Page 16 - May2022

Let me tell you about my day in the Longs' garage. Over
to the left, almost hidden from sight, lives a 1961 white
Austin Healey bug-eye Sprite. Its red interior reminds
you of every drive you ever took on a sunshine filled
day in a place like southern California, maybe ending at

the ?happiest place in the world?Disneyland, then only a
few years older than this Sprite was when it, too, was
new.

You would have been the
happiest of teens or early
20s drivers in a Sprite.
I dated a guy who owned
one of these and for a
short period I owned one
myself. Memories.

Nearby, under a tarp, the
shell of an MGTC, rests
impatiently, a project
waiting to get its chance to
shine again. Stored under
what appears to be a stack
of something else, pokes
the edge of one of its seats,
itching to be reinstalled.
Patience, little one, your
time will come.

Is that a Sunbeam Tiger in
British racing green, the big
brother to Elizabeth
Taylor?s 1960 Sunbeam
Alpine that sailed over a
dirt embankment in
Butterfield 8, chased by an
evil Mercedes?
Sitting, its radiator pointed at the bonnet of the Sunbeam, is a reminder
Well, it could be, but of Henry Ford?s primary car for Everyman, a Model A, this one?s paint
according to Mike, there?s looking rather like primer.
a story about this
This utilitarian A was a 13-year-old Long?s transportation through high
Sunbeam?s provenance
school and went on with him to college. Now, over a half a century later,
that requires some
having literally been to school, the American still stands tall with a lofty
explanation; that?s a story
view over its lower slung English neighbors. The A is waiting for a minor
for another day and we
repair; it can go back to work when Mike gets the time to fix it, time being,
move on to look at
in Long's view, a relative concept.
something else.
Cave of wonders continues on page 17
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