Chapter 37

“That was so much fun!” cried Hilda.

They’d had a terrible time finding a car Hilda of the humungous boobs could fit. The steering wheels on all the little Arrows got in the way ... and she was too tall.

Her instructor was down to last resorts when he had a brilliant.

“What do you drive at home?”

“Pickup trucks ... and Karen’s Dodge Van.”

“What kind of Dodge van?”

“Town Wagon ... converted to four wheel drive.”

“Fix you right up.”

The mechanics shop had an old Power Wagon Town Wagon they used to chase parts. It wasn’t like Karen’s van ... it was a 4 by 4 from the factory. But it had the engine most 1966 American Power Wagon Town Wagons were equipped with ... the 426 hemi. To be sure, it was a derated single four barrel and had a milder cam ... but it moved that D100 smartly. 1966 was the last year for the Van bodied Power Wagon but it went out in style.

For a five thousand pound ... two and a half tons ... stump jumping grocery getter, that baby could haul. Fourteen years old, it was getting close to the end of its shelf life ... but the shop had played with it ... keeping it going. Skip would never authorize parts for a beater.

Adapt and conquer was the motto of the garage. That damn thing was lowered to a ride height 2 inches lower than a standard two wheel model. Instead of stock 16 inch snap-ring wheels mounted with military 12 ply tires the thing had 15 inch with wide racing tires that used to grace the race cars. It had adopted shocks, springs, shock tower braces, stiffer panhard bars, modified links. Just because a part reached the limit for 200 miles an hour didn’t mean it was unsafe for 60.

To be honest ... the Van handled better than the Arrows ... but don’t tell Skip. And Hilda fit. There was feet of headroom and the buckets the shop installed were last years racing seats on shop made sliders ... Hilda’s boobs were no longer a deterrent! She was so enthusiastic about actually DRIVING the instructors snuck in a few freebies.

Of the 8 girls and one guy, Hilda made the most progress and advanced to skillful.

“It’s too damn bad that girl is so damn big,” said Skip. “She’d have a chance at the pros if she was smaller. Not that I mind her size ... watching her walk is distracting. God ... she makes me wish I was single.”

The So Much Fun she was on about was the 180 into and out of reverse ... only she did it twice. During chase training she evaded her pursuit by breaking in to a 180 spin but slid across a patch of water and did it twice. The pursuing instructor was so surprised he slammed his car into the roadside ditch ... Hilda was going to stop but her instructor said, “If this was a real situation, would you stop?”

“No.”

“What is Rule Number One?”

“Get your principal to safety.”

“Keep going.”

The last day at the track, it was noticed by all that the shop had a new Dodge pickup. During the graduation ceremonies ... when it was Hilda’s turn to get her parchment, Skip presented her with the keys and title to the Van. The shop had straightened the bumpers and painted it BRG (British Racing Green). When she stopped crying, she noticed it had buckets for six, a roll cage and Simpson harnesses.

Karen rode with Hilda, the rest of the caravan was Mel and the girls in the 34 Caddy with Juan in the transporter.

“Did you do this?” Hilda asked.

“Nope ... not my doing,” I said. “I had no idea.”