OPINION
Published on April 7, 2011 By Big Fat Daddy In Misc

0 / 0 ratings 

 
 

yellow goat001

 

The yellow goat was an Arizona car. It was four-years old when we bought it, the shade of yellow was not a Pontiac color, it was a Corvette color. When it was cleaned and polished it looked like a shiny plastic banana. It was pristine when we bought it, it didn't have a speck of rust on it, the only drawback was that it was a three-speed. But it would gooooo like the wind. It was a 1969, black vinyl top, with black vinyl seats, an eight-track tape player, front and rear speakers. We upgraded the wheels and tires after we got it. We kept it for five years and if I had been smarter, we would have kept it much longer. But that's another story.

We lived in Phoenix when we bought it. It was bought to replace the '65 Corvair MC was driving at the time. She drove the Goat and fell in love with it which effectively ended the search for a big block Chevelle I was engaged in. But it was basically the same color as the '67 Nova that I was driving at the time so how could it not be a match?

Phoenix is laid out on a grid with each major street a mile apart, about eight blocks to a mile, Central is the "zero" street, anything west of Central is an Avenue, and east of Central are Streets. I think McDowell is the zero street for north/south. There are a few streets that aren't straight, a very few, that follow a terrain feature or some such. The only exception is Grand Ave. It starts at 7th and Van Buren and travels Northwest across the whole city. This creates some very confusing intersections along the way. To add to the confusion, a working railroad track runs right next to Grand.

Told you all that so I could tell you this: one evening I was busily moving from one meeting to another. It was dark and I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been. I was running behind and my next meeting was in Sun City, out past Peoria. In those days there were open areas out there, now it's city all the way. But since I was behind, and since it was dark and out in the desert, and since I was driving a fine running machine, I cranked it up to about eighty and enjoyed the sound of those sweet pipes thrumming along. As I neared Peoria, things weren't looking exactly as I expected...the up-coming intersection seemed off...then it dawned on me...I wasn't on Grand...I was approaching Grand...with its railroad tracks...which were raised above the level of the street on a berm about two feet high...at eighty miles per hour! Of course, while all this thinking was going on, I was getting closer and closer to the berm. At that point, if I had slammed on the brakes, I may havehad some real control issues when I hit the berm. All I could do was hold on tight and hope for a good landing. This was about 1974. Years later when I saw the Dukes of Hazard for the first time and they jumped the General Lee over a pile of dirt, I thought, "That's nothing...you should have seen me flying over the Arizona desert in my little yellow Goat back in '74!"

I don't know how far I flew that night. I do remember the landing. Sparks flew, I felt like my spine was being collapsed, and there was a little wobble, but the fact that the car weighed almost two tons made it stick tight. It bucked once and I thought it might be taking off again, but then it continued on down the road without losing any momentum at all. The car suffered no ill-effects from its flight, I was a little stiff in the neck for a few days, but we promised each other we wouldn't be flying again anytime soon. Man, what a ride...


Comments
on Apr 07, 2011

Were you on Bell?

on Apr 08, 2011

I think it was either Olive or Northern, I wasn't as far as Peoria when it happened.  Remember, that was mostly all desert out there then.  We used to go up on Bell and buy oranges from fruit stands...if you can believe that.  It hard to believe how built up everything is out there now.

on Apr 08, 2011

I took a Grand Am airborn once.....long story...but it happened just about the same way...railroad tracks, unexpectedly!

My husband was with me and to this day when we cross RR tracks that have a ramp up....he says something or if he's a passenger, acts like he's bracing himself....lol

on Apr 08, 2011

Tova:  Fortunately I was alone and except for a rattler or two, the desert night was empty so there weren't any witnesses.  When MamaCharlie edited this she glanced over the top of the page with "The Look" and said, "I never heard about this..."  Good thing, too...they never let you forget. 

We have an expression between us that we share after something like this happens, started in Frieburg, Germany when a little confusion about lane alignment led to a very very near miss at a head-on collision...she looked at me and said, "Whacha gonna do with all that adreniline, now?"

on Apr 08, 2011

Big Fat Daddy
"Whacha gonna do with all that adreniline, now?"

lol....I could make a couple recommendations...

on Apr 08, 2011

Yeah, back then Olive was a long way north.

Not so much anymore.

on Apr 09, 2011

"lol....I could make a couple recommendations... "

 

Daiwa:  Anything west of about 43rd was desert  from Bethany Home north.  It really is amazing how much of that area is covered by concrete nowdays.

on Apr 09, 2011

We landed here in '75.  Lived near 43rd Ave & Bethany Home.  Going to Luke was a day trip.  Last vestige of civilization northeast was Neal Frisby's Capstone Cathedral, except for PV Mall under construction & scattered horse ranches.  Seemed like Taliesin was in another county.

on Apr 11, 2011

I try not to get airborne!  But if that is your thrill, I would suggest Ogilby Road east of Yuma.  They purposefully put in berms to stop the dragsters as it is long, flat (except for the berms) and out in nowhere!  Driving it at regular speed makes you think of the rides at the fair that go up and down all the while staying on the ground (the ones that spin on a slant).

on Apr 11, 2011

Let's be clear, Doc...this was not a scheduled flight!  There have been a few times when I got airborn on purpose, but I would never have intentionally put MC's favorite car in jeopardy.  Besides, that scared the crap out of me!!   

on Apr 11, 2011

Big Fat Daddy
this was not a scheduled flight!

That much was clear.  My comment was more for general consumption.

Big Fat Daddy
Besides, that scared the crap out of me!!

Apparently not as much as MamaCharlie finding out scared you (since she just found out now).