let’s take it for a ride.” Den said. “ Let’s get a milkshake at Mels, its Friday night and there might be some chicks and “sharp” cars there.

  There was always an excitement when the “Flathead” fired up and usually I let it run a little in the garage, resting my hand on the fins of the aluminum heads and feeling the warmth starting. But we couldn’t wait; so up the driveway and into the street ready for adventure. Impatiently stopped at the signal, finally a green light. I gave it a little too much throttle as the clutch engaged. There was a strange “bloop” noise and a bright yellow flame popped out of all three stromberg 97s. It lit up the intersection and the car next to me, who froze in place and refused to move until we were well away from him.    { those crazy hot rod punks)   It would only do that when the engine was cold.

Oh it was fun; and on a dark night......spectacular ! Cruising past the Grand Lake theater, heads would turn as we drove by. Mels drive in was jumping, cars were doubled up, the waitresses rushed like they were at a track meet. No place to park, The manager seemed stressed as he tried to keep it orderly. Someone called my name. It was my sis with a car full of girls, Oh this is great! Got to meet them. The manager came over to my car and told me I had to leave, there wasn’t any room, he ordered me off the property. Maybe a trip around the block might work, so I started out the driveway just as a chopped top 32 sedan entered. It was Chuck Booth, I knew him, just then Chuck revved his engine and burned a patch on the parking lot. Guess that’s his way of saying hello. Smiling, I thought its a good thing I’m leaving, don’t want to get blamed for that. There’s another drive-in a few blocks away, we’ll go there for our milkshake. We had just given our order to the waitress when a police car drove up. The officer swaggered over; looking down at my engine with a sneer on his face. “You boys just come from Mels?” Well yeah, they were too crowded I said. “The manager said you were causing a disturbance and burning rubber on the property.” Oh no that wasn’t me! When he asked to see my license, thats when I realized I had left it in my other pants.

Almost hopelessly I tried to explain that we had been working on the car and left the license at home; and that I was on leave from the army; that it was another car that caused the problem. Somehow the officer believed me and he gave me a break.

“Take this car home and I don’t want to see it again tonight.” Yes sir, and thank-you.

We chose to take the long way home and driving around the south end of lake Merritt to Lakeshore Blvd. we pulled beside a sedan with a couple chicks. An opportunity to flirt with some girls at least! Running along in second gear, hoping to impress them with a real hot-rod, but I think we were scaring them instead. As we passed a parked car, I caught a glimpse of black and white. Oh my God its a police cruiser! Panic took over, here we were in another brush with the law and it probably looked like we were racing! The pedal hit the metal. I looked in the mirror just in time to see the cruisers lights come on...... and he wanted me! There’s a beautiful sound when the air flows through the venturi’s as three carburetors go wide open. Winding up the flathead in second gear, shifting to high, we put some distance between us, but up ahead were signals and traffic. Over my shoulder, a quick look......... Oh yes, he’s coming! Dennis is yelling at me; “ Don’t let him catch us, don’t let him catch us!” I thought, what’s he worried about? I’m the one they want. Right hand turn and up a short hill, (don’t lose it) and then a flying left. We felt weightless for a moment, and then the engine snarled and the 750-15s bit into the blacktop to rocket us in a straight line down the street. At about that point the adrenaline was kicking in and I panicked. My only thought was to hide! hide! And then I saw it; a driveway between two apartment buildings, straight ahead.

The driveway appeared ( in my mind ) to be a dark cave, a place to hide. Cutting the lights and ignition, we coasted down the driveway silently, and at the end, turned right into the clotheslines! The sheets and pillowcases draped over us, our hearts beating loudly, waiting to hear the cruiser go by....... or find us. But we heard nothing, could it be that he is waiting for us to re-appear ? Did he give up? Its the unknown that torments you. The adrenaline wore off and now we were shivering from the cold. At last we had enough nerve to sneak out of there and make our way home. I backed down the long driveway into the garage, switched off the ignition and then stood next to the engine warming my hands, feeling drained of energy. But we are safe now back in our little nest with the moose antlers over the window somehow comforting.