On their wedding day, a steaming summer afternoon in 1950, it sits at the curb of the First Presbyterian Church on Kingshighway in St. Louis: a gunmetal gray Chevrolet sedan with gleaming windows and a long chrome stripe down the side. There is something ship-like about the car, its bumpers wide enough to stand on, rear window like a porthole, fenders oddly amphibious.

When, after eleven tries, Harka finally passed the California State Drivers Test, he began driving the Oldsmobile, very slowly, on the side streets of Oakland.

For a while everyone took good care of the Oldsmobile, but then things started to fall apart.

The frustrating thing about the whole traffic situation is the relative ease with which it could be fixed by a group of leaders with even a basic understanding of transportation economics and some real balls.

The Graduation Present    by Alfred Milanese
Banana Slug                       by Sara Berkeley
Malibu                                 by Kathee Rebernak
Frog Green Glory                 by Susan Scheid
Orange Was Retro               by Christina Eng
Chevy Paul                         by Bara Swain
Dottie the Datsun               by Michelle Steele