by: Bobby Williamson
Sometimes, you just get lucky. And this was one of times. Right there.........RIGHT there and sittin' on the sidewalk,...............a real-life modified coupe!
See, the sidewalk was in front of my dad's old Esso service station. "Glen's Esso Servicecenter" was vintage 1950's America: white porcelain enamel panels, red/white/blue Esso motif, complete with the "Happy Motoring" moniker adorning each side. US Highway 17 serves as main street for my hometown and dad's station's location made it a natural stopping point for motorists. US 17 was widened in 1957 through our town, sidewalks added, and the extra room for that expansion came from 'our' side of the road. Glen's Esso was separated from the highway by the width of the (new) sidewalk. It was kind of weird, but there wasn't enough room, any more, to have the gas pumps in front of the station, they were moved around to either side. Guess all of those were factors, but by 1964, Glen's Esso had seen its last customer; in fact, it was closed, but even that did not affect this historic encounter. Maybe those coupe-towing racers mistakenly thought the station was open for business, they sure acted like it as they pulled right up on the sidewalk, race car in tow!
