Ease up there, readers, the title to this post came from a song that Ian Tyson (of Ian and Sylvia) used to do called "Rambler Gambler." The first verse went
I'm a rambler, I'm a gambler
I'm a long way from my home.
If you people don't like me
You'd best leave me alone.
Uplifting and personable, I know, but really I couldn't identify less with the song, being neither a rambler (too much of a homebody) nor a gambler (too cheap). But I was thinking about the Rambler, a car produced first by Nash Motors division of the Nash-Kelvinator Company (yes, they made refrigerators as well) from 1950-1954, after which it was made by the merger company of Nash-Kelvinator and the Hudson Motor Company, which was called American Motors or AMC. This Rambler was produced during 1955. AMC revived it for 1958, although I recall seeing them through the early '60's. There was, as the ad above shows, a '63 Rambler.
The wagon was touted as a family car, with a fold flat front seat suitable for camping in the car. The feature caused somewhat of a scandal since someone, somewhere, some time, might fold down the seat and have sex. I remember sermons were preached about it, and that's what might have killed off the Rambler. Too hot to handle apparently.
In today's cars, the front seats recline, but they don't fold flat. Maybe automakers learned a lesson from the Rambler wagon. In surveys, though, car owners have consistently said that cup holders are more important to them in a car than reclining seats. I for one don't know what to make of this. Maybe you do.
Notice: we here at the Biscuit City Studios are going to take a Thanksgiving break to spend time with our families. Look for the next post Monday, November 26. Have a glorious holiday!
We had a Rambler American when I was in high school/college; in fact, it was the first car I drove regularly. Manual transmission and all sorts of quirks. The front passenger seat also folded flat--usually on my lunch bag when I had a sudden stop. It had a leak right above the accelerator, so if it was raining, your right foot got soaked. In addition, the wipers were a little wonky--if you stopped for a red light, they stopped too. You had to get out of the car and push them all the way down to get them started again--usually with one foot bare because otherwise, you'd be squelching around all day because of the leak. The poor car met a sad end: parked at the repair shop over the holiday weekend (it always needed something!) somebody took the turn badly and slammed it up against a brick wall...And that's how I ended up buying my first new car in January of my senior year in college.
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