Einstein the Land Yacht

note: this is NOT a picture of Einstein

Many of us have our "first car" stories and I am fortunate to have some of my own.  After graduating from college, my family was kind enough to allow me to take on an early 70s Mercury Marquis that, frankly, had been replaced by a much more reliable auto.  If I recall correctly, Rocky, a relative and a driver of sprint cars, located this used vehicle for our family when we needed it and now I was the one that needed to use it.

The pictures shown here are pretty close to the color of the vehicle I named "Einstein" - and, yes, I was being facetious with the name.  The car, by the time I took possession, was not the quickest or smartest vehicle on the block.  For example, there was one left turn in Cedar Rapids, at a very busy intersection, that this car would always stall.  Always.  Almost as if it just got to the center and said... "Duhhh.. wha?" and quit.

Yes, I eventually started turning going straight through that intersection and then taking a right at the next street.  Essentially going around the block to make that left turn.  And no, there wasn't exactly a better route to get where I was going at the time.  The better solution of course, was that I stopped finding reasons to go to that part of town.

Coming in at 19 feet long by 6.7 feet wide, this car was a beast and this type of vehicle is nicknamed a "Land Yacht" by some.  Simply put, it was huge.  And, like the vehicle shown in these pictures, it was a two-door.  If you opened both doors it looked like a passenger jet ready to take off.  It was a terror for people who had cute little convertibles parked in parking lots.  They would see Einstein coming and they would hop back in to drive away for fear we would park next to them.

I was able to take Einstein to college to pack up and come home after graduation and it was my transportation to and from interviews as I looked for my first job.  Once I located that job in Cedar Rapids, I packed Einstein up for the move to my first apartment.  Since I had a few modest pieces of furniture - typical for a college student moving to a first apartment - I rented a small U-haul trailer and traded some extra bundles of typing paper to the gas station that rented U-haul for the towing hitch I needed.

There was no question Einstein had the power to pull the little trailer.  Power was never the question.

And space, of course, was never a question either.  I seem to recall we comfortably fit six adults in the vehicle for a trip to a concert and no one felt like their space was intruded upon.  So, I packed up the car and the trailer and took the couple hour drive to my new home.  As I got closer, my stress level went up with the temperature gauge.  I finally got to the steep driveway that led to the apartment complex's parking area and made it up.

I then coasted from there to a the first parking spot I could get to as the radiator overheated and Einstein decided he had enough for the day.

Happily, I called in a favor and had someone else take the trailer to the U-Haul drop-off in town AND I walked to work (around 3 miles) my first couple of days until I could get Einstein sorted out.  I didn't mind walking, but it was kind of warm that first week and I fear the first impressions I gave were of a person who sweated enough that he had to change shirts before he even started work (and yes, I did bring a fresh shirt to change into).

* unfortunately I do not remember where these photos came from *

That was the pattern Einstein and I got used to over time.  I'd pay to get him fixed enough so he would go.  He would go for a bit and then he would stop.  Since I was not mechanically inclined, did not have a place to become mechanically inclined and didn't know anyone well enough who lived in the area and was mechanically inclined - that's the way it had to be.

But, for all of the inconveniences, Einstein was worth his weight in good stories.  

The front hood that housed a monstrous engine was so big that I found myself praying that no one was trying to come down the drive way at my apartment the same time I was going up.  There was no way in the world I could see anything over the hood that rose in front of me like a shark breaching the surface of the water.  I often found myself almost standing up to try and see over (in vain) and the whole vehicle would bounce as I reached the top and the front pitched forward to a more level orientation.  

Seriously, I had a fear that some compact vehicle would be crushed as Einstein settled at the top of that drive.

The trunk was also huge.  A friend and I went to a second hand shop to buy a desk.  We found an old heavy desk with lots of surface area for $15 and proceeded to stuff it into the trunk.  

Yes, we had to tie the trunk down.  But, the point is this....  it did not hang out of the trunk, it was simply too tall for the lid to close - but not by all that much.  To give you some idea, we had to take the legs off the desk to get it up the stairs and into the apartment.  It wasn't a toy desk.

Anyway, I've got some Einstein stories to tell.  Let's see if I can find the energy to put them together over the next few weeks as some fine winter month entertainment.

Have a good day everyone!