Last month while hanging out in Oceanside, Clio the muse of history, was present to a chance meeting between a wastewater technician from Fresno and myself. Making small talk with strangers has never been a problem for me, so when the topic turned to the ideal ride, amidst praise of all things new and shiny, I added that my dream mobile was more of a type, rather than a certain model. "Give me a Falcon Futura, a Dodge Dart, or a Rambler any day," was my contribution to the conversation.

After the assembled finished rolling their eyes, Mr. Wastewater informed me there was a 1964 Rambler Typhoon for sale as part of his uncle's estate. Telling me the family wanted to unload the vehicle because it had been sitting for a couple years, and there was some negative vibes associated the neglected automobile, he was eager for me to come take a look. As you can imagine there was no way I was going to miss the chance to see a classic with bad car mojo. Suffice it to say I am now the proud owner of a Rambler Typhoon Ambassador named Miss Macy Beige.

The name was my idea.

Esthetically, Ms. Macy has held up well. A faded yellow, her upholstery dry and cracked it was obvious she had never known the pleasures of Earl Schieb. Basically what you would expect from someone too long basking in the Southern California sun. Under the hood age and a lack of moisture had also taken its toil. Her console was in great shape and she still had the fancy shoes she left the showroom with. Obviously I had rescued Macy from a serious case of elder neglect.

Although Miss Macy would need considerable work to restore her to her former glory, I gladly paid $500 for the chance to do so. Now when I say the chance to restore, I mean the chance to pay for her ongoing spa treatments. Currently she is staying at Encinitas Foreign & Domestic auto repair until the magicians of 2nd St. work their magic on her, and she is once again mobile. Once restored Miss Macy and I will be the hot new couple tooling up and down Highway 101.

Once we recover from that economic setback, I plan to bring Miss Macy into the 21st century. Fossil fuels are passé, polluting, and politically incorrect, so Miss Macy and I will start shopping around for conversion options, which I believe will be the only way to keep her classic beauty on the road for another 40 years.