My Cars and My Life: A Wrench, Some Mice, and A Doctor's Push

by Phillip Leopold

Overview

From age 14, Phil Leopold has owned, driven, and loved cars. Now, he's sharing that love with you. This humorous and reflective memoir walks readers through each of the 30 cars Phil has owned in his 78 years, from a Model A Ford that required 16 steps to start the engine to an Acura SUV that doesn't even need a key. Phil discusses the details of each car, the adventures they allowed him to take, and how his relationship with his cars has changed with the addition of new technology. Since Phil grew up in western Nebraska on a farm, there wasn't much to do other than work. When cars broke down out in the pasture, the farmer just left them where they died. Phil and two friends would resurrect old vehicles to get it running and play with them. This provided a lot of entertainment and learning about how a car or pickup works. Unfortunately most of them stayed dead. Growing up on the farm meant I drove a tractor, pickup, and truck from age 12. My first job was plowing a field for a neighbor with a John Deer tractor at age 12 1/2 for 25 cents an hour. A school permit for driving to and from school was available at 14 1/2 years old. The day I got my first car gave me freedom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781098352486
Publisher:	BookBaby
Publication date:	05/01/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	94
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Phil Leopold is a mechanical engineer educated at the University of Nebraska. His career revolved around new product development and management at companies that combined different materials to achieve high performance improvements. Examples include the first carbon composite tennis racket, chemical valves from composites, and most recently medical devices.
Phil and his two sons own and manage Medical Murray, Inc., a medical device development and manufacturing company with operations in Chicago, Illinois, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Phil and his wife now live in Windermere, Florida, and continue to be active in their business, church, Rotary, and countless hobbies.

Table of Contents

Prelude 1

Car engines and their impact on this story 2

The beginning: 5

1955 My first car 8

1957 Best Car Ever 14

1958 Play Car 18

1958 Pasture Pickup 20

1960 Ford Fairlane 2 door hardtop 22

1961 Chevrolet Corvair, Yellow 25

1964 Dream Car 28

1968 Pontiac 4 door Sedan 31

1969 Pontiac LeMans 33

1971 Ford Extra Car 35

1972 VW Trial Car 36

1974 Gas Crisis 38

1975 First Convertible 40

1976 Andy & Phils Apprentice Car 41

1977 Western Trip 43

1977 Suburban time 53

1978 Kids Car 55

1978 Chevy Dreams 56

1980 Another Rabbit 58

1982 Promotion Company Car 60

1986 Bucher, Inc. 62

1993 Mazda RX7 65

1996 Murray, Inc. 67

1996 Ford time 69

2001 Red Escape 71

2002 Another Green Explorer 72

2007 Bigger is better 74

2011 Second Acadia Denali 76

2015 Pickup time 78

Today's Car 81

Future Car 83

Acknowledgements 86