This was Goliath’s last day as part of our family.
It was, as I recall, sometime in 1960 or so. If so, I was in the 7th grade. Greased up hair! What can I say? And check out the heights in the background before they were covered with expensive homes.
Goliath was my mother’s car, a used Austin dating from around 1951 (at least judging by the photos I’ve found online). I don’t remember who she bought it from, or how we gave it the name. But I do remember the many times my mother, sister, and I piled into Goliath for the long drive out to Waipahu to visit my grandmother. We all laughed as we bounced along the uneven pavement along Nimitz Highway, making our way around the edge of Pearl Harbor and beyond to old Farrington Highway and Waipahu. That was a shared family memory, for sure!
Then there was the problem of the sticky starter. There were mornings when the car wouldn’t start. The starter was “stuck,” whatever that really meant. The solution was for my sister and I to get out, leaving our doors open, then stand on opposite sides of the car and bounce up and down. As the car started rocking, we would soon hear an audible “click” and we could stop, get back in, and it would start. I think it only happened when it first started for the day, as I don’t recall any stories of my mother recruiting innocent bystanders to do the rocking!
I know that there are several other photos from this day, so I’ll have to go searching. One of them might even have recorded the date we were saying goodbye to Goliath for the last time.
Goliath’s last day
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Aloha Ian: Our family in Aina Haina also had an Austin of England, the 1950 model. It was a 4 door, and the back seat featured a pull down divider arm rest that did a great job of separating my sister and I. We had similar ‘stuck’ starter issues. If I recall, you pulled the ivory button out on a lever to make it start. It was 4 on the floor stick shift. Yours was named “Goliath”. My father called ours “Pregnant Rollerskate”. Mom learned how to drive with this car. 10 years later, I learned how to drive with this car. Ours was a dark blue in color. I drove it until it died in 1966. It had served our family well. I have a photo but can’t figure out how to upload it to your site. Perhaps I’ll post it at the Territorial Airwaves facebook page. BTW, you and met in 1962 when you and your buddy would pick me up hitchhiking and we would go to Makapuu to bodysurf together. Your buddy lived in Kuliouou on Kalaniana’ole Highway. – – – Mahalo, Harry B. Soria, Jr.