January 2, 1963: The Frances Hubbard Diaries: The First Car I Bought

January 2, 1963 Frances Marietta Hubbard Diaries

Wed Cloudy warm 8 above kids went back to school.  Clifton and Doug fixed water pipes over kitchen, they were still leaking a little.  I did a big wash and washed the windows; Tired out at night.  Read a nice long letter from Marilyn.  The boys went to Midd in P.M.  Gerald bought a car (Opel) for $87.50.

The 1954 Opel For $87.50

The dealer wanted a couple of hundred for it but the engine had what I thought was a knock and so was very leery of the car.  While David and I were taking it for a test drive, we ran into Donald Tompkins who was very savvy about cars and equipment.  He determined that the “knocking” was a bent push rod and could be fixed very easily.
 Donald helped me take the valve cover off the engine, pulled out the 8” push rod, hit it with a ball peen hammer a couple of times to straighten and reinstalled it.  Donald did the repair on the street in Middleburg with tools he carried in his truck. 
 The car ran perfectly. We took the car back to the dealer and  I dickered for awhile until we agreed upon $87.50 and I bought the car.
 I ran the car for about 3 years.  It was super in snow plowing through 8-10 inch snow drifts on Rt 30A  while driving to Gloversville to see Mary Ann .
We ended up dragging it over in the woods and junking it after I broke a rear axle somehow.  I loved that car