Front Wheel Drive

December 6, 2018

It was quite a bit different back then. Our first front-wheel drive car was a Buick Century, a rather forgettable vehicle except for the first time I took it out in the winter and promptly did a 380 turning onto Sylvester St., narrowly avoiding putting it in the ditch. That was in the 80s; every vehicle I drove prior to that was rear wheel drive only. 

It’s a wonder we made it through some of the winters. Hills were always a challenge, especially if you had to stop at a light and try to get started again. The trick was often a matter of spinning the tires till you melted through the snow pack to the blacktop beneath. Of course, that only was good for a couple feet, after which the preferred means of propulsion was fish-tailing it up the hill, hoping you wouldn’t sideswipe the car next to you. 

When Linda and I were first married, we lived in a little hamlet called Alma, nestled in the confluence of two valleys. The hills around Alma were steep; summer was fine, but careful planning was required if in the winter it was necessary to get to the top of one of them. I’ll never forget one time, riding shotgun with my friend Al who decided we needed to climb the hill behind his house instead of taking the more sensible long way around. A running start in his big, heavy Pontiac got us about halfway up the hill when around a bend appeared a slow moving Chevy creeping along. I don’t know how they were making any progress at all, but we knew if we slowed down we’d have to back all the way down the hill and try again. 

When it came to driving, Al was not one to back down. Come to think of it, when it came to anything, Al was not one to back down. He cranked the wheel, hit the gas, and as we passed that car, I could see the old man driving, eyes like saucers. It was easy to see his eyes because I was looking straight out the windshield at him. We were actually going sideways up that hill kicking up a rooster tail of snow, Al laughing maniacally the entire rest of the way.

Those days are pretty well gone. Everything is front or four wheel drive, which takes a lot of the excitement out of winter sports driving. People still find themselves in ditches, usually because they haven’t adjusted to winter conditions. The old man who used to live in our home was for years our village mechanic. He used to say, “The only difference between regular and four wheel drive is when you get stuck, you’re REALLY stuck. And with four wheel drive, you’ll try to go places where you get really stuck.” Well, maybe so, but I’ve only been really stuck once, when I was just getting ready to switch to four wheel drive, but waited just a fraction of a second too long and found myself sailing out into a field, finally stopping about fifty yards from the road.

Tonight we had to navigate some pretty nasty winter weather. I’ve driven worse, but this was bad enough, and I was and am thankful for front wheel drive. It made our trip uneventful, which is how I like them these days.