Ed's first car -- a 1949 Hudson Commodore

Likely where my love of cars began........the 1949 Hudson Commodore (which I nicknamed the "Black Roach") -- the car that carried me to most days to my senior year in high school.  While I don't have a photo of the car back then, attached is a photo of an identical car although mine had blackwall tires.  

The second photo is of what the engine looked like -- a straight six -- but look at the massive hinges on both sides!  My stepfather and I (mostly him) rebuilt the engine in the summer of 1963.

The third photo is not of my car but shows exactly what the dashboard looked like in that car.  The clock was huge and of the same size as the speedometer to the left.  Two glove compartments, one on each side of the dash.  I used to sit in the driver's seat of this Hudson and just stare at the beautiful dashboard -- really elegant for the time.

Let's just say that I loved this care for the short time that I drove it to high school but, nonetheless, it certainly held little ability to attract the girls.  Hudsons were what they were, massive, over-engineered, but certainly not sexy.  That said, as I recall, the car cost all of $250.

When I went off to college, my next car was a  1959 Plymouth Fury which cost around $400.  This was "moving up in the world" for me.