My First Car
By Joey Novak

In 1964 I was a junior in high school and working in my dad's gas station.  On the way home from work one day, my dad said I think its time we got you your own car.  I think he was tired of fixing his '63 Olds every time I got into an accident with it.

So, a week or so later we went looking for my first car.  We went to three or four used car lots, but no luck.  Then we stopped at Kole Pontiac in Oak Lawn and there it was - a red 1962 Pontiac Grand Prix. The salesman came out with the keys in hand.  He started it up an the dual exhaust barked "Buy Me." I knew this was a rare car because it came with one four barrel carburetor and everyone knows that all Pontiacs came with three deuces ☺.  My dad and I looked the car over and a deal was made.  I was the happiest kid in the world.  The next day, after a sleepless night, we brought the car home.  What a great time in my life!

I started to think about what I wanted to do to the car, so I got out my Warshawsky catalog.  Warshawwsky was an auto parts store at 196 State Street in Chicago; outside of Chicago it was called J.C. Whitney.

To make a long story short, after power washing the engine and painting it Pontiac blue, adding a chrome air cleaner, chrome valve covers, chrome generator cover, chrome voltage regulator cover, painting the wheels red and adding chrome trim rings and baby moons, the car was mine.  I drove the car until the end of 1976 when I sold my motorcycle and the Grand Prix.  I bought a new 1968 Firebird 400 with four-speed.  But that's a different story.