My Favorite Car: '60 Plymouth Valiant, Jerry Galoonis, 73, Weeki Wachee

'60 Plymouth Valiant

Before starting my second year of college at a pharmacy school in Philadelphia, my dad bought me my first new car, a 1960 Plymouth Valiant, to replace my 1952 Mercury. I, of course, had to modify it a little. I put skirts on it, installed a glasspack muffler and got a Ballantine beer handle to put on the 3-speed floor shift. I had an artistic friend paint a front license plate saying "Black Prince" since it was black and a reference to "Prince Valiant" in the comics. It lasted me through college, and six months after, I got drafted into the Army. I sold it to a student from pharmacy school who then put 185,000 miles on it before he sold it. That Valiant with the slant-6 was a real dependable car and stylish for its day.