Class Note 1957
Issue
September-October 2020
Cars—Bob Copeland started this car thing several months ago when he talked about his ’49 Mercury having snow tires, chains, and a keg in the back seat. Remember your first car? Gentlemen, start your engines.
Jim Taylor’s first was the ’35 Dodge he and John Roberts drove from Mount Hermon to visit college campuses. Al Rollins’ was a ’40 Ford convertible that he loved, rebuilt the engine, and painted fire engine red. Bob Slaughter’s was a canary yellow ’49 Plymouth convertible that he kept pristine with plastic seat covers. John Harper remembers being stranded in a blizzard at Middlebury and driving his ’51 Mercury to the police station for a safe night in jail. Chris Wren recalls that his ’55 Studebaker was inconvenient for dating because the transmission separated the front seats. Howie Howland says his ’57 Chevy, complete with a “DU” decal on the windshield, had a bench seat that precluded any of the problems Chris experienced with his Studebaker.
David Keith remembers lusting after upperclassman Gene Cesari’s Bugatti until he purchased a ’36 seven-passenger Lincoln V-12 limousine. Herb Roskind says his first at Dartmouth was a ’50 Chevrolet, but admits the most fun was the ’41 Packard hearse that he called his “ski-sleeper.”
Not all firsts were at Dartmouth. Upon graduation Bert O’Neil ordered a Morgan Plus-4 roadster directly from the German factory to enjoy the lack of speed limits during his new military assignment. Bob Marchant brought a new Chevy convertible with him from the Navy when he joined our class. He remembers the scholarship committee having big problems with his owning the car, but his service to country won out in the end. Gary Gilson’s first, a ’51 Olds Rocket 88, let him down in a 1958 snowstorm returning from Quantico to his home in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Bob Mowbry’s first was his Volkswagen Brasilia, purchased in Paraguay while serving in the Peace Corps.
Bruce Bernstein provides a fitting close to this column, recalling adventures with his ’53 Plymouth Duster: “We’re just lucky to be alive,” he says.
And that’s the way we were.
—John W. Cusick, 105 Island Plantation Terrace, Vero Beach, FL 32963; (772) 231-1248; johnwcusick@aol.com
Jim Taylor’s first was the ’35 Dodge he and John Roberts drove from Mount Hermon to visit college campuses. Al Rollins’ was a ’40 Ford convertible that he loved, rebuilt the engine, and painted fire engine red. Bob Slaughter’s was a canary yellow ’49 Plymouth convertible that he kept pristine with plastic seat covers. John Harper remembers being stranded in a blizzard at Middlebury and driving his ’51 Mercury to the police station for a safe night in jail. Chris Wren recalls that his ’55 Studebaker was inconvenient for dating because the transmission separated the front seats. Howie Howland says his ’57 Chevy, complete with a “DU” decal on the windshield, had a bench seat that precluded any of the problems Chris experienced with his Studebaker.
David Keith remembers lusting after upperclassman Gene Cesari’s Bugatti until he purchased a ’36 seven-passenger Lincoln V-12 limousine. Herb Roskind says his first at Dartmouth was a ’50 Chevrolet, but admits the most fun was the ’41 Packard hearse that he called his “ski-sleeper.”
Not all firsts were at Dartmouth. Upon graduation Bert O’Neil ordered a Morgan Plus-4 roadster directly from the German factory to enjoy the lack of speed limits during his new military assignment. Bob Marchant brought a new Chevy convertible with him from the Navy when he joined our class. He remembers the scholarship committee having big problems with his owning the car, but his service to country won out in the end. Gary Gilson’s first, a ’51 Olds Rocket 88, let him down in a 1958 snowstorm returning from Quantico to his home in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Bob Mowbry’s first was his Volkswagen Brasilia, purchased in Paraguay while serving in the Peace Corps.
Bruce Bernstein provides a fitting close to this column, recalling adventures with his ’53 Plymouth Duster: “We’re just lucky to be alive,” he says.
And that’s the way we were.
—John W. Cusick, 105 Island Plantation Terrace, Vero Beach, FL 32963; (772) 231-1248; johnwcusick@aol.com