Welcome to the second installment of Cars With Fond Memories Week here on Discovery Going Like Sixty. (I can only write about the memories I have about the cars, I don’t know what the car’s memories are.)  I didn’t announce this in advance because I didn’t know about it myself until today. I had the DKW post from yesterday in my drafts for quite a while, but today’s post is pure Sarah Dippity.  When I checked to make sure I had the right URL for Jalopnik, boink, this was staring me in the face.

It’s a Datsun 510. It was one of a long string of cars we had when we were first married. We bought it new. Same color, without the rack. Two memories:

• “Mom? Why Do the Police Have Daddy?”

Busted by my own kindergarten kid. I was buzzing around Boonville, just doing my job and some dope stopped in front of me. I swerved enough not to rear end him, but my left front fender was severely wrinkled. Actually, it was laying on the ground, severely wrinkled. Cops were summoned. I got a ticket. Amy saw the last part from her vantage point high above the scene while sitting in the school bus in the IGA parking lot.

Aside: this IGA had the best glazed donuts in the world. Harold Schnetzler (I always remember my baker’s name) made gigantic donuts. Sunday morning would be a rousing (and arousing) cheer of “We Want Donuts From I. G. A. !” (That would be Amy and I doing the cheering, and Grandpa Ron too when they visited.)

Of course she reported me immediately to my superior and there was a call waiting for me when I got back to the office. I drove around with that fender flapping for months. I actually took an auto body repair class at the Adult Gearheads School and got it straightened out pretty well. (While the other guys in the class were working on there Camaros and Mustangs.)

• There’s Dried Pee All Over the Side

We drove the Datsun to Florida. Nancy was never one to try to entertain the kids on a long road trip. Since the rear seat folded down, I would climb in the back and be the entertainment for Amy. Which usually meant we would make up stories and use sock puppets to act them out or make signs from actual Crayola Crayons to wave at truck drivers. This would eventually deteriorate into disassembling Barbies. When Nancy got behind the wheel, she only stopped when she needed to stop. Amy was almost housebroken, but still using the potty chair. Yes, you are right, Nancy didn’t stop when Amy needed to go. Nancy kept going, while Amy was going.

“Amy needs to pee” (which was a huge breakthrough usually met with lots of praise for Amy.)

Repeated louder to break the trance Nancy was in. Must. See. Mickey.

“Amy needs to pee”

“So?”

“Pull over.”

“Use the potty chair.”

“I will, pull over.”

“She can just go in the car.”

“What will I do with the pee?”

“Throw it out the window.”