In 1961, Dad was ordered to Albuquerque, New Mexico. He decided it was time for a new car, so before leaving Germany, he sold the Ford which he'd had for six years to another GI. In late August, 1961, we departed Germany aboard a commercial airliner and, after a refueling stop at Shannon, Ireland, landed at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. The next day, we were on a train headed for Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the American Motors Company factory there.
Dad had ordered a 1961 Rambler station wagon from the factory before we left Germany. The plan was to pick it up at the factory and drive on to Kansas City for a family visit, then on to our new home in Albuquerque.
Rambler Station Wagon built by American Motors Co. Pictured is a 1962 model, virtually identical to our 1961 model.
Kenosha turned out to be remarkably picturesque for an industrial town. It is on the western shore of Lake Michigan--which I had never seen until then. In Kenosha, we were given a tour of one of the town's two American Motors assembly plants--quite a thrill for me and my next younger brother. I don't think my four year old sister and youngest (3 years old) brother were quite as impressed. In fact, my sister said recently that she had no recollection of the factory trip at all!
The car wasn't ready until the next day. Nobody in the family had ever had a brand new car. This one was custom-built to my dad's preferences. The Rambler was blue with a white top. There was a luggage rack of sorts on top. The cargo area in back converted into another seat which faced to the rear--another thrill for me and my brother! There were no seat belts. The car had a "push-button" three-speed automatic transmission and whitewall tires.
As soon as the car was ready, Dad picked it up and brought back to the motel for loading. We headed south out of America's Dairyland (as it said on our Wisconsin license plates). Our route would take us through Chicago, then southwest on U.S. Route 66 to Springfield, Illinois. This was the first of many times the Rambler would travel Route 66, either east to Missouri or west to California. We'd then depart Route 66 and head west to Kansas City.
Rainfall track of Hurricane Carla,September 1961. Click to enlarge.
We hadn't gotten very far past Chicago when a terrific rain began. Between Chicago and Springfield, the rain continued to get heavier. Before we got to Springfield, the Illinois State Police had stopped all traffic on the highway. It was too dangerous to go on. We were caught in the north-bound remnants of Hurricane Carla, one of two Category 5 storms during 1961, and at the time, the strongest storm on record in the Atlantic basin. We found a motel (no problem this time) to wait out the storm.
A day later, it was still raining, but the highway authorities had deemed the roads safe. The Rambler faced its first test and got us to Kansas City safely. After a few days with my mother's family, we headed on to Albuquerque, eventually back on to Route 66.
We kept that Rambler for eight years. During that time we took it on two trips to California and two trips to Kansas City. On the California trips along Route 66, gasoline would jump to 40 cents a gallon soon after we crossed into Arizona. "Highway robbery!" Dad would exclaim. "There ought to be a law!"
On the California trips in 1966 and 1967, we also took a new passenger: our Siamese-Persian feline, Topcat. He had the cargo area almost to himself, since his litter box was in one corner and his food and water in the other corner. That meant four kids in the back seat and lots of luggage on the roof.
I don't recall any major trouble with the Rambler until one afternoon in the summer of 1969 while Dad was in Vietnam. Mom had all four of us in the car and was backing out of the driveway when suddenly the right side of the car collapsed. Mom ordered us all out and I examined the car. The right front wheel was laying on its side about three feet away from the car. I couldn't really tell what had happened. We were on our way to someplace we really had to be, so Mom enlisted the neighbors to take us. I also don't recall what she did to get the car fixed. It turned out that the front axle had cracked (how? I don't know!) in two places.
When Dad returned from Vietnam a few months later, it was the end of the line for the 1961 Rambler. It was replaced by a brand new 1969 Ford Torino Squire station wagon. I was actually sad to see the Rambler go. We'd had a lot of good times and memories in that car.
The demise of the Rambler coincided with the end of our time in the Land of Enchantment. As soon as the Ford station wagon was delivered, we packed and headed for life's new adventures in California.
The Rambler's replacement: Ford's Torino Squire station wagon.
Pictured is a 1968 model, essentially similar to our light-blue, wood-paneled 1969 model.
