Papa BoyLac often uses BL as a code for himself. BL was the antithesis of a car lover. He was the epitome of what a car user should not be. It’s not that he hates cars but it’s just that the feeling is not mutual when it comes to him and cars. To name a few examples:
1- Our cars would often get into car trouble which shows lack of preventive maintenance. I recall most if not all of our cars had overheating problems.
2- The gas tank reads empty often in contrast our current practice of keeping the tank full at all possible times.
3- He brings our cars to the farm. It goes without saying that cars are not made for farms.
His affiliation with cars ends where his immeasurable love for his family starts. Here are four stories that I vividly recall about my father, the not-so-car-lover:
1986 Transhow in Manila
The affair was the 1986 Transhow in PICC, Manila. It was my first car show and a car nut like me was definitely excited. I was a sophomore in high school then and during those times, going to Manila on a weekend was a rarity because of the travel time and the condition of our car. The highlight of the show was the entry of fellow Tarlaqueno Boy Romero, a 1979 red Mitsubishi Lancer which was re-branded as a Dodge Colt. While Cong Boy Romero’s car was the Best in Show winner then while my father BoyLac won the best father of the year that in the eyes of a 14 year old car lover from Tarlac writing this entry.
’81 Toyota Corolla DX
In my earlier entry, I mentioned about the family owning an ’81 Toyota Corolla DX. Just like any normal car, the car’s oil need to be changed and some parts just wear off. Quite a few times, we did the oil change by ourselves. In one of the occasions when we had car problems specifically the clutch system, BL and I decided to buy a clutch cable from the friendly auto supply and attempt to play mechanic and replace it ourselves. It was a major father-and-son bonding time. It took us the whole day to try and fix it but in vain. So we ended up going to the mechanic and have the cable installed. While it was a frustrating experience, we had fun trying. The realization was to leave the complex stuff to the experts.
Ford F150
The year was 1997 and the Ford F150 just released. It was the all new truck that everybody wanted to have and timed with the re-launching of Ford Motors Philippines. Coming from Tarlac, BL and I went to Ford Pampanga out of a whim. The truck retails for P1,2M then and we were entertained at the showroom by no less than the manager.
The funny story was that Pa and I were talking about how much gas that thing consumes and the accommodating manager then said that if you had money to buy a P1,2M truck then you won’t mind the gas consumption. The manager was probably right but then again, if you bought an F150 for over a million then, you’d be lucky if you sell it for P300K nowadays. What’s important is that father and son had fun going to that trip in Pampanga and that was actually one of my first few lessons in practical living.
Kennedy Jeep - M151 MUTT
We both shared the dream of building a four wheel drive that we can use in the farm. My father who is a green thumb loves the farm. Growing up, we had a green MacArthur M38 jeep which was used in the farm. We got fascinated with a jeep called Kennedy and that prompted our search for the M151 MUTT military jeep. The search brought us to the provinces of Pampanga, Nueva Ecija and places in Tarlac. The unfinished project jeep had a Toyota 4K engine but the body, suspension, transmission and drivetrain essentially the same. The Kennedy Jeep was driven off road a lot and I mean a lot. Even if there where paved roads going to the farm, we opted for less friendly roads so we can test the limits of our toy. I think we spent over P100K then for something that was sold for less than P50K but it was fun. Memories such as those are priceless.
While Papa was NOT a car lover but he loves his family so much. And I think in the end, that’s what matters and that is what made him special.
