The model name of Jim Thompson’s car is a stylized version of a term for a vast assembly of stars.
When I turned 20, I bought my first new car. I ordered it from a dealer in McHenry, Illinois, using money I’d earned working at my family’s gas station, and I picked it up the day before Thanksgiving. I thought I would keep that car forever.
But I had another love: Sandy. We’d met at a local roller rink when we were high school students. After dating on and off for six years, we got married in October 1964.
As the years passed, our family outgrew the place we were renting. In 1971, we bought a three-bedroom ranch, where we still live today. Meanwhile, my beloved old car was becoming expensive to keep up. We finally sold it in 1975.
Our two daughters grew up and got married, and I retired in 1995. I thought it would be fun to have a car like my first. I spotted one on eBay that was at a car lot in Beecher, Illinois, and had had only one previous owner. After a tune-up, a new carburetor, engine and transmission overhauls, new paint, and more, we got it looking like it does today.
We enjoy driving the car around and getting thumbs-ups from people letting us know we did a good job restoring it. I may even let Sandy drive it someday!
–Jim Thompson, McHenry, IL
Can you name that car? Here are some clues you can use:
1. The car’s manufacturer has its corporate headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.
2. The model name is a stylized version of a term for a vast assembly of stars.
3. The manufacturer added a “1/2″ to the model year of its revamped midyear lineup and unveiled the changes in the European principality of Monaco.
4. This car has the fastback “sports hardtop” roof that was added in the middle of the model year.
5. The manufacturer introduced its iconic Mustang a year later, also as a midyear model.
Did you guess? Jim Thompson’s all-star auto is a 1963 1/2 Ford Galaxie 500.