I am old enough to remember when a student, J.W., at high school bought a really small economy car, similar to the new ones I see now.
It was in 1962, and it was called an Isseta.
It was a two-seater, made in Italy, with only one door. The entire front of the car opened up and out, with the steering wheel still attached.
After the occupants got in, they pulled the whole front of the car, which was the door, closed. It was a three-wheeled vehicle with two wheels in front and only one wheel in back. It had a small 11-horsepower motorcycle engine to power the car.
My guess is J.W. weighed more than 230 pounds and was about 5 feet 10 inches tall. His girlfriend, Carol, might have weighed 100 pounds (maybe) and was just under 5 feet tall.
It was a process to just see them get into and out of the car.
J.W. always got in first, wrapping his large body into the space available. Then Carol got in the car, fitting into whatever space was left.
After pulling the entire front of the car shut, which was the car door, they started the engine and drove away slowly very slowly.
Sometimes J.W. had to slip the clutch a good bit just to get it moving. As they pulled away, the left side of the car, where J.W. was sitting, nearly dragged the ground, and Carol's side was very high in the air. It lurched when he changed gears.
J.W. had to put a little angle to the steering just to keep the car going straight. Being a proud man, J.W. would never admit the car was a mistake. But he did find a reason to sell it in a short period of time.
He got one that stayed relatively level when he and his girlfriend were in it.
These true stories are a weekly column written by Floyd Fenix, a local Texarkana educator and businessman.