A lifetime with the top down
BLOOMINGTON — For three decades, Betty Jo Lloyd has been tooling around Bloomington in a big red convertible her husband bought her for their 30th wedding anniversary.
But the 1973 Buick Centurion wasn't her first ragtop.
"I had a convertible I bought my first year of teaching," said Lloyd, who retired as an English and speech teacher at Bloomington High School North in 1980. "It was a 1942 Plymouth. Black.
"It had a wide chrome grille, massive fenders and red interior — a bit racy for a school teacher.
Her son Tim, a car collector of sorts, never saw his mother's first convertible, but he has heard stories. "My uncle was the Chrysler-Plymouth dealer in town and just before the war she got one of the few 1942 Plymouth convertibles made," Tim Lloyd said. "My parents drove it all through the war and after, but sold it when they bought a house. The family story is that they sold it for more than they paid for it four years before."
Her husband Dick purchased her most recent convertible new from Curry Buick in 1973. It's the car Tim learned to drive when he turned 16 the next year.
"My husband had pretty much picked it out," Lloyd said. "I went to Curry to see it, and drove it home. "She's been driving it ever since, traveling 160,000 miles, often with friends in tow. Given the roominess of her boat of a car and the thrill of driving with the top down, they usually want her to drive.
"So I do," the 84-year-old grandmother said.
During her teaching days, she hauled North's debate team to matches around the area. There was plenty of room in the Buick.
The car is mechanically sound — "it starts right up" — but has a few rust spots that need attention.
She hasn't rolled the top down yet this spring. "I talked about it last weekend, but then the rains came," Lloyd said. "I said that this year, we are going to take it down and leave it down. All summer."
Got a story to tell about a car or truck? Call 331-4362, send an e-mail to lane@heraldt.com or a letter to My Favorite Ride, P.O. Box 909, Bloomington, 47402.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: A lifetime with the top down
