Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The World's Most Modern Car

I have always been proud that I can spot and identify old cars. The bumpers, the grills, the taillights all help separate a 55 from a 56 or a Dodge from a Plymouth. I thought I knew them all until I came upon Steve Matthew’s newest acquisition at the Foundation for Allen Schools Car Show in May.

Parked alongside the classics was a two tone 1950 Nash Statesman Custom Brougham. The car was so unusual and rare that nearly every visitor first asked “what is it?”


The Nash Motor Company, which merged in 1954 with Hudson to become American Motors, was still an independent car maker when the Statesman was introduced in 1949. Clearly influenced by the streamlined airplanes and locomotives of the day, the Statesman’s design was promoted as “the world’s most modern car.”

Matthews, who works as a director of governmental and public affairs for Atmos Energy, has owned at least 15 classic cars over the past 25 years but the Nash is special he admits.


“The car is unique in so many ways. Aside from the design, the car had many features that weren’t found on other cars of the era.”


These included a unibody design, a one piece curved windshield, a “uniscope” instrument cluster mounted on the steering wheel, a “weather-eye” heating and ventilation system and rear seats that resemble a train club car. The most unusual feature allows the front seats to fold backward turning the car into an overnight camper complete with mosquito netting and mattresses stored in the trunk.
Matthew’s car was first sold in Humboldt, Kansas where the original owner kept it until 1985. It passed through several hands before he purchased it sight unseen from a dealer in North Carolina. It was delivered to Allen with 55,000 original miles.


“I had recently sold my 1951 Cadillac and was looking for a new project,” says Matthews. I was looking for a Packard when I came upon the Nash, which was posted online from a classic car dealer I knew. I had spotted a 1951 Nash in 2005 but didn’t buy it. I waited five years for another one to appear.”

Nash sold about 110,000 Statesman models in 1950 and only 132 Broughams. Matthews is an active member of the Nash Auto Club and believes that his is the only one in existence. Because it is so rare, he finds it hard to place a price on it.


“The car cost about $1,800 in 1950 but today there is nothing to compare it to. I am more interested in the uniqueness of the car than the value.”


Matthew’s cars through the years demonstrate his philosophy that classic cars should be admired in their original condition and not customized. He also avoids the predictable classics such as the 57 Chevy because he wants cars that surprise and delight folks.


Among the cars he has restored since 1985 are 1956, 1958, 1963 and 1964 Chevrolets, two 1941 Cadillac’s, a 1956 and 1961 Chevy pickup, a 1957 Ford, 1954 Buick and a 1957 Pontiac.


If the unusual car looks familiar to baby boomers, they might think back to the old Superman television series. Lois Lane drove a Nash Rambler and Clark Kent drove a Nash-Healey sports car. Nash had a contract with the show and both good guys and bad guys drove the classic cars.
Matthew’s Nash Statesman rides more like a passenger plane than a speeding bullet as it cruises down the street and it is still turning heads at the age of 61, which is more than a few baby boomers can say.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Frozen Food Memories

Chicken nuggets and crinkle fries – that is my daughter’s contribution to the Carroll household. Along with her brother, the two hauled most of their valuable possessions to Lubbock last weekend. What they left in our empty nest was a freezer full of indigestion.

For years the kids have tagged along on trips to the grocery store. A quick trip to Lowe’s wouldn’t even get them off the couch but mention a food run and they are suddenly anxious to spend time with mom or dad. The trip would inevitably lead to the frozen food aisle and the negotiations would begin.
“I need some Hot Pockets for breakfast,” one would say. “I think we are also out of tater tots and these new seasoned extra crispy fries look great.”

Between the frozen pizza rolls and rock hard taquitos, there was always something frozen that we “needed” and for years I enabled that need.

I understand their craving for crinkle cut fries because I once filled my freezer with foods of minimal nutritional value. Banquet Pot Pies were a staple in my 1970’s college diet because they were cheap, smelled good when cooking and tasted – well – lousy but that wasn’t the point. Along with Kraft’s Macaroni and Cheese, a frugal college student could spend $10 a week on groceries
The irony of college eating was that I complained about dorm cafeteria food until I started eating pot pies several nights a week. Fancy eating in college was the 4-course TV dinner, a childhood favorite of mine as well.

“Go pick out frozen dinners for everyone,” my mother would say. I knew everyone’s preference – fried chicken for my mother and brother and Swiss steak for dad. Turkey dinners were my favorite even though I always burned my mouth on that boiling cranberry cobbler.

Just days before the kids shipped off to college, we announced that the kids must start clearing out the freezer and that night’s dinner would be a good start. It was a meal fit for a five year-old as we prepared a giant baking sheet of southern chicken patties, crispy fries, tater tots, corn dogs, fish sticks and chicken nuggets.

The smell of that baking smorgasbord was hard to describe but the meal was tolerable with a good dose of ketchup and honey. We never got back to the freezer food and the kids headed off to college leaving us with half opened corn dog boxes and hot pockets and just one Steak umm.
I freely admit that we miss the kids but it feels good to take back control of the meals (and the freezer). We tossed the kid’s frozen foods into the garbage tonight and cooked a nice steak on the grill. I would imagine our half empty freezer now being filled with frozen vegetables and Lean Cuisine meals. Still, somewhere underneath it all you might find a Hungry Man turkey dinner and one Steak Umm just in case of emergency.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

When Do We Get To Relax?

For the first time in 14 years I will not be attending an Allen ISD meet the teacher night. I will not be anxious about my kid’s first day and I will not be standing in line at Office Depot on that first night. Instead I will stress over my kids driving to Lubbock and I will be hoping they checked the oil along the way.

With our daughter heading to Texas Tech for the first time and our son returning to Lubbock, the Carroll’s have entered new territory. Parents of college-age kids are now nodding their heads in agreement. I am no longer stressed about the teachers or the locker combination. I’m too busy stressing over things that are completely out of my control.

As Allen ISD’s public information director, I often speak with parents who are concerned about their children and school. How will my child find her way to class? Should I join them in the cafeteria on the first day? Do you have reserved parking spaces for kids at the high school (a favorite of mine)?
Every question is a good one because it’s our job as parents to be a little stressed and watch out for our own kids. Speaking with parents about school is easier now that my wife Ann and I have run the gamut from kindergarten to graduation. It’s not that simple with college.

The problem with sending kids to college out of town is that there is no one to call. I considered calling the Texas Tech public information office to see if the dorm room is carpeted but it just seemed a little trivial. Maybe I should ask if they have reserved parking spaces on campus for my kids – that would get a good laugh.

We dutifully purchased how to succeed in college books for each of the kids in the hopes that they would be better prepared. I doubt that either kid read them. In fact, my daughter packed her “how to” book this week admitting she hadn’t seen it since Christmas.

As parents we may not be ready but the kids are. Their advice book is now called Facebook and they are both better prepared to face college than I ever was both academically and socially.
Part of the credit must go to the Allen schools and a lot of great teachers. Along the way they pushed and challenged my kids in ways that no nagging parent could. Just watch a lazy ninth grader pop out of bed at 6:15 am for band practice and you see things more clearly.

When my kids were in fourth grade I worried about them being bullied for lunch money in middle school. It never happened. When they were in eighth grade I had a hard time imagining them succeeding in that big high school but they did. When they were in tenth grade I couldn’t imagine their rooms ever being clean again and they weren’t – at least until they left for college.

I asked a more experienced friend “when will I stop worrying about the kids and just relax?”
“Relax?,” he said. “Wait till they come home again looking for a job. Wait till you have planned a wedding. Wait till you’re expecting to be a grandparent. Should I continue?”

I think I’ll drop an email to that Texas Tech public information guy in the morning.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

I-35 Attractions & Distractions Part 2

We began our tour of driving distractions along I-35 last week and pulled over in Italy, Texas for a kolache. This week we continue through Waco, home of the Dr. Pepper, Texas Rangers and Texas Sports Hall of Fame Museums as well as Health Camp Burgers and Shakes.

The Dr. Pepper Museum at Exit 335 is self-explanatory. It outlines the history of the world’s oldest major soft drink manufacturer from 1885 to the present. No one knows where the name Dr. Pepper came from but customers called out “pour me another Waco” in the early days.

Baseball enthusiasts would be disappointed to find the Texas Rangers Museum makes no mention of the 2011 World Series but the Texas Sports Hall of Fame does. Notable names in the Hall include: Bob Lilly, Babe Didrikson, Johnny Rutherford, and Sheryl Swoops. (Exit 335)

Just south of Waco at Exit 333 is the famous traffic circle and two long-time burger joints. The unusually named Health Camp burger stand opened in 1949 and still dispenses burgers, shakes and fries with a heavy dose of nostalgia for Baylor alums. Across the parking lot is the Elite Café which opened in downtown Waco in 1919. It moved to the busy traffic circle south of town in 1941 and has since been modernized. In 1941, it was the first Waco restaurant to be air conditioned which made it extremely popular with the locals. Elvis Presley made stops at both during his tours of Texas. Either burger joint is a great alternative to the standard highway fare along I-35. (333)

Sitting on the southern edge of Belton is the Bell County Exposition Center. The center resembles a nuclear missile silo with its silver dome but residents of Bell County know it as the home of the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame and numerous failed sports franchises. The Texas Bullets of the Professional Indoor Football League held on for ten years. Then the CenTex Barracudas came to town with the Indoor Football League and the Central Texas Stampede of the Western Professional Hockey League. (292)

The glowing eye on signs for Inner Space Cavern calls to motorists for miles before they reach Georgetown. The cave was discovered by workers with the Texas Highway Department in 1963 when I-35 was built. The cavern is like a prehistoric sinkhole that could be 90-100million years old which makes it older than the Czech Stop and Health Club. (259)

A modest building at Exit 220 in Buda says Anti Monkey Butt Corporation. A detailed description of the ailment that motorcyclists and bicyclists often suffer from is not needed here but their website says Anti Monkey Butt products will cure it. Just Google it. (220)

Long before the outlet malls took over, there was Ralph the Swimming Pig and Aquarena Springs in San Marcos. Land around the natural springs was developed in the 1920’s but the property hit its stride in the 1950s and 1960s when an amusement park was added. The Aquarena Springs website describes glass bottom boats, humans playing Tic-Tac-Toe against chickens and Ralph’s famous swine dive. At its peak 250,000 visitors stopped but hard times came and Texas State University purchased the whole property in1996. Today the amusements are gone but the glass bottom boats remain along with natural exhibits. By the way, the film Piranha was filmed there in 1978. (206)

There are so many more distractions along I-35 yet to be discovered. Send your favorites to flipside@tx.rr.com. In the meantime, happy motoring.