They don’t make cars like to used to ...

I marvel at the beautiful cars on the road compared to half a century ago. I bought a no-frills, four-door Plymouth Sedan in December 1948, from a reputable dealer called Mahoning Motors on Wick Avenue. I waited 14 months for it, but paid nothing under the table extra for it. The cost was $1,896, while another dealer would have given me the same car on the spot, if I had given him $400 extra for accessories, which I didn’t need. He cared less if I was a returning World War II vet who had saved his neck. Suffice to say, I never entered his showroom again.

Rust

I remember selling my 48 about 10 years later, with 100,000 miles on it for $150 to a friend. I told him one of the rear fenders was about to fall off due to rust. Shortly after it did. Cars where rust proofed in those days by local rust proofing companies. Today I rarely see a rust bucket car, because of the factory rustproofing.

The Plymouth was the first car owned by my family. I bought it with money I had saved during my 33 months of World War II U.S. Navy service. It broke my bank. My initial service pay in 1943 was $21 per month as a Fireman Third Class. I was discharged as a Second Class Petty Officer in 1946 with a higher pay.

The automobiles of today conditioning, automatic transmission, CD and tape players, On Star and on and on. I bought mainly used cars after my initial 1948 Plymouth splurge, costing $150 to $1,000, all of which rusted out, since I ran them into the ground. We sure have an affluent “no rust” automobile society today.

X Michael J. Lacivita is a Youngstown retiree and an inductee in the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame and the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.