When my wife and I were only 19 years old, we purchased a beautiful  1963 Oldsmobile Jetfire, 4-speed manual, red/white with a black/white interior.  It was the only car I ever bought brand new!  We  had to have my parents co-sign, which was a mistake because I certainly could not afford it.  (Neither could they!)  I wanted to buy a Pontiac Tempest 4 cylinder, but my wife said she wouldn’t drive a red car with an orange dash!!

We had no idea what a turbocharger was, but we bought it anyway because it was so sporty.  My wife & I really enjoyed turning heads as we drove down the street.  I loved putting my foot down and feeling the turbocharger kick in.  What a rush!

We kept the car about 15 years until the oldest of my three kids was almost ready to drive.  I could just see him wrapping it around a tree!  For whatever crazy reason, I sold it to a neighbor for $150.  Actually, it was starting to rust and I couldn’t find anyone to work on the turbo.  The local dealer was reluctant to work on it, and offered to provide the pertinent info from the maintenance manual if I would do the work myself!  Apparently, they only sold 3 Jetfires in our city in 1963.

More recently, I’ve been wishing I had it back, but it is not for sale.  So I bought one that was identical to the first one, color and everything, except it has an automatic instead of a 4-speed manual transmission.  The current car had wide whitewalls when I bought it, which is not period correct.  The original one had two narrow stripes, one red and one white, which looked great on the car!

Email the author: JetfireGuy@gmail.com