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MOTORING NEWS - Earlier this year, one of Facebook's many hypes, the so-called 10 Year Challenge, had social media users scrounging for then and now photographs of themselves.
My search offered two wedding photographs. This is however not a lament about love lost, but an ode to my mother's unrequited love for vintage cars.
As loyal as my father, her partner of 57 years, was to her, indulging her right-brained flights of fantasy almost drove the old man to drink - twice.
The Dodge
Shortly after getting engaged in the year 2000, I spotted a 1946 Dodge. Strolling down the main street of Parys on a cold winter's morning, looking for a hot breakfast, there it was. A massive black car, in pristine condition with R17 000 unceremoniously written across the windscreen in white shoeshine.
"I found it," was all I said. The very next day, mother dearest with my unwilling father in tow, was in full pursuit of a lifelong dream.
The deal was done and dusted before sunset on the same day. Story behind the story is that the original owner brought the Dodge as his first set of wheels. He loved it so much that he couldn't bear to part with it. When he died well into his 90s, it went to his only son who had only one intention: getting rid of the hearse-like vehicle - pronto!
The Dodge was set to be used for special events. Like weddings. My own being the first - naturally. I still recall the scent of my perfume blended with the slightly dusty smell inside the car as we glided towards the chapel.
But sadly, like my marriage, the love affair with that dame of a Dodge didn't last. Her laborious vintage temperament was too much for my father. Soon, the old lady was put into retirement.
For all we know, she now graces the streets of Krugersdorp as a hot rod and takes the stakes at Tarlton. As for me and my then groom, our only 'ever after' is a picture gracing the pages of SAA's inflight magazine, Sawubona, featuring wedding venues.
Watch a video below.
'Hello Dolly!'
But, if you think mother was over her vintage car dream, think again. Upon relocating to the Southern Cape, retirement was not on her list. Soon, she landed herself a vintage shop and movie theatre. And, she insisted, if you talk the talk, you must walk the walk.
Therefore, like a well-written script, along she came in 2010. A 1964 DKW F12 - aptly named Dolly. Her name was inspired by the 1964 hit musical Hello Dolly!, later made into a flick starring Barbra Streisand in the title role.
Much sassier than the stately Dodge, she was a real looker in soft beige with a hop in her step. Using two-stroke oil as part of her fuel mixture, she moved to a beat. Our good friend, the late singer Randall Wicomb, once befriended to a DKW specialist, explained the rhythm of an idling DKW engine as "ring ting ting ting ting". He used to roar with laughter recounting the story and always said it would work well as the lyrics to one of his songs.
It just so happened that Dolly "ring-ting-tinged" me to the church on time when I was ready to take the plunge, second time round and almost a vintage model myself. And again, a pic of me, Dolly and my ever-after landed up on the pages of a local magazine, punting wedding venues in the area.
Dolly left a little trail of exhaust smoke, attributed to the fuel oil mixture of the two-stroke engine, like a lady would leave her red lipstick marks on a tea cup. But her qualms and quips too, became too much for the in-house mechanic. Exit Dolly. Stage left. Curtain.
Love and marriage
Like the lyrics to a song made popular by 50s crooner Frank Sinatra, Love and Marriage, I am not sure if my father is in the clear just yet. Mother is on the prowl again. This time, it's a 1964 Vanden Plas Princess, powered by Rolls Royce, tickling her fancy. I can almost hear the old man singing:
"Love and marriage, love and marriage,
Go together like a horse and carriage.
This I tell ya, brother, you can't have one without the other."
Third time lucky? Who knows.
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