The Bumpmobile

Sometime around 1968 Dad gave up driving the old '60 Pontiac Bonneville but kept it in the extra carport, next to the Lil Lisa (our outboard Chris Craft boat). It was used mostly when the other cars wouldn't start, usually during snowy weather. He could always count on the old Pontiac. It was robin's egg blue with a white top.

It also had nylon tires. After sitting for a while the tires would flatten a bit. It made for a bumpy ride and it took some driving to warm them up so they would round out. Pontiacs then were known as 'wide track' as they were the widest cars made. It had huge, long bench seats, no dash padding and a nifty circle around the ignition to guide your keys in the dark.

When I left for college Dad wouldn't let me have a car the first year because he almost flunked out his first year, due to, he said, having a car. I think he may have regretted it a bit after too many trips to Murray to pick me up and bring me back home to Paducah for the weekend. Second year I was given the 60 Pontiac which I had named Bonny Bumpmobile. It was a Bonneville after all and it was bumpy.

For the opening of American Graffiti I and twelve of my friends dressed up in 50s style clothes and piled into the Bumpmobile. It was beyond crowded and two of my friends were quite zoftig. Dale was sitting on top of people's laps in the back seat, doubled over as to fit. As I made a turn I saw his rear end slide out of one of the back windows, but he was pulled back inside before he flew onto the pavement. We had an uproariously good time, stoned our of our minds, and treated it as a kind of performance art.

The picture was taken on a country road outside of Murray one day when we went out picking wild flowers. You can't make her out, but Mary (Little Dyke Art Major) was sitting in the driver's seat. And that's me splayed out across the trunk. Those platform shoes were orange and purple and my growing afro was dyed auburn with golden highlights. And dare I say I was sporting a basket?

I eventually took the Bumpmobile to Nashville when I moved there. She died on the freeway one day. A restored one just sold in New Jersey for $50,000.00.