EPISODE 745 CAR STORY 3: 53 METEOR “BETTER SLOW DOWN EARLY”
Highway 400 in 1960…not much traffic heading for North Bay….”Marjorie, better slow down
you are getting close to that northbound car.” “Why?” (which is the point of this story)
alan skeoch
Feb. 18, 2023
I should not tell this story as it will only invite criticism. When we bought the 53 Meteor in 1956 we
had no idea that cars required maintenance. Not just oil and gasoline. We had very limited resources
most of which depended on mom. Eric, dad and I were unlikely to put money into maintenance of
the car. And mom had never heard of a Master Cylinder. Nor had we really.
So here’s the story.
Marjorie was driving me north on the newish 400 highway on one of our trips to North Bay….about 220 miles
north of Toronto. Why was Marjorie driving? Because she was a good driver and had her licence before I got
mine. A point which she reminded me about occasionally.
So we were zipping along at the speed limit, perhaps 70 or 80 or 90 km per hour. The Meteor was on the
open highway and seemed to be enjoying itself. Burning off any sludge in the engine. Largely empty highway.
But there was another car that we were overtaking.
“Better slow down, Marjorie.”
“No need, that car is a long way in front of us.”
“I would slow down all the same.”
“When I get close.”
“Close now I would say”
“Don’t be silly…gently apply the brakes when we get close.”
“Close to me….I would slow down….ease foot off the accelerator now.”
“No need yet…maybe we’ll pass him.”
“Apply the brake.”
“OK…YIKE…BRAKE NOT WORKING”
Not sure if the crisis was all my fault. I assumed Marjorie knew that brake cylinder was leaking.
“Brakes don’t work right away.”
“Why not?”
“Need to pump up the maseter cylinder….hit brake pedal gently a couple of times.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Forgot…did tell you to apply brakes early.”
“Alan, we could get into an accident.”
“Not if you baby the brakes.”
“No body ‘babys brakes’, Alan.”
“We do.”
“Why?”
“Costs money to replace the master cylinder. We don’t have money for repairs if they
can be avoided.
“Alan, the 53 Meteor should not be on the road.”
So I took over the drive. Took about four hours to reach North Bay and then
return. Braking? All that was required was a bit of pumping on the brake pedal.
As I remember we got the leaking cylinder repaired even though not entirely necessary
as long we slowed down in lots of time.
I probably should not tell this story. In normal city traffic it was easy to slow down with
a little pumping. A lot harder on the open highway. Today…February 18, 2023, …Marjorie
put her car in for route maintenance as she does regularly. The cost will be around
$1,000 as tires are worn down. Back when we got the 53 Meteor we never thought
about maintenance. Never had trouble with our brakes since that incident because
we can now afford to maintain vehicles. Maintenance back in 1950 depended on mothers
speedy stitching of dresses for Eaton’s catalogue where she was instructed to “make the
front look good….the back of the dress doe not matter…speed it up.”
alan
P.S. It was a very sad day when we had to send that 53 Meteor to the scrap yard.
Almost as bad as when we had to put grandma’s Scotch Terrier down.
There is one more car story to come. Short story. But the story revolves around
Dad’s use of choice language one summer day when I wanted the family to see
a real mining anomaly in the dense bush east of Kinmount , Ontario. Dad really
cut loose and I am not sure it is safe to quote him that day.
“IF IWERE YOU MARJORIE, I WOULD SLOW DOWN…GETTING CLOSE TO THAT CAR AHEAD….AVOID
THE BRAKE…EASE OFF ON THE ACCELERATOR….REDUCES WEAR AND TEAR ON THE BRAKES.”
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