I wouldn't call myself a big fan of vintage cars. In fact I'm generally not a car person at all. Growing up and spending a half of my life in a giant megalopolis which Moscow is, I felt ok with just commuting via subway and public transportation. I had known how to drive , but never did much driving till the move to California. Even here I spent the first five years being a dedicated pedestrian. Santa Barbara was a deliberate choice of mine at the time of making a decision what place to settle at in the US, since it was obvious right away this cute little town will allow careless existence with no car. I was not being cheap, I just like walking!
The highlight of my "walking career" was an interview with an INS ( Immigration and Naturalization Services) officer in LA , which was the last crucial point of the naturalization process. It somehow skipped my attention that I was supposed to bring a state issued ID. So, I had a green card with me instead. When the officer asked me for another document I didn't have anything else to show. He was losing patience:
Just give me your driver's license!
Emmmm, sorry, officer, I have none, I don't drive
But how did you get from Santa Barbara to LA???
I took the AMTRAK
How long have you been living in the US?
Five years
Hehe, the guy was puzzled and looked at me suspiciously. Even checked my bank statements and other paperwork one more time. He could not believe that a person with sufficient funds in her account wouldn't buy a car in California. I'm lucky it wasn't taking place in Russia, since officials are not as nice there. They would have just sent me away and that would have caused a significant delay in my case. But the LA guy didn't. He finished the interview and asked me to get the ID from my local DMV and send it to him by mail with a return envelope. I can't tell how surprised and happy I was. Got my drivers license soon after and eventually got myself a car.
That's when I started paying attention to all the antique beauties crisscrossing the the country. I even considered buying one! A 1976 Mercedes convertible, the California classic. But functionality prevailed over romanticism)) I have a Honda CRV. But look at my neighbor's car with admiration. The guy is a mechanic and it took him three long years to put it together from scratch. I wish I took pictures of all the stages, but I didn't. Silly me.
Anyway, I call it the glory and pride of Chevrolet. Isn't it awsome?!
