Everything I Love: Oldsmobile

In the early 1980s, afraid of being mistaken for the Kingsway's only Volvo-driving socialists, my parents acquired the grandest of American sedans - the Oldsmobile 98. Built at Lansing Car Assembly, the Olds was painted black with beige leather interior (useful when driving kids in wet bathing suits), a roaring V8, and industrial strength shocks - a special request by the previous owner. This boat ferried us up and down Highways 401, 37, 7, and 17 for many years. 20 years later, on mornings when my own boat is sailing over the 401's bumps near the Ajax Go-Train station, I often consider how that Olds 98 must have caught air over the same stretch.