An automotive phenomenon happens in the mid-teen years. Often, this phenomenon is thought to be a rite of passage reserved only for males in the throes of puberty. Not so. Perhaps the precise reasons differ, but crossing the threshold is an experience to be remembered, regardless of one's level of testosterone. The memories come tumbling back every time I see an old car driven by a kid. You see, everybody wants to be cool...

When I turned 16, I needed to be cool. My parents gave me a '72 Chevrolet Nova so I could pursue my quest. (If you don't remember what a Nova looks likes, Eddie Murphy drove one in "Beverly Hills Cop.") This car (mine, not Eddie's) had personality plus.

When I got my Nova, it already had 110,000 miles on the odometer and was in its third color incarnation. A true veteran of road wars and an empirically obvious testament to Chevy's incredible durability in those days, let's just say that this vehicle had been handled with less than kid gloves in its past. In this latest incarnation, my Nova was a beige/tan color. A Maaco special, I'm certain. But what was inside made it special. No, not what was under the hood, but what was inside the passenger cabin.

To sit in the driver's seat was a lesson in piecemeal construction, strength and endurance. Years of hard use and probably more than one bashing (and who knows how many pounds of Bondo) had caused the heavy door to sag on its hinges. When you closed the drooping metal door, it was necessary to pull up and in--hard! This is no mean feat to do while sitting, I can assure you, but it eventually became second nature.

The "climate controls" were mounted vertically on the cracked and faded dashboard. At some point, the knob that controlled the heat/cool had snapped off, which presented a small engineering challenge at first. However, changing the temperature within the car was still a simple matter, really. All I had to do was apply the flat-head screwdriver that I carried into the slot and push either up or down. Eventually, the screwdriver stayed there, and stuck out as a reminder that ingenuity can save the day.

However, the heat stayed on most of the year due to the car's hot-blooded nature. Without running the heat in the summer, she had an unfortunate propensity to overheat. This was easily avoided, however, by rolling down all the windows and running the heat full blast.

Moving along the dash, avoiding the dusty, well-used speedometer, attention needed to be focused on the steering column. Here was the crux of the car. The gear shift was on the column. One of the last "three on the tree" cars made, my Nova had actually "grown" some of its own improvements over the years. (CONTINUE...)