Another Cutlass story

I recently posted a story about my 1976 Cutlass, so I thought I'd write about my other near brush with death in that car (that actually precedes the other story). It's the only other notable Cutlass story I can think of (unless I want to write about the all-you-can-eat-ribmobile).

It was the winter of '96 and it was snowing. I had bought a new CD, Actual Miles: Henley's Greatest Hits. I was coming back into town on the main road off the Interstate. This highway comes down a hill and there is a small bridge over a creek at the bottom. Just a slab of concrete with a guardrail on the top. On the way down the hill I was looking at my new CD and not paying much attention to the road. All of the sudden I look up and the car is headed in a very bad direction. I was pointed toward that creek.

In a moment of quick thining I managed to crank the wheel over and get mostly on the road, but my right front tire managed to hit the bridge. I got the car stopped, but it was completely undrivable. The front wheel was seriously flat and the wheel taco'ed. My only choice was to get out and walk the mile or so into town and get back to the house, not a relishing thought on a cold Colorado winter blizzard. It wasn't long before a nice couple in a Forerunner headed out of town had pity on me, actually turned around and picked me up.

When I got back to the house, of course my roomates were all home and gave me a seriously hard time when they found out. One of my good friends lived in the next town over, being a mechanical type he had a wheel for my car. I gave him a call and he drove out and we put a new wheel on my old Cutlass and made it back into town.

I got it fixed and drove it for a while after that. Not sure what it was about that car, but it sure caused me some trouble.