#15 The Beatty Collection: Cars From The Corner Garage

I love that name, Bob Beattie.

That is like a cargo.

Bob Beattie.

Nice to meet you.

He has like the white beard.

Give him a little grandfather.

Just like, yeah.

Yeah.

Salter the earth.

Yeah.

Easy on that wildcat there, Robin.

Easy.

Here we go.

Welcome back.

Lifeless Cars Community.

We are excited here for this episode where we have two special guests joining

us tonight, one being my mom and my aunt, whom they're going to share some stories from

cars from their childhood in high school growing up.

I'm told that they have some infamous cars in their past, so I'm excited to hear from

the two of them since they happen to be together here and here to share those stories.

I can't wait to hear it.

There's nothing like talking car stories, and it's an honored guest to have your

mother joining us.

Absolutely.

Let's go ahead and welcome them in.

I'm going to welcome them into the call here.

Here we go.

Welcome, mom.

Yes.

Hi, Brendan.

Hello.

How are you, Mrs. Henry?

Please, please.

Who's Mrs. Henry?

I know.

Who is that?

What the what?

This is my sister, Mrs. Capoglis.

Okay.

First name, because I'll never get that.

Nancy.

Oh, Nancy.

A pleasure to meet you.

You as well.

Thanks for chiming in on a Saturday night.

Oh, of course.

My pleasure.

When Ian Calden said we're going to talk cars, I was like, I can make this work.

I can do that.

Yep.

I spent the day driving around with a mutual friend of the Uninars that was in my high

school class.

We were driving a 65 Buick convertible around today.

Beautiful day.

Said the 66 Mustang out, so it was a great day.

Great day for the convertibles.

So we did not.

We had, we were in the big truck, we were in the big truck, we were in the big Chevy

truck.

Oh, there you go.

Three quarter ton, one ton, half ton.

I gave you all the information that I have.

That's okay.

It's a Chevy truck.

So yeah, so I'm excited to talk to you too about basically, like, I mean, I was

already asking Ian, like a million questions, just like, like, do they remember

like their grandparents' cars or like their parents' cars?

Like, what did they have growing up and like that, that's really the whole theme

is just talking about the cars that you guys like grew up with.

And I'm sure you have some stories as we all do, right?

We all do, right?

That's the nature of the podcast, right?

Exactly.

Yeah, sure.

We'll fill in some blanks if we can.

So.

Absolutely.

So when you said our parents' cars, it was funny because my dad got a Plymouth Valiant

convertible.

When we knew Haven.

When we moved to New Haven.

Because I wanted a convertible.

My mother wanted a convertible.

We were then a family of three.

All little kids.

So a convertible little car was a very practical car.

It made sense.

Because you could just put the top down and hose it out because it can't get a very

good.

A fourth child came along.

So, you know, and this was, you know, before a car seat.

So really, it didn't matter, you know, right?

Just, yeah, in their top down or not.

Yeah.

So that was about car seats, whatever.

Pack them all in their cars.

And when you look back as being a parent now, like, what were they thinking?

But it was pretty.

It was turquoise with a white top and beautiful.

They were thinking like, Ian, I want a nice convertible car.

I get it.

I get the thinking.

Oh, yeah.

I'm right there.

Yeah.

I guess there's some genetics there or something, but.

So then we graduated from that to the Lincoln Continental with the doors open like that.

The suicide doors.

Yeah.

That's what they're called is because the rear doors would open the opposite direction

of the front.

And they got that name because people would open them and a car would come and take the

door right out of their hands like, whoa, okay.

That didn't happen.

It didn't happen.

Yeah.

Thankfully not.

Yeah.

So I think that was really the nature of it, why we ended up with that.

Wow.

And that's, it's a big, big car.

Yeah.

From the Plymouth Valiant convertible to the suicide doors.

Yeah.

It's perfect for a growing family.

It's either like a suburban or the Lincoln Continental.

You get the kid can lay along the top shelf in the back window, right?

I'm sure we did that.

I mean, it made me do that.

We probably do.

Are you the youngest Nancy?

I'm the youngest daughter.

I have two older sisters.

Yeah.

Which is your favorite sister?

I love my sister.

Oh, I'm stirring the pot.

I'm sorry.

I just, yeah, just had to ask real quick.

I could gang up, we could gang up on my brother, which was the most important part.

Yeah.

There you go.

Yeah.

Right.

Yep.

So, so the Lincoln Continental, do you remember, do you remember more about the Lincoln or

was it just like the doors and it was, was it black or blue or green?

I was thinking more blue, but maybe it was blue, green.

Maybe another like turquoise, like, no, no, it wasn't like the little car.

No.

It was dark.

It was like it.

It was like a dark green.

Okay.

We'll go with dark green.

Yeah.

Very cool.

Yeah.

Like a sedan.

Yeah.

Big sedan.

You know, I had the power window and locks and stuff I was like unheard of.

Was that the part that we got stuck in up in Saratoga for mom's reunion?

Yes.

Oh, you have to elaborate on that.

So we went to my mother's college reunion up in Saratoga.

She went to Skidmore and we were all in the Lincoln and we stayed, you know, I think we

stayed in the dorm.

We were a dorm.

I remember I slept in one of the closets.

You did.

And I slept in the window sill.

I'm the youngest.

I slept in the closet.

Oh.

You went to a college dorm there?

Yeah, just figured out.

Yeah.

We threw all the luggage in the back of the really big trunk.

Slammed it down, went to go.

Keys, of course, were in the luggage.

Oh, no.

In the trunk.

In the trunk on a Sunday.

How long?

Done.

Yes.

In Saratoga, New York.

Yeah.

It's around four kids.

And for the listener, like this is, this is obviously before there was secondary

latches to get into the trunk and you had to have keys.

There was no remote release.

None of that.

I don't know.

1968.

60, probably 68 is the old, or the newest it could have possibly

been.

And we had been a reunion generation.

We were ready to go home.

Yeah.

Yep.

Not sitting upon a lot.

We lined up in the back.

Like, okay, we're ready.

Let's go.

This was your reunion.

We're done.

We slept in closets.

Do you remember how you got the key that did you like, did your

dad like get a screwdriver and like,

No, we finally got a locksmith to show up, but it was, in my

perception, it was hours.

Forever.

And it was summer.

Summer day.

Yep.

Yeah.

It probably was not nearly as long as we remember, but it was.

Yeah.

That's my Lincoln memory.

That is that's funny.

See all the kids lined up in the back seat, just like, okay,

we're ready.

Like we're not talking anymore.

Yeah.

Fun story related to that is I've done that before.

So this, um, this 66 GTO convertible that was Ken Olson's

car, when I first started working on it, I did the same

thing.

Like I don't know what I was thinking, but I left the keys in

the trunk and he didn't have any spares.

And I closed it and I was like, okay.

I don't want to damage sound.

And you know it as soon as you do.

And I was like, how do I, how do I get in without damaging

anything?

And I actually ended up,

I took the rear seat bottom out and then unscrewed the back

seat and like got a magnet in like all the way to the trunk

and like snake the keys out.

I was like, yes.

It was a pain in the butt.

Pain in the butt.

Wow.

Sitting around for four hours for some locksmith somewhere

in New York.

Yeah.

My dad was like, you know,

I'm gonna make a screwdriver and just, you know,

pop it right in there and turn it.

You'll be fine.

I was like, no, I'm not doing that.

So where do we think the Lincoln is today?

Cause I love those.

Oh yeah.

Probably where the sailboat is.

At the bottom of the sea?

Well, that could be.

It is no longer with us.

Yeah.

No, that didn't, it didn't make it to Bramford.

I don't think that would be okay.

Yeah.

I'm vivid memory of it in the driveway.

All right.

Very cool.

It is.

Yeah.

And I actually just had it happen.

I had the Mustang parked next to a continental convertible at

the garage I take it to happen to be the same day I was

getting work done.

And it's like the continental is like a full,

like two feet longer than the Mustang.

I just was bad.

I took like a picture of it just to see like, this is like,

and the mustangs, you know, average size,

it's easy.

Yeah.

And they're luggage and, you know,

right.

Yeah.

They're both.

Love them.

Yep.

So those were some, when you said childhood, I was like, Oh

boy.

Yeah.

You remember any others of it or like as you,

as your parents got older.

So my mom had it like a series of say station wagons.

Yeah.

And there was one that she had a Pontiac Turquoise.

Had a thing for Turquoise, I think.

I don't know what it was called, but it had like the pointy

things in the front and it was huge.

Huge.

Was it a wagon?

It was a wagon.

Of course.

Oh, so it was the, what is that?

The Safari Pontiac Safari wagon.

Too much modern credit there.

Maybe like Catalina.

I don't know.

Yeah.

Catalina wagon.

Yep.

Yeah.

They had, they had a special name for them.

I think Catalina sounds closer than the other one.

We went to dad's law office one day and there was these

beautiful little brick entry ways.

Like a portico that drove through.

My mom was pulling in and I clearly saw she was going

to hit it.

It was narrow.

It was narrow and she was going to hit it,

but I also feared that she was going to yell at me.

So I chose the option to say nothing and she hit it.

So that point is no longer pointed.

And then of course then I'm like, I knew you're going to hit it.

I said that, which I shouldn't have.

She's like, why didn't you say something?

I'm like, I knew you were going to yell at me.

So, so that was it.

So that's my memory of that particular vehicle.

So my recollection of that vehicle relates directly to

the movie, the way, way back.

Oh my gosh.

That it had the fold up seat and you fought over.

It's it in the back and look out back and weave it.

Oh, it was the best.

Yeah.

So that was our way, way back.

We had, we had a Ford woody side one that had also the way,

way back, which I thought was a more class like a country

squire wagon.

Yeah.

It was.

Wow.

Or like maybe like a LTD.

Like, but with the fake wood siding.

It was definitely.

Oh, yes.

Ever like the Kmart version.

Yeah, exactly.

We're looking for the lower end model.

It's probably an LPB.

Yeah.

That's.

See though, doesn't it.

The limited.

But yeah, that way, way back.

That was like prime real estate.

Right.

Yeah.

Oh, it was the best.

So much space.

Like I remember riding as a kid in Volvo's that had those

like Volvo wagons.

Oh, nice.

Oh, I know.

My favorite and Orbuic road master, like those wagons,

they had the rear facing seat.

So much fun.

Being a kid sitting back there until you get.

Then mom and dad weren't too happy.

But.

And you do the.

For the track.

Oh yeah.

It messes with all the people behind you with so much.

Yeah.

Drawn the windows.

Oh, all of them.

Yep.

Get a piece of paper and crayons and write help me.

This isn't my.

Just to see what kind of reaction you can get from people.

Yeah.

Oh, the possibilities.

Right.

It's like a playground back there.

Yeah.

It was, it was.

Yeah.

I know.

You were out of sight out of maybe mine, but yeah.

So, so now this, I,

this is like a really good transition question,

which is all those cars.

Were any of those ones that you were learning to drive on?

Or were we not there yet?

We're not there.

Oh, okay.

Okay.

I wasn't sure.

Like I could totally picture like either one of you driving

like, you know,

the limited wagon or the, the Catalina.

They could just be like, what am I doing?

Yeah.

I don't remember either.

Had to be the one of the beauty balance.

Well,

I think at that point,

my mom would have had her oldsmobile.

I mean,

I think at that point,

my mom would have had her oldsmobile cutlass collection.

Oh, I love it.

Like a cutlass Sierra.

The collection.

Supreme.

Cutlass Supreme.

Those are awesome.

Yeah.

Look at you with the memory.

Nicely done.

All right.

She is younger.

So, you know,

Well,

you both can't be more than what like Ian's how old.

So like,

Yeah.

Do the math.

Like 42,

you can't be older than, you know,

45,

45 bags.

Exactly.

Um,

I don't know what I remember.

I remember dad driving with me,

not mom,

but who's car.

I don't know.

And what car?

I don't remember.

I remember.

It was J.M.

Fields parking lot.

That's a really good question.

No.

I'm,

well,

you think about it as we keep talking,

maybe it'll come back to you.

Cause I don't remember.

I remember it was J.M.

Fields parking lot.

But I can't tell you about driving with my dad.

So.

Yeah.

We'll,

we'll have a driver's ed.

You remember what that.

Oh,

I think that would be a great,

great episode.

Driver's ed.

The drivers.

Oh yeah.

Like we have so many different takes on what that looks

like.

Absolutely.

But do you remember what the car was for drivers?

Oh,

it was like one of those like little K car kind of things.

There were like the little square ones.

Like a gremlin or something there.

It wasn't a gremlin.

Oh no,

that was later.

That was like.

I thought it was like, okay.

Was there a car called an Omega?

That sounds familiar.

Was that an oldsmobile?

Like.

I think it was.

Omega.

Does that sound like something.

Sounds like something they would do.

But yeah,

but maybe,

but yeah,

it was,

yeah,

but maybe,

but yeah,

it was,

it was like how a kid would draw.

Yeah.

It was like,

it was classic.

You would draw that.

The kids would draw that.

To look like that.

Yeah.

Oldsmobile Omega.

Yep.

It's a little tiny square car.

Yep.

Perfect.

Put an extra steering wheel in there and wish them well.

Exactly.

And the pedals on both sides.

Oh yeah.

The brake.

All right.

Yep.

So that was,

so that would be another episode that we'll happily fill in because

did you have grand alpha that?

Mm hmm.

Yeah.

Oh, that's awesome.

Yeah.

We'll have to.

Good,

good nuggets for that.

Oh,

yeah.

Yeah.

We,

I've got some fun stories about drivers.

Yeah.

That would be good.

You haven't done it yet.

No.

Yeah.

Put it in the file.

Excellent.

We'll keep it in the queue.

So where,

where does like a,

so where does that transition happen for the,

the two of you,

like they like learning to drive and like getting the first car,

like where?

Yeah.

Cause we,

cause we left off with the Carolina, the wagons.

Like, yeah.

So I guess like,

we can continue the journey.

And then mom had the Oldsmobile series.

Right.

You know,

now her children are older and she could have a fancier car.

So she abandoned the station wagon for an old cutlass.

Right.

Well, there's a lot to that.

So then my,

so we had a local,

um,

mobile station.

Where we lived called Beaties,

Beaties garage.

My dad would, um,

frequent there for both gas and service.

And then when it came time for us to have us being the

kids having a vehicle would reach out to Beaties and

say, Hey, you know, I need a safe,

big car for my kids.

They're,

they're going to be out on their own and want to make sure there's

plenty of,

of steel wrapped around them so that they're safe,

safe when they're driving.

Can you find me something?

So it was no shopping around.

He went directly to Beaties and said,

give me a car.

It's a mile from our home.

Like it was right there.

And, um,

so he,

the first car that he found for myself and my older son,

and my older sister, um, was a Buick Wildcat.

Oh, love those.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, you know what it is?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Bren is a big GM guy.

What it was.

Do you think rough era of what year it might have been?

Like roughly.

Let's say Kathy would have been 16 in 74.

Does that make sense?

No.

So probably.

Cause it probably was like a late,

like a late 60, like maybe 70, 71 Wildcat.

Right.

That's pushing it.

Yeah.

Cause it's very used and very junky.

Yeah.

So probably a late 60s.

Yeah.

But I'm sure it had tons of power,

light the rear tires up like nothing.

I mean.

Oh yeah.

But it was 40 because it was two door.

That was when my dad.

Yeah.

It was a coupe.

It was a two door.

So it's sporty for you too.

Oh yeah.

Awesome cars.

Yeah.

We had a lot of ball tires with it.

Mystery magic oil went into it quite frequently and.

That'll fix it.

Yeah.

So we went through that in our high school years.

And then it went into.

I think it was my freshman year in college.

My sister's sophomore year in college.

So.

So it lasted us maybe three years.

Yeah.

That had a good run.

Yeah.

That's pretty good.

I mean it went from Connecticut to New York to New Jersey and

back again and.

Yeah.

And round and round and round again.

But it was a.

Honking big car.

It was huge.

Right.

It got up and moved.

42 door car.

Yeah.

I mean, yeah.

I mean, I'm like sporty in name only have like with the two doors.

Yeah.

The handling.

That was handling.

One of those things where you turn the wheel and it kind of rocks.

Yes.

One of those.

Yeah.

So the real question is when can I get you to buy another wild cat

because that's we could get a convertible wild cat.

Really.

Oh yeah.

You know, and I did.

Tough sell like Ian's a wild cat.

Right.

I mean, yeah.

Yeah.

You know, in the family, you know,

Arizona and Kentucky and UNH.

So maybe we should have a family wild cat vehicle.

You're right.

I totally agree.

Absolutely.

I think you should do that.

Yeah.

Turquoise wild cat convertible.

Yeah.

And Turquoise is the family colors.

Yep.

Turquoise and white.

Oh, perfect.

Oh, I think we found our car.

So it'll have about six feet sticking out of the garage out

the back.

Yeah.

We're putting an addition for the car.

Yeah.

Well, I'll happily store it for you.

That's true.

You might have availability, right?

For you.

Absolutely.

Oh my God.

Too kind.

So, um, yeah.

So that was the monster first car that.

I love it.

Biddy bomb number one.

Yep.

Oh.

All right.

Biddy bomb number two.

I don't, you don't have anything on that one.

No.

Biddy bomb number two was very short lived.

Um, so the, the wild cat died.

And not surprising.

And, um, so then my dad got us another Biddy bomb.

A Ford Torino wagon.

You say us, you and Kathy.

My older sister, not the younger sister.

Uh, so this was like.

A summer car and eventually we were going to go back to college

and share it again.

So my dad gave my other sister specific orders.

She worked in New Haven, like go to work and come home.

Do not.

They bought it that day.

They bought the first one to drive it.

Go to work.

And then go home.

Do not go out afterwards.

Don't bring anybody home.

Is that in the other thing?

Of course she went out afterwards and.

Well, she drove somebody home after work.

Somebody home after work.

That didn't go well.

Uh-oh.

So I never got to drive the Ford Torino wagon.

That was supposed to be shared with me.

And I got to, um, that summer,

then take my moped to work every day.

I got the moped on a 25 cent raffle ticket.

Um, and it was one of the old fashion ones where if it

didn't go.

Oh no.

It was so heavy.

Oh my God.

It was so heavy.

It was like, yeah, it was slow.

It was bad.

And like to go up a hill,

you had to pedal to get up the hill because.

It was like, it was like a bicycle with a, you know, a motor.

But it was,

it was so heavy to get the motor up the hill.

So it was harder to pedal up the hill than a bike.

It was a straight line.

Go ahead.

Do not go on an incline.

So that was my summer.

So I was very angry with my sister for that summer because

that car lasted for a day.

A day.

Never.

I never even sat in the driver's seat.

Like gone.

That car was gone.

Right.

So it was totaled the day you bought it.

Yeah.

Well, thank God.

Okay.

Right.

You know,

no one got like too hurt or anything.

You mean that Robin didn't kill her?

Yeah.

Well, yeah.

That's, that's possibility too.

And it was just like my parents.

Well, Robin,

you'll have to take the moped.

I'm like, thank you.

My 25 cent moped.

How dare you?

Right.

Like 25 cent moped.

It does come down to that.

It's worth,

it's worth 10 times that in scrap cause it weighs 400 pounds.

Yeah.

So I don't know how that all ended, but it ended, but.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

So then I decided not to go back to my college in New York

and was unsure and decided to be a commuter student for my

sophomore year.

And so then that required said car,

which no longer existed.

It was.

Yeah.

We didn't want to do the moped back and forth.

Not take the moped across the bridge.

That was head on the bridge.

That could work.

No, we went back to BDs again and I asked, you know,

and my dad at this point,

I think had a soft spot in his heart after not driving

the Torino wagon, which is supposed to be sporty.

And then I went back.

Hey, compared to a wild cat.

Oh, it's a sports, it's a sports car.

Very nice sports car.

Then he found or BD found a.

Back to BD.

We got a fellow 1971 Mustang.

Oh, very nice.

Oh, I figured out what sporty looks like.

And it's yellow.

Yeah.

Like fully committed here to the sportiness.

Yeah.

So it was a very, very cool car.

And I kind of was in shock that they actually figured it all out.

Like what?

My new commuter car to go to college my sophomore year.

So finally a score.

Finally a win.

That's a real win.

I mean, I want a fun car.

Yeah.

It was a little more nimble than the wild cat.

Definitely more sporty.

Yeah.

Easier to park.

Yeah.

Definitely.

Yeah.

Still needed rear tires though.

Yeah.

The ball tires.

Yeah.

So that was fabulous.

I loved it.

I had one incident where a state cop followed me because evidently I got on to the highway using,

I'm not even going to remember the de-accelerator lane or the accelerator lane.

I don't know what it was, but he followed me forever and pulled me over to tell me all

that, that I used the wrong lane to cross and this, that and the other thing.

Anyway, took him to court and I won.

So.

Wow.

I don't think I've heard this a little bit.

Oh yeah.

He was just trying to pull over a cute young thing, get her number and she took him to court.

Exactly.

So it turned out my dad is a lawyer and he gave me somebody from the firm and that lawyer said

exactly the same thing.

Like he was just trying to and he's like, we're going to get like, let's get going.

So, so we did.

So that was kind of a, yeah.

Yeah.

Big win.

Yeah.

So that was kind of fun.

And, but it was really funny.

He's like, all right, you're going to court, like, dress your best.

And I'm like, what does that mean?

Do you have a monogram sweater?

I'm like, I do.

So funny.

Dressed up and showed up at court and, you know, so.

And won the case.

Yeah.

And won the case.

All good.

So then I got the yellow mutt dang.

Why and when did I get it?

Um,

Yeah, I can't believe you gave it up Robin.

Right.

Did that happen?

I got it.

I moved on campus.

Um, and then you were, what were you doing dancing still?

I could have been dancing.

And there was an episode where my car almost got stolen.

Oh.

Um, parked downtown in New Haven and literally they found it with

the screwdriver in the ignition.

It got that far, but they somehow scared off or whatever.

Um, so then my car has.

Into the shop to get a new ignition put in.

So this was Nancy.

We're talking about, I forget.

Well, when I was driving the Ford Mustang, I was in college.

Anyway, I was waitressing.

That makes me think I was in college.

Another Kavanaugh.

Right.

Same car.

Family business.

Different car.

And I finished my shift and got out at like 11 o'clock that

night, went out to get my car and it was stolen.

And so they were.

Oh, no.

Festival this time in stealing the Ford.

I was distraught and back to the bar.

It's terrible.

Yes, we'll do, you know, the whole thing.

So ultimately they ended up finding it, but whether it was a

screwdriver, whatever they did, totally screwed up the

electrical system.

Like they got it back and they fixed it.

Great.

I can drive this again.

But apparently once you screw up the electrical system, it's

never really quite the same.

I would have periodic instances where things would go

wrong.

And when the electrical system goes wrong, there's not an easy

fix.

And so I remember telling Ian about this.

One time we were, I was with my friend and her cousin who's

from Germany.

And we were in Newport, Rhode Island.

And I don't know if you've been to Newport, Rhode Island,

but the pitch is very steep.

Yeah.

Leaving Newport because her cousin had to like make a

plane, you know, either that night or in the morning, I

forget.

And so we were driving and as we're going up the big

Newport bridge, just cut out what would happen with this

electrical system.

And like every time I would bring it in, they're like,

well, we'll fix this.

I don't know.

And it just stopped.

And so we pulled over and luckily somebody came by and

helped us and picked to a point where we could then like get

it back to Newport, pulled it into this family garage.

And I mean, like, not an auto garage.

Like this was a family that had a garage.

Oh, okay.

You know, sons who would work on this car and were like,

we need to get home.

I got to get this guy back to Germany.

I don't know what's going on.

My friend's name was Robin.

So we sat and they put it together.

Charged us nothing, of course.

So we went down the corner, got a case of beer, brought it back

to them.

Like, thank you so much.

Of course, of course.

Perfect.

So then we did actually carry on and get home from that.

But like,

Oh, fantastic.

Yeah.

I mean, then that bridge is.

Oh yeah.

You don't want to.

It's a roller coaster.

Like, especially if you were, yeah, you're like,

Oh no.

Of all the places.

Exactly.

We were on our way.

And it just caught.

I was like, there's, there's nothing here is working.

Yeah.

It's amazing.

It's like, I love hearing that that you just like found these

people that just, it wasn't a service station.

It was just like people that were like, Oh yeah,

we can help fix that and get you back on the road.

Like I just love hearing that.

Yeah.

It was, they were amazing.

Yep.

But getting back to when the first time the yellow Mustang was

almost stolen and we don't have names for our vehicles, Ian.

Sorry.

We thought about it.

We have no name.

That's okay.

They're named everything.

He did.

We did nothing.

So.

While the yellow thing was being repaired,

BD gave me, you know,

a replacement car in the meantime.

And I think one of your questions, Ian was like,

is there a car that you.

Wish you had or whatever.

Yeah.

The question be like of these cars in your past,

do any of them stand out that you wish you could have again in

your life?

So that's the one.

No.

The Mustang.

That's the one.

My son.

Just wait, Brendan. Yeah.

Um, so while my yellow Mustang was being repaired,

they gave me a 66 Mustang.

And it was like a little green one and it was like adorable.

And I just, I loved that car.

And I was like, can I keep this one instead?

Like I want this one.

And I don't, I don't, it obviously didn't work out,

but that would have been the one I'm like, I adored.

It was just smaller.

It wasn't like that sleek long back, like the, you know,

the 71 that I had.

It was just like, I just adored that car.

And I was like, I want this one.

And you didn't even name.

Well, I only had it for like two months. Yeah.

But you adored it.

You shouldn't have named it.

I should have.

You guys, you guys technically didn't name them because it's

Beatty Bopper one, Beatty Bopper two.

That's Beatty Bopper loner.

Yellow Mustang.

You made a list.

Yes.

I love the list.

All about it.

Yeah.

So you.

So we have to take just a real quick sidebar.

Like how was your reaction when you found out Ian bought

his 66 Mustang?

You must have been ecstatic.

I was pretty pleased with that decision.

And I think I probably showed my favoritism when he was like,

I don't know if I should do it. I'm like, you should do it.

Like.

That's good.

You were with me. I was like, buy it.

You're crazy.

It's a deal.

You're like, you know, you're gifted in finding cars.

And I was like, Brandon is endorsing this.

You have to do this.

Yeah.

So thank you, Brandon.

And I think it's brought him a lot of joy. So.

Well, of course.

It's a great car and it's a beautiful car.

And it's perfect for Ian down in the same color.

I didn't, I didn't have a convertible, which is fine.

But I did like that green color that it came in.

Ivy green. Yeah.

Yeah.

What's it called?

Ivy green is the color.

Yeah.

Was it black interior, black interior?

You remember?

Was it manual or automatic?

It was automatic.

Yep.

We can get into other manual stories.

So that's true.

No, you should tell them.

But no, it was, it was automatic.

Wasn't that a beauty?

The manual?

No.

That was that we were talking about. Yeah.

You got us on a lot of car talking today.

Oh, that's what it's about.

That's what we're here to do.

That's what it's.

We love that. Just keep it going. So.

So to go back to the timeline though.

So you had the, the 66 Mustang loner.

Yeah.

And then while the 71 was being repaired from the first theft.

The first theft.

Correct.

Yes.

And then I got it back and then.

Yeah.

You had to give back the 66.

Regrettably.

Reluctantly get that back.

And I guess I had it like my sophomore year,

but I think you then got it my junior year maybe,

but then I moved on campus.

So I think that's when you got it.

Yeah.

So then it got stolen.

It was just never the same after I got stolen.

Yeah.

That's a shame.

Yeah.

I didn't imagine how that would feel like you come out from more

like work and you're like,

Uh,

I'm sure the car was right here.

Okay.

Yeah.

Awful.

And I do remember another, even before it was stolen,

I remember like, you know, the console,

like where your radio is and all of that,

there was like a plastic frame around, you know, that held.

And it wasn't like sealed.

So it just jiggled all the time.

So as you're driving,

it's like bang, bang, bang.

And I remember driving somebody was in the passenger seat,

like, what is, like it drove them nuts.

And like they would hold it.

And that was like all these little jiggly things

that would just go wrong with these.

Yeah.

I was just going to say,

get the duct tape on this.

Right.

There you go.

And I remember trying to just like,

nope.

Just,

the whole console shaped the whole time.

I mean,

the thing is it looked great from the outside.

It was just a, yeah.

It looked great on the inside.

Yeah.

Oh no, the poor thing just reminds you.

So when did that reach the end of its life?

I think it was after,

so we had the Newport incident.

I think there was another one and then it became clear like,

this is not a safe car to drive.

Yeah.

If it had a name, it would have been lucky.

Yeah.

And I think then maybe that's when I got that.

Yeah.

We have a mystery car that she got next from.

The car that I drove when I was in college and I also was a commuter.

And it was all I can say was a big blue car.

The BD mystery car.

Yes.

I don't remember.

One of the key features of this car was,

you know, there's like a gas pedal in cars.

Yeah.

Some of them have those.

Yep.

It's a good thing to have.

Yeah.

The basics.

So generally there's like a gas pedal and you put your foot on it and you go,

and you go.

Correct?

Right.

Exactly.

Here's the gas pedal and there was like a little like pivot thing underneath it.

So if I put my foot up here, the gas pedal would just do that.

The car would not go.

Or if I had to hit the rod, there was a rod that actually articulated.

One little center that you had to hit and order for the car to go.

Meaning you had no control over your, your zero to 60, zero to 20.

It was all just, just for the college kidneys.

Just for a lot.

So if you managed to get your foot on the gas pedal in the right way,

you went forward at some indiscriminate speed.

You had to go all over that.

Yeah.

So that's great when you're like commuting over the Q bridge and yeah.

Just don't know when it's going to just lurch or maybe it won't go at all.

Or you know,

It's pretty much only lurched.

Yes.

Honestly, I think I'd rather take that than having that be with the brake pedal.

Yeah.

It's still, it's, it's a little, it's a little challenging.

Like when you're trying to drive on the highway and you're like,

I'm going to pass you.

Nope.

That's when you just, you just take your shoes off.

You just use your toe and just, just find it just right.

And with that spot, that was great.

Why do you have a two by four strap to your gas pedals?

Like, well, let me tell you.

That's what I should have done.

And so this was also the car that broke down a lot and taught me a lot about cars.

And I spoke with Ian earlier about this that had like the butterfly thing.

Is that related to the carburetor where you have to keep like the butterfly thing?

Yeah.

Like the choke.

Yeah.

The same thing.

Like you would start.

Yeah.

There's a butterfly.

And then it would flood because, you know, you can't control the gas.

Yeah.

And so it would flood.

And so I would open up the hood and I learned to like open up the butterfly

thing and I would put a stick in it to keep it open.

So then go back in the car.

I don't know how I, this was before Google.

Like I don't know how I knew how to do this,

but then it would go in and start my car.

And then I would go out, take out the stick, close the lid or the hood and

drive off.

Yeah.

Hey, problem solving.

You had that from that car.

The car did eventually die.

And it died in the parking lot of my college.

Oh no.

So I've left it there because it was in the parking lot.

I have a sticker like whatever it can stay there.

I was in class and campus security came to my class and pulled me out.

Yes, Ian.

I had that face.

Like what the.

Right.

What did I do?

What have I done?

Yeah.

And so they pulled me out of class and they're like, uh, you have to move

your car.

I'm like, nobody can move that car.

It's broken.

It's dead.

That's why it worked there is because I can't move that car.

I wouldn't have moved that car.

So thankfully I had the BD's number on, well, it was speed dial.

But it was memorized.

So the BD's phone number wasn't memorized by me.

And so they're like, yep, call the tow truck, have them tow it here.

And we will take care of it.

Oh yeah.

BD was on it.

He was on it.

They were as good to send a tow truck.

I knew like my home phone number and I knew the BD phone number.

Now I actually had a very similar scenario with me when I was in

college.

So the car I had in college was actually Dr. Bradigan's Cadillac,

that silver Cadillac he had.

The box that always broke down.

Yeah.

I know that one.

Yeah.

So I actually, I was sitting my first class of the day one

morning in the fall computer class.

I'll never forget.

And I'm sitting at the terminal and the head of like

campus PD called me.

Right.

Like, you know, number.

I'm like, hello.

Like right before class started.

He's like, hey, you, he's like, you're the owner of that silver Cadillac

that you parked down in the lot.

Whatever.

I'm like, yeah.

He's like, I just hate to tell you like it got broken into last

night.

And someone had smashed out the driver window and it was sitting

there with the hood up and the trunk open.

And it was just like, I was devastated.

I mean, you know, as Ian knows, like I love cars.

Like I was, I was like freaking out.

I was like, Oh my God, who could do this to my baby?

Like, why?

Just why?

And it's just anyway, they didn't take anything that they

tried.

You could see where like they tried to rip the dash apart to

get the radio out, but couldn't get to it.

So anyway, I'm sure the alarm finally scared them off, but I

dusted the glass off the driver's seat and I closed

everything up and I didn't have anything in it loose.

So I drove it over to a glass place and they put a new

window in it, but yeah, I hated it because for the longest

time after they fixed the window, I would close the

driver's door and you could hear some glass rattling in

the bottom that was like, they didn't vacuum out.

So like it was a cool reminder.

It's like the rattling console they had, Nancy.

It's like that feeling though.

And he called me just like, why are you calling me?

I feel like fresh past, you know, it's like my car, you

know, it is.

It's terrible.

Yeah.

And then yeah, so when obviously the car was not

functioning and I was a commuter.

So I don't know if I was taking the bus.

I don't know.

Somehow getting to school.

And then I was at my apartment and I had a final the

next day when I couldn't get the car started, like just

wouldn't work.

And so I asked my roommate, like, can I borrow your car?

Like I have an exam final exam and like, you know, 20

minutes or whatever.

And my car's not starting.

And she's like, yeah, sure.

And gave me the keys and it was a standard.

So in high school, I had a boyfriend who had an MG

and luckily, he tried to teach me how to drive stick on this,

you know, prized MG.

I'm not the car.

The car.

Sure.

Good clarification.

Not sure I ever really conquered that, but I was like,

sure, sure.

Yeah, standard.

I can do this.

Yeah, clutch, whatever.

Yeah.

So I had minimal experience in high school.

This is five, six, seven years later, no problem.

on the highway I have to and she I did I figured out how to drive stick to get to

my exam in her I think we were talking about it was either a pinto or a vega

yep yeah yeah and it did get me to my exam and I somehow figured out how to

drive a stick to him and you've been driving manuals ever since yeah

absolutely this yeah yeah but a little bit for you right yeah yeah in a

pinch you're just like okay that's the only way it's gonna happen roll your

sleeves up we're doing it yeah we are doing it I think that might be the end of

our bd collection is the bd collection I think I love it what a great segment the

I think that might be it there could be more we'll think of it tomorrow I know we

can ask our brother to he might he might have two cents but as he would have been

driving well he would have been learning to drive after the two of you at that

point yeah so he would have had to have something no he drove mom's cut list oh

he did yeah he was he was so he's the youngest yeah yeah spoiled rotten spoiled

rod yeah yeah and the boy no he drove mom's cars of course we couldn't yeah he

could do no wrong how we learned we did not drive my mother's cars to learn how

to drive so even when he crashed her car we don't talk about it wasn't his fault

it was his fault thank you it's Ian Scott I was gonna say like I have to

stand up for Scott here yeah we love you Scott oh my goodness yeah I mean it's

so I I also it brings to mind so was it was Beatty's garage the one that like so

it was the mobile station it also had the whole like vegetable garden out back

was that yes I like I wanted to ask about that because that this is what sticks

that's what I remember from like as a kid going to you know grab your pop-ups and

Bradford and like oh yeah let's go get some veggies they're like we're at a

gas station so what used to be the car graveyard was now the farm yeah I mean my

like eight-year-old brain was more you know caught up with the car stuff but

then it was like oh we're also getting corn and I'm curious I'm curious though if

we go back down there there might be a blue car parked out back there that we

mystery you know I have no idea but like yeah if you can research like I think

the gas pedal swivel how big was it was it as big as the Lincoln Continental it

was pretty close it was a big car no recall I immediately think either a full

size Buick or Cadillac okay okay so maybe like a full-size Buick or Chevy like an

Paula maybe never be a Chevy either interesting so yeah was there a big

Pontiac Catalina or Bonneville Pontiac Bonneville they had the two plus two was

a huge station wagon way back when oh a Bonneville station wagon yeah those are

the big ones and old will be a lot of you see had like the 98 in the 88

to the cutlist thing yeah yeah so the kids got all the beady bombs my mom all

the old mobiles I know I was just trying to think of like my car yeah and in

Brendan's on the case here he's gonna yeah he's gonna solve it based like it was

it obviously was American because it was huge maybe it was like a Ford or a

Chrysler and not a GM or something I would work a Ford would probably be the

right area maybe a Buick but I think that would limit it to those yeah I mean was

your family growing up where like because I know there was like oh I were a Chevy

family or a Ford family and everything like seems like were you steeped in one

brand around seems like you had several well you guys went all around with the

right all around the beady bombers but we were pretty distinctive of what we weren't

correct that makes sense so like Chevy we weren't Cadillac but it also goes to

World War two with dad so we were not you were not Japan yeah like yeah yeah when

I bought my first Japanese car my father was livid with me and I didn't

understand the whole thing and then I did yeah interesting very interesting

yeah was yeah what's that what was that little car mom was a my Dodge Colt the

Dodge Colt that's like built on it right yeah it was built on a Mitsubishi like a

little Mitsubishi yeah yeah yeah it's it's why you don't want to know what goes on

I'm telling you Nancy just all car things all the time I'm gonna be standing by for

when you figure out what car I go I know maybe it was like a Ford Galaxy oh like

a that's a big Ford Galaxy I don't know that could be my carburetor thing oh

yeah oh yeah yeah yeah I might know it did it have a shifter on the column or was

it but you were automatic yeah yeah but the drive thing oh oh got it yeah it had

to be two door or four door two door is it this or is it this yeah was it a

sedan or was it two doors I believe it was a sedan and I believe it was on the

column interesting okay all of these could be lies yeah we'll see what you're

gonna have to do now is in your spare time is you'll just have to Google you

know 60s Ford sedans we'll do this over and just look at like a list of all the

images that's the one or 70 70 one college in the 80s it's probably 70s yeah

yeah that's that's what I would do if there's one that's really bugging your

brain that's good it please you have to make sure you let me know mystery blue

car who knows I mean maybe it's like another Ford LPD you just you just

blocked it out of your memory you just know nope the blue bomber the blue beady

blue beady bomber yep yep I love it they see you guys say you don't name cars you

just named them all so yeah well and then the sweetest thing was that Mike Beatty

the owner or well Bob Beatty Bob Beatty and then he was the son but he came to my

dad and it was just like I forget who I was with we're like who's that I'm

like well that's our Mike Mike that's Mike Beatty it's like you know he was like

our legend in our family you know and it was like and then the other person was

like oh that's my mom's hairdresser you know it was just like really like the

whole little community came together and showed up amongst other people of

course but it was just so sweet it was like yeah and you never actually paid

for gas you drove in they would you know it was all full service and you

urge to burns like they go in and they'd write it down and like that was it like

thanks yep of course you're also talking it's like you know five bucks to fill

the tank up you know yeah but we also you know I remember I never had a gas

card or we never had anything nothing yeah I was old enough to remember the

gas ration times were in the 70s yeah the 70s and you had to figure out

they could go there but Mike would always like ah come on in you know and

there'd be that you know so it was just you know old-fashioned neighborhood stuff

so oh yeah it's it does seem a little bit lost these days but it all depends on

the community you're in yeah well and I it is such like I mean what I know of

it from as a kid driving by like and and that old garage of like it just

like is such like the neighborhood garage like it's just nestled along

this quiet little road along the shoreline and all these little and it

really that's what I sticks out in my mind when I think of the BD's garage it

was pretty iconic yes yeah yeah the mobile gas Pegasus yeah well awesome all

right Westerners take a quick break see on the other side right Bob BD's we

thank you hey Westerners this is Ian one of the hosts of the

life plus cars podcast please tune in for part two of our conversation with my mom

and my aunt Nancy coming into a podcast player near you very soon as always

thanks so much for listening

#15 The Beatty Collection: Cars From The Corner Garage

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Plymouth Valiant

Chrysler Saratoga

GMC Safari

Pontiac Catalina

Oldsmobile Cutlass

Ford Torino

Ford Mustang I

Ford Galaxy

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